September 16, 2001
"Four
Centuries on the Spiritual Life -- Part IVa"
St. Thalassios the Libyan
Dear Friends,
Where do we begin today after the tragic events
of September 11? Here in Kosovo, the outpouring of grief and sympathy by
people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds has been overwhelming, as I
know it has been elsewhere in the world. All we can do now is move
forward with resolve never to allow something like this to happen again,
but at the same time to ensure that no one is punished or discriminated
against because of their religion or ethnic origin. As we do so,
however, I hope it will give us pause to prayerfully reexamine our
policies throughout the world -- especially in the Middle East -- to
determine honestly whether we are acting in the pursuit of justice,
fairness, and equality, and not on behalf of narrow political interests.
Please remember all the victims of these horrible
attacks, both the living and the dead, in your prayers.
Yours in Christ,
Michael McClellan, Editor
Inner Light Productions
**********
Before we get into this week's study, I would
like to share with you a prayer from St. Thalassios which he wrote for
all those struggling against the passions:
A PRAYER -- St. Thalassios
Christ, Master of all, free us from all these
destructive passions and the thoughts born of them.
For Thy sake we came into being, so that we might
delight in the paradise which Thou hast planted and in which Thou hast
placed us.
We brought our present disgrace upon ourselves,
preferring destruction to the delights of blessedness.
We have paid for this, for we have exchanged
eternal life for death.
O Master, as once Thou hast looked on us, look on
us now; as Thou becamest man, save all of us.
For Thou camest to save us who were lost. Do not
exclude us from the company of those who are being saved.
Raise up our souls and save our bodies, cleansing
us from all impurity.
Break the fetters of the passions that constrain
us, as once Thou hast broken the ranks of the impure demons.
Free us from their tyranny, so that we may
worship Thee alone, the eternal light,
Having risen from the dead and dancing with the
angels in the blessed, eternal and indissoluble dance. Amen.
--------------------------
In this issue we will look at part four of our
four-part series on St. Thalassios's four "centuries" on the
spiritual life. We are dividing this fourth part into two sections due
to the richness of their teachings and the length of the text. These are
only excerpts as we do not have space for the full text. 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 Part IV
by St. Thalassios the Libyan
-- Withdraw your soul from the perception of
sense objects, and the intellect will find itself in God and in the
realm of intelligible realities.
-- Intelligible natures that can be grasped only
by the intellect belong to the realm of divinity, while the senses and
sense objects have been created for the service of the intellect.
-- Use the senses and sense objects as a means to
spiritual contemplation but, on the contrary, do not use what provokes
the desire of the flesh as food for the senses.
-- You have been commanded to mortify the acts of
the body (Colossians 3:5), so that when the soul has been made dead to
pleasure you may bring it back to life through your ascetic labors.
-- Be ruled by God and rule over your senses;
and, being on a higher level, do not give authority to what is inferior
to you.
-- God, who is eternal, limitless and infinite,
has promised eternal, limitless and inexpressible blessings to those who
obey him.
-- The intellect's role is to live in God and to
meditate on Him, His providence and His awesome judgments.
-- You have the power to incline either upwards
or downwards: choose what is superior and you will bring what is
inferior into subjection.
-- Because they are the work is of God, who is
Himself good, the senses and sensible objects are good; but they cannot
in any way be compared with the intellect and with intelligible
realities.
-- The Lord has created intelligent and noetic
beings with a capacity to receive the Spirit and to attain knowledge of
Himself; He has brought into existence the senses and sense objects to
serve such beings.
-- An intellect that does not control the senses
will fall into evil because of them; deceived by the pleasure of sense
objects, it depraves itself.
-- While controlling your senses, control your
memory as well; for when its prepossessions are roused through the
senses they stir up the passions.
-- Keep your body under control, and pray
constantly; in this way you will soon be free from the thoughts that
arise from your prepossessions.
-- Devote yourself ceaselessly to the words of
God: application to them destroys the passions.
-- Spiritual reading, vigils, prayer and psalmody
prevent the intellect from being deluded by the passions.
-- Keep the commandments, and you will find
peace; love God, and you will attain spiritual knowledge.
-- As by nature the soul gives life to the body,
so virtue and spiritual knowledge give life to the soul.
-- In controlling your self-esteem, beware of
unchastity, so that you do not shun acclaim only to fall into dishonor.
-- Eschewing self-esteem, look to God, and beware
lest you become presumptuous or unchaste.
-- A sign of self-esteem is an ostentatious
manner; of pride, anger and scorn of others.
-- In cutting out gluttony, beware lest you seek
the esteem of others, making a display of the pallor of your face.
-- To fast well is to enjoy simple food in small
amounts and to shun other people's esteem.
-- After fasting until late in the day, do not
eat your fill, lest in so doing you build up again what you have pulled
down (Galatians 2:18).
-- If you do not drink wine, do not glut yourself
with water either; for if you do you will be providing yourself with the
same fuel for unchastity.
-- Pride deprives us of God's help, making us
over-reliant on ourselves and arrogant towards other people.
-- Prayer with tears, and having no scorn for
anyone, destroy pride; but so do chastisements inflicted against our
will.
-- Chastisement through the trials imposed on us
is a spiritual rod, teaching us humility when in our foolishness we
think too much of ourselves.
-- The intellect's task is to reject any thought
that secretly vilifies a fellow being.
-- Just as the gardener who does not weed his
garden chokes his vegetables, so the intellect that does not purify its
thoughts I wasting its efforts.
-- A wise man is one who accepts advice,
especially that of a spiritual father counseling him in accordance with
the will of God.
-- A man deadened by the passions is impervious
to advice and will not accept any spiritual correction.
-- He who does not accept advice will never go by
the straight path, but will always find himself among cliffs and gorges.
END
from G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and
Kallistos Ware, trans., "The Philokalia -- vol. II,"
(London: Faber and Faber, 1981), pp. 325 - 327.
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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