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| +Saint Isaiah the Solitary |
ON GUARDING THE INTELLECT
St. Isaiah continues to describe signs of one's progress in the journey to God.
XII: Our teacher Jesus Christ, out of pity for mankind and knowing the utter mercilessness of the demons, severely commands us: "Be ready at every hour, for you do not know when the thief will come; do not let him come and find you asleep" (St. Matt. 24:42-43). He also says: “Take heed, lest your hearts be overwhelmed with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and the hour come upon you unawares" (St. Luke 21:34).
Stand guard, then, over your heart and keep a watch on your senses; and if the remembrance of God dwells peaceably within you, you will catch the thieves when they try to deprive you of it. When a man has an exact knowledge about the nature of thoughts, he recognizes those which are about to enter and defile him, troubling the intellect (νούς) with distractions and making it lazy. Those who recognize these evil thoughts for what they are remain undisturbed and continue in prayer to God.
He is called Theophoros (the God-bearer) because he constantly bore the name of the Living God in his heart and on his lips. According to tradition, he was thus named because he was held in the arms of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. On a day when the Lord was teaching His disciples humility, He took a child and placed him among them, saying: Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (St Matthew 18:4). This child was Ignatios. Later, Ignatios was a disciple of St. John the Theologian, together with Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. As Bishop of Antioch, Ignatios governed the Church of God as a good shepherd and was the first to introduce antiphonal chanting in the Church, in which two choirs alternate the chanting.
This manner of chanting was revealed to St. Ignatios by the angels in heaven. When Emperor Trajan was passing through Antioch on his way to do battle with the Persians, he heard of Ignatios, summoned him and counseled him to offer sacrifice to the idols. If Ignatios would do so, Trajan would bestow upon him the rank of senator. As the counsels and threats of the emperor were in vain, St. Ignatios was shackled in irons and sent to Rome in the company of ten merciless soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts. Ignatios rejoiced in suffering for his Lord, only praying to God that the wild beasts would become the tomb for his body and that no one would prevent him from this death
After a long and difficult journey from Asia through Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus, Ignatios arrived in Rome, where he was thrown to the lions in the circus. The lions tore him to pieces and devoured him, leaving only several of the larger bones and his heart. This glorious lover of the Lord Christ suffered in the year 106 in Rome at the time of the Christ-hating Emperor Trajan. Ignatios has appeared many times from the other world and worked miracles, even to this day helping all who call upon him for help.
Hebrews 10:32-38 KJV
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Saint Mark 9:33-41 KJV
33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,
37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.
38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is on our part.
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
CAN ONE ENTER INTO THE SPLENDOR OF SAINTS WITHOUT HUMILITY?
What is unity? OUR RESURRECTION
from Saint Sophrony Sakharov of Essex
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female, he created them. (Genesis 1: 26-27)
As we see, the Holy Scripture speaks of one man—he speaks of the singular, even though, at first glance, he has to speak of two men: man and woman.
What do we know about God? That there is only one God in three persons: the Holy Trinity. So, the only God made a single man in many persons of two kinds: male and female. Unfortunately, however, this original unity does not exist today because this unique Adam was cut in pieces by sin. This unique mirror, this unique image of the one God, has fallen and broken in many pieces. This is the fall of Adam.
Because of this, God the Word has incarnated—Jesus Christ—saying, “Let’s rebuild Adam because, otherwise, you are in the hell which you alone have generated. Whoever wishes to be united with Me and, through Me, among you?”
What did God create? A created god, a gigantic mind. All the persons were meant to cooperate in real time, mentally, without any disagreement, for the fulfillment of the same purpose, yet retaining their specificity.
ATTENTION: So, the gift of knowing thoughts is a natural gift, and speaking is actually a lower level of communication. For the people who are approaching God (the saints), this gift of knowing thoughts reappears.
However, could this union be realized concretely for the same purpose, while preserving our specificity? It is as in the case of a body that, for example, climbs a ladder: the feet do something, the hands do something else, the eyes do something else—each member does something else, but all the members work together in real time to achieve the same goal: the person climbing.
When the Apostle Paul says that the Church is the body of Christ and we are members in part, the Saint does not speak poetically but in a very concrete way, as we have shown above. In this body, Christ is the head and the Holy Spirit is the spiritual blood that gives life to the members.
We cannot find our happiness and resurrection in any other way than only in this spiritual nation. The true nation is the communion between the living, the communion between the dead, the communion between the living and the dead in the midst of the Holy Liturgy.
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