March
4, 2001
"Directions
on the Spiritual Life (Part III) -- St. Isaac of Syria
TWO GOOD BOOKS FOR YOUR
CONSIDERATION!
1) FOR SPIRITUAL SEEKERS -- In the course of
doing our "Thought of the Week" newsletter over the past
several years, we have referred often to the "Philokalia"
which stands as the best collection of Eastern Orthodox spiritual
literature available. What many of us don't always realize, however, is
that we have this incredible collection of spiritual writing available
to us today because of an 18th century Moldavian monk by the name of
Paisius Velichkovsky. A talented translator and dedicated monk and
ascetic who lived the teachings of the Philokalia, St. Paisius quite
literally re-discovered these ancient teachings after a long and arduous
search. They had been preserved in Greek, but he translated them into
Slavonic, thus making them available to the entire Slavic-speaking
world. St. Paisius also devoted the rest of his life to disseminating
these teachings, putting them into practice, and helping others to learn
them. As a result of his work, monasticism in Russia and the Slavic East
blossomed in the 19th century and the legacy of St. Paisius's work still
lives on today in monasteries across Europe and North America. The book
below is an excellent biography of St. Paisius's life and work and is a
wonderful introduction to the Philokalia and how it came to be known to
us today. It's also published by a monastery in California so your
purchase helps to support them in their life and work:
2) FOR PARENTS OF NEW BABIES -- Quite by
accident, I received a book in the mail the other day I did not order
called, "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer." As it turns out, this
is a best-selling book that is catching on with a lot of new parents and
it is really quite good! It's all about reading a baby's "body
language" and cues so you can understand better what they are
trying to tell you. It looks like this one is great for new parents (or
even grandparents!) as it makes for better communications between adults
and babies, thus making for a quieter and more harmonious life at home
with a new infant. :) Get it for yourself, a friend, or a loved one whom
God has recently blessed with one of His "little ones."
Now, on to this week's thought!
ST. ISAAC ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
In this issue, we will continue our study of the
teachings of St. Isaac of Syria who left us with extensive teachings on
the spiritual life. St. Isaac was born in Nineveh. We know nothing of
his childhood except that he and his brother took up the monastic life
early on, entering the Monastery of St. Matthew. St. Isaac soon
developed a desire for the solitary life, departing the monastery and
settling far away from his monastic community in a lonely cell where he
was able to devote himself fully to God. St. Isaac's brother, who had
since become abbot of the monastery, begged him to return to the
communal life, but Isaac refused even to make a short visit.
St. Isaac was soon called by God to rule over the
Church in Nineveh. Although he ruled well as a bishop, affairs in the
church there soon convinced him that he could not serve as a bishop. He
retired again to his blessed solitude where he remained for the rest of
his life. The writings St. Isaac produced in his solitary life have
served the Church and the faithful well for some fourteen centuries (he
died at the end of the sixth century), certainly a greater service to
the faithful than he would have provided had he remained in the world as
a bishop. He wrote from experience and guided those who came to him on
the basis of his own activity. St. Isaac taught from practice, not from
theory.
These teachings came down to us in Syriac and
Arabic. About half of them have been translated into Greek and then into
Russian. We will continue to these texts over the next several issues.
DIRECTIONS ON SPIRITUAL TRAINING
With Great Lent now underway, we will take a
close look at St. Isaac's teachings on fasting and bodily discipline as
the path to spiritual growth. The Desert Fathers and the Church have
enjoined all of us to fast during the period leading up to the Feast of
the Resurrection, but not necessarily to the same degree for all people.
St. Isaac teaches us today the basis for fasting and why it is important
for all Christians, but especially for monks:
BEGIN:
-- The practices of a monk are the following:
freedom from things of the flesh, labor of the body in prayers and
constant memory of God in the heart.
PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION
-- Prayer is one thing, and contemplation in
prayer is another, although prayer and contemplation mutually engender
one another. Prayer is sowing, contemplation the reaping of the harvest,
when the reaper is filled with wonder at the ineffable sight of the
beautiful ears of corn, which have sprung up before him from the little
naked seeds that he sowed.
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON -- FASTING
-- The Savior began the work of our salvation
with fasting. In the same way all those, who follow in the footsteps of
the Savior, build on this foundation the beginning of their endeavor,
since fasting is a weapon established by God. Who will escape blame if
he neglects this? If the Lawgiver Himself fasts, how can any of those,
who have to obey the law, be exempt from fasting? This is why the human
race knew no victory before fasting, and the devil was never defeated by
our nature as it is: but this weapon has indeed deprived the devil of
strength from the outset. Our Lord was the Leader and the first example
of this victory, in order to place the first crown of victory on the
head of our nature. As soon as the devil sees some one possessed of this
weapon, fear straightway falls on this adversary and tormentor of ours,
who remembers and thinks of his defeat by the Savior in the wilderness;
his strength is at once destroyed and the sight of the weapon, given us
by our Supreme Leader, burns him up. A man armed with the weapon of
fasting is always afire with zeal. He who remains therein, keeps his
mind steadfast and ready to meet and repel all violent passions.
-- Works and deeds gain passionlessness for the
soul, mortify the "members which are upon the earth"
(Colossians 3:5) and give quietness from thoughts, when we acquire
silence, and when the turmoil produced by impressions from the outer
senses ceases in the soul. Otherwise success in this is not possible.
For, if a tree is watered every day, can its root ever wither? Does
water ever get less in a vessel if more is added daily? But when a man
gains silence, his soul readily discerns passions, and the inner man,
roused to spiritual work, overcomes them and, from day to day, lifts the
soul nearer to purity.
THE ATTAINMENT OF PURITY
-- How can one say that a man has attained
purity? When he sees all men as being good, and when none appears to him
to be unclean and defiled, then he is indeed pure in heart.
-- Blessed are the pure in heart, for there is no
time when they do not rejoice in the sweetness of tears -- in which too
they see the Lord at all times. While tears are still wet in their eyes,
they are granted a sight of His revelations at the height of their
prayer; and no prayer of theirs is without tears. This is the meaning of
the Lord's saying: "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted" (Matthew 5:4). For if, with the help of tears, a monk
has succeeded in crossing the realm of passions and entering the plain
of purity of soul, he meets with the comfort which God grants for their
purity to those that mourn. To mourn and shed tears is a gift of the
passionless. If the tears of a man, who for a time weeps and mourns, can
not only lead him to passionlessness, but even completely free and
cleanse his mind of all memory of passions, what can be said of those
who day and night exercise themselves in this doing with knowledge?
-- One of the saints said that a body is greatly
burdened by the sufferings of silence, endures privations and want, and
comes near to losing its life, it is natural for it to implore you and
say: "Give me a little freedom to live decently; I now walk
righteously, for I have been tried by all kinds of bitter
sufferings." But as soon as you take pity on it and give it some
small rest from sufferings it begins little by little to cajole you (and
its cajolings are very powerful) by whispering: "We can live as we
should even close to the world, by following the same rules which guide
us now, since we have been well tried. Put me to the test, and if I am
not as you wish, we can always go back. The wilderness will not run
away." Do not trust it, however hard it implores you and whatever
promises it makes. It will not do as it says. If you grant its request
it will cast you into great downfalls, and you will not be able to rise
up from them again. END
from E. Kadloubovsky and G. E. H. Palmer, "Early
Fathers from the Philokalia," (London: Faber and Faber, 1981),
pp. 188 - 191
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