The Gift of Silence (I)
The second-century Latin theologian Tertullian declared that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. This remains true to our day, as witnessed most poignantly by the martyrdom of bishops, priests and lay people during the Communist era, in Russia, Romania and elsewhere, and in the ongoing persecution of Christians at the hands of Muslim extremists in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Toward the end of the third century, however, with increasing tolerance shown to Christians and their faith, literal martyrdom began to wane. The witness it represented (martyr means “witness”) increasingly took the form of ascetic struggle—spiritual combat against the demons and our most destructive passions—that would constitute the impetus behind the growth of monasticism.
Gradually, the monk, the monochos or “unified one,” became the true “martyr,” the true witness to the “unseen warfare,” which is indispensable for pursuing the “narrow way” that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Authentic monasticism thus became the new “seed of the Church.” Over the centuries it has served as the foundation of Orthodox spiritual and liturgical life, and has thereby proven itself to be an essential element in Christian existence and for the overall witness of the Church in and to the world.
The growing numbers of monastic communities in the United States and Canada have the potential to continue the centuries-old witness to the need within Christian life to acquire certain virtues commonly associated with the hesychast tradition of prayer: “prayer of the heart,” grounded in silence and inner stillness, which can, by a gift of pure grace, lead one—monk or lay person—into a deep and abiding communion with the God of love.
If there is one element of traditional monastic experience that is more difficult than any other to acquire in our culture, it is surely the element of silence.
Silence lies at the heart of ascetic, and particularly hesychast, tradition and experience. Yet it is all too often misunderstood and neglected, not only by our busy lay people, but even by monastics, those who have dedicated themselves to a life of witness and prayer.
I speak, in very modest and inadequate ways, about the virtue—the divine gift—of silence. This, unfortunately, is no “personal testimony.” I make no claim at all to understand the mystery of silence, much less to practice it. [My] reflections are drawn, rather, from the Church’s scriptural and ascetic tradition, and from the witness of spiritual elders whose lives have been shaped and blessed by genuine silence.
Since silence is so important in the whole of Christian existence, I offer these thoughts in the hope that they might be of some use to [those who seek to live the] “Life in Christ.”
~Adapted from the Very Rev. John Breck, Life in Christ, Orthodox Church in America (oca.org), February 01, 2005
