August
12, 2001
"Four
Centuries on the Spiritual Life -- Part II"
St. Thalassios the Libyan
In this issue we will continue our study of the
writings of St. Thalassios the Libyan, abbot of a monastery in Libya in
the late sixth and early seventy centuries. There is little information
in his biography beyond saying that he was a contemporary and friend of
St. Maximos the Confessor (580 - 662). St. Maximos wrote his largest
work as a theological treatise addressed to St. Thalassios.
ON LOVE, SELF-CONTROL, AND LIFE IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE INTELLECT
by St. Thalassios the Libyan
-- The soul's health consists in dispassion and
spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.
-- Self-love -- that is, friendship for the body
-- is the source of evil in the soul.
-- It is an insult to the intelligence to be
subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful
desires.
-- You were commanded to keep the body as a
servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures.
-- Break the bonds of your friendship for the
body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.
-- The greatest weapons of someone striving to
lead a life of inward stillness are self-control, love, prayer, and
spiritual reading.
-- Let us strive to fulfill the commandments so
that we may be freed from the passions; and let us struggle to grasp the
divine doctrine so that we may be found worthy of spiritual knowledge.
-- The soul's immortality resides in dispassion
and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.
-- Fear of the Lord conquers desire, and distress
that accords with God's will repulses sensual pleasure.
-- The Scriptures contain four things:
commandments, doctrines, threats, and promises.
-- Self-control and strenuous effort curb desire;
stillness and intense longing for God wither it.
-- Long-suffering and readiness to forgive curb
anger; love and compassion wither it.
-- Woman symbolizes the soul engaged in ascetic
practice; through union with it the intellect begets the virtues.
-- The study of divine principles teachers
knowledge of God to the person who lives in truth, longing and
reverence.
-- What light is to those whose and to what is
seen, God is to intellective beings and to what is intelligible.
-- Do not neglect the practice of the virtues; if
you do, your spiritual knowledge will decrease, and when famine occurs
you will go down into Egypt (Genesis 41:57, 46:6).
-- Spiritual freedom is release from the
passions; without Christ's mercy you cannot attain it.
-- The Egypt of the spirit is the darkness of the
passions; no one goes down to Egypt unless he is overtaken by famine.
-- If you make a habit of listening to spiritual
teaching, your intellect will escape from impure thoughts.
-- Control your stomach, sleep, anger, and
tongue, and you will not "dash your foot against a stone"
(Psalms 91:12).
-- Strive to love every man equally, and you will
simultaneously expel all the passions.
-- The intellect cannot devote itself to
intelligible realities unless you sunder its attachment to the senses
and to sensible things.
-- A sign that the intellect is devoted to the
contemplation of intelligible realities is its disdain for all that
agitates the senses.
-- When the intellect is rich in the knowledge of
the One, the senses will be completely under control.
-- The intellect becomes a stranger to the things
of this world when its attachment to the senses has been completely
sundered.
-- The intellect is perfect when transformed by
spiritual knowledge; the soul is perfect when permeated by the virtues.
-- We are sons of God or of Satan according to
whether we conform to goodness or to evil.
-- A wise man is one who pays attention to
himself and is quick to separate himself form all defilement.
-- An obdurate soul does not notice when it is
whipped and so is unaware of its benefactor.
-- He who fears God will pay careful attention to
his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.
-- If you abandon God and are a slave to the
passions you cannot reap God's mercy.
-- A soul defiled by the passions becomes
obdurate: it has to undergo knife and cautery before it recovers its
faith.
-- Concern for one's soul means hardship and
humility, for through these God forgives us all our sins.
-- Just as desire and rage multiply our sins, so
self-control and humility erase them.
-- All sin is due to sensual pleasure, all
forgiveness to hardship and distress.
-- If you are not willing to repent through
freely choosing to suffer, unsought sufferings will providentially be
imposed on you.
-- Struggle until death to fulfill the
commandments: purified through them, you will enter into life.
-- Make the body serve the commandments, keeping
it so far as possible free from sickness and sensual pleasure.
-- Blessed stillness gives birth to blessed
children: self- control, love and pure prayer.
-- Spiritual reading and prayer purify the
intellect, while love and self-control purify the soul's passible
aspect.
-- If you lay down rules for yourself, do not
disobey yourself; for he who cheats himself is self-deluded.
-- Spiritual poverty is complete dispassion; when
the intellect has reached this state it abandons all worldly things.
from G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and
Kallistos Ware, trans., "The Philokalia -- vol. II,"
(London: Faber and Faber, 1981), pp. 313 - 318.
SOME GOOD BOOKS FOR YOUR
CONSIDERATION
I just began reading one of the most interesting
books I've seen in a long time! It is "The Day-to-Day Life of the
Desert Fathers," by Fr. Lucian Reginald, a monk in the Abbey of
Solesmes. Fr. Reginald has been a monk for over forty years, and spent
two years in Egypt visiting the places where the Desert Fathers lived
and researching their lives. This book (257 pages!) recreates the daily
life of the ancient Desert Fathers and takes an in-depth look at their
lifestyles and daily routines. I cannot recommend this book strongly
enough as it really puts a "human face" on the lifestyles and
environment of the early Desert Fathers and Mother and gives us a unique
look at their way of life. Order a copy of "The
Day-to-Day Life of the Desert Fathers" today!
A nice, but low-priced option for reading the
Desert Fathers is "The Sayings of the Desert Fathers" in the
Cistercian Studies series. This collection is good for self-study or as
a gift. Check out "The
Sayings of the Desert Fathers" and see what you're missing!
Fr. Seraphim Rose, a convert to Orthodoxy, wrote
a superb book some twenty years ago that is still one of the best books
available on modern religious movements. Called "Orthodoxy and the
Religion of the Future," Fr. Seraphim examines various new
religious movements and compares them to the historical truths and
teachings of the Orthodoxy, relying heavily on the teachings of the
Desert Fathers and Holy Scriptures. I personally have read and reread
this book several times and is always fresh and exciting. I am now
reading it yet again and it is just as fresh to me now as it was when I
first read it some twenty years ago. Order a copy of "Orthodoxy
and the Religion of the Future" today -- you'll be glad you
did!
Another book you may find very interesting and
revealing is "Not of This World: the Life and Teaching of Father
Seraphim Rose." At over 1000 pages, this book goes into Fr.
Seraphim's life in great detail and describes his intellectual
pilgrimage through Eastern religions until he finally found his
spiritual home in Russian Orthodoxy. The book also goes into Fr.
Seraphim's teachings in great detail, but some readers may find the
final few chapters a bit too "political" for their taste.
Nonetheless, the book is a great read for anyone interested in how
Orthodoxy can appeal to the modern mind in modern-day America. To order "Not
of This World: the Life and Teaching of Father Seraphim Rose"
online, just follow the link.
Finally, Ms. Johanna Manley has produced a superb
Bible study reference work that is simply great to have at hand when
you're studying the Scriptures. Called, " The Bible and the Holy
Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and Commentary for
Orthodox Christians," Manley has put together a superb collection
of writings from the Church Fathers on various scriptures so you can
have their words alongside the words of the Bible. This makes for an
excellent study source which allows one to study the Bible in the
context of the Church's teachings. Order "The
Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and
Commentary for Orthodox Christians" today!
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