Avoiding Temptations - Saint Isaac the Syrian

Saint Isaac the Syrian advises beware of idleness:

Idleness allows us to fall into the hands of demons

Do not neglect spiritual disciplines. This overcomes idleness

Remember that God’s negative judgment comes because we allow evil forces to tempt us causing us to fail in our duty or incorrectly use our resources

Necessary disciplines

“Love your neighbor, don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, be kind, be content with what you have, be generous to others, don’t judge, weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.”

Remember the goal

The goal is to love our neighbor as Christ while we live in this world.

What is required:

Active pursuit of spiritual life, Repentance and Prayer

What is most important: 

Learning to love the unlovely, seeking opportunities to be generous, 

rejecting judgmental thoughts, practicing loving kindness and mercy even when you don’t feel like it.

Source: https://holynativity.blogspot.com/2013/06/closing-door-to-tormenting-demons.html

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Christmas Homily of St. Isaac the Syrian

This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world; 

So let no one threaten;

This is the night of the Most Gentle One - Let no one be cruel;

This is the night of the Humble One - Let no one be proud.

Now is the day of joy - Let us not revenge;

Now is the day of Good Will -Let us not be mean.

In this Day of Peace -Let us not be conquered by anger.

Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake; 

So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.

Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask; 

So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.

This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers; 

Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.

Today the DIVINE BEING took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,

In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of DIVINITY.

Stillness is a Prerequisite for Social Action

Often I mistakenly think that my primary effort should be directed toward social activity through some kind of service to society when my most important task is something quite different.


Saint Isaac the Syrian says,

Do not compare those who work signs and wonders and mighty acts in the world with those who practice stillness and knowledge. Love the idleness of stillness above providing for the world's starving and the conversion of a multitude of heathen to the worship of God.

He is advising us to put a greater emphasis on an inner stillness rather than an active external life. How many of us stretch our lives so thin that we are stressed trying to balance family and social obligations. the result is that we live in stress and our minds are ever distracted by the multitude of our activities. In this kind of life where is the place for communion with God? This is why Saint Isaac puts such a high priority on stillness. It comes before and above providing for the starving and the conversion of heathen to God.


He continues,

It is better for you to free yourself from the shackle of sin than to free slaves from their slavery. It is better for you to make peace with your soul, causing concord to reign over the trinity within you (I mean, the body, the soul, and spirit), than by your teaching to bring peace among men at variance.

If we do not first work on the purification of our soul we will never have the peace of mind to know God and to truly know His will for us. If we only focus on freeing slaves, on undoing some other infringement on basic human rights, and we have sin in our hearts, our efforts will be in vane. It is only with peace in our soul, harmony between body, soul and spirit that we can act with the love that God has in mind for us.


He continues quoting Saint Gregory the Theologian,

For as Gregory the Theologian says, "It is a good thing to speak concerning the things of God for God's sake, but it is better for a man to make himself pure for God" (Orations 3, On Flight, 12).

All these efforts that we think need our attention to rid the world of evil doing are good, but there is something that is better. We must cleanse our inner being, purify our soul, so we can partcipatte in the divine union with God. From this we will become the kind of servants of God He intended for us to become. In this way we will receive His saving grace.


Saint Isaac says more,

Love uncouthness of speech joined with knowledge from inner experience more than to gush forth rivers of Instruction from the keenness of your intellect and from a deposit of hearsay and writings of ink. It is more profitable for you to attend to raising up unto activity of your cogitations concerning God the deadness of your soul due to the passions, that it is to resurrect the dead.

Its not our elegance of speech that is important but the knowledge we can gain from an inner experience of God. The Fathers tell us that it is from this that comes true wisdom. Often our own cleverness sounds good, our projects to do good well intended, but in the end they spreads ideas that mislead others or cause even greater strife. It is better, as Saint Isaac tells us, to link our minds with a contemplation of the kingdom of God, to practice stillness. This is even better than to "resurrect the dead."


I ask for myself, let me take from this bit of wisdom from a great Saint of our Church, to guide me, helping me put my focus on gaining stillness in my mind and heart with a constant focus on God, seeking His education.  Let it help me set aside my own egocentric notions that come from my own intellectual activity and self-contrived social good works. Let me let my works come naturally from a soul that has been purified along with a will that is united with the will of God. Let me learn to practice stillness.


Source: Homily 4, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, p 144-5.

St. Isaac the Syrian on Prayer

How Do We Pray?"Prayer needs no teacher. It requires diligence, effort and personal ardor, and then God will be its teacher." St. Meletius the Confessor

St Isaac the Syrian says we should:
  • Pray with attention – so that we can have a true
     encounter with God
  • Pray with humility – because this sort of prayer goes
    straight to God’s ear
  • Pray with affection and tears – with joy and
    thanksgiving, but also with true repentance and purity.
  • Pray with patience and ardor – ‘to deny oneself’ is
    courageously to persevere in prayer.
  • Pray from the depths of the heart – even if we pray
     using ‘the words of another’ they should be uttered as if
     they are our own. St. Isaac says this is especially true
     of the Psalms.
  • Pray with faith and absolute trust in God – because He knows our life.
  ...more from Isaac of Syiria on Prayer

Joys Greater than This LIfe?

How can there be joys that are greater than those we get from this life?  It is often hard to remember in our daily struggles that this life is temporary and we are destined for eternal life with God.  Too often we find our minds locking us in on the activities of this world to the exclusion of God's kingdom.  This is the spiritual battle we are engaged in, to always remember to lift our eyes and hearts to that which is beyond all we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch.


Saint Isaac the Syrian says the following:

The joy that is in God is stronger than this present life.  And he who finds this joy, not only will he not pay attention to the passions, but he will not even give a thought to his own life, not will he have awareness of anything else, if his experience of this joy is true.  Love is sweeter than life.  And the concord with God from which love is born is sweeter than honey and the honey comb.  It does not seem grievous to Love to undergo a bitter death for the sake of he beloved... And to the heart which has received this joy every sweetness of this world seems superfluous.  for there is nothing which can be likened to sweetness of the knowledge of God."

Source: Wounded by Love, p 101 - Homily 38. Cf. The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian, Holy Transfiguration MOnastery, 1984, p 297.