Evagrius the Solitary: Keep Powerful Guard Over Your Memory Monday, Jun 4 2012

If you long to pray, renounce everything at once (cf. Lk 14:33) so that you may inherit all.

Pray [1] first, for purification from the passions;

[2] and second, for deliverance from ignorance and forgetfulness;

[3] and third, for deliverance from all temptation and abandonment.

In your prayer seek only righteousness and the kingdom, namely, virtue and knowledge; and all the rest will be added unto you (Mt 6:33).

It is just to pray not only for your own purification, but also to pray for your own kindred, so as to imitate the angelic way.

[...] Whether you pray with brothers or by yourself, struggle to pray not only in the customary way, but also with perception.

Perception in prayer is concentration (sunnoia), with reverence and compunction and distress of soul, as you confess your failures with silent groans.

If the intellect (nous) is still staring around at the time of prayer, it does not yet know how to pray as a monk; it is still a secular, decorating the exterior tabernacle (cf. Mt 23:27).

When you pray, keep powerful guard over your memory: in this way, instead of placing its own passions before you, it will, instead, move you to the knowledge that you stand before God.

For the nous is easily, naturally disarmed and plundered by the memory at the time of prayer.

When you are praying the memory brings you fantasies of either: [1] ancient issues; [2] or new worries; [3] or the face of one who has distressed you.

The demon is very malignant towards any person who prays, and it employs every means to defeat his purpose.

It does not cease [1] moving thoughts (noemata) of matters through the memory and [2] stirring up all the passions through the flesh, so as to be able to impede his excellent course and his departure to God.

When, despite all his efforts, the malevolent demon is unable to hinder the prayer of one who is earnest, it lets up for a time and then takes its revenge when he finishes praying. It either:

[1] enflames him with anger, thus ruining the excellent state that, through prayer, has been welded together in him;

[2] or it entices him to some irrational pleasure and so commits an outrage on the nous.

Having prayed properly, expect what is improper; and stand courageously to keep guard over your harvest.

Indeed from the beginning you were assigned this: namely, to work and keep guard (Gen. 2:15).  So do not leave your work unguarded after your labor, otherwise you do not receive any benefit from praying.

Evagrius Ponticus (345-399): On Prayer, 37-49, translated by Luke Dysinger OSB.

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Macarius the Egyptian: Anointed from the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ Sunday, May 6 2012

The Christians, who are come the nearest to the King, are at all times devoted to the cross of Christ. And when they are anointed with the heavenly unction, they commence to be kings and prophets of the heavenly mysteries.

For if the anointing oil that came from an outward plant had so much virtue that the persons anointed with it were constituted kings thereby; how much more do they who are anointed with the sanctifying and cheering oil of gladness, the heavenly and spiritual oil, receive the sign of that incorruptible kingdom, and everlasting power, the earnest of the Spirit, the very spirit of holiness and comfort?

It is called the Comforter, by reason of that comfort and support it bestows upon them that are in afflictions.

These being anointed from the tree of life, Jesus Christ, from the heavenly plant, are thought worthy to come to perfection; to the kingdom, and the adoption, being admitted to the secret councils of the heavenly King, and having free access to the Almighty, entering into his very palace, where are angels, and the spirits of the holy persons, though at the same time they live in this present world.

For though they have not actually received the inheritance prepared for them in that world, they are secure from the earnest of the Spirit, which they have received, as if they were already crowned, and in possession of the kingdom.

Nor does it seem a strange thing to them that they shall reign together with Christ, through the overflowing presence of the Spirit. For what reason? Even because though in the flesh, they have a relish of its sweetness, and that effectual working of his power.

For they that are to reign in the world to come are beforehand acquainted with the mysteries of grace. Indeed, since man transgressed the commandment, the devil has covered the whole soul with a dark veil.

But when grace comes, the veil is thrown off; so that the soul, becoming pure and regaining its proper nature, a creature free from blame or spot, ever after beholds with a clear sight the glory of the true light and the true Sun of Righteousness flashing with his bright beams upon the heart itself.

Macarius the Egyptian (c. 300-391) [attributed]; Spiritual Homily 9, 1-2, trans. by the Revd D.R. Jenning; full text, with corrections and editorial, at the Monachos.net Library Project.

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Mark the Hermit: Every Affliction Tests Our Will Wednesday, Mar 21 2012

Unless a man acquires, through the grace of Christ, knowledge of the truth and fear of God, he is gravely wounded not only by the passions but also by the things that happen to him.

When you want to resolve a complex problem, seek God’s will in the matter, and you will find a constructive solution.

When something accords with God’s will, all creation aids it. But when God rejects something, creation too opposes it.

He who opposes unpleasant events opposes the command of God unwittingly. But when someone accepts them with real knowledge, he ‘waits patiently for the Lord’ (Ps 27:14).

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

Another man’s sin does not increase our own, unless we ourselves embrace it by means of evil thoughts.

If it is not easy to find anyone conforming to God’s will who has not been put to the test, we ought to thank God for everything that happens to us.

If Peter had not failed to catch anything during the night’s fishing (cf. Lk 5:5), he would not have caught anything during the day. And if Paul had not suffered physical blindness (cf. Ac 9:8), he would not have been given spiritual sight.

And if Stephen had not been slandered as a blasphemer, he would not have seen the heavens opened and have looked on God (cf. Ac 6:15; 7:56).

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

God ‘tested Abraham’ (cf. Gn 22:1-14), that is, God afflicted him for his own benefit, not in order to learn what kind of man Abraham was – for He knew him, since He knows all things before they come into existence – but in order to provide him with opportunities for showing perfect faith.

Every affliction tests our will, showing whether it is inclined to good or evil.

This is why an unforeseen affliction is called a test, because it enables a man to test his hidden desires.

The fear of God compels us to fight against evil; and when we fight against evil, the grace of God destroys it.

Mark the Hermit (5th-6th c.): On Those who Think They Are Made Righteous by Works,194-205, Text from G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (trans. and eds.) The Philokalia: The Complete Text, vol. I (Faber & Faber, London & Boston: 1979), online version here.

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Antony the Great: Always Have God Before Your Eyes Tuesday, Jan 17 2012

When Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgments of God, he asked, “Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age?

“Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men proper and why are the just in need?”

He heard a voice answering him, “Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to known anything about them.”

Someone asked Abba Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?”

The old man replied, “Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”

Abba Anthony said to Abba Poemen, “This is the great work of man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.

He also said, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” He even added, “Without temptations no-one can be saved.”

Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”

Abba Anthony said, “I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, “What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Humility.’”

He also said, “Some have afflicted their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God.”

He said also, “Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.”

One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony. In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and, beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant.

Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the old man said, “You have not understood it.” Last of all he said to Abba Joseph, “How would you explain this saying?” and he replied, “I do not know.”

Then Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, Abba Joseph has found the way, for he has said: ‘I do not know.’”

Antony the Great (c.251-356): Thirty-Eight Sayings, 2-9, 17,  translated by the Sr Benedicta Ward SLGin The Sayings of the Desert Fathers; online text here.

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Athanasius of Alexandria: St Anthony the Great on “Make Straight Your Heart unto the Lord God of Israel” Tuesday, Jan 17 2012

[St Anthony said] Wherefore having already begun and set out in the way of virtue, let us strive the more that we may attain those things that are before.

And let no one turn to the things behind, like Lot’s wife, all the more so that the Lord hath said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and turning back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven”.

And this turning back is nought else but to feel regret, and to be once more worldly-minded. But fear not to hear of virtue, nor be astonished at the name.

For it is not far from us, nor is it without ourselves, but it is within us, and is easy if only we are willing.

That they may get knowledge, the Greeks live abroad and cross the sea, but we have no need to depart from home for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, nor to cross the sea for the sake of virtue.

For the Lord aforetime hath said, “The kingdom of heaven is within you”.

Wherefore virtue hath need at our hands of willingness alone, since it is in us and is formed from us. For, when the soul hath its spiritual faculty in a natural state, virtue is formed.

And it is in a natural state when it remains as it came into existence. And when it came into existence it was fair and exceeding honest.

For this cause Joshua, the son of Nun, in his exhortation said to the people, “Make straight your heart unto the Lord God of Israel”, and John, “Make your paths straight”.

For rectitude of soul consists in its having its spiritual part in its natural state as created.

But on the other hand, when it swerves and turns away from its natural state, that is called vice of the soul.

Thus the matter is not difficult. If we abide as we have been made, we are in a state of virtue, but if we think of ignoble things we shall be accounted evil.

If, therefore, this thing had to be acquired from without, it would be difficult in reality; but if it is in us, let us keep ourselves from foul thoughts.

And as we have received the soul as a deposit, let us preserve it for the Lord, that He may recognise His work as being the same as He made it.

Athanasius of Alexandria (c.293-373): Life of St Anthony, 55.

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Nilus the Ascetic: The Attention Paid by the Mind that Seeks Prayer will Find Prayer Saturday, Dec 3 2011

During prayer, your memory will bring you either fantasies of past things or recent cares or the face of the one who had grieved you.

Therefore, guard your memory well, so that it does not present you with its own cares.

And continuously urge yourself to remain aware in Whose presence it is standing, because it is very natural for the mind to be easily carried away by memory during the time of prayer.

The attention paid by the mind that seeks prayer will find prayer, because prayer follows attention more than anything else.

Let us therefore ensure that we willingly strive to acquire attention.

At times, by remaining standing during prayer, you can immediately concentrate and pray well; at other times, you may strive very hard, but not achieve your purpose.

This occurs, so that you may ask for prayer with greater zeal; and after acquiring it, to have it as your inalienable achievement.

[...] A true prayer is said by the one who always offers his first thought as a sacrifice to God.

Do not pray for your desires to be realized, because they certainly do not agree with the will of God;

but rather, as you were taught, say in your prayer: “Let Your Will be done” (Matt 6:10), and for every single thing, you should likewise ask God that His Will be done, because He wants whatever is best and beneficial for your soul.

I have often asked God through prayer for something I thought to be good. And I insisted illogically on asking for it, thus violating the divine will.

I would not let God provide whatever He knew would be to my benefit.

And so, having received what I had asked for, I afterwards felt very sorry that I had not asked that His Will be done, because things did not turn out as I had thought they would.

What is benevolent, if not God? Let us therefore entrust all our needs with Him and everything will go well, as the benevolent One definitely also bestows beneficial gifts.

In your prayer, ask only for the justice and the Kingdom of God – in other words, virtue and divine knowledge – and all the rest will then be added to you.

Entrust the needs of your body to God, and that will reveal to Him that you also entrust the needs of your spirit.

Nilus the Ascetic of Sinai (d. c.430): On Prayer, trans. Holy Monastery of the Paraklete Oropos, Attica (Greece).

 

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Nilus the Ascetic: If You Are Patient, You will Always Pray with Joy Saturday, Nov 12 2011

“Leave your offering” says Christ, “in front of the altar and go first and be reconciled with your brother and then come to pray without any agitation” (Matt 5:24), because resentfulness dulls the logic of man who prays and darkens his prayers.

Those who pray but accumulate sorrows and grudges inside them are likened to people who draw water from the well and empty it into a leaking container.

Do not be fond of chattering and human glory.

Otherwise, the demons will conspire against you, not behind your back, but in front of your very eyes and they will rejoice with you during prayer time, as they will easily distract you and entice you with uncanny thoughts.

If you wish to pray clearly, do not give in to any carnal demands and you will not have any cloud overshadowing you during prayer.

Do not avoid poverty and sorrow, because they make prayer seem lighter.

Be careful! Are you truly standing before God during the time of prayer, or are you perhaps conquered by human praise and you seek it, by saying many and lengthy prayers?

Do not pray like the Pharisee but rather like the tax collector, so that you too may be vindicated by the Lord.

The praiseworthiness of prayer does not lie in its quantity but its quality.

This becomes apparent in the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee and the words of Christ: “When you pray, do not ramble like the idolaters; for they think that with their chatter they will be hearkened” (Matt 6:7).

Do not pray only with external gestures; instead exhort your mind to be aware of the task of prayer with immense fear.

Whether praying alone or together with your brothers, struggle to pray, not out of habit but with awareness.

Awareness of prayer means the gathering of the mind (Greek: Nous) with piety, with devout concentration, with secret sighs and the soul’s pain that accompanies the confession of our sins.

You should remain standing and endure the exertion, praying with intensity and perseverance and scorn the cares and the thoughts that come to you.

For they agitate and upset you, in order to paralyze your strength and intensity.

If you are patient, you will always pray with joy.

Nilus the Ascetic of Sinai (d. c.430): On Prayer, trans. Holy Monastery of the Paraklete Oropos, Attica (Greece).

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Macarius the Egyptian: True Christians Have Their Heart and Mind Constantly Occupied with the Thoughts of Heaven Friday, Nov 4 2011

The word that was spoken to Cain by his Maker, “You shall go mourning and trembling, and be tossed about upon the earth”, is a type and image of all sinners, as to their inward state.

For thus is the race of Adam tossed about with the incessant suggestions of fear and dread, and every kind of disturbance, the prince of this world tossing to and fro the soul that is not born of God;

and variously disturbing the thoughts of mankind, as corn that is continually shifted about in a sieve;

and shaking and ensnaring them all in worldly deceits, and the lusts of the flesh, with fears and troubles.

As from one Adam the whole race of mankind was spread over the earth, so one taint in the affections was derived down into the sinful stock of men; and the prince of malice is sufficiently able to shift them all in restless, and gross, and vain, and troublesome reflections.

[...] For in this do true Christians differ from the whole race of mankind besides: they have their heart and mind constantly taken up with the thoughts of heaven;

and, through the presence and participation of the Holy Spirit, do behold, as in a glass, the good things which are eternal, being born of God from above, and thought worthy to become the children of God in truth and power;

and being arrived, through many conflicts and labours, to a settled and fixed state, to an exemption from trouble, to perfect rest, are never sifted more by unsettled and vain thoughts.

Herein are they greater and better than the world. Their mind and the desire of their soul are in the peace of Christ, and the love of the Spirit; and they have passed from death to life.

Wherefore the alteration peculiar to Christians does not consist in any outward fashions, but in the renovation of the mind, and the peace of the thoughts, and the love of the Lord, even the heavenly love.

Herein Christians differ from all men besides. The Lord has given them truly to believe on him, and to be worthy of those spiritual good things.

For the glory, and the beauty, and the heavenly riches of Christians are inexpressible, and purchased only with labour, and pains, and trials, and many conflicts.

But the whole is owing to the grace of God.

Macarius the Egyptian (c. 300-391); Spiritual Homily 4,2-4, trans. by the Revd D.R. Jenning; full text, with corrections and editorial, at the Monachos.net Library Project.

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Mark the Hermit: Who Puts his Trust in Christ and yet Worries or Quarrels about Transitory Things? Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Ample room in the heart denotes hope in God; congestion denotes bodily care.

The grace of the Spirit is one and unchanging, but energizes in each one of us as He wills (cf. 1 Cor 12:11).

When rain falls upon the earth, it gives life to the quality inherent in each plant: sweetness in the sweet, astringency in the astringent.

Similarly, when grace falls upon the hearts of the faithful, it gives to each the energies appropriate to the different virtues without itself changing.

To him who hungers after Christ grace is food; to him who is thirsty, a reviving drink; to him who is cold, a garment; to him who is weary, rest; to him who prays, assurance; to him who mourns, consolation.

When you hear Scripture saying of the Holy Spirit that He ‘rested upon each’ of the

Apostles (Acts 2:3), or ‘came upon’ the Prophet (1 Sam 11:6), or ‘energizes’ (1 Cor 12:11), or is ‘grieved’ (Eph 4:30), or is ‘quenched’ (1 Thess 5:19), or is ‘vexed’ (Is 63:10), and again, that some ‘have the first fruits’ (Rom 8:23), and that others are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:4), do not suppose that the Spirit is subject to somekind of division, variation or change; but be sure that…He is unvarying, unchanging and all-powerful.

Therefore in all His energies He remains what He is, and in a divine manner He gives to each person what is needful.

On those who have been baptized He pours Himself out in His fullness like the sun.

Each of us is illumined by Him to the extent to which we hate the passions that darken us and get rid of them.

But in so far as we have a love for them and dwell on them, we remain in darkness.

He who hates the passions gets rid of their causes. But he who is attracted by their causes is attacked by the passions even though he does not wish it.

When evil thoughts become active within us, we should blame ourselves and not ancestral sin.

The roots of evil thoughts are the obvious vices, which we keep trying to justify in our words and actions.

We cannot entertain a passion in our mind unless we have a love for its causes.

For what man, who cares nothing about being put to shame, entertains thoughts of self-esteem? Or who welcomes contempt and yet is disturbed by dishonor?

And who has ‘a broken and a contrite heart’ (Ps 51:17) and yet indulges in carnal pleasure?

Or who puts his trust in Christ and yet worries or quarrels about transitory things?

Mark the Hermit (5th-6th c.): On Those who Think They Are Made Righteous by Works,114-123, Text from G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (trans. and eds.) The Philokalia: The Complete Text, vol. I (Faber & Faber, London & Boston: 1979), online version here.

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Evagrius the Solitary: If You are able to Endure Patiently, You will Always Pray with Joy Tuesday, Oct 11 2011

(NB, in Greek-speaking theology, nous [together with the adjective noetic] refers to understanding, the heart, the eye of the heart, with connotations of vision and contemplation.)

If you desire to pray as you ought, do not sadden any soul, otherwise you are running in vain (cf. Gal 2:2, Phil 2:16).

“Leave your gift,” it says, before the altar, and first go away and be reconciled to your brother; (Mt 5:24) and after that you will be able to pray without disturbance.

For memory of injury blinds the mind of one who prays, and darkens his prayers.

Those who heap up sorrow and memory of injury within themselves, and then expect to pray, are like people who draw water and pour it into a perforated wine-jar.

If you are able to endure patiently, you will always pray with joy.

[...] When on occasion an angel stands for us, then all who stand against us immediately vanish, and the nous is found greatly relieved, praying soundly.

But at other times, when the usual battle is raging against us, the nous lashes out and is not permitted any concessions; for it has been prematurely aroused by the various passions.

Nevertheless, if it goes on seeking, it will find, and if it knocks vigorously, the door will be opened (Mt 7:7).

Do not pray that what you will should be done, because your will is not in full harmony with the will of God. Pray instead as you were taught, saying, Let your will be done in me (cf Mt 6:10, 24:2).

And in all matters ask of him in this way that his will be done.  He wills only what is good and profitable for the soul; but that is not always what you seek.

I have often prayed, requesting that something I thought was good for me be done for me, insisting on my request, and irrationally attempting to force God’s will.

And thus I did not leave it to him who knows what is profitable to arrange (cf 1Cor 10:23).

And when I eventually received what I asked for, I was very sorry I had asked for my own choice; for the matter did not turn out as I had imagined.

[...] Do not become distressed if you do not receive at once from God your request; he wishes to benefit you even more as you continue steadfastly in prayer (Rom 12:12).   For what is higher than enjoying conversation with God and being taken up with conversational intercourse with him?

Undistracted prayer is the highest noetic activity of the nous.

Prayer is the ascent of the nous to God.

Evagrius Ponticus (345-399): On Prayer, 21-36, translated by Luke Dysinger OSB.

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