Flames of Wisdom - Patristic Counsel for Contemporary Life
By David Beck

I too, was struck by the same quote, regarding not condemning our neighbor. I took it to mean that we should be careful not to judge our neighbor when we may also be guilty of the same sin or a worse one.

This chapter has much to offer to us who live in a noisy and talkative world. It seems we just can't escape it. It struck me that talkativeness is akin to noise pollution... When we talk to much we pollute the air, even if what we say is harmless, eventually it can be destructive to our soul and those around us.

St. John cautions us to be careful about what we say and advises that we think before we speak.
As our tongue can cause us to sin, through saying hurtful or sinful things, or slandering someone else. So he says that we need to consider our motives before we speak. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we are speaking about someone's problems out of concern, when we are really engaging in gossip.

I appreciated St. John's practical advice on how we can overcome and control the sin of talkativeness. He reminds us that if we can restrain our bodies through fasting, we will also be able to restrain our tongue - so therefore ascetical labors are key. Also when we are tempted to speak about the sins of others, we should look for the good in the person that sins.
And finally we should not even listen to someone who is gossiping but instead, remember that we too are sinners and have no right to condemn another person.

Let us for a moment consider the opposite of talkativeness - silence. The fruits of silence are many with the chief among them being it draws us closer to God.

The timeliness of this chapter is incredible being that we are now in the midst of the Nativity Fast. What a perfect time for us to control the appetite of our tongue as we do the same for our body! By denying ourselves of the excesses of the body and the tongue, we will receive the delectable "fruits" of the Holy Spirit.

I welcome your questions, comments and insights.

The chapter on St. Isaac the Syrian reminds me of Lectio Divina (Holy Reading) and the four steps attributed to it: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, Contemplatio. I remember having read that monks under the Rule of St. Benedict read Scripture several hours daily, and even more on Sunday! It appears that this practice of sacred reading is a universal tradition of the Church.

Recently, I heard an interesting story on the importance of reading Scripture. The story also relates to St. Isaac's words concerning how the reading of Scripture purifies the heart.

The story goes that a monk went to his elder and complained over the usefulness of reading Scripture. He explained how every day he read Scripture but forgot everything shortly after. The elder in response told the monk to take two bowls. Every day the monk would fill the one bowl with water but empty it at the end of the day. The other bowl he would always keep empty. After doing this for some time, the monk brought the results to the elder. Both bowls were empty, but the bowl in which the water was placed every day though emptied was clean on the inside. The other bowl was altogether filthy. The elder said, so too with the reading of Scripture and the heart.

To be honest, in the amount of time I've spent on the Church Fathers, St. Isaac has unfortunately not been one of the ones whose teachings I've studied intensely... but I'm learning more about 'new ones' almost every day!
I do love the emphasis he places on reading scripture, something I wish I applied more of. The way he spoke of it reminded me of the way St. Seraphim of Sarov taught; I remember that St. Seraphim would instruct others to read the bible always standing up in the presence of Christ, much in exactly the same way that we should pray.

This chapter does a great job explaining the Orthodox Christian approach to reading Scripture.

It is important to note that Orthodox Church has a deep reverence and devotion to Holy Scripture. St. Isaac the Syrian is but one example of a saint whose ardent love for Scripture was well known.

St. Isaac rightly points out that as Orthodox Christians we read Holy Scripture not for gaining intellectual knowledge but to commune with God. Therefore we are to read scripture with much reverence and the spirit of prayer.

Therefore, we must read scripture when we are in a prayerful state, in "...complete stillness, freed for excessive cares of the body and the tumult of daily affairs"

St. Theophan suggests we read scripture early in the morning before becoming busy or right before bed so that the words of scripture may sink into our hearts.

I was especially struck by how St. Isaac pointed out the therapeutic benefit of reading sacred scripture. He mentions the fact that if our mind is troubled by evil or lustful thoughts, then the more we read sacred scripture, the more positive and godly thoughts are able to take root within us.

Know the impatient nature of humanity and possessing an uncanny understanding of our present hurried, fast-paced life style, St. Isaac cautions us not to expect fast results in transforming our lives, through reading Holy Scripture. Instead he reminds us that the changes that will be lasting in our lives are those that come about after much labor and struggles.

Lastly, we are reminded that sacred scripture, although playing an extremely important role in the daily Christian life, must never be divorced from the living tradition of the Church. Spiritual knowledge is also contained in the practicing of good works and in the practical living of the faith, within the context of the Church.

Sacred scripture, from the Orthodox Christian perspective, can bring about spiritual growth and enlightenment when read and interpreted in the mind of the Church.

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Your Comments Please....

First, my apologies for being a couple days late in posting......

This chapter discusses the writings of one of my favorite saints, St. John of Krondstadt. His words resonate with me, because of course, he was a priest and also because he is a contemporary having lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I also relate to him as one can see in his life an understanding of what today's hurried christian is going through.

St. John was a very busy man... busy with doing the work of the Lord... but busy none-the-less. Therefore, especially in his counsels on prayer, we see one who is completely sympathetic to the struggles of today's Orthodox Christian who is struggling to be in the world and not of the world... finding both the time and inclination to connect with God in Prayer.

I was especially struck by his ability,in the words of the author, to "baptize his activities in a strong life of prayer"

He cautions us never to be too busy for prayer ... if we feel rushed in the mornings for prayer, then we should get up early to allow sufficient time. By doing this, we will be more productive, less rushed and stressed and our day will go much better.

I also was struck by his comment that we need to pray with faith and to feel the truth of our prayer in our hearts... that is not to just say the words but let their meaning sink into our hearts. He encourages us to pray slowly, so that we hear the words echo in our hearts. From personal experience, I know this to be absolutely true... when I am in a rut in prayer, I pray the Lord's prayer slowely, quietly and deeply, and the rhythm of prayer returns.

His warning that we pray in a state of humility is crucial... we must never pray expecting spiritual experiences or great sweetness. If when in a state of humility we do experience the profounds sweetness of prayer, rather than being puffed up, we realize that it is a gift from God and it moves us to even greater sense of humility.

Lastly, I appreciated his teachings regarding the interconnection between private prayers at home and communal/liturgical prayer in Church. Our communal prayer is given great power when we are people of prayer and bring our prayerfulness with us to Church. Even when we pray at home, we pray as part of the Church, and praying for others, leads us to peace and joy. Prayer then is the foundation of everything good in life.

There is much meat in the teachings and writings of St. John of Krondstadt, and when we read him we also get a sense of his pastoral sensitivity and concern and understanding for our struggles in our hurried and stressful age. His life is an inspiration to us, a living example of the power of prayer that is humble, heartfelt, and filled with faith and love.
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Discussion Starter:

Your comments on any aspect of St. John's counsels on prayer are welcome. Is there something in his teachings that struck a chord with you? Please share.

Good points Will! I think we have to be careful in speaking about the feelings one experiences when encountering the Holy Spirit- it is probably better to speak of being present to the movement of the Holy Spirit. To quote a Protestant neighbor of mine who I am slowly introducing to Orthodoxy through this same book, In the Protestant tradition, the experience of the Holy Spirit is characterized by a feeling of spiritual frenzy and such things as Holy Laughter, and being slayed by the Spirit. How refreshing it is that the Orthodox Church teaches to be still in the presence of the Holy Spirit and experience the still- small inner voice and intense peace.

Perhaps what struck me at a certain point was on pg 44; the quote by St. Theophan, "By the law of reciprocal action, those who enter energetically..."

I like reminders that God is consistent as law, not an arbitrary super-being. He is unchanging, unceasingly in love with us at all times and to be anything else would be against the very definition of Himself, which is as unwavering as law.

I also liked how in the summary the author mentioned how much emphasis St. Theophan places on the feelings one gets as a gift of the Holy Spirit...in my mind, something that is usually more commonly pinned with Protestant Christian experience.

There is enough to speak about this week on a single chapter, Chapter 3 which recounts some of the teachings and spiritual counsels of St. Theophan the Recluse.

Again it is helpful when studying the teachings of the fathers and mothers of the Church, to have knowledge about the specifics of their life situation. In reading about St. Theophan's life we discover his fidelity to the patristic writings of the Fathers of the Church and his successful struggle to put them into practice.

Thus in writing about communion with God, St. Theophan speaks from experience having a rich prayer life and the fruits that come from acquiring the Holy Spirit.

We see many similarities between St. Theophan and Sts. Seraphim of Sarov and St. Silouan the Athonite. He regards prayer as being the doorway to communion with God, and is quick to point out it is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.

He urges us to be faithful and zealous in living the teachings of the Church, but cautions us not to merely go through the motions. As Orthodox, we sometimes can fall into the dangers of being overly concerned with being "Orthodox" of having the most correct icons, most complete liturgy, etc, and yet not be prayerful, not be filled with love.

St. Theophan speaks of stages of achieving communion and progressing in the spiritual life. He also speaks of roadblocks placed by Satan, remind us the quest for communion with God requires that we be prepared to go to battle.

I appreciated that he reminds us that the first step is zeal - a desire to grow in Grace and Holiness and enter into communion with God.

This has to be our primary goal in life, our chief focus. He acknowledges the distractions and struggles we face in life and tells us we need to struggle to keep God foremost in our hearts, and minds. He gives us practical suggestions, praying short prayers, frequently during the day, and very importantly consecrating every act we do during the day to God.

There is so much meat in this chapter, for us to chew on, to pray about and implement in our daily lives. Now I would like to give you a chance to comment on what struck a chord with you in this week's reading.

Your comments, questions and thoughts please!!!

I believe non-monastics acquire the Holy Spirit by frequenting confession and Holy Communion, offering morning and evening prayers, reading spiritual works, attending services, and living the Christian life by providing for the needy and serving family and neighbors in charity.

Hello Will, I had to check on this one before answering. The Greek term for soul is "psyche" which is feminine in gender. This is in keeping with the Orthodox understanding of union with God... the soul's only desire is union with Christ the bridegroom and hence the soul is the bride. An excellent observation!

Thanks for adding your thoughts. Very well said. St. Seraphim has a very positive approach. Trade in the virtues, keep your eye on the prize - stay focused on Christ - the icons and prayer ropes all remind us of who and what we are, and who we aspire to be - Christ-like.

Good evening Everyone!

I hope you found the first two chapters spiritually profitable. Personally I loved both of them.

Chapter 1 deals with St. Seraphim of Sarov's teachings regarding the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

The life of St. Seraphim of Sarov is very interesting and in it we see his profound experience of the inner spiritual life. His attaining of the vision of the Uncreated Light was something that was the natural outflow of his deep piety and ascetic labors. He spent much time in silence and in reading of Scripture, one gospel a Day and the entire New Testament in a week. He spent long hours in vigil and prayer - in fact at one point, a thousand days and nights kneeling on a stone praying the Jesus Prayer.

For those of us who struggle in the world to remain in prayer for mere minutes a day - St. Seraphim is an inspiration, an example to emulate.

I find St. Seraphim's teachings so comforting, especially in his conversation with Motovilov. He tells us that prayer is not an end in and of itself but a means of communing with God and acquiring the Holy Spirit.

Each of us is different and has our own gifts and struggles and therefore, what motivates one of us spiritually may not motivate another. Therefore we should concentrate on doing whatever brings us spiritual profit.This of course requires self-knowledge, discernment and spiritual direction from a trusted confessor.

Of course all are called to prayer and St. Seraphim reminds us that this "gives us the Holy Spirit most of all because it is accessible." But when we feel the warmth of the Holy Spirit in prayer, worship or practicing the virtues we should stop and commune with God in silence and allow the peace of the Holy Spirit to reign within our hearts and illumine us on the path we must walk upon.

The wisdom I gained from St. Seraphim was that we should be sincerely struggling to lead a Christian life, rooted in prayer and contemplation of God, so that the Holy Spirit may abide with us. If we do not experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, we should ask the Lord why and pray for His Mercy.

Chapter 2 - St. Silouan: On Knowing God

Again we have received pearls of wisdom from the mouth of a truly remarkable Saint - One who had a checkered past, and truly repented, changing his mind, heart and soul after receiving a vision of the Mother of God.

St. Silouan's experience left him a burning desire to know God - to intimately commune with Him.

For those of us who struggle and have glimpses from time to time of the Glory of God and the awesomeness of His presence, especially those who by the Grace of God, unworthily stand before the Holy Altar, there is indeed an inner longing to experience His Love more deeply.

This requires struggle and openness to the Holy Spirit. St. Silouan reminds us of the necessity of humility of achieving a contrite and humble heart. Humility is one of the greatest virtues, one that frees us from our illusions of grandeur, and allows us to see ourselves as God sees us. Only when we acquire self-knowledge will we be able to acquire knowledge of God.

So humility coupled with obedience is the sure pathway to spiritual peace, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of God which will illume, sanctify and save our souls.

Food For Thought - Discussion Questions.
Given that those of us participating in this forum are not monastics, and have to live and interact in the world, how is it possible for us to acquire the Holy Spirit, given the hectic and fragmented lives we live?

Thank you for your post. You raise a great point, the battle against Satan and the war with the passions is universal and is the same no matter what age we live in. It is just, to quote a web technology term, the "skin" that changes over time, that is how the Evil One presents himself to us.

Will, you "hit the nail on the head" the Holy Fathers were inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Their relevance is precisely because they reflect the mind of the Church. The Holy Spirit guides the Church and shapes Holy Tradition giving it the eternal breath of relevance.

Welcome to the Orthodox Book Club! As promised today we will begin our discussion of Flames of Wisdom - Patristic Counsel for Contemporary Life.

Lets try to read two chapters a week. Therefore, today, I will make some general comments on the book and in particular the introduction. During this coming week please read Chapters 1 & 2 and I encourage you to post any comments you might have on what I have written today. To start the discussion, I will end my commentary with a food for thought question.

Here Goes....

The introduction calls to our attention the need for sound spiritual direction. We live in challenging times and are flooded with information which is available with the click of a mouse. Yet all of this can be confusing. We are all in need of wisdom that comes from experience and in particular those who have intimate knowledge of God.

In Orthodox cultures it was common that lay people and priests would seek out the advice of monastics skilled in the art of prayer, repentance and humility to guide them.

Today and especially in America, it is difficult to find such spiritual elders who are accessible to us.

The author, points out to us that in times such as these, we should take heart in the fact that we can turn to the writings of the God-bearing elders who lived and taught in the tradition of the Church. He very wisely quotes St Seraphim of Sarov who said " If one cannot find an instructor able to direct one into the contemplative life, in this case one must be directed by the Holy Scriptures... and endeavor to read through the writings of the Fathers, and strive to fulfill what they teach."

During our reading and discussion together, we will strive to do just this.

Food For Thought: Question for Discussion:

Given that most of the Fathers we will read lived in a different culture and time, how relevant do you think they are in addressing our contemporary struggles?

Book is on order and looking forward to the book club.