The Way of the Ascetics

"Chapter One: ON A RESOLUTE AND SUSTAINED PURPOSE

IF you wish to save your soul and win eternal life, arise from your lethargy, make the sign of the Cross and say:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Faith comes not through pondering but through action. Not words and speculation but experience teaches us what God is. To let in fresh air we have to open a window; to get tanned we must go out into the sunshine. Achieving faith is no different; we never reach a goal by just sitting in comfort and waiting, say the holy Fathers. Let the Prodigal Son be our example. He arose and came (Luke 15:20).

However weighed down and entangled in earthly fetters you may be, it can never be too late. Not without reason is it written that Abraham was seventy-five when he set forth, and the labourer who comes in the eleventh hour gets the same wages as the one who comes in the first.

The Suffering of Holy Persons

Why do the righteous suffer?  Why does God allow it? St. Cassian and St. Germanus posed these questions to Abba Theodore after two Palestinian monks had been killed by bandits (6.1.1).  These monks were so beloved by the people that two nearby towns fought over the right to their burial and relics (6.1.2).  We ask in our frustration, "Why were these righteous monks allowed to be brutally murdered?"

We have to look no farther than ourselves to discover why we are so disturbed by such evil occurrences.  Souls with "little faith and knowledge" are troubled when evil befalls the righteous, because they assume that the righteous get their rewards in this life rather than the next (6.2.1).  If this erroneous assumption were true, we would be the most miserable of men.  Instead of ignorantly and faithlessly assuming in despair we must rather focus on the nature of how things are between God and His creation. Only then will we gain true understanding about this perceived problem.

Things in this world are good, bad, or indifferent. The only good is the virtue of the soul--divine faith that makes us cling to the unchanging Good.  The only bad in this world is sin, which separates us from the unchanging Good God and unites us with the devil (6.3.1).  These ontological truths are fixed and unchanging (6.4.1).  Therefore, we must properly understand these truths so that our faith can be strengthened by real knowledge and remain undamaged by temptations.

The Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament

"If the monastic ideal is union with God through prayer, through humility, through obedience, through constant recognition of one’s sins, voluntary or involuntary, through a renunciation of the values of this world, through poverty, through chastity, through love for mankind and love for God, then is such an ideal Christian? For some the very raising of such a question may appear strange and foreign. But the history of Christianity, especially the new theological attitude that obtained as a result of the Reformation, forces such a question and demands a serious answer. If the monastic ideal is to attain a creative spiritual freedom, if the monastic ideal realizes that freedom is attainable only in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and if the monastic ideal asserts that to become a slave to God is ontologically and existentially the path to becoming free, the path in which humanity fully becomes human precisely because the created existence of humanity is contingent upon God, is by itself bordered on both sides by non–existence, then is such an ideal Christian? Is such an ideal Biblical — New Testamental? Or is this monastic ideal, as its opponents have claimed, a distortion of authentic Christianity, a slavery to mechanical 'monkish' 'works righteousness'?"

Read how the New Testament answers such questions in Fr. Georges Florovsky's reflections here.

Monasticism Question & Answer

All quotes from Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, under the pseudonym "Father Maximos", are from the third chapter of The Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides.

1) Is it egotistical to lock oneself up in a monastery to save one's own soul in favor of fighting for God in the world?

"The Gospel is very clear about this issue.  Let me give you an example.  Do you recall the incident when that young man went to Christ and asked Him, 'Lord, what must I do to save my soul?' And Jesus replied, 'Sell everything you have and join me.' In another part we hear Christ say, 'Nobody can be my disciple if he loves his mother or his father, or his daughter or his fields more than me.' And He gave the first injunction, 'Love the Lord Thy God with all they soul and with all thy heart.' That is, love God with your entire being. Just think of the Twelve Apostles. They were ordinary people that He picked from ordinary life, but they gave up everything in order to follow and live with Him."

The Semantron

My favorite instrument used to call Christians to prayer is the semantron or talanton.  I never thought hitting a piece of wood could be so beautiful.  Listen to it here.  You can also buy a great children's book, which includes a CD, here.  With an audio file you can even program the semantron to sound for the hours on your laptop or cellular phone.

The Three Renunciations

We are called to be Christians in a variety of circumstances, through different decisions, and by numerous means.  Abba Paphnutius taught that there are three Christian callings and renunciations.

The three Christian callings are a calling (1) from God, (2) by human agency, and (3) out of need.  A Divine calling is most evident in the life of Abraham, (Genesis 12:1), St. Anthony (Life of St. Anthony by St. Athanasius), and St. Augustine (Confessions 8.12.29-30).  This calling is anything "which spurs us on to desire eternal life and salvation and encourages us to follow God and to adhere to his commands" (3.4.1).  When we are moved by the examples and teachings of holy men, God calls us by human agency (3.4.3).  The third calling of necessity is best exemplified by Israel who returned to the Lord only in times of persecution.  The Lord allows for circumstances that drive people to His Grace involuntarily by necessity, which is also illustrated in the conversions of St. Moses the Black and  the Apostle Paul (3.4.4-5).  Although the third calling seems the least praiseworthy of the three, all three callings have produced apostate, lukewarm, and perfect Christians (3.5.1).  If these callings are the beginning of Christian life, perfect renunciations are the end of it.

Extreme Pilgrim - A Pilgrimage to St. Anthony's Monastery

"And let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ." - St. Justin Martyr (First Apology, Chp. 16)

A Pilgrim's Way

"If Christ was punished on our behalf, then we are never forgiven, because punishment and forgiveness are mutually exclusive.... This is the concept of God, which is really the foundation of modern atheism." - Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

"We must bear everything patiently and forgive all. If we have good thoughts and desires, these thoughts will give us peace and joy in this life and even more so in eternity. Then we will see that there is no death, that the Lord has vanquished death, and that he has given us eternal life." - Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

See the rest of this six part video here.

Animals Are Grateful to God ... Not Us Men

"Once, Fr. Thaddeus shared a meal at Vitovnica with a pious visitor from Belgrade. After the meal, the visitor noticed several bread crumbs in the elder's long beard.  When they had both risen from the table, he gently told Fr. Thaddeus that he ought to shake the crumbs from his beard, so that the other visitors would not see them and wonder what kind of monk he was.  However, the elder only smiled and said, 'It is a pity to throw these crumbs away, when the birds can feast on them!' Then he sat on a bench in the garden, leaned back in his seat, and called to a sparrow sitting on a nearby tree, 'Come, little sparrow, come and eat!' The visitor saw with his own eyes how the sparrow flew down and settled on Fr. Thaddeus' beard, pecking at it until it had eaten the last crumb.

St Herman of Alaska

"A true Christian is made by faith and love toward Christ. Our sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity, according to the word of the Saviour Himself. He deigned to say: not the righteous have I come to call, but sinners to salvation; there is more joy in heaven over one who repents then over ninety righteous ones. Likewise concerning the sinful woman who touched His feet, He deigned to say to the the Pharisee Simon: to one who has love, a great debt is forgiven, but from one who has no love, even a small debt will be demanded. From these judgments a Christian should bring himself to hope and joy, and not in the least accept an inflicted despair. Here one needs the shield of faith.

Love for All

"(The saint's) consideration extends even to animals and to things, because in every creature he sees a gift of God's love, and does not wish to wound that love by treating His gifts with negligence or indifference." - Fr Dimitru Staniloae (Prayer and Holiness)

Valaam Monastery

"There always were a lot of monasteries in Russia.  People who lived there were from very backgrounds and social positions but they were united by the same desire--desire to communicate with God."

See all seven parts on YouTube.

Meditations on Monasticism

A beautiful monastic video in English that should be coming soon.

He shall uphold the orphan...

"The one who realizes that more has been forgiven him begins to love more.” 

Abba Isaac (The Conferences: 9.15.3)

Ostrov (The Island) - Entire Film

"The Conferences" on concealing virtue, as holy fools do:

"Those who adapt themselves to others' weaknesses gain much richer fruits than those who hold fast to their own promises, and they have declared that it is more sublimely virtuous to conceal one's abstinence by this necessary and humble lie, as has been said, than to reveal to it by proudly indicating the truth." - Abba Joseph (17.23.2)

One Day at Monastery

"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved." - St. Seraphim of Sarov