The Monk Abba Dorotheus - "glorious among the fathers"

"Brother! Without labor and contrition of heart, no one can get rid of passions and please God." Barsanophius' question of St. Dorotheus [p. 214]"That is why we do not succeed because... St. Dorotheus [p. 150]The Monk Abba saw that among his listeners and readers of his works there would be such sloths who, referring to their infirmities and exaggerating the weight of the crosses placed on them, would evade the struggle with sin and the acquisition of virtues. And to such careless people he addresses his divinely enlightened word: one should not say "that virtues are great" and that it is impossible to attain them, "for whoever says so either does not trust in God's help, or is lazy to devote himself to anything good" [p. 162]. Virtue is natural to us - "it is in us". And the more "we do good, the more we acquire the habit of virtue, that is, we regain our natural quality and ascend to our former health" [p. 134]. If a person begins with faith in God, then the Lord will continue to help him - he will ease his path. "But lay only the beginning," – cries out the holy abba [p. 163]. "Imagine," he says, "two ladders: one leads up to Heaven, the other leads down to hell, and you stand on the ground in the middle of both ladders. Do not think and do not say: how can I fly up from the earth and suddenly find myself at the height of Heaven, that is, at the top of the ladder? This is impossible, and God does not require it of you; but at least be careful not to go down" [p. 163]." Be patient and give thanks... Be patient, pray... Be courageous, be strong in the Lord and trust in His care for you" [p. 207], – admonishes the holy Abba Dorotheus to each one individually and together.

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This review can be concluded with the words of St. Dorotheus himself and the author of the epistle that precedes his creations." Have a firm heart," the monk exhorts, "have generosity: let your love for one another overcome everything that happens" [pp. 66, 67]." And you, - the author of the epistle addresses the reader, - having found a pleasure worthy of your blessed and sincere care, rejoice and be glad, and imitate the life you worthily desire, praying to the Lord of all and for my foolishness" [p. 6].

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And now, dear listener or reader, having listened to or read this summary, take the trouble to turn to the original source - this pure sacred spring of living water and drink from it yourself. This is how you will quench your spiritual thirst, find inner peace, gain strength to do good, and therefore open the way to INFINITE GOOD.

St. Gregory of Sinaite - Teacher of "Mental Work"

Many paths lead to the eternal Heavenly Abodes, and different and different glory awaits all who walk in them, according to the measure of podvig in faith and good works. "Glory to the sun," says the Apostle, "and glory to the moon, and glory to the stars: for star differs from star in glory. The same is true of the Resurrection of the Dead (1 Cor. 15:41-42). One of these paths in patristic theology is indicated in "mental work." The exponent of this path and its experienced planter and teacher was the Monk Gregory the Sinaite. In his instructions, he reveals one of the most important forms of asceticism – the continuous purification of the soul in complete silence of thoughts, unceasing contemplation of God, in deep mental prayer. The Monk Gregory inseparably unites "mental work" with active love for God and man. He addresses his teaching primarily to experienced ascetics (especially when it concerns higher contemplation), but it can be usefully accepted by all those who seek salvation. "Mental Work" by its very name shows that it is not so much about external asceticism, active asceticism, as about the inner structure of an Orthodox Christian – the continuous purification of the soul in complete silence, in the silence of both thoughts and feelings, in the filling of the entire inner man with God-thinking. The spiritual force that unites silence and contemplation of God is a constant exercise in mental prayer - a prayer that is not noticed by an inexperienced eye, invisible or incomprehensible to an "external" person. This "doing" found its vivid expression in hesychasm, a spiritual movement that was finally formed in the fourteenth century. (There are well-known hesychast disputes between the "Palamites" and the "Barlaamites.") The Monk Gregory himself did not personally take part in the hesychastic disputes, since he had lived a little earlier (only the last years of his life fell on this time), but the Monk Gregory Palamas, who stood at their origins (with whose name the hesychastic disputes are connected) was his direct follower.

Biography

St. Gregory of Sinaite - Teacher of "Mental Work"

Information about the life of Saint Gregory in the Russian language is available in two editions of his life: in the "Athonite Patericon", where a translation from the Greek life is given, written by Nicodemus Agiorite (the Athonite), and the life of the monk, described by his disciple Saint Kallistos, Patriarch of Constantinople.The Monk Gregory was born at the end of the sixties of the thirteenth century in the village of Kukula (Asia Minor). In his youth, he was captured by the Ottoman Turks, who attacked his native village. He was ransomed from captivity by the Laodicean Christians, who were greatly impressed by the performance of church hymns by the captives released by the Turks to the temple nearest to the military camp. Later, the life of the monk is connected with the places of monastic settlements: the island of Cyprus, Mount Sinai, Palestine, the Cretan Desert, Athos, the Paroria Hermitage (near the border between Bulgaria and Byzantium), again Athos, Paroria. Of these places, Mount Sinai and Mount Athos should be especially noted. On Sinai the monk was tonsured into the minor schema. Here he led a truly ascetic life, for which he received the name of Sinaite. Self-sacrificing obedience, humility, fasting, almost vigilant prayer (sometimes on the top of Mount Sinai, where the God-seer Moses was remembered), diligent reading of the Holy Scriptures, daily confession to the abbot of all his sinful thoughts, monastic work, and in the intervals - copying the holy books with the skill of a calligrapher... In the "Philokalia" we read that, having come to Athos, the monk found there "many fathers, who were adorned with knowledge and purity of morals, but were diligent only about the active life, but they were so little informed about the preservation of the mind, precise silence and contemplation, that they did not even understand these names". And so Saint Gregory, seeing all this, was inflamed with "zeal and began to teach sobriety, mind-watching and mental prayer not only to the silent, who lived in solitude, but also to all the Cynovites". The Monk Gregory died in the middle of the fourteenth century (presumably in 1346). Just as during his lifetime Saint Gregory taught inner work, so after his death his works "beautifully and fully depict the active method of prayer of the heart." Five works of the monk have survived to our time. These works are as follows: Very useful chapters arranged in acro verses (137 chapters).Other chapters: On Passionate Change. About a good change. On Temptations in Sleep (7 chapters).A detailed discourse on silence and prayer, moreover, on the signs of grace and delusion, and on the difference between fervor and energy, and how easy it is to fall into delusion without a guide (10 chapters).On silence and the two forms of prayer. How prayer should be performed. About breathing. How the Psalms Should Be Sung. About prelest. On Reading (15 chapters) On how a silent person should sit during prayer and not finish it hastily. How the prayer should be read. How the mind should be restrained (from distraction). How it is necessary to eliminate thoughts. How to sing psalms. To a certain inquirer concerning the bridling of the belly. In the middle of our century, all of them were retranslated from Greek into Russian by Archimandrite Veniamin Milov (later Bishop of Saratov and Balashov, † 02.08.1955). The text of this typewritten translation is kept in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy and is used in this work.

Theology

St. Gregory of Sinaite - Teacher of "Mental Work"

Considering the above-mentioned works, we see that they are addressed not so much to those who have just embarked on the path of salvation, as to those who are already skilled in the matter of perfection - ascetics, experienced in the struggle with sin and in the acquisition of virtues. This explains his frequent instructions about silence, contemplation or contemplation of God, mental prayer - the highest inner self-perfection with the constant action of God's grace. At the same time, St. Gregory warns the ascetic against possible errors and temptations, so that he does not mistake the action of an evil force for Divine actions, teaches him to distinguish the first from the second and immediately cast off the filth creeping into the soul. And that St. Gregory sometimes addresses his words even to those who are unskilled in the matter of salvation, this is convincingly evidenced by his division of all ascetics into three categories: novices – "such are satisfied only with the beginning"; they are characterized by "activity", average - they reach an "average degree of enlightenment"; they should beware of falling into carelessness, which will return them to their former self – they will become "novices again", and the perfect – equal "in deeds" to the novices and the middle, but they too can fall and change "into their former state, because of carelessness and self-conceit." "The boundless God," says the Monk Gregory, "is in all things known and comprehended threefold. He contains all things and provides for all things through the Son in the Holy Spirit. And there is not one (Person of the Holy Trinity) Who, outside or apart from the others, is thought, named, and confessed anywhere." The Holy Trinity is a simple, uncomplicated Unity. "Trinity in One" is an almost verbatim repetition of the statements of St. Gregory the Theologian. The personal, or, according to St. Gregory the Sinaite, the "immutable and immutable attributes of the Most Holy Trinity" are unbegottenness, begottenness, and procession. "The Father is unbegotten and without beginning, the Son is begotten and co-originated, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and is given through the co-existent Son." The analogy of the Holy Trinity in man is the mind, the word, and the spirit. "The mind is the Father, the word is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is truly the Spirit."Man is created in the image of the Holy Trinity - "bears the vague image of the ineffable Trinity". By his disobedience he accepted death and decay - "the soul gave itself over to the passions", and the body "became like dumb cattle". It is possible to get out of this state through the purity of virtues and the "essential wisdom of contemplation." There are three kinds of virtues: active, natural, and divine. "Active (represent the result) of free choice, natural - of internal disposition, Divine - grace". There are only four most important virtues: "courage, prudence, chastity and truth". At the last Judgment, all will inherit retribution "according to their own works." "Who has labor, he has rewards." Both rewards and eternal punishments will be different - according to the "habits and manifestations of passions and virtues." The beginning of good is faith, and especially Christ is the stone of faith," the monk reflects. Searching for this faith, acquiring it, "the monk enters the depths of silence," as if he leaves all his own desires in the name of spiritual unity with God. The characteristic beginning of silence is "withdrawal from ordinary cares." Its foundation is "humility and patience." Without this basis, "he who leads a silent life always has self-conceit as the same age as his carelessness." In turn, "nothing contributes so much to the contrition of the heart and the humility of the soul as reasonable solitude and perfect silence." St. Gregory singles out the "three virtues of silence," which generate and protect each other. These are abstinence, silence and humility. To the above-mentioned virtues of the silent man is added vigilance, and his "God-pleasing occupations" are indicated by three: prayer, psalmody, and reading. "The above-mentioned virtues," concludes St. Gregory, "not only embrace all (the others), but also enter into the composition of one another." The monk is also strict with regard to the food of the silent. Only at the tenth hour from the beginning of the daily podvig does he allow to refresh oneself - to taste a little bread and wine. "Of the food supplies that can be found, it is (permissible) to use not as much as nature whimsically requires, but to use (it is necessary) with self-restraint only provided by Providence." Silence gives birth to contemplation," teaches St. Gregory and discusses the contemplation of God. The monk places a high value on the contemplation of God, the memory of God, Who alone gives power to fulfill His commandments (Deuteronomy 8:18). A true philosopher is one who has a contemplative mind, who through contemplation has united with God, has become His friend, has come to love "the original, creative and true Wisdom above all other friendship, wisdom and knowledge", who "clearly and immediately has in himself a supernatural union with God". There are eight objects of contemplation: the visible, beginningless, uncreated God, the cause of all that exists, the Trinitarian One and the pre-existent Godhead.The order and order of rational forces.The structure of the existing.The house-building descent of the Word.The universal resurrection.The Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.Eternal torment.The Heavenly Kingdom." Four (of the first objects of contemplation) are past and already been, and four (last) are future and not yet realized."