March 14, 1999
St. John Cassian
on Spiritual Direction
Our weekly newsletter has often quoted the Desert Fathers as
they were recorded by St. John Cassian in his wonderful books “Institutes” and
“Conferences.” On the Orthodox Church calendar, Cassian is
commemorated on February 29 or March 1 (depending on whether it is a leap year);
therefore, we will look more closely today at his life and works.
BEGIN: Our Holy Father, John Cassian, was born in Rome of eminent parents. In his
youth he studied the secular disciplines, especially philosophy and astronomy. After
that, he gave himself entirely to the study of Holy Scripture. He moved from the
good to the better, and, desiring higher and higher steps to perfection, Cassian left Rome
for the East, to learn more and attain this greater perfection. He went to
Bethlehem, then lingered in Egypt, at Nitria, among outstanding spiritual athletes from
whom he learned to exercise himself in all the virtues. In Constantinople, he became
a pupil of St. John Chrysostom and was ordained by him to the diaconate. He finally
returned to the West and settled near Marseilles, there founding two monasteries, one for
monks and one for nuns. At the request of the monks, Cassian wrote many books, among
which the ones on the lovers of the spiritual life are especially helpful: “Eight
books on the struggle against the eight chief passions” (The Institutes). His
book against the Nestorian heresy (On the Incarnation of the Lord), which he wrote at the
request of Archdeacon (later Pope) Leo, is very important. He served the Lord
faithfully and enriched many by his wisdom, then entered into eternal rest in 435.
St. Cassian’s relics are preserved to this day in Marseilles. END
St. John Cassian’s book, “Conferences,” was written with the intention of
providing spiritual instruction to monks. One of the over-riding themes found in
this volume is the need for spiritual guidance and instruction, if not from actual
spiritual directors, then at least from the writings of holy men and women. One
especially heart-breaking example of self-reliance is described by St. Cassian in the
following story:
BEGIN: A recent example of the kind that I promised you will show the force of that
description proclaimed of old by the blessed Anthony and by the other fathers. Think
of what you recently saw happening before your very eyes. Remember the old man Hero
who was cast down from the heights to the lowest depths because of a diabolical
illusion. I remember how he remained fifty years in this desert, keeping to the
rigors of abstinence with a severity that was outstanding, loving the secrecy of the
solitary life with a fervor marvelously greater than that of any one else dwelling
here. After such toil how and why could he have been fooled by the deceiver?
How could he have gone down into so great a ruin that all of us here in the desert were
stricken with pain and grief? Surely the reason for it was that he had too little of
the virtue of discernment and that he preferred to be guided by his own ideas rather than
to bow to the advice and conferences of his brethren and to the rules laid down by our
predecessors. He practiced fasting so rigorously and so relentlessly, he was so
given to the loneliness and secrecy of his cell, that even the special respect due to the
Easter day could not persuade him to join the brethren in their meal. He was the
only one who could not come together with all his brethren assembled in church for the
feast, and the reason for this was that by taking the tiniest share of the vegetables he
might give the impression of having relaxed from what he had chosen to do.
This presumptuousness led to his being fooled. He showed the utmost veneration for
the angel of Satan, welcoming him as if he were actually an angel of light. Yielding
totally to his bondage he threw himself headlong into a well, whose depths no eye could
penetrate. He did so trusting completely in the assurance of the angel who had
guaranteed that on account of the merit of his virtues and of his works he could never
come to any harm. To experience his undoubted freedom from danger the deluded man
threw himself in the darkness of night into this well. He would know at first hand
the great merit of his own virtue when he emerged unscathed. He was pulled out
half-dead by his brothers, who had to struggle very hard at it. He would die two
days later. Worse, he was to cling firmly to his illusion, and the very experience
of dying could not persuade him that he had been the sport of devilish skill. Those
who pitied him his leaving had the greatest difficulty in obtaining the agreement of abbot
Paphnutius that for the sake of the merit won by his very hard work and by the many years
endured by him in the desert he should not be classed among the suicides and hence, be
deemed unworthy of the remembrance and prayers offered for the dead. END
St. John Cassian’s life is taken from “The Prologue From Ochrid,”
by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, (Birmingham, England: Lazarica Press, 1985), vol. I, p.
223.
St. John’s teaching is taken from “Conferences,” (New York:
Paulist Press, 1985), pp. 64-65. NOTE: There are other readings from St. John
Cassian in our archives. Just use our search page to find
them!
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