Seeking the Heights

ΚΥΡ. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν χεῖρα βαλὼν ἐπ’ ἄροτον, καὶ στραφεὶς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, εὕθετός ἐστιν εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἔχεσθαι δὲ δεῖν τῆς εἰς σωτηρίαν ὁδοῦ, μὴ τῇδε κάκεῖσε περισπωμένους, καὶ φαντασίας ἐώλοις κοσμικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶμ' ἐλαφρὸν καὶ εὐδιαῥῥίπιστον νοῦν, ἀλλ’ ἐντελὴ τε καὶ ἄῦπνον, καὶ εἰς εὐθυ βλέπειν ἀει μεμελετηκότα, τηροῦντας ἐμ ἑαυτοῖς. Καὶ τὸ ἔτι μεῖζον ἐρῶ· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ ἄγγελος ούχ ὅτι χρη ἤδη μόνον αὐτὸν ἀμεταστρεπτὶ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν βάδισιν· προσετίθει δὲ χρησίμως τὸ Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ. Εἰς τὸ ὅρος σώζου, μὴποτε συμπαραληφθῇς. ΠΑΛΛ. Καὶ τί ἄν Βούλοιτο δηλοῠν τὸ Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ; ΚΥΡ. Τὸ οἴμαι νωθρόν τε καὶ ἀδρανὲς εἰς τὸ δεῖν ἐξίπτασθαι τοῦ κακοῦ σφαλερόν τε καὶ ἐπιζήμιον. Ἄριστον οὖν παρακελευσμάτων τὸ, 'Μὴ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ,' τοῦτ’ ἔστιν, ἐν μηδενὶ τρόπῳ φαυλότητος διαμελλήσας ἁλῷς, ἄνιθι δὲ μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ εἰς ὅρος, εἰς ἐξῃρημένην τινὰ καὶ περίοπτον ζωὴν, οὐδεν ἔχουσαν τὸ χαμαιῥῥιφὲς, ἀλλ’ ἐν ὑψηλῇ τε καὶ ἐπηρμένῃ διαπρέπουσαν ἀρετῇ, καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένῃ φρονήματος τοῦ χθαμαλωτάτου, τοῠτ’ ἔστιν τοῦ ἐπιγείου καὶ σαρκικοῦ. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι 'Τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ κραταιοὶ τῆς γῆς σφόδρα ἐπήρθησαν.' Ἄνωτάτω γὰρ τῶν ἐπιγείων τὸ ἁγιοπρεπές ἐστι φρόνημα. 'Καὶ νεοττοὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ πέτονται,' κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, εἴπερ ἔχουσι καθάπερ εἰς ὄρος ἐν οὔρανῷ τὸ πολίτευμα, καὶ μεταποιοῦνται πατρίδος τῆς ἄνω. Γράφει δὲ που καὶ Παῦλος· 'Τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, μὴ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.' ΠΑΛΛ. Ὁρος οὐν ἄρα τὸ νοητὸν, ἡ ἐν ἀγαισμῷ ζωὴ, καὶ τῆς ἐξαιρέτου πολιτείας τὸ ὑπερτενὲς, νοουμένης που κάτω τῆς ἐν ἀκαθαρσίαις καὶ φιλαμαρτήμονος, καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγείοις ἐντετηγμένης. Ἅγιος Κυριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐν Πνευματι Καὶ Ἀληθειᾳ Προσκυνησεως

Cyril: 'No one,' he says, ' who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is worthy of the kingdom of heaven.' One must hold to the way of salvation, lest one be turned to evil and the vacuous imagines of worldly desires should drive the soul, but firm and sleepless we should always take care to look at the direct way, holding it within us. And indeed better I should say what the angel said to Lot, that one should not only refrain from looking back on the way but one should go forward with a will, that is, ' Do not stand in any place. To the saving mountain go, lest you are taken with them.' Palladius:And what does this mean 'Do not stand in any place'? Cyril: I think that it means that it is necessary to fly from sluggishness and indolence that we may be secure from evil. Best then is the exhortation, ' Do not stand in any region,' that is, do not be taken in any type of baseness, but rather ascend the mountain to the excellent visible life which those thrown down upon the earth do not have, but on the heights in well prepared virtue be eminent, far apart from those of low thoughts, that is, the worldly and the carnal. For it is written that ' By God the strong of the earth are lifted up.' For those with thoughts turned to sanctity are high above the worldly. 'And the young fly in the heights' according to Scripture, since for those on the mountain their city is in heaven and they choose the fatherland above. As it was written by Paul, ' Seek things above, not the things of the earth.' Palladius: Then the spiritual mountain is the holy life and the city set apart is for the chosen, while below are thoughts set in impurity and love of sin, and this is the meaning of the worldly. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, On Worshiping in Spirit and Truth

The Wing of the Spirit

Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὔτω λυπεῖ ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμὸν καὶ θολοῖ, ὡς ὁ τῶν βιωτικῶν φροντίδων ὄχλος, καὶ ὁ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ἐσμός· ταῦτα γὰρ τοῦ καπνοῦ τούτου τὰ ξύλα. Καὶ καθάπερ τὸ πῦρ, ὅταν ὑγρᾶς καὶ διαβρόχου τινὸς ἐπιλαβηταυ ὕλυς, πολὺν ἀνάπτει τὸν καπνον, οὔτω καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία ἡ σφοδρὰ αὔτη καὶ φλογώδης, ὅταν ὑγρᾶς τινος καὶ διαλελυμένης ἐπιλαβηται ψυχῆς, πολύν καὶ αὐτὴ τίκτει τὸν καπνόν. Διὰ τοῦτο χρεία τῆς δρόσου τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ τῆς αὔρας ἐκείνης, ἵνα τὸ πῦρ σβέσῃ, καὶ τὸν καπνὸν διαχέη καὶ πτηρὸν ποιὴσῃ ἡμῖν τὸν λογισμόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι τοσούτοις βαρυνόμενον κακοῖς πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναπτῆναι· ἀλλ’ ἀγαπητὸν, εὐζωνους ἡμᾶς ὅντας δυνηθῆναι ταύτην τεμεῖν τὴν ὁδόν· μάλλον δὲ οὐδε οὕτω δυνατὸν, ἂν μὴ τοῦ Πνεύματος λάβωμεν τὸ πτερόν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὁμῖλία B' ,Ὑπόμνημα Εἰς την προς Ἁγιον Ματθαίον

For nothing so hurts and blinds the eye of the soul as the crowd of worldly worries and the swarm of desires; for these are as wood for the smoke, and as fire, when it lays hold of any thoroughly damp material, kindles much smoke, so this desire, so vehement and burning, when it lays hold of the dissolute matter of the soul, generates much smoke. Thus there is need of the dew of the Spirit, and of that air, that it may extinguish the fire, and scatter the smoke, and give wings to our thoughts. For it is not so, it cannot be, that being weighed down with evils one could soar up to heaven; but, beloved, unencumbered we are able to make this our way; or rather it is not possible unless we receive the wing of the Spirit. Saint John Chrysostom, Second Homily on Matthew,

Teaching and the Heart

Ἡ δὲ Βουλὴ τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει· λογισμοὶ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν.  Οὐκ ὀρᾷς τὰ τῶν ἐθνων δόγματα, τὴν ματαίαν ταύτην φιλοσοφίαν, ὅπως λεπτοὶ καὶ περιττοὶ περὶ τὰς εὐρήσεις τῶν δογμάτων εἰσὶν ἔν τε λογικοῖς θεωρήμασι καὶ ἠθικαῖς διατάξεσι, καὶ φυσιολογίαις τισὶ καὶ δόγμασιν ἄλλοις τοῖς ἐποπτικοὶς λεγομένοις; Πῶς διεσκέδασται πάντα, καὶ ἠχρείωται, μόνη δὲ ἐμπολιτεύεται νῦν τῷ κόσμῳ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου; Πολλαὶ γὰρ αἱ Βουλαὶ ἐν καρδία ἀνθρώπων· ἀλλ’ ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐκράτησε. Καὶ ἀναγκαῖόν γε, εἰ μέλλοι μόνιμος καὶ ἑδραια ἡ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ βουλὴ ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν ἐναπομένειν, προδιασεδασθῆναι πρότερον ἐν ἡμιν τοὺς ἀνθρωπίνους λογισμούς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ γράφειν μέλλων ἐν κηρῷ, προκαταλεαίνων πρότερον, οὕτως ἐπιβαλλει τοὺς τύπους οὔς  ἐὰν θέλῃ· οὕτω καὶ καρδίαν χρη τὴν μέλλουσαν τρανῶς ὑποδέχεσθαι τὰ θεῖα λόγια, καθαρὰν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων λογισμῶν ἀποδειχθῆναι. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΛΒ’

'The counsel of the Lord remains in eternity; the thoughts of His heart are from generation to generation.' Do you not see the teachings of the pagans, that vain philosophy, how light and paltry are the insights of their doctrines in their logical theories and ethical arrangements, and their physics and the other teachings which they disclose to initiates in their mysteries? Do you not see how they have all been brushed aside, revealed as rubbish, when the sole truth of the Gospel is brought forth? Many counsels there are in the heart of man but the counsel of the Lord prevails. And it is necessary so that the counsel of the Lord remains stable and firm in our soul that human thoughts are first got rid of. For just as wax which is to be written on is first wiped clean so that letters may be impressed, if the writer so wishes, so the heart must be cleared to receive the Divine words, pure from all contrary thoughts. Saint Basil of Caeserea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 32

Problems of Belief

Postquam de paradisi gaudiis, culpa exigente, expulsus est primus humani generis parens, in hujus caecitatis atque exsilii quam patimur venit aerumnam, quia peccando extra semetipsum fusus, jam illa coelestis patriae gaudia, quae prius contemplabatur, videre non potuit. In paradiso quippe assueverat homo verbis Dei perfrui, beatorum angelorum spiritibus cordis munditia et celesitudine visionis interesse; sed postquam huc cecidit, ab illo quo implebatur mentis lumine recessit. Ex cujus videlicet carne nos in hujus exsilii caecitate nati, audivimus quidem coelestem esse patriam, audivimus ejus cives angelos Dei, audivimus eorumdem angelorum socios spiritus justorum et perfectorum. Sed carnales quique, quia illa invisibilia scire non valent per experimentum, dubitant utrumne sit quod corporalibus oculis non vident. Quae nimirum dubietas in primo parente nostro esse non potuit, quia exclusus a paradisi gaudiis, hoc quod amiserat, quia viderat recolebat. Hi autem sentire vel recolere audita non possunt, quia eorum nullum, sicut ille, saltem de praeterito, experimentum tenent. Ac si enim praegnans mulier mittatur in carcerem, ibique pariat puerum, qui natus puer in carcere nutriatur et crescat; cui si fortasse mater quae hunc genuit, solem, lunam, stellas, montes et campos, volantes aves, currentes equos nominet, ille vero qui est in carcere natus et nutritus nihil aliud quam tenebras carceris sciat, et haec quidem esse audiat, sed quia ea per experimentum non novit, veraciter esse diffidat; ita in hac exsilii sui caecitate nati homines, dum esse summa et invisibilia audiunt, diffidunt an vera sint, quia sola haec infima in quibus nati sunt visibilia noverunt.   Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogorum Liber IV, Cap I

After the first Parent of the human race was for his fault driven from the joys of Paradise, he came into the hardship of this blindness and exile which we suffer, for having been prostrated by sin he was no longer able to see those joys of heaven which once he contemplated. In Paradise man was accustomed to delight in the words of God and by purity of heart and heavenly vision he was present with the blessed angels, but after the fall the light that had filled his soul was withdrawn, he from whom we are born by the flesh into this sightless exile, yet we do hear of a heavenly homeland, we hear of the angelic subjects of God, we hear that the angelic spirits are accompanied by the spirits of the just and perfect. But those carnal, because they are not able to know these invisible things by experience, doubt whether there be any such things, they doubt whether a thing can be which corporal eyes do not see, a doubt our first Parent was certainly not able to have, for though exiled from the joys of Paradise he was still able to recall what he had seen and had lost, but later men cannot recall to mind such things which they hear about because they never had former experience of them as the first man did. It is as if a pregnant woman were put in prison and there gave birth to a son, who being born in the prison was nurtured and raised there, and if perhaps his mother should tell him of the sun, the moon, the stars, mountains and fields, flying birds and galloping horses, this fellow who had been born and raised in prison, knowing nothing but its darkness, hearing what was said, would lack confidence in its truth because his own experience had not taught him any such thing. So it is that men who are born in this blind exile, when they hear about sublime and invisible things, lack confidence such things because they know only low and visible things. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 4, Chap 1

The Impious Man and the Sinner

Beatus vir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. Sed in lege Domini fuit voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.  Quinque generum observantiam beato viro subesse Propheta commemorat: primam in impiorum consilio non eundi, alteram in peccatorum via non consistendi, tertiam in cathedra pestilentia non sedendi, tum deinde voluntatis in lege Domini ponendae, postremo in ea die noctuque meditandi. Ergo necesse est differre impium a peccatore, peccatorem a pestilente; maxime cum sit impiis consilium, peccatori via, cathedra pestilenti: dehinc cum in consilio impiorum eatur potius quam stetur, in via vero peccatoris stetur magis quam eatur. Quarum rerum causas ut intelligere possimus, discernendum est, quantum differat peccator ab impio: ut per id intelligi possit, cur peccatori via, et impio consilium deputetur: dehinc cur et in via standum, et in consilio eundum sit; cum humana consuetudo, et in consilio standum, et in via eundum esse decernat. Non omnis qui peccator est, et impius est; impius autem non potest non esse peccator. Et sumamus ex usu conscientiae communis exemplum: Patres suos amare possunt filii, licet ebriosi sint et lacivi et prodigi; et inter haec vitia carent impietate, qui non carent crimine. Impii vero, licet in praecipius sint continentiae frugalitatisque virtutibus, omne tamen quodcumque aliud extra impietatem erit crimen in contumelia parentis excedunt. Igitur secundum hoc propositum exemplum, impium discerni a peccatore non dubium est. Et impios quidem eos esse natura ipsa judicii communis ostendit, qui cognitionem Dei expetere fastidiunt, qui nullum esse mundi creatorem irreligiosa a opinione praesumunt, qui mundum in hunc habitum ornatumque fortuitis motibus coastitisse commemorant, qui ne quod judicium creatori suo ob vitam recte criminoseve gestam relinquant, volunt ex naturae necessitate se nasci, et ex eadem rursum necessitate dissolvi. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus Super Psalmos, Psalmus I

Blessed the man who has not walked in the counsel of the impious, nor stood in the way of sinners, and in the seat of pestilence he has not sat. But in the Law of the Lord is his will, and on His Law will he shall meditate day and night.  The Prophet recites five things to be observed by the blessed man. The first, not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly; the second, not to stand in the way of sinners; the third, not to sit in the seat of pestilence; then to set his will in the Law of the Lord; and lastly, to meditate on it day and night. Therefore it must be that there is a distinction between the impious man and the sinner and between the sinner and the pestilent; chiefly because the impious has counsel, the sinner a way, and the pestilent a seat; and further because into the counsel of the impious 'he goes' rather than 'stands'. That we be able to understand the causes of these things, one must discern how the sinner differs from the impious, so it may be understood why the sinner is assigned a way and the impious a counsel; and then why in the way there is 'standing' and in counsel there is 'walking', since men by custom associate standing with counsel and walking with a way. Not everyone, then, who is a sinner is impious, but the impious man cannot fail to be a sinner. Let us take an example from general experience: sons are able to love their fathers though the sons be drunks and lascivious and spendthrifts, and though they have all these vices, though they are not lacking in guilt, they may lack impiety. Impious men, though they may be famed for the virtues of continence and frugality, by despising the parent, exceed the guilt of the others. Therefore, as this example demonstrates, there is no doubt that the impious must be distinguished from the sinner. Indeed, common nature deems those impious who scorn to seek the knowledge of God, who in their irreligion adopt the opinion that there is no Creator of the world, who say that it was brought together into order and beauty by fortuitous movements, who, to deny their Creator judgment on a life lived rightly or in sin, wish it to be that they are born by a necessity of nature and again that by necessity they pass away. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 1

A Plea for Help

Sed utinam vel dum haec loquimur, ipso conscientiae nostrae judicio, et proprii sermonis querimonia excitaremur, vel sero possemus dicere: 'Nunc coepimus, haec mutatio dextrae Excelsi' sed 'ventres pigri' sumus, et idcirco 'adhaeret pavimento anima nostra' quamvis jamdudum ei dixeritis: 'Erige te a mortuis, ut attingas Christum.' Quem quidem Dominum interventu fidei vestrae, per gratiae sacramentum, imposuistis in naviculam cordis nostri. Sed quia somno inertiae nostrae obdormivit in nobis, opus est ut eum excitetis, ut assurgat in excitationem animae nostrae; imperet silentium turbidis cogitationum terrestrium flatibus, et sensuum nostrorum fluctus verbi sui pace componat, ut fiat in corde nostro casta tranquillitas; et spiritu veritatis gubernatore, ac Dei verbo remige, dirigamur ad portum voluntatis nostrae.  Sanctus Paulinus Nolanus, Epistola IX, Ad Amandum

Yet even as I say these things may the very judgement of my conscience and the laments of my own words rouse me, so that, even so late, I may be able to say, 'Now that I have begun, this is the change of the right hand of the Most High.'1 But we are 'slothful bellies'2 and therefore my soul cleaves to the earth, although you have for so long been saying to it, 'Rise from the dead that you may attain to Christ.'3 By the intervention of your faith, through the sacrament of grace, you have established the Lord in the little ship of my heart. But by my idle slumbering Christ has slept within me, and it is your labour to rouse Him that He may rise up to rouse my soul, that he may command silence on the confused gusts of my earthly thoughts, that he may calm with the peace of his own word the billows of my senses; and with the spirit of truth as helmsman and the Word of God as oarsman, I shall be guided to the harbour of my desire. Saint Paulinus of Nola, Letter 9, To Amandus 1. Ps 76.11  2 Tit 1.12 3 Ep 5.14

Natural Disasters and Virtue

ὁ γὰρ τῆς ἐπικειμένης συμφορᾶς φόβος ἀντὶ πάσης παραινέσεως καὶ συμβουλῆς ἀρκεῖ τὰς ἀπάντων σωφρονίσαι ψυχάς. Τίς γὰρ οὕτως ἄθλιος καὶ ταλαίπωρος, ὡς ἐν τοσούτῳ χειμῶνι μεθύειν; τίς οὕτως ἀναίσθητος, ὡς τῆς πόλεως οὕτω σαλευομνης, καὶ ναυαγίας τοιαύτης ἀπειλουμένης, μὴ νήφειν καὶ ἐγρηγορέναι, καὶ πάσης συμβουλῆς καὶ παραινέσεως ἀκριβέστερον άπὸ τῆς ἀγωνίας διορθοῦσθαι ταύτης; Οὐ γαρ τοσοῠτον ἐργάσασθαι δυνήσεται λόγος, ὁσον ἐργάζεται φόβος· καὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ ἀπὸ τῶν συμβεβηκότων νῦν δυνατὸν ἀποδεῖξαι. Πόσους γοῦν ἀνηλώσαμεν λόγους, πολλοὺς τῶν ῥαθύμων παταινοῦτες, καὶ συμβουλεύοντες τὰ θέατρα ἀφεῖνα, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἀκολασίας; καὶ οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο, ἀλλ ἀεὶ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην ἐπὶ τὰς παρανόμους τῶν ὀρχουμένων συνέτρεχον θεωρίας, καὶ σύλλογον διαβολικὸν ἀντικαθίστασαν τῷ πληρώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ταῖς ἐνταῦθα ψαλμῳδίαις ἀντήχουν αἱ ἐκεῖθεν κραυγαὶ μετὰ πολλῆς φερόμεναι τῆς σφοδρότητος· ἀλλ’ ἰδοὺ νῦν σιγώντων ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐδὲν περὶ τούτου λεγόντων, αὐτόματοι τὴν ὀρχήστραν ἔφραξαν, καὶ ὁ ἱππόδρομος ἀβατος γέγονε· καὶ πρὸ τούτου μὲν πολλοὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων πρὸς ἐκείνους ἔτρεχον, νυνὶ δὲ πάντες ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησιαν κατέφυγον, καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον ἄπαντες ἐνυμνοῦσι Θεόν. Ὁμιλία Εἰς τὴν Συμφορὰν τῆς Πόλεως Ἀντιοχείας, Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος

For the fear of pressing calamity seems to most effectively exhort and counsel all souls to be prudent. Who indeed is so wretched and forsaken that in such a storm he would make himself drunk? Who is so insensitive that with the city shaking and ruin impending that he would not be improved in prudence by this disaster? And that it is so on account of this earthquake which has caused so much fear one is able to demonstrate. How many speeches have we wasted on the admonishment of sluggish multitudes, counseling them to forgo the entertainments of the theatre and the vanity there? But they have not abstained, always even up to this time they have raced off to the lawless dance spectacles and have gathered there as a mob of a church against God, and in such a place they have bellowed their songs with all their might. But, behold, now they are silent, they do speak a word, suddenly the dances have stopped and the racetrack, that which before so many had raced to be at, is closed, for now all have fled to the church and we all hymn God. Homily on the Calamity that Befell the City of Antioch, Saint John Chrysostom

Three Ways to Avoid Faults

Tunc beatus Chaeremon: Tria sunt, inquit, quae faciunt homines a vitiis temperare, id est, aut metus gehennae, sive praesentium legum, aut spes atque desiderium regni coelorum, aut affectus boni ipsius amorque virtutum. Nam timor ita mali contagium legitur exsecrari: Timor Domini odit malitiam. Spes etiam, vitiorum omnium excludit incursum: 'Non' enim 'delinquent omnes qui sperant in eum.' Amor quoque ruinam non metuit peccatorum, quia 'Charitas operit multitudinem peccatorum.' Et idcirco beatus Apostolus omnem salutis summam istarum trium virtutum consummatione concludens: 'Nunc,' inquit, 'manent fides, spes, charitas: tria haec.' Fides namque est, quae futuri judicii ac suppliciorum metu vitiorum facit contagia declinari; spes, quae mentem nostram de praesentibus avocans, universas corporis voluptates coelestium praemiorum exspectaione contemnit; charitas, quae nos ad amorem Christi et spiritalium virtutum fructum mentis ardore succendens, quidquid illis contrarium est, toto facit odio detestari. Quae tria, licet ad unum finem tendere videantur, provocant enim nos a rebus illicitis abstinere, magnis tamen excellentiae suae gradibus ab invicem disparantur. Duo namque superiro proprie hominum sunt eorum qui ad profectum tendentes, necdum affectum concepere virtutum. Tertium specialiter Dei est, et eorum qui in sese imaginem Dei ac similitudinem receperunt. Ille namque solus ea quae bona sunt, nullo metu, nulla remunerationis gratia provocante, sed solo bonitatis affectu operatur.  Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Col XI, Cap VI.

Then the blessed Chaeremon said, 'There are three things which enable men to suppress their faults: either the fear of hell or of present laws; or the hope and desire of the kingdom of heaven; or an affection for goodness itself and love of virtue. For one reads that the fear of evil loathes contamination: 'The fear of the Lord hates evil.' Hope also excludes the intrusions of all faults: 'All who hope in Him shall not fail.' Love also does not fear the ruin of sins, for: 'Love covers a multitude of sins.' And therefore the blessed Apostle encloses the whole sum of salvation in the attainment of these three virtues, saying 'Now abide faith, hope, love, these three.' For faith is that which makes us avoid the infections of faults from fear of future judgment and punishment; hope is that which calls away our mind from present things, and spurns all corporeal pleasures by the expectation of heavenly rewards; love is that which  inflames us with desire of heart for the love of Christ and the spiritual fruit of the virtues, and makes us hate with a perfect hatred whatever is opposed to these. These three things, although they all seem to aim at one end, for they exhort us to abstain from illicit things, yet they differ from each other greatly in the degrees of their excellence. For the first two are fitting for men who in their aim at improvement have not yet acquired an affection for virtue. The third belongs specially to God and to those who have received into themselves the image and likeness of God. For that one alone, with no fear, with no expectation of reward, but simply from the love of goodness, does the things that are good. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 11, Ch 6.

Making a Throne for God

Κύριος τὸν καταλυσμὸν κατοικιεῖ. Κατακλυσμος ὔδατός ἐστιν ἐπίκλυσις ἐξαφανίζοντος πᾶν τὸ ὑποκείμενον, καὶ καθαρίζοντος ἄπαν τὸ προεῥῥυπωμένον. Τὴν οὖν τοῦ βαπτίσματος χάριν κατακλυσμὸυ ὀνονμάζει, ὥστε τὴν ἀποπλυναμένην τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ψυχὴν, καὶ ἀποκαθηραμένην τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐπιτηδείαν εἶναι λοιπὸν πρὸς κατοικητήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Πνεύματι. Συνᾴδει δὲ τούτω καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ πριακοστῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ εἰρημένα. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰπεὶν, ὄτι Τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγνώρισα, καὶ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν μου οὐκ ἐκάλυψα· καὶ τὸ, ὅτι Ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς προσεύξεται πρὸς σὲ πᾶς ὅσιος· ἐπήγαγε· Πλὴν ἐν κατακλυσμῷ ὑδάτων πολλῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν ούκ ἐγγιοῦσιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγγιοῦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι τῷ λαβοντι τὸ Βάπτισμα τῆς ἀφέσεως τῶν παραπτωμάτων διὰ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Συγγενὲς δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ Μιχαίου εὔρηται· Ὅτι θελητὴς ἐλέους ἐστὶν, ἐπιστρέψει καὶ ἐλεήσει ἡμᾶς· καταδύσει τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀποῥῥιφήσονται εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης. Καὶ καθιεῖται Κύριος Βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰωνα. Τῇ λαμπούσῇ ψυχῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἐνιδρυθεὶς ὁ Θεὸς, οἰονεὶ θρόνον αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ ἀπεργάζεται.   Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΚΗ’

'The Lord makes a dwelling place of the deluge.' A deluge is an inundation of water, and everything below and before it is washed clean. Thus baptism is named an inundation of grace, since the soul is cleansed of sin, and the old man being washed off a man becomes capable of being a habitation of the spirit of God. Further what was said in the thirty first Psalm chimes with this, where it is said, 'I have made known my injustice and my sin I have not hidden'; and again, 'for this I prayed to you, all holy'; and below: 'Truly in the deluge of many waters they shall not come near him.' Indeed sin shall not approach him who receives baptism for the remission of sins in water and the spirit. And in Micah we find: 'Because he wishes to be merciful he turns and has compassion on us; he drowns our sins and they are thrown into the deep sea. And the Lord sits as king in eternity.' For in the soul made bright by the deluge God establishes himself as if there he has placed a throne for himself. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 28

Thoughts on Service

Vos autem, fratres, exhortamur in Domino ut propositum vestrum custodiatis, et usque in finem perseveretis: ac si qua opera vestra mater Ecclesia desideraverit, nec elatione avida suscipiatis, nec blandiente desidia respuatis; sed miti corde obtemperetis Deo, cum mansuetudine portantes eum qui vos regit, qui dirigit mites in iudicio, qui docet mansuetos vias suas . Nec vestrum otium necessitatibus Ecclesiae praeponatis, cui parturienti si nulli boni ministrare vellent, quomodo nasceremini, non inveniretis. Sicut autem inter ignem et aquam tenenda est via, ut nec exuratur homo nec demergatur; sic inter apicem superbiae et voraginem desidiae iter nostrum temperare debemus, sicut scriptum est: Non declinantes, neque ad dexteram, neque ad sinistram. Sunt enim qui dum nimis timent ne quasi in dexteram rapti extollantur, in sinistram lapsi demerguntur. Et sunt rursus qui dum nimis se auferunt a sinistra, ne torpida vacationis mollitie sorbeantur, ex altera parte iactantiae fastu corrupti atque consumpti, in favillam fumumque vanescunt. Sic ergo, dilectissimi, diligite otium, ut vos ab omni terrena delectatione refrenetis, et memineritis nullum locum esse, ubi non possit laqueos tendere qui timet ne revolemus ad Deum; et inimicum omnium bonorum, cuius captivi fuimus, iudicemus, nullamque nobis esse perfectam requiem cogitemus, donec transeat iniquitas, et in iudicium iustitia convertatur  Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, ex Epistola Abbati Eudoxio et Fratribus

We exhort you in the Lord, brethren, that you watch over your purpose, and persevere to the end, and if the Church, your Mother, desires your service, that you are neither taken up by excessive elation nor you refuse out of the attraction of indolence, but with gentle heart obey God, bearing him with gentleness who rules you, who teaches you the way of meekness. Do not choose your own leisure to the demands of the Church, for if no one wished to help in bringing forth the good how it would be born we do not know. As between fire and water hold to the way, that you are neither burnt nor drowned, so between the peak of pride and the chasm of laziness we should try to make our path; as it is written: 'Declining neither to the right nor the left.'  There are some who excessively fearing that by elevation they will be snatched by the right side fall to the left and are submerged. And again they are those who excessively shying away from the left side, lest they be absorbed in in the torpid softness of ease, are thrown to the other side and are corrupted and consumed by conceit, in the dust of that smoke vanishing. Therefore, beloved, hold dear leisure that you refrain from every worldly pleasure and remember that there is no place where he who fears we would fly to God does not set traps. Let us be aware of that enemy of all good, whose captives we were, and let us think none of us to be in perfect peace until iniquity has passed away. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from the Letter to the Abbot Eudoxus and the brothers with him.

Evil And The Divine Will

Οὐδεμία κακοῦ γένεσις ἐκ θείου βουλήματος τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν· ἥ γὰρ ἄν ἐξω μέμψεως ἦν ἡ κακία, Θεὸν ἑαυτῆς ἐπιγραφομένη ποιητήν καὶ πατέρα· ἀλλ' ἐμφύεται πως τὸ κακὸν ἔνδοθεν, τῇ προαιρέσει τότι συνεστάμενον, ὅταν τις ἀπὸ τοῦ καλοῦ γένηται τῆς ψυχῆς ἀναχώρησις. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἡ ὅρασις φύσεώς ἐστιν ἐνέργεία· ἡ δέ πήρωσις, στέρησίς ἐστι τῆς φυσικῆς ἐνεργείας· οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἀρετὴ πρὸς τὴν κακίαν ἀνθέστηκεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλην κακίας γένεσιν ἐννοῆσαι, ἡ ἀρετῆς ἀπουσίαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦ φωτὸς ὑφαιρεθέντος ὁ ζόφος ἐπηκολούθησε, παρόντος δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν·οὕτως ἔως ἄν ᾕ τὸ αγαθὸν ἐν τῇ φύσει, ἀνύρκτόν ἐστι καθ’ ἑαυτὸ ἡ κακία· ἡ δὲ τοῦ κρείτονος ἀναχώρησις γίνεται τοῦ ἐναντίου γένεσις. Ἐπεί οὔν τοῦτο τῆς αὐτεξουσιότητός ἐστι τὸ ἰδίωμα, τὸ κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἀναιρεῖσθαι τὸ καταθύμιον, οὐχ ὁ Θεός σοι τῶν παρόντων ἐστὶν αἴτιος κακῶν, ἀδέσποτόν τε καὶ ἄνετόν σοι κατασκευάσας τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλ' ἡ ἀβουλία τὸ χεῖρον ἀντὶ τοῦ κρείττονος προελομένη. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Λόγος Κατήχητικος Ὁ Μέγας, Κεφαλή Ε’ Source: Migne PG 45.24d-25a

No beginning of evil had its source in the Divine will, for wickedness would have been blameless were it inscribed with God as its maker and father, but evil somehow grows from within, brought forth at that moment when the soul withdraws from the sublime. Just as sight is an activity of nature, and blindness a privation of that natural activity, such is the opposition of virtue and vice. For one must not think that there can be another origin of vice but the absence of virtue. For as when the light is removed so darkness follows, and while the former is present the latter is not, thus as long as the good is in the nature, so vice is a thing that has no inherent existence, and the departure of the better state is the origin of its opposite. This, then, is the specific property of the free will, that it chooses of itself, and thus God is not the cause of present evils, seeing that He has established your nature to be its own master, but rather the cause is the thoughtlessness that chooses the worse instead of the better. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, from The Great Catechism, Chapter 5

Slander and the Fall

Εἶπε πάλιν· Ψιθυρίσας ὁ ὅφις τὴν Εὔαν τοῦ παραδείσου ἐξεβαλε. Τούτου οὖν ὅμοιος ἔσται καὶ ὁ καταλαλῶν τοῦ πλησίον· τὴν γὰρ ψυχὴν τοῦ ἀκούοντος ἀπολλύει, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ οὐ διασώζει.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Again Father Hyperechios said, ' The hissing of the serpent cast Eve out of paradise and so it is with the one who speaks ill of his neighbour; for he who does such a thing ruins the soul of the one who hears and he does not save his own.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

A Conversation Interrupted

Καὶ ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ λαλούντων ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν ὁ ἀρχων τῆς χώρας Ἀλύπιος ὀνόματι. Οὐ προσδραμόντος ἀφῆκεν τήν πρὸς ἐμὲ ὁμιλὶαν ὁ μεγας. Ἀναχωρἠσας οὖν ὀλίγον ἐγὼ δέδωκα αὐτοῖς τόπον εἰς τὸ πόῥῥωθεν. Ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ συνομιλούντων αὐτῶν ἡκηδίασα, καὶ ἀκηδιάσας κατεγόγγοσα τοῦ καλογήρου, εἰς ἐμὲ μὲν καταφρονήσαντος, τιμήσαντος δὲ ἐκεῖνον. Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ σιανθεις τὴν διὰνοιαν ἐσκεπτομην ἀναχωρῆσαι καταφρονήσας αὐτοῦ. Προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δοῦλος τὸν ἑρμηνέα Θεόδωρον ὀνόματι, λέγει αὐτῳ. Ἂπελθε, εἴπε τῳ ἀδελφῷ ἐκείνῳ, μὴ μικροψύχει, ἄρτι ἀπολύω τὸν ἡγεμόνα, καὶ λαλῶ σοι· Ἔγνων οὖν ἀκριβῶς πνευματικὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι, καὶ προγινώσκειν πάντα· καὶ τούτῳ προσχὼν μᾶλλον προσεκαρτέπουν. Ἐξελθόοντος οὖν τοῦ ἡγεμόνος, προσκαλεῖται με, καὶ λέγει μοι. Διὰ τί ἐβλαβης κατ’ ἐμοῦ; τί ἄξιον βλάβης εὐρες ἐν ἐμοι; Ὄτι ἐκεῖνα ἐλογίσω ἄπερ οὔτε ἐμοὶ πρόσεστιν, οὔτε σοὶ ἔπρεπεν ἐκεῖνα λογίσασθαι.Ἥ οὐκ οἴδας ὃτι γέγραπται· Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἱσχύοντες ἰατροῦ, ἀλλ’ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες; Σὲ ὄτε θέλω εὑρίσκω, καὶ σὺ ἐμε. Κάν ἐγω σε μή παρακαλέσω, ἄλλοι σε ἀδελφοι παρακαλούσιν καὶ ἀλλοι Πατέρες. Οὐτος δὲ ἔκδοτος ἐκδεδομένος τῳ διαβόλῳ διὰ τῶν κοσμικῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ ἑὰν βραχεῖαν ἀναπνεύσας ὥραν ὥσπερ τις αὐστηρὸν δραπετεύσας δεσπότην οἰκέτης· οὑτως καὶ ὅτος Βραχεῖαν ὥραν εὑρὼν παρεγένετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοῦ ὠφεληθῆναι.  Ἄτοπον οὔν ἡμᾶς ἦν καταλείψαντας ἐκεῖνόν σοι προσδιατριψαι, σοῦ ἀδιαλείπτως τῇ σωτηρία σχολάζοντος. Παρακαλέσας οὖν αὐτὸν ἐγὼ εὔξασθαι ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. Ἡ Προς Λαυσον Ἱστορια, Παλλαδιος

As I talked to John of Lycopolis, the ruler of the district approached, Alypius by name. John quickly broke off from my humble self and turned to the great man. I then withdrew a little to give them space and stood apart. But on account of the length of their conversation, I became irritable, and in my anger I murmured against the good old man, since it seemed to me that he was despising me and honouring another. And being troubled in my mind by this, I thought that I would leave, thus to exhibit my own disdain of him. But the servant of Christ called his interpreter, named Theodore, and said to him: 'Go and tell that brother: Do not be mean spirited; I am just about to dismiss the ruler and talk to you.' Knowing him to be a very spiritual man and one to foresee everything, I resolved to wait patiently. When the ruler had gone, John called me and said to me: 'Why are you angry with me? What did you find worthy of blame in me, that you thought those things that neither pertained to me nor befitted you? Or do you not know that it is written: 'They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick'? I can find you when I want you, and you me. And if I do not console you, there are other brothers to console you and other fathers. But this fellow is given over to the devil by worldly affairs and, gaining a respite for a brief hour, like a slave running away from a harsh master of the house, so he has come a short hour to receive good from us. It would have been monstrous that abandoning him we attend to you, when you have uninterrupted leisure for your salvation.' And so I exhorted him to pray for me. Lausiac History, Palladius of Galatia

God and Anger

Nonnullos audivimus hunc animae perniciosum morbum ita excusare tentantes, ut eum detestabiliore interpretatione Scripturarum extenuare gestirent, dicentes non esse noxium, si delinquentibus fratribus irascamur; siquidem, inquiunt, ipse Deus contra eos qui eum, vel scire nolunt, vel scientes contemnunt, furere atque irasci dicatur, ut ibi: Et iratus est furore Dominus in populum suum; vel cum orat Propheta, dicens: Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me; non intelligentes quod dum hominibus occasionem pestiferi vitii volunt concedere, immensitati divinae ac fonti totius puritatis injuriam carnalis passionis admisceant. Si enim haec cum dicuntur de Deo, carnali et pingui secundum litteram significatione percipienda sunt; ergo et dormit, cum dicitur, Exsurge, quare obdormis, Domine? De quo alibi dicitu, Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet, qui custodit Israel; et stat, ac sedet, cum dicit, Coelum mihi est sedes, terra autem scabellum pedum meorum, qui metitur coelum palmo, et terram pugillo concludit; et crapulatur a vino, cum dicitur, Et exsurrexit sicut dormiens Dominus potens crapulatus a vino qui solus habet immortalitatem, et lucem habitat inaccessibilem; ut praetermittam ignorationem, et oblivionem, quae de ipso legimus in Scripturis sanctis frequenter inserta, deinde lineamenta membrorum, quae tamquam de homine figurali et composito describuntur, capillis scilicet, capite et naribus, oculis ac facie, manibus ac branchiss, digitis, utero pedibusque; quae omnia secundum vilem litterae sonum si voluerimus admittere, Deum lineamentis membrorum et corporea figura compositum, quod dictu quoque nefas est, quodque absit a nobis, necesse est aestimari.  Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, De Coenobiorum Institutis, Lib VIII

We have heard some attempting to excuse anger, that most pernicious disease of the soul, by striving to extenuate it by a detestable interpretation of Scripture, saying that it is not a wrong if we are angry with erring brothers, since, they say, God Himself is said to rage and to be angry with those who are unwilling to know Him, or with those who knowing Him spurn Him, as here: 'And the Lord was angered with a fury against His own people',1 or where the Prophet prays, saying, 'O Lord, rebuke me not in your fury, nor in your anger chasten me.'2 But they do not understand that while they want to grant to men an occasion for a most pestilent vice, they are mixing in with the Divine Depth and Font of all Purity a fault of human passion. If indeed when these things are said of God they are to be grasped literally with a carnal and brutish signification, then also God sleeps, for it is said, 'Rise up, why do you sleep, O Lord?'3  And yet it is said elsewhere of Him: 'Behold he will neither slumber nor sleep who guards Israel.' 4 And He also stands and sits, since He says, ' Heaven is my seat, and earth the footstool for my feet'5  He indeed who 'Measures out the heaven with his hand, and holds the earth in his fist.'6  And He is 'drunk with wine'7 for it is said, 'The Lord awoke like a sleeper, a mighty man drunk with wine' 7 He indeed who 'alone has immortality and dwells in inaccessible light',8 which is to pass over the ignorance and the forgetfulness of which we often read in passages of Holy Scripture, and also the outline of His limbs which are spoken of as arranged and ordered like those of a man, that is, with hair, head, nostrils, eyes, face, hands, arms, fingers, belly and feet; for if we wish to admit all this according to the base literal sense it is necessary to think of God with the outline of limbs and composed of a bodily form, which indeed is wicked just to speak of and may such a thought  be far from us. Saint John Cassian, Institutes of the Coenobia, Book 8 1 Ps 105. 40  2 Ps 6.2  3 Ps 43.23 4 Ps 120.4 5 Is 66.1  6 Is 40.12  7 Ps 77.65  7 Ps 77.65 8 1 Tim 6.16

Anger and Indignation

Ὅτι ὀργὴ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ζωὴ ἐν τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ.  Πρότερον εἶπε τὸ σκυθρωπον, ὀργὴν ἐν τᾡ θυμῷ τοῦ θεοῦ· εἶτα τὸ φαιδρότερον, τὴν ζωὴν ἐν τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ. Δοκεὶ ταυτολογία εἶναι τοὶς μὴ δυναμένοις τῆς ἀκριβείας τῶν σημαινομένων ἐφάπτεσθαι, τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος ὀργήν εἶναι ἐν τῷ θυμῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄντος ὀργῆς καὶ θυμοῦ· πλεὶστον δὲ τὸ διαπορον. Θυμὸς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ κρισις τοῦ ἐπαχθῆναι τάδε τινὰ τὰ σκυθρωπὰ τῷ ἀξίῳ ὀργὴ δὲ ὁ πόνος ἤδη, καὶ ἡ κόλασις ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἀδικίας ἐπασομένη. Ἀπο παραδείγματος δὲ σαφέστερον ὅ λέγω γενήσεται. Σημειωσάμενος ὁ ἰατρὸς τὸ φλεγμαῖνον μέρος καὶ ὕπουλον, ἐγκρίνει τὴν τομὴν ἀναγκαίαν εἴναι τῳ κάμνοντι. Τοῦτο θυμὸν ὀνομάζει ἡ Γραφή. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ βοηθήματι κρίσιν τοῦ ἰατροῦ ἐπακολουθει λοιπὸν ἡ ἐνέργεια εἰς ἔργον ἄγουσα τὰ κριθέντα, καὶ ὁ σίδυρος τέμνων καὶ ὀδύνην ἐμποιῶν τῷ διακοπτομένῷ. Ἐλθὲ τοὶνυν ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον, καὶ εὐρήσεις τὸ ἀκόλουθον τῆς ἐννοίας. Ὅτι ὀργὴ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΚΘ’

'For anger is in his indignation and life in his will' First he says that which is sorrowful, 'anger is in his indignation', then comes something more joyful, 'life in his will.' But when the Prophet says that anger is in the indignation of God it appears to be a tautology to those who are not able carefully to distinguish the meanings, as if anger and indignation were the same, but indeed they do differ. Indignation is a judgement which possesses a certain sorrow of suffering; anger is the operation of just judgement according to the measure of injustice. I shall give a clear example: a physician noting that an inflamed part is infected deep within, orders that an amputation is necessary. This is what Scripture names indignation. But after the prescription of the physician concerning the remedy, the action itself follows to make actual that which was commanded, and so the iron cuts and suffering is caused on it being administered. Thus now coming to the expression you will discover the meaning of 'For anger is in his indignation' . Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 29