The Quarrelsome Brother I once told him, “Elder, I can’t work together with this brother … he is a complainer.” “You fool, you are an egotist. Do you know that? Because of this you suffer in many ways.” “I know it Elder. I have been like this from my youth. Pray that God will give me a humble heart.” “When the heart has God-given humility it sees everything clearly. It already lives in the earthly
Stripped of all knowledge, lacking in every good thought or deed, without memory from the past or wish for the future, as useless as a worn-out rag, unfeeling as a stone in the path, corroded as a worm-eaten mushroom in the woods, mortal as a fish on the shore and grieved to tears over this wretched plight of yours, thus you will stand in prayer before the Almighty, your Judge and Creator and Father, your
Two pilgrims asked an ascetic hagiorite:1 – To what extent are we responsible for the thoughts that attack our nous? The Elder replied with a beautiful allegory: – Aeroplanes pass above, here where I live. I cannot hinder the aeroplanes. I’m not responsible for that. I would be responsible if I began to build an airport. The acceptance of the attacks, which is consent, can be compared to the airport. In the first volume of
Meditation is an activity of thought, while prayer is the rejection of every thought. According to the teaching of the eastern Fathers, even pious thoughts and the deepest and loftiest theological considerations, if they occur during prayer, must be considered as a temptation and suppressed; because, as the Fathers say, it is foolish to think about God and forget that you are in his presence. All the spiritual guides of Orthodoxy warn us against replacing
Jesus’ entire journey told people two major things: that life could have a positive story line, and that God was far different and far better than we ever thought. He did not just give us textbook answers from a distance, but personally walked through the process of being both rejected and forgiving, and then said, “Follow me.” The significance of Jesus’ wounded body is his deliberate and conscious holding of the pain of the world
To Live the Question (Part II) His own personal experience taught Merton that solitude not only deepens our affection for others but also is the place where real community becomes possible. Although Merton himself lived as a monk first in a monastic community and later in a hermitage, it is clear from this and other writings that what really counts for him is not the physical solitude but the solitude of the heart. Without the
In an early season of practice we are so caught up in our thoughts and feelings that we think we are these thoughts and feelings and miss the distinction between thoughts and awareness that St. Teresa and countless others have discovered. The great masters presume this awkwardness we all know and so they teach in a practical way the cultivation of awareness. When the light of awareness illumines no more than a torch does, we
By Father Matthew Baker Indwelling through the Spirit of Sonship Athanasius’ account of deification (theopoiesis) and adoptive sonship (huiothesia) is not limited only to the work of Christ, but also accords a central place to the Holy Spirit. It is not only because it is united to the Word that Christ’s humanity is a deified one, and thus the “root” of our deification, but also because it is a humanity anointed with the Holy Spirit. According to Athanasius, Christ “at
I mentioned that contemporary people do not believe in the reality of demons, which according to Fr. Maximos is the greatest achievement of the devil today, that he has convinced most of the world that he does not exist. As a rule, academics would dismiss such stories as taking place in people’s imaginations, without any basis in objective reality. But the experiences of the saints throughout history are filled with demonic possession and exorcisms. In
The greatest evil effected by judging others is that he who judges is deprived of [divine] love. James, the brother of God writes: Do not speak against one another, brethren. Whoever speaks against one of the brethren and judges speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge! Only one is the lawgiver and judge, he who is able
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