Category: St Maximos the Confessor

He who yields to the pleasures of the body is neither diligent in virtue nor readily receptive of spiritual knowledge. For this reason he has no one–that is, no intelligent thought–to put him into the pool when the water is disturbed (John 5:7), that is, into a state of virtue capable of receiving spiritual knowledge and of healing every sickness.

On the contrary, although sick, he procrastinates because of laziness and is forestalled by someone else, who prevents him from being cured. And so he lies there with his illness for thirty-eight years.

He who does not contemplate the visible creation so as to discern God’s glory in it, and does not reverently raise his inner vision to the noetic world, quite fittingly remains ill for the number of years specified.

For the number thirty, understood with reference to nature, signifies the sensible world, while with reference to the ascetic life it signifies the practice of the virtues. The number eight, understood mystically, denotes the intelligible nature of incorporeal beings, while understood in terms of spiritual knowledge it denotes the supreme wisdom of theology.
Whoever does not advance towards God by these means remains paralyzed until the Logos (Christ Jesus) comes to teach him how he can obtain prompt healing, saying to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’ (John 5:8); that is to say, the Logos commands him to upraise his intellect from the love of pleasure which dominates him, to shoulder the body of the virtues and to go home, that is, to heaven.

Better that the higher should raise the lower up to virtue on the shoulders of ascetic practice than that, through soft living, the lower should drag the higher down into self-indulgence.

God is the origin, intermediary state and consummation of all created things, but as acting upon things and not as acted upon, which is also the case where everything else we call Him is concerned. He is origin as Creator, intermediary state as provident ruler, and consummation as final end. For, as Scripture says, “All things are from Him and through Him, and have Him as their goal” (Romans 11:36)….

God, it is said, is the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), and the rays of His supernal goodness shine down on all men alike. The soul is wax if it cleaves to God, but clay if it cleaves to matter. Which it does depends upon its own will and purpose. Clay hardens in the sun, while wax grows soft. Similarly, every soul that, despite God’s admonitions, deliberately cleaves to the material world, hardens like clay and drives itself to destruction, just as Pharoah did (Exodus 7:13). But every soul that cleaves to God is softened like wax and, receiving the impress and stamp of divine realities, it becomes ‘in the spirit the dwelling place of God’ (Ephesians 2:22).

There are four principal ways in which God abandons us. The first is the way of the divine dispensation, so that through our apparent abandonment others who are abandoned may be saved. Our Lord is an example of this (Matthew 27:46). The second is the way of trial and testing, as in the case of Job and Joseph; for it made Job a pillar of courage and Joseph a pillar of self-restraint (Genesis 39:8). The third is the way of fatherly correction, as in the case of St Paul, so that by being humble he might preserve the superabundance of grace (2 Corinthians 12:7). The fourth is the way of rejection, as in the case of the Jews, so that by being punished they might be brought to repentance. These are all ways of salvation, full of divine blessing and wisdom….

‘A faithful friend is a strong defense’; for when things are going well with you, he is a good counselor and a sympathetic collaborator, while when things are going badly, he is the truest of helpers and a most compassionate supporter.

Disgrace, injury, slander either against one’s faith or one’s manner of life, beatings, blows and so on — these are the things which dissolve love, whether they happen to oneself or to any of one’s relatives or friends. He who loses his love because of these things has not yet understood the purpose of Christ’s commandments….

When the demons see that we scorn the things of this world in order not to hate men on account of such things, and so to fall away from love; then they incite slanders against us.

In this way they hope that, unable to contain our resentment, we will be provoked into hating those who slander us….

The friends of Christ love all truly but are not themselves loved by all; the friends of the world neither love all nor are loved by all. The friends of Christ persevere in love to the end; the friends of the world persevere only until they fall out with each other over some worldly thing.

If, as St Paul says, Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17), and all the treasures of wisdom and spiritual knowledge are hidden in Him (Colossians 2:3), then all the treasures of wisdom and spiritual knowledge are hidden in our hearts. They are revealed to the heart in proportion to our purification by means of the commandments….

This is the treasure hidden in the field of your heart (Matthew 13:44), which you have not yet found because of your laziness. Had you found it, you would have sold everything and bought that field. But now you have abandoned that field and give all your attention to the land nearby, where there is nothing but thorns and thistles….

It is for this reason that the Savior says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:8): for He is hidden in the hearts of those who believe in Him. They shall see Him and the riches that are in Him when they have purified themselves through love and self-control; and the greater their purity, the more they will see.

A soul’s motivation is rightly ordered when its desiring power is subordinated to self-control, when its incensive power rejects hatred and cleaves to love, and when its power of intelligence, through prayer and spiritual contemplation, advances towards God….

It is no small struggle to be freed from self-esteem. Such freedom is to be attained by the inner practice of the virtues and by more frequent prayer; and the sign that you have attained it is that you no longer harbor rancor against anybody who abuses or has abused you….

If you want to be a just person, assign to each aspect of yourself–to your soul and your body–what accords with it. To the intelligent aspect of the soul assign spiritual reading, contemplation and prayer; to the incensive aspect, spiritual love, the opposite of hatred; to the desiring aspect, moderation and self-control; to the fleshly part, food and clothing, for these alone are necessary (1 Timothy 6:8).

If you harbor rancor against anybody, pray for them and you will prevent the passion from being aroused; for by means of prayer you will separate your resentment from the thought of the wrong they have done you. When you have become loving and compassionate towards them, you will wipe the passion completely from your soul. If somebody regards you with rancor, be pleasant to them, be humble and agreeable in their company, and you will deliver them from their passion….

You will find it hard to check the resentment of an envious person, for what he envies in you he considers his own misfortune. You cannot check his envy except by hiding from him the thing that arouses his passion. If this thing benefits many but fills him with resentment, which side will you take? You have to help the majority but without, as far as possible, disregarding him, and without being seduced by the cunning of the passion itself, for you are defending not the passion but the sufferer. You must in humility consider him superior to yourself, and always, everywhere and in every matter put his interest above yours. As for your own envy, you will be able to check it if you rejoice with the man whom you envy whenever he rejoices, and grieve whenever he grieves, thus fulfilling St Paul’s words, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).