Of the Same Venerable Father of Ours, Theodore: A Contemplative Discourse
A contemplative discourse of our venerable father Theodore. It is a great struggle to break these strong bonds and to free oneself from servitude to earthly things, and to acquire a good disposition. Even a courageous soul needs to withdraw from everything earthly. And what it seeks is not merely purification from the passions, for this is not virtue in itself, but only a preparation for virtue. One must cleanse oneself of evil habits and acquire virtue.
The purification of the soul consists in this: that the rational power be cleansed of earthly images and, according to the word of the Theologian, of deceptive daily worries and cares and evil inclinations — that is, that it change its unfitting inclinations and abandon them entirely; that the desiring power long for nothing earthly, and not look upon sensible things, but hearken to reason; and that the incensive power be troubled by nothing.
After the purification and mortification of every impure disposition, we need ascent and deification; he who shuns evil should do good. And above all one must deny oneself and, taking up one’s cross, follow the Lord to the highest deification.
What is this ascent and deification? As regards the intellect, it is the fullest contemplation — as far as human nature can attain — of all created things and of the Being who is beyond creation. As regards the desiring power, it is a complete and unceasing wonder and movement towards the primal Beauty. As regards the incensive power, it is the most active movement towards the One desired, inseparable and unrelenting, uninterrupted by any grief that may befall, a bold and irreversible movement forward.
The movement of the soul towards good should be stronger than its movement towards evil in the same measure as spiritual beauty surpasses sensible beauty. The soul must care for the body only as much as is needed to sustain it, so that it does not perish.
This is easy to determine for oneself, but far harder to do. Not without difficulty do you uproot from the soul its habits, which are not easily eradicated; and the acquisition of knowledge is not without struggle. Indeed, diligent contemplation and the turning towards the blessed Being are acquired with much labour and over a long time, until our desires grow accustomed to this direction and perceive what it brings them. Often the intellect will have to resist the senses, which draw it towards extraneous things — this is the war and struggle with the body, which continues until death, although it seems to lessen when wrath and lust subside and the senses obey the intellect enriched with knowledge.
However, one must know that an unenlightened soul, since it does not receive help from God, cannot truly purify itself nor come down to the divine world. What we have said applies to the faithful.
And in order to explain this better, it is necessary to mention briefly the differences within knowledge. There is a knowledge according to nature, and there is a knowledge beyond nature. What this second knowledge is will be seen from the first. Knowledge according to nature is that which the soul receives by investigating and learning in natural ways about creation and the Cause of all created things, as far as is possible for a soul bound to the body.
For it is said of the senses, the imagination and the intellect, that the action of the intellect is dulled by its union with the body and its mingling with it; therefore it cannot touch intelligible things, but can only imagine them, and imagination brings it images different from the realities. So, while the intellect is still attached to the body, it needs images that it can perceive. The intellect, being such as it is, acquires knowledge in a natural way, which we call natural.
And supernatural knowledge is that which enters the intellect beyond the ways known to it, or when what is known exceeds the measure of an intellect joined to the body and is more proper to a disembodied intellect. Such knowledge can come only from God alone, when He sees an intellect greatly purified from every passion for worldly things and clothed in divine love.
And not only knowledge is divided in this way, but the virtues also. There is a virtue that does not surpass nature and is rightly called natural, and there is one that is caused by the First Source of good, which exceeds our natural powers and condition, and is therefore rightly called supernatural. Thus they are divided: even an unenlightened person may have natural knowledge and natural virtue, but he cannot have supernatural knowledge. For how could an unenlightened person possess these without partaking of the Divinity who causes supernatural virtue? An enlightened person may have both; yet he will not have supernatural virtue until he acquires it, though nothing prevents him from obtaining supernatural knowledge without having the natural.
However, one must know that both animals and human beings possess senses and imagination, but in human beings these powers are far better and higher. So too with the natural virtues and understanding: although both the enlightened and the unenlightened may possess them, the enlightened possesses them in a higher and better way.
Knowledge which is called natural — that is, the knowledge of the virtues and of their opposites — is twofold. One kind is simple, when the one who investigates has not learned these virtues in practice and therefore sometimes doubts; and the second is active and, so to speak, inspired, when knowledge is confirmed by the experience of the virtues, from which no doubts or hesitations remain.
Having learned all this, let us learn also that there are four obstacles that hinder the intellect from acquiring the virtues. The first is the inclination towards contrary habits: relying on long custom, the intellect begins to lean towards earthly things. The second is the beings that reach out towards sensible beauty and drag the intellect along with them. The third is the dullness of the intellect owing to its being joined to the body. For there is not such a union between sight and what is seen — and in general between the senses and what the senses perceive — as there is between the intellect and knowledge. I speak of the intellect of the soul that is still in the body. For the intellect freed from the body understands intelligible things better than the eyes see visible things. But just as dim sight sees visible things vaguely and indistinctly, so does the intellect within us apprehend intelligible things. It cannot clearly contemplate intelligible beauty, and therefore cannot desire anything from it, because the measure of desire follows the measure of knowledge; and so the intellect at once returns to sensible beauty, which it sees more clearly, and must fill itself with what it deems good, whether truly so or not.
Besides these three obstacles there is also a fourth — the hands of impure and misanthropic spirits. It is impossible even to describe how many and what kinds of snares they set for souls in various ways: through the senses, through words, through the intellect, and by every possible means. And had not He who took the lost sheep upon His shoulder — for those who look to Him — by an ineffable providence made them superior to all, not a single soul would have escaped their nets.
In order to avoid them all, we need three things. The first and greatest is to look to God and to ask Him to stretch out His hand to help all who place their hope in Him, believing fully that if He does not hasten to help, we shall inevitably fall into the nets that these evil spirits have set for us.
The second, which in my opinion is also the cause of the first, is to feed the intellect unceasingly with contemplation — that is, the contemplation of all things that exist, both sensible and intelligible, as they are in themselves, and how they are connected with the First Cause, how they proceed from It and return to It; and to contemplate the Cause of all things, as far as is available to us. Understanding the nature of things cleanses the intellect of passionate desire for them, frees it from delusion concerning them, and raises it to their beginning: from the good, the wonderful and the great, to the better, the more wonderful and the more majestic; and, better still, to that which is beyond all beauty and wonder and majesty, and allows Him to be seen as in a mirror.
Does the intellect need any other good, if it moves always within this? If at times it rushes towards what is foreign to it, will it not rush all the more towards what is its own? And the soul, seized with love for these things, does it desire anything else, when the eternal draws it away from what loves it? Life in the body will also become unpleasant to it, because it will be an obstacle to its good. For although the intellect, as we have said, sees intelligible beauty dimly, the intelligible goods are such and so many that even a small stream and the subtlest manifestation of that magnificent beauty prompts the intellect to leave everything earthly and to go only towards the spiritual, not withdrawing from that sweetness even if it should fall into some bitterness.
And the third is the mortification of our body, which is joined to the intellect; without mortification it is impossible to receive contemplation clearly and distinctly. The body is mortified by fasting, by keeping vigil, by lying on the ground, by wearing rough clothing, by labours and by the endurance of hardship. Thus is the body mortified; and what is more, it is crucified with Christ, refined and purified, becomes light, and acquires good things, and follows without resistance the movements of the intellect, and it is easy for it to rise to the highest. Without this, all our efforts will be in vain.
When this honourable trio is in harmony with itself, it will give birth in the soul to a harvest of blessed virtues. In those adorned with these three, no trace of malice will be found, and no virtue will be lacking to them; neither the turning away from the acquisition of wealth nor the disdain for fame will confuse the intellect, because as long as the soul clings to these, it is still affected by many passions. And I say definitely that it is impossible for a soul attached to wealth and fame to soar.
When the soul knows no other true good except that which is above every good, and of all other goods prefers that which approaches the first, how will it love and praise gold, or silver, or anything else that is upon the earth? The same may be said of fame. And even so strong a thing as importunity will not assail such an intellect. What is there to be troubled about, when the soul is neither interested in nor attracted to anything of earthly things? A cloud of importunities is formed, as it were, from the smoke of the principal passions — love of pleasure, love of money and love of glory. He who is free from these is free also from importunity.
He who has acquired the things mentioned does not lack prudence, which differs from wisdom and is the first of those ways that raise one to the summit. Whoever learns virtue learns to recognise both what is good and what is contrary to good, and this requires prudence. Through experience and struggle with the body, prudence will teach him how to go straight to God.
Such people also have fear. As much as love increases, so much does fear increase; as much as there is hope of receiving the good, so much does the fear of not receiving it increase. This fear gnaws at those stricken with love more than the threat of countless torments. For the most blessed thing is to receive the good, and not to receive it is the most wretched.
In order that our discourse may proceed rightly, let us begin from the end. The end of our life is blessedness — or, in other words, the Kingdom of Heaven, or God. And it consists not only in contemplating the Sovereign Trinity, but also in receiving the divine influence, self-deification, which adds to us what we lack and perfects the imperfect. This is the food of intelligible beings: the addition, by divine influence, of what is lacking; and this influence is unceasing, like a circle, beginning from the same and ending in the same.
In the measure that one understands, in that measure one desires; and in the measure that one desires, in that measure one enjoys; and in the measure that one enjoys, in that measure one is strengthened in understanding, and begins again a motionless movement and a moving stillness. This is the end of our life, as far as we can understand it.
We must now consider how to reach this end. For rational souls, which are intelligible beings differing little from the angelic intellects, life in the body is given as a labour and a struggle. The reward for the struggle is the state already mentioned — a gift worthy of God’s goodness and truth. True, because the blessings are given in return for personal labour; and they are gifts, because the power of the gift surpasses all labour. Besides, the very ability to do good is itself a gift of God.
What, then, is the struggle here? The rational soul is joined to an animal body, which takes its existence from the earth and inclines towards what is dead. The soul is so combined with the body that from the two, wholly opposite to each other, one being is formed — yet without transformation or mingling of these two parts. From these two, different in nature, one human being is formed in two unchanging natures. Thus this being, man, composed of two natures, does what is proper to each nature in particular.
Therefore it is not surprising that the body desires things similar to itself, that is, bodily things. Such desire is inherent in all beings, because their existence rests upon union with that which is like their own being. Therefore it is natural for the body to take pleasure in the senses, and rest is also useful for it when it is weary. This is natural and desirable for our bodily nature.
For a rational soul, as for an intelligible being, all thinking and the enjoyment of thinking in its own manner is natural and desirable. First and foremost, love for God is rooted in it. The soul wishes to enjoy Him and other intelligible beings, but cannot do so without hindrance.
The first man could perceive sensible things with his senses and enjoy intelligible things with his intellect. But he was meant to exercise himself not in the worse but in the better. He could then do both the first and the second: he could be with intelligible things through his intellect, and with sensible things through his senses. I do not say that Adam was not to perceive through the senses — he had a body for a reason; but he was not meant to take his delight in sensible things. It was fitting for him, seeing the beauty of creatures, to rise to the One who created them and to delight in Him with wonder, having a double reason to marvel at the Creator, and not to attach himself to sensible things and enjoy them while abandoning intelligible beauty.
That is what Adam should have done. But he did not use his senses for good, for he was astonished at sensible beauty; and, seeing the fruit, which was beautiful in appearance and good to taste, he consumed it, ceasing to delight in intelligible things. Therefore the righteous Judge condemned him as unworthy of what he had despised — that is, the contemplation of God and of all created things — and banished him, placing darkness between him and the incorporeal beings. For it was not fitting that the unclean should dwell with the holy; but what he loved was given him to enjoy, and therefore God gave him to live by the senses with only small traces of the life of the intellect.
Because of this, the struggle in intelligible things has become difficult for us, since it is not in our power that our intellect should delight in intelligible things as much as the senses delight in sensible things — although baptism gives us help, and purifies and elevates us. However, as far as is possible for us, we must exercise ourselves in intelligible things and not in sensible ones, and desire intelligible things, and not marvel at sensible things at all nor desire to enjoy them; for indeed they cannot be compared with the intelligible.
We know that as one creature is more excellent than another, so one beauty is more excellent than another. And is it not more than madness to seek the shameful instead of the most beautiful, and to desire the dishonourable instead of the most honourable? This is what we do with regard to both sensible and intelligible creatures. And what shall we say when we do this towards the Being who is above all, when instead of Him we choose something unfitting and disgusting in appearance?
This too is a struggle: to be alert to ourselves and always to seek our delight in intelligible things, directing both intellect and desire towards them, so that we may never be deprived of them by sensible things, when we are captivated by the senses and made to wonder at creatures — as far as they can contain Him.
This is our struggle; we must now consider how we may accomplish it. For it has been said that the body enjoys things similar to itself through the senses, which contradicts the desires of the soul. The more the body enjoys, the more it desires. Therefore let the soul take pains to curb all the senses, so that we may not take delight in sensible things, as has been said. And since the stronger the body is, the more it rushes towards its own, and the more it rushes, the harder it is to restrain it, let the soul strive to mortify the body by fasting, vigil, standing, lying on the ground, not washing, and every other form of endurance, so that, having weakened its strength, it may easily govern it and make it obedient to the actions of the intellect. This is the essence of our struggle.
But it is easy to wish for this and not easy to fulfil it, and there are many failures in fulfilling it, because the senses often rob us, even when one is very careful. Therefore there are other, third remedies, namely prayer and tears. In prayer we give thanks for the benefits received and ask for the forgiveness of sins and for the strength that fortifies us. For without divine help, as we have said, the soul can do nothing. Divine help also gives the soul union with the One desired, and delight, and inclines the desiring power towards the One desired; and this is the most important thing — to direct the will to desire Him as strongly as possible.
Tears have great power: they propitiate the Lord for our sins, and cleanse the impurities that increase in us from sensible sweetness, and give us wings against the desire for evil. That is the whole matter. What follows after this is the contemplation of intelligible things and the utter desire for them. Through this the body is subdued — that is, by fasting, by vigil and all the rest, which are done one for the sake of another, and for their sake and with them, prayer also. Each of these actions is divided into many parts, but one happens for the sake of the others, and the others for the sake of the one.
Let no one think that love of glory and love of money are carnal passions. Only sensuality is a carnal passion, for which there is a useful remedy: the mortification of the body. But the two passions mentioned — love of glory and love of silver — are the product of ignorance. Not having experienced true goods and not knowing intelligible things, the soul invented false goods for itself. It thought it would fill its lack with wealth; and it cares for wealth also for the sake of pleasure and glory, and considers wealth to be good in itself. And this is because the soul does not know the true goods. Love of fame arises not from any lack of bodily needs, nor from the failure to satisfy them, but from inexperience and ignorance of the first good and of true glory.
The cause of this and, in short, the root of all evils, is ignorance. For it is impossible that one who has understood the nature of things — whence everything comes and whither it goes, and who also sees his own end — should rush towards earthly things. For the soul does not desire a good that only appears to be good; and even if habit pushes it towards such a good, it can overcome the habit. But when there was as yet no habit, the soul was seduced through ignorance.
Therefore it is first of all fitting to acquire right knowledge and to think rightly about creation, and also to direct one’s desires towards the first good, and to despise the visible, knowing its great vanity.
What helps us to reach our goal? I will speak of it briefly. The only work of the rational soul dwelling in the body is to desire to reach the goal. The action of desire does not move without knowledge. That is why we act with the intellect. We act both for the sake of desire — even if for its own sake — and for the sake of knowledge.
Blessedness is not only the cause but also the way of the present ascetic life. It has both actions: knowledge and desire, that is, love and delight. Whether these two actions are the same, or whether one of them is the more important, let those who wish consider. We speak of both actions, calling one contemplation and the other action. It is impossible to find one of the two without the other in these highest works, though it is possible in the lower ones and in those that follow them.
What hinders these actions or draws us towards their opposite we call sins; and what helps, or even helps us overcome obstacles, we call virtues. Actions leading to the acquisition of the virtues are called successes, while the actions that are their opposite are transgressions and sins. And everything that leads to an action, whether to the worse or to the better, is called the governing intention, because the action consists of awareness and the desire to accomplish it.