Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as he is, so are we in this world. I John 4.17 In many ways the word “society” serves to summarize most or all of that which a non-monastic Christian encounters on a daily basis, but which a desert monk seeks to avoid as a general rule. This includes constant interaction with other human beings, as
We conclude by presenting some assurance that what we are seeking to do as lay people—namely, to pursue purity of heart—really can be done through life in the world. We require such an assurance simply because life in the world can often seem terribly ill-suited to the pursuit of our goal and telos. For instance, we may ask, how is one to develop discretion and discernment in a world full of false teachers pulling us
By Father Stephen Freeman The priest, Seraphim, spent 30 years of his life in the Soviet Gulag. During that period he was tortured from time to time and was assigned the duty of cleaning out the contents of the latrines. Other prisoners avoided him because of the stench that hung about him at all times. He was a living saint and saved the souls of many around him. His story, in brief, is told in
In this vein, the difference between the kingdom of God and God himself can begin to blur in the words of the Abba. For example, he notes that the reason Christians pursue their goal, purity of heart, is to attain the telos of a permanent connection not just to holy things, ideas or states associated with God, but to God himself. This, then, must be our primary undertaking-chis the never-altered destination and never-failing pursuit of
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Romans 6:22 The Goal and Telos of Christian Life We noted that Christian salvation is fundamentally the same, whether pursued in the world or through monasticism. It is this foundational unity, which is the unity of the Holy Spirit himself, that makes monastic spirituality and literature so valuable for the
One of the criminals who were hanged, railed at Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, ”Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And He
But when he came to himself, he said “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father.
There is a second key mistake that we often make in our assumptions about the essential nature of life in the world, which mistake makes monastic literature difficult to approach. We often conceive of worldly life as merely a kind of default existence that anyone who is not specially called to monasticism or ordination simply ends up leading. We assume that it is only the monk, nun or priest who has a special call, while
The Cell as a Place of Transformation and Salvation The cell is a deeply personal place, a place to be solely with God. It is a place where the monk can pray “before God’s eyes alone” and not with the added perspective of other people. [20] Jesus’ life was filled with times for personal prayer away from both the crowds and those who were closest to him. He exhorted his followers to enter their own
By Hieromonk Damascene The Means of Redemption, Part III Many of the Holy Fathers wrote on this theme of Christ as sacrifice. Origen (who is not a Holy Father) and, following him, St. Gregory of Nyssa, posited that the sacrifice was offered to the devil. But St. Gregory the Theologian and all the Fathers after him rejected this idea. They often spoke of the sacrifice as being offered to God the Father, and sometimes they
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