Wisdom of the Oriental Orthodox Fathers

[EkhristosAnesti]

Dear all,

I thought I'd start a thread for compiling patristic quotes/sayings--similar to that which exists in the Faith section, except peculiar to the Oriental Orthodox Fathers.

Pope Kyrillos VI (20th century):

"He who is quick to condemn others demonstrates that he has never truly stood in the presence of the Living God."

[EkhristosAnesti]

St. Jacob of Serug (+451-521):

"Come to prayer, and bring with thee thy whole self. Let not thy mind remain in the market about thy business. If thou art here, let also thine inner man be here within the doors of the crowned bride. Why is thy thought gone forth and distracted after affairs, so that when thou art here thou art not here, but there? Without amid the markets thy mind is wandering, (taken up) with reckonings and profits; fetch it, that it may come in and ask for its Life. Stand not with one half of thee within and one half without, lest when thou art divided thy prayer lose itself betwixt the two parts. Stand at prayer a united and complete and true man, and all whatsoever thou askest thou canst obtain from God. Why art thou impatient to be off when He has not given to thee? Stay long and knock at the Physician, and beseech Him, and bring the tears of repentance and besprinkle His doorstep; entreat much; and if for love He give not to thee, yet to importunity He will not be able to deny all her requests. Be insistent at the Physician's door, and give not over; for if thou be backward He will not bind thee up. Why standest thou still? Importunity knows how to obtain mercy of Him; and unless He give to her she will not suffer Him to depart."

- A Homily on the Reception of the Holy Mysteries

[Salpy]

St. Evagrius Ponticus:

There are eight general and basic categories of thoughts in which are included every thought.  First is that of gluttony, then impurity, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory, and last of all, pride.  It is not in our power to determine whether we are disturbed by these thoughts, but it is up to us to decide if they are to linger within us or not and whether or not they are to stir up our passions.

The Praktikos, chapter 6

[EkhristosAnesti]

Fr. Pishoy Kamel (+1931-1979):

Liberty is not the mere freedom of choice or license, but the freedom to act with great love--the love of Christ. There is no freedom outside of the sphere of the Cross, which is the summit of Love.

Fr. Guirgus Samy, Pishoy Kamel, the Stavrophoros (Maryut, Alexandria: St. Mena's Monastery Press, 2004)

[Salpy]

St. Gregory of Nareg (10th century):

Just as without the Father, there is no Christ,
so without the womb of the mother Church, the soul cannot be fulfilled.

Book of Laments, prayer 75

[EkhristosAnesti]

Pope Abba Kyrillos VI (+1971):

"If you happen to fall into temptation, do not let the guilt of sin be an obstacle to prayer. If you cease praying till you repent, you will never repent, for prayer is the door to genuine repentance."

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Bar Hebraeus (+1286):

"When, by the labours of asceticism, the body has been cleansed, the mind purified, the windows of the senses shut, and the room of the heart enlightened, then the dove* will manifest herself to the mind; not in a lasting manner, however, but as a flash of lightening that appears and then vanishes, she shows her beauty, making sweet her fruit to the palate."

*St Bar Hebraeus is using the imagery of a dove, in the wider context of this particular paragraph, to symbolise the state of true contemplation.

[Salpy]

St. Nerses Shnorhali (12th century):

When you see the cross, know and believe that you are seeing Christ enthroned on it; when you pray before the cross, believe that you are doing so, concerning Christ Our God and not with inanimate matter.  For it is Christ who receives your proskynesis offered before the cross; and it is He who hears the supplications of your mouth and fulfills the desires of your heart, which you ask with faith.  Whoever does not honor the cross, or insults it, insults Christ Himself.

From his Encyclical Letters, quoted in Art in the Armenian Church, St. Vartan Press, p. 33

[EkhristosAnesti]

As today, in the COC, is the feast day of Abba Isaiah of Scetis--a friend and teacher of St Peter the Iberian and undoubtedly one of the greatest OO desert Fathers--I felt compelled to post a teaching of his:

Abba Isaiah of Scetis (+late 5th century):

"Just as animals die if they are plunged into water, since they are of the substance of earth. And again, just as fish die if they are brought up onto the earth, because they are of the nature of water. So also birds, which find their rest in the sky, fear being hunted on the land of the earth. Thus is the perfect soul, which remains in its own nature. If it renounces its own nature, it dies immediately."

-Ascetic Discourses

[Amdetsion]

This is a good thread.

I have learned a lot.

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Philoxenus of Mabug (+523):

As for the man who is constant in reading [of the word of God] and remote from deeds, his reading is his own condemnation, and he is the more deserving of judgment, in that while he listeneth every day, he mocketh and is contemptuous every day, and he is thenceforth like a dead man and a corpse which hath no feeling, for if ten thousand trumpets and horns were to blow in the ear of a dead man he would not hear [them]; even thus is the soul which is dead in sins. And the understanding, from which the remembrance of God hath perished in the death-dealing error of the thoughts [of evil things], will not hear the sound of the cries of the divine voices, nor will the trumpet of the word of the Spirit move it, but it is sunk into the sleep of death which is pleasant to it; and although dying, it perceiveth not its death that it might turn and seek life for itself. And as the man who hath died according to nature is not sensible of his death, even so the dead man who dieth by his own will to the knowledge of God feeleth not his death, nor perceiveth his destruction, that he might find a way and seek out an invention of life for himself.

-Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1: Prologue

[Steve Dennehy]

Dear all,

I thought I'd start a thread for compiling patristic quotes/sayings--similar to that which exists in the Faith section, except peculiar to the Oriental Orthodox Fathers.

Pope Kyrillos VI (20th century):

"He who is quick to condemn others demonstrates that he has never truly stood in the presence of the Living God."

Thank you for starting this; it's an excellent idea.  What I notice about quotes from the Holy Ones of God, is that they come from the center, from the depth, from union with Father-Jesus-Spirit, our God and all have a common spirit--regardless of place or time or race or nation or branch of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  They are the models for our unity, which is in HIM, the ONLY Head of His Church, the ONLY Rock of Foundation of His Church, the ONLY Head of the universe.  He Who loves us enough to become one of us and allow us to hate, reject, condemn, torture and murder Him, all so that He could atone for our sins, our hatred of Him and each other, to make it possible for us to share His Divine Joy, Love and Life forever, if we choose to.

O Love Incomprehensible, O Love unspeakable, O Love we do not know, reveal Yourself to us.

[FrChris]

...branch of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ...

(heavy sigh)   

[falafel333]

O Love Incomprehensible, O Love unspeakable, O Love we do not know, reveal Yourself to us.

Is this from a particular prayer?

[Pinishti Abba Dioskoros]

Pope Dioscorus the Great (+451—454):

And I motioned to them with my hand (saying): ‘Be silent and listen, Israel’. And when they were silent, I continued and said to them: ‘Do you accept the four Gospels?’ They said: ‘Yes. Certainly. He who does not accept the four Gospels is not a Christian’. I said: ‘You have spoken well. When the Christ was summoned to the wedding, was he summoned as man or as God’? They said: ‘As man’. I said to them: ‘Correct’. I said to them: ‘When he caused the miracle to happen, did he perform it as man or rather as God’? They said: ‘The matter is obvious. He caused the miracle to happen as God’. I said to them: ‘So then, understand for yourselves that the divinity was not separated from the humanity for a single moment nor for a twinkling of an eye. Behold then, I have taken you at your (very) own word’.

[EkhristosAnesti]

(+451—454)

Pope Dioscoros was in fact Patriarch from the year A.D. 444, not 451.

P.S. 'Pinishti' is spelt with the Coptic shai not the Greek sigma; you may want to get that fixed.

[EkhristosAnesti]

Vigen Guroian (21st century):

Gardening is not only making the world around us beautiful once more but letting beauty transform us. Gardening grows from our deep longing for salvation, so that beauty fills our lives.
 
In my garden, I take hope from Jesus' promise to the repentant thief on the cross that he will be with his Lord in Paradise. I know that the sweat of my brow and tears of penance bring Paradise near in my backyard. For a garden is a profound sign and deep symbol of salvation, like none other, precisely because a garden was our first habitation, and God has deemed it to be our final home. Beauty is the aim of life. God imagined it so. God spoke the Word, and his invisible Image of Beauty became a visible garden. Beauty will transfigure the chaos and deformity of our wounded world into the peace and harmony of a cosmos that God, from the beginning, proclaims to be good and beautiful.

-The Fragrance of God

[Amdetsion]

Vigen Guroian (21st century):

Gardening is not only making the world around us beautiful once more but letting beauty transform us. Gardening grows from our deep longing for salvation, so that beauty fills our lives.
 
In my garden, I take hope from Jesus' promise to the repentant thief on the cross that he will be with his Lord in Paradise. I know that the sweat of my brow and tears of penance bring Paradise near in my backyard. For a garden is a profound sign and deep symbol of salvation, like none other, precisely because a garden was our first habitation, and God has deemed it to be our final home. Beauty is the aim of life. God imagined it so. God spoke the Word, and his invisible Image of Beauty became a visible garden. Beauty will transfigure the chaos and deformity of our wounded world into the peace and harmony of a cosmos that God, from the beginning, proclaims to be good and beautiful.

-The Fragrance of God

My spirtual eyes have opened just a bit more from this reading.

I have a newly paved patio in my yard which is surrounded by huge oak and cyprus trees. My nieghbor has a very very tall tree that has these small wild berries which are falling on and staining my new pavers. I am in the yard every evening cleaning the berries up and washing the pavers. I was getting very concerned about the stains and the headache of having to clean these berries daily. Having read this I have a feeling that the stains and the berries are neccesary since they support nature and not man and his appitite for excellence and beauty....but for natures endeavor to sustain and care for all Gods creatures.

I think that the berries will continue to annoy me but I have a better perspective about it especially since I really do not want to cut the tree down.

God is beautiful...

Thanks

God Bless you
Your Servant
Deacon Amde

[Pinishti Abba Dioskoros]

Ah yes...

I meant that Pope Dioscorus said that somewhere in between 451 and 454. I'll change it anyway.

As for "Pinishti", I had noticed that it was a typo on my part — don't worry, I'll fix that!

Regards,
~ Dioscorus

[EkhristosAnesti]

H.E. Paulos Mar Gregorios (+1996):

The very nature of humanity is to be like God, for that is what it means to be created in the image of God. The more humanity becomes like God, the more it becomes itself. Theosis is anthropesis.

-Cosmic Man

[Eleos]

Vigen Guroian (21st century):

Gardening is not only making the world around us beautiful once more but letting beauty transform us. Gardening grows from our deep longing for salvation, so that beauty fills our lives.
 
In my garden, I take hope from Jesus' promise to the repentant thief on the cross that he will be with his Lord in Paradise. I know that the sweat of my brow and tears of penance bring Paradise near in my backyard. For a garden is a profound sign and deep symbol of salvation, like none other, precisely because a garden was our first habitation, and God has deemed it to be our final home. Beauty is the aim of life. God imagined it so. God spoke the Word, and his invisible Image of Beauty became a visible garden. Beauty will transfigure the chaos and deformity of our wounded world into the peace and harmony of a cosmos that God, from the beginning, proclaims to be good and beautiful.

-The Fragrance of God

I found and just listened to an hour long interview with Vigen Guroian on audible.com after reading your quote (with my iPod while I was gardening actually).  The whole discussion in this interview centers around the theme of gardening and pascha.  I've been gardening a lot this season raising mainly vegetables, its delightful to hear Guroian's perspective.  I know this is Wisdom of the OO Fathers, but if you love this theme check out Vol1 of "St Symeon the New Theologian: The Church and that Last Things". I wish to buy some land to homestead somewhere in the middle of nowhere someday.
Thanks

Link to audio mentioned above: Restoring the Senses: Life, Gardening and an Orthodox Easter
Definitely worth 67 cents

[EkhristosAnesti]

know this is Wisdom of the OO Fathers, but if you love this theme check out Vol1 of "St Symeon the New Theologian: The Church and that Last Things".

Thanks for the reference. I'm no gardener myself (i've never gardened in my life in fact) but I was certainly intrigued by Guroian's perspective which, particulary in light of my recent research into the concept of the "sacredness of creation," has sparked and kindled in me a real desire and interest to at least inquire into the "art." We have a rather large and overly neglected backyard which happens to grow some rather unique and exotic Australian flora, and which attracts a beautiful range of birds (particularly cockatoos, cockatiels, kookaburras, rosellas and lorikeets); I could think of no better place to turn into my own little paradise.

Link to audio mentioned above: Restoring the Senses: Life, Gardening and an Orthodox Easter
Definitely worth 67 cents

One can actually download it for free from here: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/restoringthesenses/index.shtml

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Bar Ebrayo (+13th century):

By the prayers for the departed, unpolluted souls of believers experience a certain delight. On the other hand, these prayers also help cleanse dirt off the mirrors of the polluted souls.

-Zalgae

[EkhristosAnesti]

H.H. Pope Shenouda III (21st Century):

There is wise love that profits its owner although it causes pain, for it is edifying to his soul and to his eternal fate. There is also foolish love that destroys its owner although it exhibits features of kindness and tenderness...

[joyisgod]

H.H. Pope Shenouda III (21st Century):

Perhaps the most distinguished quality in love…is sacrifice.  This is the big difference between love and lust: love always seek to give and lust always seek to take.

[joyisgod]

H.H. Pope Shenouda III (21st Century):

-Repentance needs a humble heart.  The one who persists in his pride and dignity would not be able to repent.


-The spiritual person is an upright person, gives everyone his right without injustice or partiality.

[minasoliman]

This is a long one, but well worth the read:

St. Philoxenus of Mabbugh (late 5th-early 6th Century):

We are therefore bound by the word of our Teacher not to be constant listeners only to the Word of God but also constant doers. For the man who, though listening not, doeth, is better than the man who is constant in listening and empty of works…

The hearing of the law is good, for it bringeth to the works thereof, and reading and meditation in the Scriptures, which purify our secret understanding from thoughts of evil things, are good, but if a man is constant in reading, and in hearing, and in the meditation of the word of God, and yet perfecteth not by his reading the labour of works, against this man hath the Spirit of God spoken by the hand of the blessed David, rebuking and reproving his wickedness, and restraining him from taking even the Holy Book into his polluted hands…

Now as for the man who is constant in reading and remote from deeds, his reading is his own condemnation, and he is the more deserving of judgment, in that while he listeneth every day, he mocketh and is contemptuous every day, and he is thenceforth like a dead man and a corpse which hath no feeling, for if ten thousand trumpets and horns were to blow in the ear of a dead man he would not hear [them]; even thus is the soul which is dead in sins. And the understanding, from which the remembrance of God hath perished in the death-dealing error of the thoughts [of evil things], will not hear the sound of the cries of the divine voices, nor will the trumpet of the word of the Spirit move it, but it is sunk into the sleep of death which is pleasant to it; and although dying, it perceiveth not its death that it might turn and seek life for itself. …

The soul dieth without the remembrance of God, and when it dieth all its discretion dieth therewith, and all its emotions of thought of heavenly things are annihilated therefrom. While the soul liveth in its natural state it is dying by its own desire; and while it is found in uprightness it is lost in respect of its freedom.

[EkhristosAnesti]

That one has already been quoted  It's no less significant or pertinent a second time round though.

[minasoliman]

That one has already been quoted  It's no less significant or pertinent a second time round though.

Woops    lol...just realized that.  Just started reading it, and was just amazed at the depth of his introduction.

[EkhristosAnesti]

This is not so much a patristic saying; more of a popular (or at least it used to be back in the day) Coptic proverb:

"Paradise is opened at the command of mothers."

I can't help but think of the story regarding St Monica and St Augustine as prime testimony to this truth.

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Shenoute the Archimandrite (mid-fifth century):

For like a righteous king who has cast down his enemy in battle and made him weak, and who has said that all those who are on his side should lay their hands upon him [the enemy] because he wants them all to be glorified together, and who later will return and cut off the enemy's head--just so, and even more, when the Lord Christ came, he destroyed the devil like a tyrant whose legs were cut off up to his thighs and his arms up to his shoulders; and as for the other members of his body, his heart and his spine, he [Christ] struck them all. He [the devil] is unable to move [any of his members] so as to get up or pursue a person, except for his breath alone, which comes and goes, that is, his thoughts, which Christ left in him because he wants his children, his soldiers, his servants, and all who are on his side to lay their hands upon him [the devil], that is, to fight against his goldess thoughts [logismoi], so that they might be glorified with him and reign with him.

[prodromas]

I loved that last quote from St Shenoute the Archimandrite and I don't want this to be taken as an attempt at comedy but the first thing I thought of that quote as how Christ has cut the devil down is almost like the black knight in the holy grail how just won't stop fighting no matter how obvious it is that he has lost.

[Salpy]

St. Evagrius Ponticus:

If you are a theologian you truly pray.  If you truly pray you are a theologian.

Chapters on Prayer, chapter 60

[Salpy]

H.H. Pope Shenouda III:

If you find something good in you, do not be puffed up and do not boast.  Do not fight yourself with self-righteousness but attribute every glory to God...You may shine like the moon and your light increases till you become a full moon, but, in all this remember that the moon is a dark satellite which derives its light from the sun and has no light in itself.  If the sun disappears, the moon will not appear because it is dark by its nature.  Now, would the moon dare speak of its light before the sun!  It is the same with you, my beloved, in the presence of God.

From The Release of The Spirit, chapter 7 ("Know Yourself")

[StBrigid]

Thank you very much for posting these!

[minasoliman]

HH Pope Shenouda (1973):

We cannot know by ourselves.. but we want-through Your grace- to prepare ourselves to know You.. This knowledge comes from You.. through what You reveal to us, not through any mental or even spiritual effort on our behalf.  Any striving of our minds and souls, though necessary, is just a kind of prayer or supplication.  Such striving is a means through which the cloud may fill the House, and the fire burn in the bush and so God may reveal Himself and every heart would give worship in awe and sing thankfully saying ‘You gave me the gift of knowing You'

This divine knowledge is the precious pearl which made the merchant sell all that he had to buy it.

Such things which the merchant sold represent the various human branches of knowledge which take up all our time and give us no chance to know You.  They hinder us from sitting at Your feet with Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) to receive the living water which You pour in our hearts and which whoever drinks of, will never thirst.

I wish that we would seek such knowledge, with all our hearts.  Then we shall find it within us, deep in our hearts, where You dwell and where Your holy temple lies that which You consecrated with the Holy Chrism.

[EkhristosAnesti]

Sorry, I haven't been able to update this thread in a while due to my hectic schedule; I'm hoping to resume regular participation by the middle of next month. I will give a few quotations to make up for my past and near future absence:

Pope St Kyrillos VI (20th Century):

Nothing in this world can distress or perturb me, for I take refuge in the impregnable fortress of the Church. I am reassured in the bosom of God's mercies. Comfort and blessing continuously flows from Him. The Lord's grace flutters its wings and casts away all sadness, and heals the heart with its indescribable balm. Oh, how sweet it is! No one can withstand the trials of this world without His care or power. Our Fathers compare this Grace with a mother teaching her child to walk. She stands at a distance and when she sees that he is about to fall she hurries to him and wipes every tear from his eyes. Such is the way that God's Grace deals with man. Amid his struggles, God's Grace distances itself just a little in order to train him to walk in the path of virtue. But when he is found to be saddened or discouraged, this Grace hurries to comfort and encourage him.

[EkhristosAnesti]

The Father of Blessings, Ibn Kabar (14th Century):

The reason for our existence is [God's] existence, and the reason the Creator united with us was to complete, in its fullness, the bestowing of His Grace upon us for He is the most gracious in giving. The most gracious in giving is he who gives the best of gifts. The best of gifts that God could give to us was His own self and it is because of this gift that we are in turn able to unite with Him.

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Philoxenus of Mabbug (6th Century):

Because the Word, who is God, wished to make humans into children of God, we confess that he was emptied, became flesh, and was completely inhominated, in order to recreate the entire human being in himself. Because he became human in us, we have been deified and have become children of the Father.

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Shenoute the Archimandrite (+465):

What does a person do when bitten by a snake? Does he not sit down beneath the one who cuts him with the knife [i.e. the physician], while others hold him, putting salt and vinegar on [the wounds] until all the venom has washed out and he lives?...So too with the person whom the serpent, the snake, the pervert, Satan has bitten and into whose heart he has poured his wickedness: it is proper in his case for the fear of the Lord to hold him, just like the one who is held by his friends, under the true physician, who is trustworthy for the healing of our souls, God the merciful, Jesus, who cuts us with reproofs in all his words, which have come forth from the mouths of his saints, and who turns us to repentance with grieving and groans.

[EkhristosAnesti]

Apa Longinus (5th-6th Century):

Abba Longinus experienced great compunction in his prayer and psalmody, and his disciple said to him one day: "Abba, is it a canon of the spiritual life for the monk to weep while saying his Office?" And the old man said to him: "Yes, my son, It is the law required by God. God did not in fact make man for tears but for joy and happiness, just like the angels. But since he fell into sin, man needs tears. Where there is no sin there is no need to weep".

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Sargis Shnorhali (11th-12th Century):
 
Disease came forth as a result of sin. Thus, when a disease is healed through the prayers of worthy men, the sins which caused the disease are annihilated also.

[EkhristosAnesti]

The late Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatios Ephrem Barsaum (19th-20th Century):

Let your prayer be based on seeking God’s good pleasure, His glory, the extension of His Kingdom and all other graces that are in harmony with the Divine Will. However, if the object of your prayer is to realize worldly expectations or empty pleasures, it will only bring disappointment.

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Severus of Antioch (6th century):

What logic is it, tell me, that rational man who sinned of his own accord should…be raised to incorruption, while creation which is inanimate and without perception, which for his sake was made subject to vanity, should be delivered to final destruction, and not partake of the incorruptibility and the glory of those for whose sake it was made subject to corruption in the first place?

[EkhristosAnesti]

St Apa Besa the Archimandrite (late 5th century):

If we despise our brother, we despise God who made us, since man was made in the image of God.

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