The Philokalia Volume 4a by Desert Fathers

One Hundred and Fifty -three Practical and Theological Texts 25 Attributed to St Symeon the New Theologian: The Three Methods of Prayer 67 [V4] 12, [V4] 13, [V4]14, [V4] 15 [V4] 16 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith Brethren and fathers, it is good that we make God's mercy known to all and speak to those close to us of the compassion and inexpressible bounty He has shown us. For as you know 1 neither fasted, nor kept vigils, nor slept on bare ground, but - to borrow the Psalmist's words - '1 humbled myself and, in short, 'the Lord saved me'. Or, to put it even more briefly, 1 did no more than believe and the Lord accepted me (cf. Ps. 116:6, 10; 27:10. LXX). Many things stand in the way of our acquiring humility, but there is nothing that prevents us from having faith. For if we want it with all our heart, it will immediately become active in us, since it is God's gift to us and a pre-eminent characteristic of our nature, even though it is also subject to our individual power of free will. That is why even Scythians and other outlandish peoples have faith in each other's words. Yet to demonstrate through actual facts the effect of our deeply rooted faith and to confirm what I have just said, I will tell you a story related to me by someone who was entirely trustworthy. A man by the name of George, young in age - he was about twenty - was living in Constantinople during our own times. He was good-looking, and so studied in dress, manners and gait, that some of those who take note only of outer appearances and harshly judge the behavior of others began to harbor malicious suspicions about him. This young man, then, made the acquaintance of a holy monk who lived in one of the monasteries in the city; and to him he opened his soul and from him he received a short rule which he had to keep in mind. He also asked him for a book giving an account of the ways of monks and their ascetic practices; so the elder gave him the work of Mark the Monk, On the Spiritual Law. This the young man accepted as though it had been sent by God Himself, and in the expectation that he would reap richly from it he read it from end to end with eagerness [V4] 17 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith and attention. And though he benefited from the whole work, there were three passages only which he fixed in his heart. The first of these three passages read as follows: 'If you desire spiritual health, listen to your conscience, do all it tells you, and you will benefit.' The second passage read: 'He who seeks the energies of the Holy Spirit before he has actively observed the commandments is like someone who sells himself into slavery and who, as soon as he is bought, asks to be given his freedom while still keeping his purchase -money.' And the third passage said the following: 'Blind is the man crying out and saying: "Son of David, have mercy upon me" (Luke 18:38). He prays with his body alone, and not yet with spiritual knowledge. But when the man once blind received his sight and saw the Lord, he acknowledged Him no longer as the Son of David but as the Son of God, and worshipped Him' (cf. John 9:38). On reading these three passages the young man was struck with awe and fully believed that if he examined his conscience he would benefit, that if he practiced the commandments he would experience the energy of the Holy Spirit, and that through the grace of the Holy Spirit he would recover his spiritual vision and would see the Lord. Wounded thus with love and desire for the Lord, he expectantly sought His primal beauty, however hidden it might be. And, he assured me, he did nothing else except carry out every evening, before he went to bed, the short rule given to him by the holy elder. When his conscience told him, 'Make more prostrations, recite additional psalms, and repeat "Lord, have mercy" more often, for you can do so', he readily and unhesitatingly obeyed, and did everything as though asked to do it by God Himself. And from that time on he never went to bed with his conscience reproaching him and saying, 'Why have you not done this?" Thus, as he followed it scrupulously, and as daily it increased its demands, in a few days he had greatly added to his evening office. During the day he was in charge of a patrician's household and each day he went to the palace, engaging in the tasks demanded by such a life, so that no one was aware of his other pursuits. Every evening tears flowed from his eyes, he multiplied the prostrations he made with his face to the ground, his feet together and rooted to the spot on which [V4] 18 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith he stood. He prayed assiduously to the Mother of God with sighs and tears, and as though the Lord was physically present he fell at His most pure feet, while like the blind man he besought mercy and asked that the eyes of his soul should be opened. As his prayers lasted longer every evening, he continued in this way until midnight, never growing slack or indolent during this period, his whole body under control, not moving his eyes or looking up. He stood still as a statue or a bodiless spirit. One day, as he stood repeating more in his intellect than with his mouth the words, 'God, have mercy upon me, a sinner' (Luke 18:13), suddenly a profuse flood of divine light appeared above him and filled the whole room. As this happened the young man lost his bearings, forgetting whether he was in a house or under a roof; for he saw nothing but light around him and did not even know that he stood upon the earth. He had no fear of falling, or awareness of the world, nor did any of those things that beset men and bodily beings enter his mind. Instead he was wholly united to non-material light, so much so that it seemed to him that he himself had been transformed into light. Oblivious of all else, he was filled with tears and with inexpressible joy and gladness. Then his intellect ascended to heaven and beheld another light, more lucid than the first. Miraculously there appeared to him, standing close to that light, the holy, angelic elder of whom we have spoken and who had given him the short rule and the book. When I heard this story, I thought how greatly the intercession of this saint had helped the young man, and how God had chosen to show him to what heights of virtue the holy man had attained. When this vision was over and the young man, as he told me, had come back to himself, he was struck with joy and amazement. He wept with all his heart, and sweetness mingled with his tears. Finally he fell on his bed, and at that moment the cock crowed, announcing the middle of the night. Shortly after the church bells rang for matins and he got up as usual to chant the office, not having had a thought of sleep during the whole night. As God knows - for He brings things about according to decisions of which He alone is aware - all this happened without the young man having done anything more than you have heard. But what he did he did with true faith and unhesitating expectation. And let it not be said that he did these things by way of an experiment, for he had never spoken or thought of acting in such a spirit. Indeed, to make [V4] 19 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith experiments and to try things out is evidence of a lack of faith. On the contrary, after rejecting every passion- charged and self-indulgent thought this young man, as he himself assured me, paid such attention to what his conscience said that he regarded aU material things of hfe with indifference, and did not even find pleasure in food and drink, or want to partake of them frequently. You have heard, my brethren, what great things faith in God can bring about when it is confirmed by actions. You will have realized that youth is not to be despised and that without understanding and fear of God old age is useless. You have learnt that the heart of a city cannot prevent us from practicing God's commandments so long as we are diligent and watchful, nor can stillness or withdrawal from the world be of any benefit if we are lazy and negligent. We have certainly all heard of David, and we admire him and say that he is unique and there cannot be another like him. Yet here, lo and behold, is something more than David. For David was specially chosen by God: he was anointed to be prophet and king; he was inspired by the Holy Spirit; and he was granted many revelations concerning God. Thus when he sinned and was deprived of the grace of the Spirit and of his gift of prophecy, and was estranged from his usual communion with God, is there anything astonishing in the fact that he should recall the state of grace from which he had fallen and should ask to enjoy those privileges once more (cf Ps. 51:1 1-12)? But our young man had never even conceived of any of these things. He was devoted only to what is transient and worldly, and he could imagine nothing superior to such things. Yet - how unpredictable are Thy ways. Lord - he had only to hear of these divine realities and he believed in them immediately; indeed, he believed so surely that he implemented his faith in corresponding action. It was thanks to this action that his mind took wing and rose to heaven, drawing to it the compassion of Christ's Mother. Through her intercession God was appeased and bestowed on him the grace of the Spirit. This gave him the strength to rise to heaven and to behold the light that everyone longs for but very few attain. This young man had not observed long fasts or slept on the ground, worn a hair shirt or shaved his head, nor had he shunned the world physically, though he had in spirit, by keeping a few vigils; yet he appeared to be superior to Lot, so renowned in Sodom (cf. Gen. 19). Or, rather, although in a body, he was an angel, constrained yet unconstrained, visible but transcending physicality, human in appearance [V4] 20 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith but immaterial when perceived spiritually, outwardly all things to all men (cf. 1 Cor. 9:22) but inwardly solely present to God alone, the knower of all things. Thus when the visible sun set, he found that its place was taken by the tender light of spiritual luminosity, which is the pledge and foretaste of the unceasing light that is to succeed it. And this was as it should be; for the love of that for which he was searching took him out of the world, beyond nature and all material things, filling him wholly with the Spirit and transforming him into light. And all this happened to him while he was living in the middle of the city, and was steward of a house, having in his charge slaves and free men and carrying out all the tasks incumbent on such a life. Enough has been said in praise of this young man and to stimulate you to a similar longing, in imitation of him. Or would you still like me to speak of other things, greater than these - things which perhaps you might not be able to take in? Yet what can be greater or more perfect than the fear of God? Indeed, nothing is greater than this. It is as St Gregory of Nazianzos has written: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1 :7). For where there is fear, there the commandments are kept, and where the commandments are kept the flesh is purified, together with the cloud that envelops the soul and prevents it from clearly seeing the divine radiance. Where there is this purification there is illumination, and illumination is the fulfillment of the longing of those who desire the greatest of all supernal things or even that which is above all greatness." With these words he showed that illumination by the Spirit is the endless end of every virtue, and that whoever attains it has finished with everything sensory and has begun to experience the knowledge of spiritual realities. Such, my brethren, are the wonders of God. And God reveals His hidden saints so that some may emulate them and others have no excuse for not doing so. Provided they live a worthy life, both those who choose to dwell in the midst of noise and hubbub and those who dwell in monasteries, mountains and caves can achieve salvation. Solely because of their faith in Him God bestows great blessings on them. Hence those who because of their laziness have failed to attain salvation will have no excuse to offer on the day of judgment. For He who promised to grant us salvation simply on account of our faith in Him is not a liar. So show mercy to yourselves and to us who love you [V4] 21 St Symeon the New Theologian On Faith and often grieve and shed tears far you - for this is what the merciful and compassionate God has asked us to do. Trust in the Lord with all your soul. Leave the world and everything that passes away, and draw close to God and cleave to Him; for in a little while 'heaven and earth will pass away' (Matt. 24:35), and apart from Him there will be no firm ground on which to stand, no limit, nothing to check the fall of sinners. God is infinite and cannot be grasped. Tell me, then, if you can, what place there will be for those who fall away from His kingdom? I grieve, I exhaust my heart, I pine for you when I bring to mind that we have a Lord so bountiful and compassionate that simply if we have faith in Him He grants us gifts beyond our imagination - gifts we have never heard or thought of and that 'man's heart has not grasped' (1 Cor. 2:9). Yet we, like beasts, prefer the earth and the things of the earth that through His great mercy it yields in order to supply our bodily needs; and if we use these things modestly, then our soul may ascend unhampered towards divine realities, nourished spiritually by the Holy Spirit according to the degree of our purification and to the level to which we have ascended.

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The Philokalia Volume 4a

Desert Fathers

Desert Fathers (251 AD - 500)

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