theoria

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Forty-nine

Tonight we read Homily 49 of St Isaac the Syrian. St Isaac begins to introduce us to how God‘s providence works for the soul’s advancement in things spiritually; in other words, how God leads us to greater intimacy with him and contemplation of him. A man makes his way through the ascetical life towards a disdain for the things of this world. He begins to contemplate is departure from this life and this contemplation begins to create a greater longing for the things of the kingdom. Meditation upon death must become a regular part of the spiritual life.  So valuable is this remembrance of death, Saint Isaac tells us, that Satan greatly abhors the thought. He wars against it; seeking to make man focus upon the riches of this world, distracting him with things that appeal to the senses. 
 
The more a man meditates upon death the more he is filled with wonder over the vision of divine things and longs for their sweetness. Theoria is a God given grace and fruit of repentance and an upright heart. Repentance and good discipline reveals to us God‘s providence in every aspect of our life. It shows is how God seeks to free us from the bonds of this world and to draw us to himself. Stirred by divine love a man becomes awestruck with wonder and his heart longs to be taken captive. There are moments when he no longer remembers himself and the ego is set aside radically. Through theoria God begins to reveal hidden things to man; those things that cannot be understood through human nature. Blessed is the man who is kept well this good seed once it has fallen into his soul.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Forty-three

Tonight we were able to read homily 43 in its entirety. St. Isaac describes the various modes of discipline in the spiritual life - the purification of the body and senses, the purification of the soul (which is freedom from secret passions) and finally the purification of the mind or the nous which comes from God‘s revelation of himself to us and raising us up to Divine visions.  The third mode draws us into what he describes as hypostatic Theoria, where an individual begins to experience the limpid purity of his primordial nature as one created for God and union with God. In this experience one becomes awestruck with wonder at God; tasting what will be experienced in all of its fullness in existence after the resurrection.  Such a state carries with it no sorrow or attachment to the things of the world. If we only knew the depths of God’s blessings we would long to experience that intimate union with him now and always.   
 
We must remind ourselves that Christian mysticism is distinctive and unique.  It comes about not through altering the consciousness through asceticism or meditation but through God’s revelation of Himself and raising us up by His grace as a prelude to beholding Him with mediation unto the ages of ages.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-seven Part II and Homily Twenty-eight Part I

Tonight we completed Homily 27 and began Homily 28. Both have as their main concern, “Theoria”, or contemplation. St Isaac continues to stress the place and importance of Angels in our spiritual lives. They perceive the truths and mysteries of God and creation, including our spiritual state. Their main purpose is to teach and guide us in accord with the light of truth and God’s providence. 
 
As human beings we know certain limitations in our reception of truth and capacity for Theoria. There is an inconstancy and unevenness in our response to God and so our confidence must also be tempered always in this world by fear of judgment. We must never cease to strive for vigilance. 
 
Demons however only draw close to destroy us and not to profit us. While they share the keen vision of Angels they lack light and know only darkness. They can’t but lead us along the path of destruction. Less powerful than Angels, for this reason they still can influence us and deceive us through presenting a phantom of the truth.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-three Part II

With the concluding section of Homily 23, we reach the apex of St. Isaac’s thought on what he describes as pure prayer and what is “beyond prayer”. Prayer always involves the movement toward God, seeking him out and desiring Him, offering up supplication and pleas for his mercy. Pure prayer takes places when the law of God is embraced and fulfilled and when no thought or distraction commingles within the soul completely directed toward God. 
 
Prayer always acts as the seed planted and what is beyond prayer, divine vision, is the harvesting of the sheaves. Theoria, knowledge, or noetic vision is an operation of the Spirit who guides the soul. Our senses and their operations become superfluous and the soul becomes like unto the Godhead by an incomprehensible union and is illumined by a ray of sublime Light. The understanding gazes in ecstasy at incomprehensible things that lie beyond this mortal world. This is the “unknowing” that has been called higher than knowledge; a walking in the darkness of faith where one comes to know God as He is in Himself. 
 
Discussion also ensued regarding the struggles of the Western mind to grasp the spiritual tradition of the Eastern Fathers; the moralizing and legalizing of the spiritual life and virtue versus deification. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-two and Homily Twenty-three Part I

Homily 22 and 23 bring us to the denouement of the preceding Homilies. The pursuit of stillness and the purification of the faculties of the soul prepare the soul to be raised to the state of Theoria - to experience God not in light of his operations but in accord with the nature of his being. It is silence in all things and beyond articulation. St. Isaac ultimately describes it as a state beyond and above prayer. One enters by grace into the treasury. Every human device becomes still because inadequate and one simply tarries long, for the Master of the House has come - the Bridegroom has arrived. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-one Part II

In the final pages of Homily 21, St. Isaac labors vigorously to help us understand that aim and end of the solitary life and one focused on stillness. The call to such a life is rare but it acts as a icon for the Church of “choosing the better part”; of a life that seeks what endures unto eternity. It presents us with a vision of the wonder and mystery that we are destined to share in all of its fullness in God. The solitary keeps his eyes focused upon Christ alone - forsaking even the admonition of the Gospel to love and serve others, as those in the world do, but instead pursuing the purity of heart and prayer that prepares the soul for theoria. Eventually all things are consummated in Christ, and all virtue and works of love are perfected and completed in God.  
 
The stillness of the solitary is silence to all things - to remain in the silence that allows God to speak a word equal to Himself - to walk in the darkness of faith that allows a soul to encounter God as He is in Himself. 
 
Do we desire God above all things?  Do we seek to make his love the measure of our life?  Do we make eternity the aim and goal that we pursue whatever our station and vocation may be?

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventeen Part III and Homily Eighteen

Tonight we came to the conclusion of Homily 17 of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Isaac continues to discuss the Chaste life and how to protect it. He instructs us to keep our inner life a private affair. We must not reveal what is most intimate and our relationship with God or our vulnerabilities. We must never put ourselves or God to the test nor must we retaliate when we are condemned by others. Gluttony must be avoided at all costs and we must avoid rich foods so as not to weigh ourselves down. Silence is to be guarded as most valuable and in this we should avoid talkativeness and flee theological discussions. We must occupy ourselves with one thing alone – our relationship with Christ. 
 
In Homily 18 St. Isaac begins to speak to us about the stages of the spiritual life. In particular he focuses upon the violence we must do to ourselves in order to transform the passions - fasting, reading, vigils, prostrations.  Such must be embraced to stoke the fires of devotion and compunction which give way to tears that cleanse the heart. We must keep our focus on these disciplines and not hurry indiscriminately towards the higher forms of prayer. To do so would be to subject ourselves to potential delusion.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part III

Last evening we picked up midway through Homily Six where St. Isaac takes up the topic of the vision of the divine in the Kingdom. Such vision and its nature is predicated on the individuals degree of perfection and its gifts. Yet, Isaac is quick to remind us that there is no division amongst us and the experience of God despite how this experience is perceived. There is no disunity or division in heaven and no comparison of gifts. Each delights in the experience and continues to be drawn into the fullness of God.
Following upon this, St. Isaac would have us understand that there exists only Gehenna and Heaven and no other state. It is foolhardy to propose an in-between state that is somehow greater than Gehenna but not yet the Kingdom. Such a notion speaks of an individual's hope that the one can live this life without a sense of urgency rooted in our ultimate end. Every moment is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity to love - an opportunity embraced or set aside. To propose anything less is to foster false hope as well as mediocrity and lukewarmness.
A rather lengthy discussion ensued about the differences between Eastern and Western spirituality; in particular the use of discursive mediation and the use of imagination among Western writers and the avoidance of it among the Eastern ascetics. While largely a part of our spiritual patrimony those in the West have not been catechized in the Ascetical theology and practice of the East and the understanding of the active life as being rooted in the purification of the passions and the development of unceasing prayer. The understanding of the Church as a hospital and a place of healing and Christianity being an Ascetical religion has largely been neglected in recent generations as well as its impact on our understanding of liturgy, religious art and life as a whole.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Four Part IV

Last night we considered the proper measure of discretion needed in ascetical pursuits; dedicating your soul to the work of prayer; pursuing the life of solitude with those who share your desire; the importance of reading in stirring the heart to contemplation; the necessity of almsgiving and the willingness to live with scarcity.  We discussed implications of Isaac's for those who live in the world and pursue purity of heart.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Two Part IV and Homily Three Part I

In a magnificent closing to Homily Two and beginning to Homily Three, St. Isaac in a short few paragraphs lays out for us the types of passions and their nature and how a soul determines growth in the spiritual life.  Measure your way of life by what arises in your thoughts.  It is only with toil that  the soul enters understanding of the wisdom of God and if she becomes still to the world and the cares of life; for then she can come to know her nature and what treasures she has hidden within herself. She will be lifted up twoard God and filled with the wonder of God; knowing the living water of the spirit that bubbles up within the soul.  As the senses become more confined, the soul becomes more open to the contemplation of God.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Two Part III

The impact of sloth on the soul is often neglected and its significance minimized. St. Isaac the Syrian warns that without harsh tribulations of the flesh it is difficult for the untrained youth to be held under the yoke of sanctification. We must be willing to take upon ourselves the cross of the pursuit of virtue before sharing in its glory. Whenever the soul becomes heedless of the labors of virtue, he is inevitably drawn to what is opposed to them and thus becomes deprived of God's help and so subject to alien spirits. Every man who before training in the afflications of the cross completely and pursues the sweetness and glory of the cross out of sloth and for its own sweetness, has wrath come upon him. He lacks the proper wedding garment - the healing of the infirmity of his thoughts by patient endurance of the labor that belongs to the shame of the cross. A man whose mind is polluted with the passions of dishonor and rushes to imagine with his mind and ascend to the divine vision, is put to silence by divine punishment. "And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"
Theoria is rooted in virtue and becomes the receptacle and house of the knowledge of God.  It is in the body that we must pursue virtue and so we must engage in the rigors of asceticism.  We are not angels but rather fallen human beings who must purify the eye of the heart for the perception of the divine mysteries.
St. Isaac then begins to clarify the understanding of the word world.  The world is collective noun applied to all the passions.  Great care must be given in separating oneself from the world and with humility we must understand that depeneding on our state we may not perceive all the passions that hold us in their grip.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part VII

After a brief hiatus, the group came to the end of Conference 23.  Once again we found ourselves grappling, along with Cassian and Germanus, with the fact that despite the holiness and perfection that one may reach, our weakness and sin draws us away from living in a constant state of communion with God.  Created to live in a constant state of receptivity our sin leads to a flighty wandering of the mind and a turning away from God in a multitude of ways - even during the time of prayer.  
The greater the perfection and holiness of the individual, the greater the experience of his own sinfulness and the deeper the compunction over the weakness of his constitution.  Along with this comes a greater sense of his solidarity with others in that sin - the adulterous heart that turns away from God due to mere distractedness and laziness of mind is not in the end any less grave than what we often consider serious sins.  Humility must be one's constant companion and mercy the constant attitude with which one approaches others.
The transgressions we commit daily and our infidelity to God requires not only humility but the medicine He gives through Holy Communion.  This alone is the remedy for our sickness and its importance is understood only through action and experience.  Let us daily call out to Him for mercy and consume the medicine of immortality.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part VI

We continued to follow Abba Theonas' discussion with Germanus and Cassian on Theoria and the obstacles to lasting contemplation.  Theonas drives home the experience of wretchedness of the holy individual who is pulled away from contemplation of God by distraction and the weakness of the fleshly mind.  We "Fall" from contemplation and if we had a true sense of the loss that that is to us we too would experience deep compunction.  Yet, it is the action of constantly turning back to God that brings the holy soul the immediate outpouring of God's grace.  The anguished longing and desire of the soul is met by the immediate desire of God for renewed union.  
The group sought to understand this through the place where we all experience the deepest intimacy with God - the Mass.  In a world that fosters distraction and celebrates noise, it is easy for us to lose a kind of "custody of the eyes" - or custody of the Nous (the eye of the heart) that keeps us focused on the gift of love that is being offered to us and the sacrifice through which it has been made possible.  Only one who has tasted the sweetness of God's loves can understand the "Wretchedness" that St. Paul speaks of and the desire to be delivered from this body of death.  The deeper the love, the greater the pain at losing sight of the Beloved!

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part V

Few penetrate the meaning of the Fall (although we all experience its effects) as the desert Fathers or capture what it means to live according to the law of Grace.  One has to taste something of the experience of purity of heart, contemplation, and the peace of Christ, to grasp fully what Abba Theonas is speaking about in this conference.  How many of us would experience true compunction and the tears of repentance over being distracted from God and our thoughts of God?  We are trained from an early age not to seek and value above all things that constant state of communion with God but rather encouraged to pursue one distraction after another or to direct our greatest energies to fleshly concerns.  In light of this it is easy to understand the ubiquitous experience of anxiety that touches every human being.  We know not only separation from God because of our sin but a profound inner division.  When St. Paul said: "The good that I want I do not do, but the evil that I hate, this I do", he was not referring to the struggle with base passions (which in reality we do not hate but most often desire) but rather of the condition of one who has achieved purity of heart and so mourns at how often he is pulled from gazing upon the divine brilliance and focused instead upon something much less.  To live fully in accord with the law of grace, to know the invincible peace of the Kingdom, is the reality that has been made possible for us through the blood of Christ.  Yet it is the reality the eludes our grasps because we do not seek it from the hand of the Lord but rather to construct it ourselves and in accord with the measure of our minds.  

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part IV

Devastatingly Beautiful. . .  .
This is the only way to describe tonight's group and our reflection on Abba Theonas' discussion with Germanus and Cassian on Theoria or Contemplation.  One cannot help but be wrapped up in the beauty of the life and love that God has raised us to share in with Him and how we are constantly under His loving gaze and attention.  Yet, it is devastating when we come to see how easily we are pulled from God by our own carelessness and negligence.  We foster distraction when God desires union.  He would draw us close and we turn away so casually and even without notice.  
Again, we see the need to live in a constant state of repentance; of turning toward God again and again and away from the desires of the flesh and this world.  We must keep our eyes ever fixed upon the beloved; like a tightrope walker never looking to the right or left if we are to reach our destination.  We have been set upon a narrow path - that of single hearted love for the Lord and we must ever hold to it and repent of the ways we let our thoughts drift from Him.  

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part III

What do we seek?  What do we long for the most?  Can any of us truly say Theoria, or contemplation; to be drawn up into the eternal blessedness of God through participation and by His grace?  Do we seek to pray without ceasing as though it is that narrow path from which we seek not to stumble?  Theonas begins in these first sections of Conference 23 to show Cassian and Germanus why contemplation of God has a dignity greater than all the dignity of righteousness and all the zeal of virtuousness.  All things in this world will be unable to maintain their title of goodness if they are compared to the future age, where no mutability in good things and no corruption of true blessedness is to be feared!  The Apostle Paul is the exemplar of one who desires the indissoluble fellowship with God above all things for himself and for others.  He cries out: "I do not know what to choose.  I am compelled on two sides, having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, for that is far better, while remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your sake."  

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part II

Abba Theonas begins to introduce Cassian and Germanus to a deeper understanding of Theoria, that is, contemplation.  In particular, he makes it clear that even though the virtues are good and precious, they are nonetheless obscured upon comparison with the brilliance of the contemplation of God Himself.  Such contemplation is identifiable with purity of heart and even those who live a life of great perfection can fall, albeit unwillingly, from it due to distraction.  While not equivalent to grave sin, this distraction is due to the Fall and those who are aware of the sinfulness and poverty grieve over it.  Holy persons realize and are conscious of the great failure to cling to contemplation and repent and make reparation for it.  Such, however, cannot be said of the sinner who willingly enters into his crimes.  Despite our tendency to describe such things as "falls", a person willingly embraces their sin and is desirous of it; even overcoming every obstacle to attain it.  What is held before us then in this Conference is the height of contemplation that we are called to by grace and the pervasiveness of sin that must be struggled against even when the heights of perfection are attained.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Two On Nocturnal Illusions Part IV and Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part I

This evening we made a transition from Conference 22 to Conference 23, the last of Abba Theonas's three conferences.  Our discussion began with clarifying the fact that even the righteous and holy are in need of repentance and often fall, albeit unwillingly, into the sin of distraction and being pulled away from the goal of the spiritual life - Theoria, or contemplation of God.  In the light of divine goodness, all human goodness may be referred to as evil, "Thus, although the value of all the virtues . . . is good and precious in itself, it is nonetheless obscured upon comparison with the brilliance of theoria.  For it greatly hinders and holds back holy persons from the contemplation of that sublime good if they are take up with what are still earthly pursuits, even if they are good works."  We have been created for God and intimacy with God; back to and greater than that state of original innocence and constant communion with the Lord before the Fall. We must be careful, then, not to see the pursuit of virtue or the avoidance of vice as the goal or end of the spiritual life, although they are essential to it.  These things cannot be separated from our desire for God and intimacy with Him.  Nor can we achieve them outside of His grace.  If abstracted from the love of God and the desire to live in that love - the spiritual life can become lifeless and devoid of meaning. 

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part III

Again, Germanus and Cassian take up their discussion with Abba John about the end of the life of a cenobite and of the hermit.  Both have been deeply humbled as their understanding of the necessity and importance of long formation in the cenobia for developing the capacity of pursuing the anchoritic life.  Only by having lived in community and having crucified the ego and one's passions can one possibly pursue the life of greater solitude and contemplation. For it is in the deeper silence of the the anchoritic life that the once hidden passions will again emerge.  In fact, some people become so savage due to the unbroken silence of the desert simply because they sought it in pride or prematurely.  If one goes off to the desert with vices not yet attended to, only their effects will be repressed but the dispositions to them will not be extinguished.  A great deal of discussion focused on the applying the wisdom of the desert to the life of one seeking holiness while living in the world.  Simplicity of life and clarity about the essential pursuit of purity of heart as well as emotional maturity were discussed at length in regard to how they apply to the married state, consecrated single life and the life of the secular clergy.  One must cultivate a sensitive conscience through frequent examination and humble repentance.  Prayer must be fostered not as a good activity but as the very source of life and holiness.  Christians must once again foster a culture that is truly shaped by the gospel.  They must also be attentive to the ways the Divine Physician provides for healing when spiritual guides our lacking.  

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part II

Germanus and Cassian continue their conversation with Abba John who in many ways is unique.  He began his life in the Cenobium, became an anchorite, and then returned to the common life of the Cenobium after many years in solitude.  Abba John experienced the desire and the fruit of the life of deep solitude as an anchorite - intimacy with God and theoria or contemplation.  However, after many years of solitude distractions and concerns began to weigh upon him so much so that he was losing the simplicity of life and freedom that allows for undistracted contemplation.  There was a relaxation, among many of the anchorites, of the simplicity necessary for such a life and an over-concern for carnal realities began to emerge; too much of a focus on bodily comfort and the variety and plentitude of food.  Too much concern was focused on the morrow rather that God in the present moment.  What may seem to be a slight regression in practice to us made an enormous difference for those who were to be seeking God in radical simplicity in order to be free emotionally and spiritually to be raised up to the heights of prayer.  Abba John, therefore, wisely and humbly made the decision to return to the Cenobium where he could live with a greater freedom from such concerns because of the nature and support of the common life as well as live under obedience to a superior and so be conformed to Christ more perfectly.  Lengthy discussion then ensued regarding how such principles could be applied to contemporary life and the pursuit of holiness in the world.  How do we regain our simplicity and clarity of focus on living the Christian life in a world that thrives on distraction and a busyness that crowds out solitude and prayer?  The loss of a larger Catholic culture and its formative effects has been immeasurable.  Individuals and families live in isolation and find themselves walking in lockstep with those living in and formed by modern worldly sensibilities.  If the family is the domestic Church then should it not possess more in common with the cenobium?  Should not an environment be sought and created that nourishes the faith, the pursuit of holiness and a life of simplicity where prayer can emerge and shape one's existence?The renewal of Christian culture is something that will likely take place by slowly building that which will endure; not necessarily by appealing to modern sensibilities but living the gospel fully and embracing the love of the Cross. Cassian's writing remains ever relevant because it approaches the human person in relation to God not in a superficial fashion but as the deep mystery in which we must be fully immersed.    

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part I

Cassian and Germanus continue their discussion of Cenobitism and Anchoritism with an elderly Abba Paul who had lived in solitude for 20 years only later to return to the common life of the Cenobium.  While praising the anchoritic life and its possibilities for ardent prayer, Abba Paul states that the common life is marked with the evangelical disregard for the morrow and submission to the elder.  Those living the common life are able to share the labor and a monastery becomes self-sufficient, allowing the monks simply to focus upon fulfilling the rule daily undisturbed.  Living in obedience to an elder they also are able to better address the scourge of the anchoritic life which is being tempted by pride and vainglory.  Anchorites often run the risk of becoming overly occupied with food and possessions since they do not have the common life to support them. Furthermore, anchorites are often besieged by visitors seeking counsel and do not have the enclosure to protect their solitude.  In any case, Abba Paul tells them that perfection in either life is a rare thing.  The end of the cenobite is to put to death and to crucify all his desires and, in accordance with the Gospel precept to have no thought for the next day . . . But the perfection of the of the hermit is to have a mind bare of all earthly things and, as much as human frailty permits, to unite it with Christ.  Even after 20 years of solitude, Abba Paul return to the Cenobium; having seen fault lines in his own heart - worldly or carnal desires that he believed only the discipline of the common life could address.  In the end, the cenobitic life was the "safer" path for him.This conference like the last begins with a profound example of patience; unlike anything Cassian or Germanus had seen in their previous monastery and that must have deeply humbled these two travelers who had only spent 2 years in a monastery prior to seeking out the perfection of the East.  A young monk bears a slap from one of the elders that echoed so loudly as to be heard and felt physically by the 200 monks gathered to celebrated the death anniversary of a former abba of the monastery.  Not only did the young monk bear the humiliation patiently but with no physical or emotional sign of disturbance.  How could Cassian and Germanus failed to be humbled in their pursuit of the ideal of solitude while confronted with the perfection of the cenobitic life unlike anything they encountered before?A lengthy discussion ensued about how such teaching applies to the life and formation of those living in the world.  What comes into sharp focus regardless of the specific path taken is the need to have Christ and the pursuit of purity of heart at the center of one's life and shaping its contours.  Truly one may live in the world but one must not be of the world or shaped by it.  How starkly different must the Christian life be in comparison to the secular!! 

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part III

Once worldly cares have been stilled and virtue acquired, Abba Nesteros tells Cassian and Germanus that an assiduous program of reading the Bible must be undertaken. Reading though brings with it the danger of pride and consequently Abba Nesteros tells them that humble discretion must be exercised. He suggest the memorization of Scripture - in fact, perhaps, surprising to modern ears, the memorization of the entire Bible. Scripture is put forward here as the subject of continual mediation.Spiritual matters are not to be spoken of lightly; nor without experience behind them.  Our one desire should be to seek to be the spouse of Christ and to allow our hearts to be shaped fully by His Word.  Holiness leads to the deepest knowledge and we must avoid relying simply on human wisdom and rhetorical skill.  Likewise we must set aside all daydreaming about worldly literature and the exercise of the intellect, reason and imagination and make Christ our lasting treasure; understanding that in Him we lack absolutely nothing.  Finally, when speaking of the mysteries of God, our words should be directed especially to those who know the bitterness of life, whose hearts have been crushed by the weight of their own sin - those who know their poverty and so can truly be nourished and healed by the Word.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part II

We labored through a few pages of the conference where Abba Nesteros lays out the types of Spiritual Knowledge that exist - tropology, allegory and analogy.  Of these various types of knowledge the tropological is most necessary early in the spiritual life - that which pertains to correction of life and to practical instruction in the conquering of vice and growth in virtue.  One cannot find perfection in the words of others but rather in the virtuousness of their own acts.  Our hearts must become sacred tabernacles, cleansed of every contagion of sin and ready to receive the Word of God.Great care must be taken to remain silent, guarding the teachings of the elders in the heart rather than rushing to teach them to others.  Avoid all vainglory in questions and never seek to show off your learning. Don't teach unless you have previously lived the truths you put forward; for Abba Nesteros writes "whoever neglects many great things and dares to teach them is certainly not merely least in the Kingdom of Heaven but should be considered greatest in the punishment of Gehenna."

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part I

Knowledge and the Desire for GodCassian and Germanus' discussion with elder Nesteros on Spiritual Knowledge to all appearances is one of the most analytic of all the conferences.  The distinction is made between Practical knowledge, which both understands the working of the vices and forms the mind according to the virtues, and Contemplative Knowledge or Theoretical knowledge, which consists of the contemplation of divine things and the understanding of most sacred meanings.  Yet, despite its analytic tone, the 14th Conferences is truly about the necessity of simplicity of life, of directing one's thoughts and energies toward the pursuit of God and seeking the knowledge and understanding of things that bring us to that end.  Knowledge is not meant to satisfy our curiosity so much as to lead us to God.  In fact, we can distract and dissipate our minds through scattering our thoughts too broad and wide upon things of little import.  It is holiness that leads us to the deepest knowledge and we must avoid the abuse of learning by treating it merely as a rhetorical skill.NOTE: The next meeting will be July 22nd.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Ten on Prayer Part II

We found ourselves quite suddenly at the denouement of Cassian's Conferences - Abba Isaac's beautiful description of how to engage in unceasing prayer and the formula to be used.  However, this seemed less like a spiritual discourse and more like a privileged view of the heart and experience of the old man seasoned in the practice of prayer.  The very reading of it was a prayer - which Abba Isaac acknowledges that Germanus and Cassian were only able to receive because the ground of their hearts had been prepared through long years of discipline and fidelity to the spiritual life.  The shape of the prayer is the uninterrupted and repeated saying of Psalm 70:1, "O God, incline unto my aid; O Lord, make haste to help me."  Abba Isaac reveals how it adjusts itself to every condition and affliction and protects every virtue.  Yet, it does far more than that: Abba Isaac states that "straitened by the poverty of this verse (having forgone any thought but that of God), the soul will very easily attain to that gospel beatitude which holds the first place among the other beatitudes.  For it says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Through it one professes oneself to be the Lord's beggar.

Conferences of St. John Cassian: Conference Three on Renunciation -Part II

After discussing the three sources of one's calling to monastic life or conversion, Cassian moves on to consider three forms of renunciation that lead one to embrace the life of grace: renunciation of one's attachment to material things, renunciation of one's attachment to sin, and renunciation of anything that prevents one from living in the fullness of theoria, or contemplation of God. Discussion ensued about how this renunciation is fulfilled by those who live in the world and in the face of the challenges of this generation and in light of the modern culture. How does one live for God alone in our day and seek purity of heart? What are the obstacles that we often place in our own way to pursuing the life of holiness and the joy in brings?

Conferences of St. John Cassian: Conference Three on Renunciation -Part I

Cassian takes up the theme of the three sources of one's calling to the monastic life or to conversion (God, the example of others, need) and the three types of renunciation essential for living a life of deep conversion (detachment from worldly goods, one's passions, and from all things that prevent theoria or contemplation.)  Discussion ensued about compunction, conversion in one's daily life, and embracing a spirit of renunciation in the modern world.

Conferences of St. John Cassian: Conference One Part III - Goal of the Spiritual life (Purity of Heart)

For just as the kingdom of the devil is gained by the conniving at the vices, so the kingdom of God is possessed in purity of heart and spiritual knowledge by practicing the virtues.

Conferences of St. John Cassian: Conference One Part II - Goal of the Spiritual life (Purity of Heart)

All Things Pass Away But Love". . . fasting, vigils, scriptural meditation, nakedness, and total deprivation do not constitute perfection but are the means to perfection. They are not themselves the end point of a discipline, but an end is attained through them. To practice them will therefore be useless if someone instead of regarding these as means to an end is satisfied to regard them as the highest good. One would possess the instruments of a profession without knowing the end where the hoped -for fruit is to be found.""And so anything which can trouble the purity and the peace of our heart must be avoided as something very dangerous, regardless of how useful and necessary it might actually seem to be."8. "To cling always to God and to the things of God - this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low-grade, and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity.""You will note that the Lord establishes as the prime good contemplation, that is, the gaze turned in the direction of the things of God. Hence we say that the other virtues, however useful and good we may say they are, must nevertheless be put on a secondary level, since they are all practiced for the sake of this one."10. "The demands made on the body are actually only the beginning of the road to progress. They do not induce that perfect love which has within it the promise of life now and in the future. And so we consider the practice of such works to be necessary only because without them it is not possible to reach the high peaks of love.""As for those works of piety and charity of which you speak, these are necessary in this present life for as long as inequality prevails. Their workings here would not be required were it not for the superabundant numbers of the poor, the needy, and the sick.""But all of this will cease in the time to come when equality shall reign, when there shall no longer be the injustice on account of which these good works must be undertaken, when from the multiplicity of what is done here and now everyone shall pass over to the love of God and to the contemplation of things divine. Men seized of the urge to have a knowledge of God and to be pure in mind devote all their gathered energies to this one task."11. "Why should you be surprised if these good works, referred to above shall pass away? The blessed apostle described even the higher gifts of the Holy Spirit as things that would vanish. He points to love as alone without end.""Actually, all gifts have been given for reasons of temporal use and need and they will surely pass away at the end of the present dispensation. Love, however, will never be cut off. It works in us and for us, and not simply in this life.