Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part II
Posted in DefaultTag, spiritual father, St. John Cassian, Conferences of St. John Cassian, contemplation, cenobites, anchorites, sarabaites on Dec 17th, 2015 Comments
We continue to listen with Cassian and Germanus to Abba Piamun discuss the kind of monks - Cenobites, Anchorites, Sarbaites and a fourth category of monk who briefly enters the cenobitic life only to rapidly leaves the confines of communal discipline and obedience to an elder for a premature embrace of the life of seclusion. The distinctions made by Abba Piamun, however, merely serve as a backdrop to a greater discussion the necessary progress and formation that one must embrace before seeking a life a greater hiddenness and contemplation. The conference is fraught with examples of the dangers of seeking to leap over the fundamental formation of the common life. To do so, reveals a kind of pride or self-delusion; that one can enter into a higher state without having properly formed the mind and heart in humility and obedience.
