Neilos the Ascetic (died ca. 430) was probably from Constantinople and a follower of St. John Chrysostom. He became abbot of a monastery in what is now Ankara, Turkey, and is the first writer known to make unequivocal mention of the Jesus Prayer.
“In the biblical story Elisha then threw a stick into the Jordan and brought to the surface the axe head his disciple had lost (cf. 2 Kings 6:6); that is to say, he revealed a thought that his disciple believed to be hidden deep within him and he exposed it to the view of those present. Here the Jordan signifies speaking about repentance, for it was in the Jordan that John performed the baptism of repentance. Now if someone does not speak accurately about repentance, but makes his listeners despise it by failing to communicate its hidden power, he lets the axe-head fall into the Jordan. But then a stick—and this signifies the cross—brings the axe-head up from the depths to the surface. For prior to the cross the full meaning of repentance was hidden, and anyone who tried to say something about it could easily be convicted of speaking rashly and inadequately. After the Crucifixion, however, the meaning of repentance became clear to all, for it had been revealed at the appointed time through the wood of the cross.”
ST. NEILOS THE ASCETIC I, ASCETIC DISCOURSE
Here John stresses an important aspect of Orthodox anthropology: despite our sins, we never lose the image of God in which we are created. Unlike some Western theology, which sees the human being as “totally depraved,” the East believes that repentance will return a person to his or her “true splendor”—the image of God.
LXX is an abbreviation for the Septuagint, the Greek edition of the Hebrew Bible that has always been the authoritative Old Testament of the Orthodox Church.
“The moon as it waxes and wanes illustrates the condition of man: sometimes he does what is right, sometimes he sins and then through repentance returns to a holy life. The intellect of one who sins is not destroyed (as some of you think), just as the physical size of the moon does not diminish, but only its light. Through repentance a man regains his true splendor, just as the moon after the period of waning clothes itself once more in its full light. If a man believes in Christ, “Even though he dies, he shall live” (John 11:25),- he shall know that “I the Lord have spoken, and will do it ” (Ezekiel 17:24, LXX).”
ST. JOHN OF KARPATHOS I , FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE MONKS IN INDIA WHO HAD WRITTEN TO HIM, SEC. 4
Here Maximos suggests that the people sin “in relation to intelligence.” By intelligence he is referring to the nous (“intellect”)—the aspect of the human psyche that is the faculty of communion with God.
“Observe, with reference to this passage from Jonah (3:1-9), how the king represents the natural law. The throne is an impassioned disposition in alliance with the senses. The robe is the display of self esteem. Sackcloth is the grief of repentance. Ashes are humility. Men are those who sin in relation to intelligence,- beasts those who sin in relation to desire,- cattle those who sin in relation to their incensive power,- and sheep those who sin in relation to the contemplation of visible things.”
ST. MAXIMOS THE CONFESSOR II, FOURTH CENTURY OF VARIOUS TEXTS, SEC. 95
~Allyne Smith, Philokalia: The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts (Selections Annotated & Explained. Translation by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Metropolitan Kallistos Ware).
