Last night’s reading from St. Isaac the Syrian’s 4th Homily was extraordinary. As is so often the case, one is left with the feeling that there is no going back to a lesser vision of the faith and ascetic life. He warns us not to sacrifice our freedom, the freedom of simplicity, by enslaving ourselves to the things of this world. We must not live our lives to support luxury and ease and so make ourselves “slave of slaves”; that is, slaves to our passions and senses. Humble living is to be met with restraint in speech and love of silence. We are to constrict our thoughts and reduce distraction in order to seek contemplation above all things. To stand before God with a pure heart to better than all things - even all acts of charity. Care must be given not to gain the whole world and lose our souls in the process. “It is more profitable for you to attend to raising up unto the activity of your cogitations concerning God the deadness of your soul due to the passions, than it is to resurrect the dead.”
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXI, and XXII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part V
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XIX, and XX
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part IV
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part III
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part II
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII, Part IX, and XXVIII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VIII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVI, Part II
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part IV and XVI, Part I
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part V
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