The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily IV, Part X

St. Isaac does not flatter us with easy consolations. He sets before the monk the radical alternative: almsgiving is like the rearing of children, but stillness is the summit of perfection. One can pour out possessions, but if one’s senses remain open to the world, unbarred gates, then the enemy will always find a way in. It is not enough to scatter coins if the mind is still scattered; the true work is to gather the heart into stillness, where God alone becomes its horizon.

Isaac shows us the two wars. The first is fought outside: through sight and hearing, through eating and speech, through the ceaseless tangle of affairs. This “exterior warfare” is exhausting and subtle, for it draws the soul outward, dispersing its strength. But there is another war, fought within. Only when the gates of the senses are shut can one turn inward to confront the deeper enemy: thoughts, passions, memories, and the hidden demons that assault the heart. To reach the “rest in God,” the monk must first cease from unnecessary noise without, in order to learn serenity within.

The blessedness of stillness, Isaac tells us, is to translate all one’s activity into the work of prayer. A man who can remain in his cell, moving from divine service to divine service with nothing added, will never lack for what is necessary, because he has made God his sole concern. Even manual work, though permitted, is an accommodation for the weak. The more perfect path is prayer and compunction; prostrations before the Cross, like a convict bound, crying out for mercy without ceasing.
It is this interior life and the divine rest the comes through it that St. Isaac will describe for us next week.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:05:45 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 151 mid paragraph 30

00:23:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Once the robber knows he has everything, he won't be back to bother you again. There's nothing else to steal and he has no further means of threatening or manipulating you.

00:29:31 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 151, paragraph 31 at bottom of page

00:30:15 Julie: Reacted to "P. 151, paragraph 31…" with 🙏

00:32:53 Anthony: Father, for me I don't think it's exactly a linear progression. Some people might have the external and internal awareness overlap.

00:40:42 Jessica Imanaka: I worry about acedia/sloth... not so much because of praying offices, but from slipping into endless meditations on spiritual readings to the potential neglect of my schoolwork and housework. It's hard to discern given that my career/life gives me some leeway in what to focus on and when.

00:45:10 Kathryn Rose: We should turn these mundane necessary tasks into types of prayers

00:45:40 Elizabeth Richards: Like Brother Lawrence 🙂

00:45:52 carolnypaver: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with ❤️

00:46:30 carolnypaver: Replying to "We should turn these..."

St. Josemaria Escriva taught this.

00:46:42 Kathryn Rose: Reacted to "St. Josemaria Escriv…" with ❤️

00:47:38 Diana Cleveland: I have found this to be so true. For years I have wanted to renovate my house, but never had the money. Over the last 20 years or so, as I have watched trends come and go that I could never participate in, the cutting back has served to cultivated an abundance mindset vs scarcity. I always thought the cutting back would make me crave more, but actually cutting back has produced satisfaction in simplicity of life.

00:49:23 Art: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with 👍

00:50:35 Art: This little excerpt has helped me a lot of late.  “Fix your heart on God.  For the time being, you cannot, I admit, apply yourself to prayer or to other exercises of piety: but, with my confidence founded on Christ, I will give you a rule which will enable you to pray without ceasing: He prays always who lives well.  Animate yourself with faith, I beg you; keep yourself in the presence of God in all your actions.”  St. Paul of the Cross

00:52:43 Anthony: Oh I learned by experience not to multiply devotion....burnout and legalism and a lack of desire to do anything.....

00:52:59 carolnypaver: Reacted to "Oh I learned by expe..." with 👍

00:54:34 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Oh I learned by expe..." with 👍

00:54:43 Kathryn Rose: The exterior tasks like cleaning, going to jobs, driving, things we all have to do don’t have to be distractions, they can be symbols of doing the work on tending our interior castles

00:57:03 Catherine Opie: realised when I had my first child that my spiritual practice had to be staying in a heart centred space as much as possible and making all my work an act of love. Now I am Catholic I have learnt to dedicate these things to God, saying a prayer before work for example. I used to chant a mantra while doing tasks, but now I can say the Jesus prayer the Pater Noster or the Ave Maria instead which is bringing my mind to God and is of course the right focus to have. If prayer is simple it can be done at all times.  This is what I love about what I am learning here. Having said that I am really enjoying attending vespers on Sunday.

00:58:18 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with ❤️

00:59:58 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "The exterior tasks l..." with ❤️

01:01:52 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "This little excerpt ..." with ❤️

01:02:05 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "This little excerpt ..." with ❤️

01:03:26 Myles Davidson: Free PDF of Flowers Of The Passion: Thoughts Of St. Paul Of The Cross https://archive.org/details/FlowersOfThePassionThoughts

01:03:48 Andrew Adams: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with ❤️

01:04:29 Art: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with 👍

01:05:12 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to " realised when I had..." with ❤️

01:07:09 Julie: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers …" with 🙏

01:07:24 Anthony: Ok that's me, I claim the weakness

01:11:59 carolnypaver: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with ❤️

01:14:16 Julie: 🙏

01:14:34 Jessica Imanaka: It's all good.

01:14:39 Janine: Great stuff tonight! Amen

01:15:14 David Swiderski, WI: Take away- The secret eater monk

01:15:15 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:15:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:15:30 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻

01:15:31 David Swiderski, WI: God bless Father and your mother

01:15:42 Elizabeth Richards: Thx Father!

01:15:48 Catherine Opie: 👏🏻

01:16:28 Diana Cleveland: Thank you!