Fighting the Passions

Today I thought I would offer you a few quotations from Theophan the Recluse (1815-94), a Russian priest and monk and eventually hermit. I’ve quoted him in the past and I discovered his writings in a book called The Art of Prayer which is an anthology of writings of Russian mystics from the 19^th century.

Today’s selections are about anger and the passions and the use of the Jesus Prayer to help dispel them.

On the face of it, there is nothing at all in the world over which it is worth losing our temper; for what is more valuable than the soul and its peace? This peace is destroyed by anger.

Deep in the heart we cling to our right to judge and punish others for their sins, instead of ourselves. That is all there is to it. If a man saw himself as a sinner, being vividly conscious of all the consequences of sin, anger would be far from him.

We recognize that God permits troubles to come in order to try us and thus demonstrate the strength of our virtue; and this helps us to preserve our temper in such cases, for we believe that God Himself is watching us at such a moment.

. . . examine our thoughts and feelings, so as to discover which way they tend: towards pleasing God or towards pleasing ourselves. It is quite easy to do this. All you have to do is to watch yourself.

Self-gratification is the cause of all evils. If you examine all the bad things that you have done, you will see that in each case they originated from pandering to yourself.

As a general rule, decide whether a thing is permissible by the effect it produces within.  Permit yourself what is constructive, but never what is destructive.

. . . we must direct all our attention to this warfare against the passions—and that is constant remembrance of the Lord and prayer to Him. Acquiring the habit of the Jesus Prayer is the external aspect of this weapon. In its inner reality, it may best be described as ‘being always at home’.

We must stay always in our heart with the Lord, calling to Him; and this banishes everything evil.

There is no need . . . to be disturbed and perplexed when passions rise up from our fallen nature or when they are spurred on by evil spirits. Since passions are tamed by prayer, when they arise we should practice the Jesus Prayer inwardly, very quietly and without haste: little by little this will allay the upsurging passions.

When you talk to someone, above all refrain from upsetting him by aggressiveness, or by expressing an opinion directly opposed to his, from an obvious desire to have your own way. It is the enemy who inspires you to do this, in order to start an argument and by this means to bring about discord. Avoid equally speaking of spiritual things in order to display your own wisdom. This too is a suggestion of the enemy, and if you follow it you will be laughed at by men and will gain God’s displeasure. 

God bless you.

Hold that temper!

As you may know, I’ve been reading a book called The Art of Prayer recently. This morning I found a passage which is so practical and helpful that I’ve decided to offer it to you as today’s meditation. I’ve found it to be helpful in light of that fact that I recently lost my temper. I’m sure you know what that’s like. I wish I had read this passage first:

“Make a following rule: first of all, anticipate trouble at every moment and when it comes encounter it as something expected. Secondly, when something happens that conflicts with your will and is on the point of irritating or upsetting you, hasten to bring your attention into your heart and strive with all your might to prevent such feelings from arising: steel yourself against them and pray. If you succeed in preventing feelings of irritation and disturbance from arising within you, then you are finished with your trouble, for these feelings are its starting point. But if even a small feeling is brought to birth, resolve, if possible, not to do or say anything until you have managed to drive it away. If you find it impossible not to say or do something, try not to talk and act according to those feelings but according to God’s commandment, in the manner that He ordains, meekly and quietly, as though nothing had happened.

“In the third place, put out of your mind all expectation that the nature of things will change, and resign yourself to life-long friction. Do not forget this or underrate its importance, for unless you act in this way patience cannot be firmly established. Finally, with all this, preserve a good-humored expression, an affable tone of speech, friendly behavior, and above all avoid reminding people in any way about their unjust words or deeds. Behave as though they had done nothing wrong. Accustom yourself to preserve the remembrance of God unceasingly.”  

Theophan the Recluse.  The Art of Prayer, pp. 228-229.

Staying connected

Yesterday we spoke about keeping prayer alive in our hearts through the repetition of a religious phrase or word. If you remember, I mentioned that if we make it a habit to use our prayer word (or words) regularly, especially during times when we would be prone to dwell on vain and useless thoughts, that the prayer would eventually arise from within us and be on our lips without any conscious effort on our part.

When I write about these things, I am writing from personal experience rather than from someone else’s reflections on prayer. Nonetheless, I continue to be inspired by a little-known work called The Art of Prayer: an orthodox anthology. From time to time I will share with you some of the most inspiring lines from this beautiful work.

Today’s selection comes from Bishop Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894), whose writings comprise most of The Art of Prayer.

Our whole object is to acquire the habit of keeping our attention always on the Lord, who is omnipresent and sees everything, who desires the salvation of all and is ready to help us towards it.

Theophan goes on to speak about the process that takes place when we gradually move away from prayer. He calls it “lukewarmness.”

This is how lukewarmness arises: it begins with forgetfulness. God’s gifts are forgotten, and so are God Himself, and our salvation in Him, and the danger of being without God; and the remembrance of death disappears—in a word, the whole spiritual realm is closed to us. This is due to the enemy, or to the dispersion of thought by business cares and excessive social contacts. When all is forgotten the heart grows cool, and its sensitivity to spiritual things is interrupted. . . .

spiritual occupations are postponed for a time, and afterwards abandoned completely. And then we begin again our old way of life . . . It will be an empty life.

If you do not want to fall into this abyss, beware of the first step—that is, forgetfulness. Therefore walk always in godly recollections—in remembrance of God and divine things. . . . And here will be life indeed.

Christ is alive! May we always be alive in Him. God bless you.

Hope in God alone

Advice from the Russian Orthodox mystics is probably something you heard or read before, but if you are like me, you need constant reminders and encouragement. So I offer you little summary of the writings of Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894).*

What is essential is that you lay all your hope in God. When it comes to the spiritual life, you cannot obtain anything on your own, and all your efforts and good works will not help you reach your goal of union with God unless and until He grants it to you. This takes so much pressure off of us. All we need do is pray from the heart, ask for what we seek, and continue praying until God grants it to us. The Orthodox Fathers particularly recommend the Jesus Prayer as a constant mantra; Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me.

It is possible to say the prayer so often that eventually it arises in your heart almost automatically, but it is important that we not say it mechanically and without meaning. Theophan quotes the wonderful lines from Psalm 37:3-4, If you trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grand your heart’s desire.

He speaks of the acquisition of virtue in the same way. A man who suffers from the vice of anger, he says, may by his own efforts acquire some control over it. “. . . how far will he get by his own efforts? No farther than outward silence during bouts of anger, with only such quelling of the rage itself as self-control can afford him. He can never himself attain the complete extinction of his anger and the establishment of meekness in his heart. This only happens when grace invades the heart and itself places meekness there. **

The same is true of every virtue and spiritual quality. We must seek earnestly, but realize that our own efforts to bear fruit will come to nothing. We must put all our trust in the Lord who will give us what we desire so earnestly.

I don’t know about you but I find this very encouraging and consoling at the same time. There is no reason to get impatient or even hate myself because of a particular weakness I may be trying to avoid. I can’t get it by my own efforts only. Now that doesn’t mean that I should not bother to try. I must keep trying, knowing that the ultimate victory will come when the Lord grants it to me.

In a way, the pressure is off about this and about so many other things.

Undoubtedly you will hear more from Theophan in the days to come as I continue to may my way through his writings.

May the blessings of the risen Lord descend upon you and keep you in all your ways.

*I discovered his writings in a book named The Art of Prayer: an orthodox anthology compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo.

** p. 112