The Hermitage of the Heart

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Administrator

The hermitage of the heart, Different kinds of feelings in prayer

You dream of a hermitage. But you already have your hermitage, here and now!  Sit still, and call out: ‘Lord, have mercy!’

When you are isolated from the rest of the world, how will you fulfil the will of God ? Simply by preserving within yourself the right inner state. And what is this ? It is a state of unceasing remembrance of God in fear and piety, together with the remembrance of death.

The habit of walking before God and keeping Him in remembrance—such is the air we breathe in the spiritual life. Created as we are in the image of God, this habit should exist in our spirit naturally : if it is absent, that is because we have fallen away from God. As a result of this fall, we have to fight to acquire the habit of walking before God. Our ascetic struggle consists essentially in the effort to stand consciously before the face of the ever-present God ; but there are also various secondary activities, which likewise form part of the spiritual life. Here too, there is work to be done, in order to direct these activities to their true aim. Reading, meditation, prayer, all our occupations and contacts, must be conducted in such a way as not to blot out or disturb the remembrance of God. The seat of our consciousness and attention must also be concentrated on this remembrance of God.

-Theophan The Recluse, The Art of Prayer, p. 185

Posted in Theophan the Recluse | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Hermitage of the Heart

A Commander

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Administrator

He who has achieved inward self-renunciation and has subjected his flesh to the spirit no longer needs to submit himself to other men. Such a person obeys God’s word and law like a grateful servant. But we who are still engaged in the war between body and soul must be subject to someone else; we must have a commander and helmsman who will skillfully arm and guide us, lest we should be destroyed by our spiritual enemies or submerged beneath our passions because of our inexperience.

St Theognostos On the Practice of the Virtues, Contemplation and the Priesthood, Philokalia V2.361

Posted in St. Theognostos | Tagged | Comments Off on A Commander

Like the Angels

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Administrator

John the Dwarf, son of poor parents in Tese, was born about 339.  At the age of eighteen he went to Scetis and was trained by Abba Ammoes for twelve years. He attracted many disciples and in order to preserve his own solitude he dug himself a cave underground. He was ordained priest, and the number of his sayings, recorded and preserved, points to his importance among his disciples. After 407 he went to Suez and the Mountain of Anthony.

2. It was said of Abba John the Dwarf, that one day he said to his elder brother, ‘I should like to be free of all care, like the angels, who do not work, but ceaselessly offer worship to God.’ So he took off his cloak and went away into the desert. After a week he came back to his brother. When he knocked on the door, he heard his brother say, before he opened it ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘I am John, your brother.’ But he replied, ‘John has become an angel, and henceforth he is no longer among men.’ Then the other begged him saying, ‘It is I.’ However, his brother did not let him in, but left him there in distress until morning. Then, opening the door, he said to him, ‘You are a man and you must once again work in order to eat.’ Then John made a prostration before him, saying, ‘Forgive me.’

 The sayings of the Desert Fathers, Benedicta Ward, p. 86, paragraph 2.

Posted in Abba John the Dwarf | Tagged , | Comments Off on Like the Angels

Reading the Holy Scriptures

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Administrator

 

  1. When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in spiritual work will apply everything to himself and not to someone else.
  2. When you read Holy Scripture, perceive its hidden meanings. ‘For whatever was written in past times was written for our instruction’ (Rom. 15:4).
  3. Understand the words of Holy Scripture by putting them into practice, and do not fill yourself with conceit by expatiating on theoretical ideas.

St. Mark the Ascetic, Philokalia V1. 116, On the Spiritual Law, Two Hundred Texts.

Posted in St. Mark the Ascetic | Tagged | Comments Off on Reading the Holy Scriptures

A frog with the water

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Administrator

58. In drawing water from a well we sometimes without noticing it bring up a frog with the water, and so in acquiring the virtues we often get involved in the vices that are imperceptibly entwined with them.

The kind of thing I mean is that gluttony is entangled with hospitality; lust with love; cunning with discernment; malice with thoughtfulness; duplicity, procrastination, laziness, contradiction, wilfulness and disobedience with meekness; contempt of instruction with silence; conceit with joy; indolence with hope; harsh judgment with love again; despondency and sloth with quietness; acerbity with chastity; familiarity with humility; and behind them all 1as a general salve, or rather poison, follows vainglory.

St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 26 On discernment of thoughts, passions and virtues

 

Posted in St. John Climacus | Tagged , | Comments Off on A frog with the water

The Kingdom of Heaven

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Administrator

The end of our profession indeed, as I said, is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven: but the immediate aim or goal, is purity of heart, without which no one can gain that end: fixing our gaze then steadily on this goal, as if on a definite mark, let us direct our course as straight towards it as possible, and if our thoughts wander somewhat from this, let us revert to our gaze upon it, and check them accurately as by a sure standard, which will always bring back all our efforts to this one mark, and will show at once if our mind has wandered ever so little from the direction marked out for it.

St. John Cassian, First Conference of Abbot Moses, Chapter 4, NPNF2.11.296

Posted in St. John Cassian | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Kingdom of Heaven

The Scroll

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Administrator

From the Life of St. Ephraim:

Before long, the elder Julian informed the brethren that one night, when he had left his cave, he beheld radiant angels descending from heaven at the command of God, bearing in their hands a scroll inscribed on both sides. And they said one to another: “Who can receive this scroll?” In reply, some uttered one name, and others mentioned another; but some said: “Truly, these are holy and righteous men whom ye have mentioned, yet not one of them can receive this scroll—only Ephraim, who is meek and humble of heart.” Then the elder saw that Ephraim was given this scroll, and was then convinced that what proceeded from the mouth of the holy Ephraim was inspired by the Holy Spirit; and he glorified God, Who had bestowed such grace upon is servants. When the blessed Ephraim was offering the bethren edifying talks, they were almost like a wellspring wing from his lips. From his mouth issued forth rivers overflowing with spiritual benefits.

 A spiritual psalter, excerpted by Bishop Theophan the recluse from the works of St Ephraim the Syrian, p. 241

Posted in St. Ephrem the Syrian | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Scroll

Hidden Treasure

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Administrator

May the Lord help you to be fully alive and to preserve sobriety. But do not forget the chief thing, to unite the attention and mind with your heart, and remain there unceasingly, before the Lord. Every effort that you make in prayer must be directed towards this. Pray to the Lord, that He may give you this blessing: it is the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl beyond price.

 Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer, p. 198

Posted in Theophan the Recluse | Tagged , | Comments Off on Hidden Treasure

Falsely Accused

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Administrator

Once, the young Ephraim was falsely accused of stealing a sheep, and was cast into prison. Two others likewise innocent, were imprisoned after him. “Seven days passed,” the venerable one recounted later in life, “and on the eighth I had a dream in which someone said to me: ‘Be pious, and thou shalt comprehend the providence of God. Ponder in thy thoughts what thou hast thought and what thou hast done, and thou shalt come to the realization that these men are not suffering unjustly; the guilty cannot elude punishment.’ Later that same night I saw the same person, who said to me: ‘Return to thine own place, and repent of thine unrighteousness, in full awareness that there is an Eye which watcheth over all.’ And having thus threatened me soundly, he withdrew.” Ephraim was faithful to the instruction of the one who had appeared to him. While still in prison, he vowed an oath to dedicate his entire life to repentance, and he soon forsook the world and withdrew into the surrounding mountains, where he sought out the hermits who lived there. There he became a disciple of the holy James, who subsequently became the great hierarch of Nisibis commemorated January 12th.

 A spiritual psalter, excerpted by Bishop Theophan the recluse from the works of St Ephraim the Syrian, p. 236

Posted in St. Ephrem the Syrian, Theophan the Recluse | Tagged | Comments Off on Falsely Accused

Holy Martyrs

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Administrator

Who is not astounded when he sees, O  holy  martyrs, the good fight that you fought? Being in the body you conquered the bodiless enemy, confessing Christ and armed with the Cross. In this way justly you were revealed to be expellers of demons and enemies of barbaric powers. Intercede unceasingly for the salvation of our souls. For, like the three children in the fiery furnace, you did not endure your trials in the hope of a reward, but out of love for God, as you yourselves have declared: ‘For even if He does not deliver us, yet we will not for that reason deny Him as one who does not save’ (cf. Dan. 3:17-18).

St Peter of Damaskos Book1 A Treasury of Divine Knowledge The Fourth Stage of Contemplation, Philokalia V3.127

Posted in St. Peter of Damaskos | Tagged , | Comments Off on Holy Martyrs