May 19

Just as water, sealed within a hermetic conduit, is often pushed upwards, vertically, by the rising pressure for lack of space for expansion (and this despite its natural movement that pushes it down), so too the human intellect, strictly channeled from  all directions by temperance, will be as though lifted up to the desire for superior goods by its natural tendency to move, lacking any exit or place of diversion; for the being in constant movement, having received such a nature from its Creator, can never be stabilized; and if it is prevented from employing its movement in the direction of vain things, it has no other recourse but to go straight to reality.

~St Gregory of Nyssa

May 18

By reorganizing his being and bringing it into conformity with God, man accomplishes what he was created for. He actualizes his nature’s normal end goal; he is and does what he can best be and do; he progresses towards the perfection to which God calls him; he becomes adequate to his true nature. This is the nature Adam possessed in Paradise but had altered through his sin: the nature that Christ gave back to mankind by bringing it to its fulfillment in Himself; the nature that man himself has put on by being baptized, albeit with the task of personally assimilating such nature to himself. There is a close correlation between man’s true nature and the nature of the commandments God gives him, which once again shows that the latter are in no way abstract principles or theoretical demands–ideals with no relation to man’s needs, possibilities, and destiny–but rather correspond on a deep level to what he is in essence…

~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses vol.2 pp.124-125)

May 17

Just as God had created Adam free and had allowed him to undergo the serpent’s temptation, so too does He leave the newly baptized person free and permits the demons to tempt him. God allows this in order that man might not be saved despite himself, but rather that he might manifest the whole reality of his will to be healed in Christ–as well as the degree of his attachment to God–in his resistance to the temptations. He further allows this in order that man might become the free co-worker in his own healing, salvation, and deification, and in order that he might personally and voluntarily make his own the gifts he has received.

If man were to strive with all his being to preserve and assimilate to himself the grace conferred in the sacraments without ever departing from this path, he would remain in the state of health and purity that baptism had restored to his nature. The Fathers point out that it is not a priori impossible for man to lead a life in which he would commit no sin and would keep all Christ’s commandments, but that in fact, very few baptized persons have really been aware of all the grace they have received.

In regard to baptism, St Symeon the New Theologian writes: “All of us are far from having recognized the grace, the illumination, indeed the simple fact of such a birth! No, scarcely one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand, have recognized this in mystical contemplation, whereas the others–all of them–are stillborn infants who are unaware of Him Who brought them into the world.”

~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses vol.2 pp.70-71)

May 16

For man, faith is the requirement and door of salvation, since through it, he clings with all his being to Christ’s saving work, through and in proportion to faith, the sick man receives from Christ the pardon of his sins, the healing of all his illnesses, and true health. Christ grants healing of bodily and spiritual illnesses to him who has faith in Him. St. Barsanuphius writes: “If one has faith in Him Who has come to heal every sickness and infirmity in the multitude, He is capable of healing not only bodily illness, but also those of the inner man.”…

However, one must know that there are many degrees of faith, and that there is a great distance between its first manifestation and its fulfillment, between the effort to believe in what one does not see and the sense of total certainty; and further, between the initial devotion to the word of God, in which one finds an exterior and quite partial kind of knowledge, and the vision of God, which the Fathers also liken to faith possessed in its perfection. Between these two extremes lie all the degrees of existential devotion to God, realized by the keeping of the commandments, which itself stems from faith and indeed forms the basis of the only true faith.

~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses vol.2 pp.68-69)

May 15

God gives us the fullness of His grace at baptism; it remains in us, but does not force itself on us. Respectful of our freedom, God does not compel us to experience the effects of grace. Man is perfectly purified through baptism, but he remains free to sin–and if he does sin, he defiles himself as before. It is thus necessary that man fight so as not to turn back and fall again into sin and the passions….

Full freedom lies at our disposal and the sins we commit after baptism are due only to the misuse of this freedom. We continue to be tempted after baptism–we cannot prevent this, since it comes from the devil and we are in no way responsible for it. But it is our responsibility to reject these suggestions. We are totally free when faced with temptation; baptism has given us the power to resist the tempter victoriously.

Nothing of what we reject can harm or abide in us. If we assent to the temptations, it is because we really want to do so and we do so in complete freedom.

~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses vol.2 pp.58-59)

Vacation!

That magical time when something surprising,

and amazing,

happens in the world—

 

the air is suddenly fresher and more invigorating,

everything smells so good,

and the sun shines brighter,

and time…

what happened to time?

 

It no longer presses so hard upon us….

instead, it meanders,

like a path stumbled upon;

and we happily lose ourselves in this moment.

 

We are vacationing!

 

We are accomplishing nothing,

and yet,

we are satisfied in this,

more than anything.

 

This is the time, more than ever,

when we thrust open the windows of our mind,

and let the wind blow through our heart…

softening it,

gentleizing us,

and making us human again,

now more than ever—

 

we smile more,

give more,

forgive more,

and become more.

 

Vacation is a taste of paradise,

when we can feel the earth’s embrace,

and imagine heaven’s promise…

when we shine a little brighter.

 

~FS

A Perfect Morning

Christ is risen from the dead,

trampling down death by death.

And upon those in the tombs,

bestowing life!

 

He has healed the fragmented world,

torn asunder through sin.

He has restored the unity of creation,

and closed the breach caused by deception.

 

Christ is risen from the dead,

causing all to sing for joy,

brightening the newborn day,

with hope!

 

This is the day that the Lord has made,

it is a day which shall never end!

Let us rejoice and be glad in this,

for creation is created anew!

 

Christ is risen from the dead,

giving fallen man new birth,

casting out the dark of sin,

bringing paradise to earth!

 

Let peace and mercy dwell together,

our hearts be the dwelling place of love.

Christ has risen from the dead,

let us live in faith and hope!

 

Christ is risen from the dead,

this is the perfect morning!

Beginning of the brand new day,

and Light that is never-ending!

 

~FS

The Praying Mouse

Little mouse, little creature,

I saw you suffering in a wide field.

Forlorn and forsaken (you appeared to me),

head low, with back arched against the formidable sky.

The weight of emptiness seeming to bear you down,

your tiny body nearly invisible beneath the world’s expanse.

 

Little creature, little friend,

I recognized in your pain the throes of death—

your shallow, labored breathing,

your eyes tight against the waning light—

would that I could raise you when you die,

instead, I raised you on my finger.

 

And finding a safer shelter for your final slumber,

I lowered you again to earth,

and tucked you in, amidst the fallen leaves.

You lifted your head as if in gratitude, or in hope?

Do not hope in me dear one,

I am just like you, powerless and small.

 

Little comfort could I give, but I gave,

a whispered, gentle prayer for you and me,

while stroking your soft fur to soothe you.

And saying my farewell,

with one final touch upon your brow,

I left you alone there, returning home.

 

I brought you with me, yet, in my mind,

the icon of your helpless body,

fated to be gobbled up by death.

This image terrorized and numbed me,

disturbed my thoughts, and stirring up despair,

made me frantic to understand and know…

 

Is innocence meant thus to suffer so alone?

Why can’t life beyond the grave be truly known?

When hope and faith seem so misplaced,

while staring death straight in the face,

what spark is there,

to make them kindle, and to grow?

 

I made myself as you, little mouse, with head hung low,

I hunched down to the earth, and prayed to God with tears.

It was the Lord who soothed my deathly fears,

and calmed my troubled, despairing mind.

It is the Comforter Who touched me on my brow,

and it is He who filled my aching heart.

 

Foolishly I had looked, but hadn’t seen,

the Breath of Life which enlivens you and me.

The Holy Spirit giving comfort from within,

perceived through the eyes of contrition.

 

Little creatures, you and I, so small and lowly,

yet through our suffering we are raised, and then made holy.

Giver of life, come and abide in us, I pray,

save our souls, as we await Your eternal day.

 

~FS

The Language of Beauty

Inspired silence, you are my friend, revealing beauty all around me—and in me.

I bite my tongue, lest I interrupt your sage instruction.

And I hold my thoughts still within me,

lest their noise distract from your divine eloquence.

 

Please continue, as you were saying…

you were beginning to share the mysteries of this life, the magic of our times.

You were enunciating the language of beauty,

of which all creation has spoken, since the beginning,

but which I have forgotten through misuse, and moreover by abuse.

 

I am not certain when I ceased speaking our native tongue, dear silence,

and commenced instead to speak other languages, coarser and ill-refined.

I have allowed myself to become a Tower of Babel—

strange languages have infested my inner halls,

a multitude of voices competing to be heard; a rabble within me,

loud and echoing, stark against my soul’s chamber walls.

 

I must confess I’ve spoken the languages of anger, and greed,

and above all vanity and pride,

and I’ve uttered words of lust and sadness.

I’ve made speeches of self-conceit,

and made myself hoarse asserting my ambitions—

my love sonnets have been composed for and about me alone.

 

But no, dear silence, I must now refrain;

and by pain of humility,

I have stilled these foolish voices.

Please, silence, dear friend, begin again…

 

I will listen to your unspoken words—

as they glide across the morning sky,

and unfurling like newborn leaves,

glittering, and sparkly in the dewy sunlight—

they do transfix and transform me.

 

Silence—

yours is a magnificent soliloquy,

spoken in a mystery,

ushering all into a world of beauty.

 

I do perceive you speak of God.

 

~FS

March 16

Indeed, we have seen that in the passion of gluttony, man delights in food outside of God–he considers it in and of itself and uses it only for his own pleasure. Since food is a creation of God (either directly or indirectly) and a gift of God to men, it has no value by itself but only through God, and is meant to be consumed Eucharistically. Thus, St Paul teaches that God “created [it] to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

Man is healed of his passion and regains a virtuous attitude by the turning around of his attitude that led him to consider food in itself and have it serve his own pleasure to considering such food in God, linking it to Him and giving Him thanks for it. Thus St Paul advises: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

By consuming food in such a manner, man sanctifies it, and in it, the created cosmos which it represents. But above all, he simultaneously sanctifies himself, not only doing away with the barrier that gluttony erected between man and God, but also uniting himself all the more to God every time he gives Him thanks.

~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses, vol. 3, pp. 10-11)