Isaac certainly presents us with solid food. We’ve come to the end of homily 74. Isaac begins to describe for us the image of a heart that is truly dead to the world and how it perceives the mode of life of the new man. In other words, a life free from the ego and from the drive of the passions takes on the New Adam and begins to share in the fullness of the life of resurrection. One begin to contemplate the revelation of the Divine. In this sense of the desert Fathers become for us a mirror; in it we see whether or not we have died to the things of this world and our attachments to the world and perceive the true beauty of the life that is held before us. If we stop for a moment and think about spending the day in silence, we see that our heart and our thoughts flit about as moths around a light. We are easily distracted.
In homily 75, Isaac lays out before us a practice of prayer that may be unfamiliar to most - keeping vigil in prayer during the night. Isaac begins by offering us a prayer to be said at the beginning of such a time. We are to call out to God to shelter us from our common enemy, to free us from the distractions of our passions in order that we might enter into the sacred Liturgy with strength and clarity. Filled with grace, one sheds tears that purify the mind and the heart and allow us to love with tranquility and with the true freedom of chastity. One begins the liturgy without turmoil and filled with joy.
Issac speaks of the freedom that exists even within the prescribed practices. One might stand praying the psalms and yet the Spirit might lift the individual into a deep silence where time passes swiftly. It is then that one must give way to the guidance of the Spirit to be led in accord with the will of God and drawn swiftly to His Heart as He desires.
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part IV
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifty-six Part II and Letter Fifty-seven
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part III
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifty-five and Letter Fifty-six
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifty-four
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis IV and Hypothesis V
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifty-two Part II and Letter Fifty-three
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis III, Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifty-one and Letter Fifty-two
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis III, Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty-nine Part II and Letter Fifty
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis II, Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty-nine
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part X and Hypothesis II, Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty-eight
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part IX
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty-seven Part II
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part VIII
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty-six Part II and Letter Forty-seven Part I
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