Rallegrati in me!

Dio permette che cadiamo. Ma con la sua potenza e la sua sapienza, ci custodisce. Con la sua misericordia e la sua grazia, ci eleva ad una gioia infinitamente più grande. Così vuol essere conosciuto e amato nella giustizia e nella misericordia, ora e per sempre... Io non farò altro che peccare. Ma il mio peccato non impedirà a Dio di operare. La contemplazione della sua opera è gioia celeste per l'anima che è permeata di timore e desidera sempre più amorevolmente compiere la volontà di Dio con l'aiuto della grazia.

Quest'opera comincia quaggiù. Sarà gloriosa per Dio ed enormemente vantaggiosa per tutti coloro che lo amano sulla terra. Al nostro arrivo in cielo, ne saremo testimoni in una gioia meravigliosa. Quest'opera continuerà fino all'ultimo giorno. La gloria e la beatitudine che da essa scaturiranno resteranno in cielo, davanti a Dio e a tutti i suoi santi, per sempre... Là sarà la gioia più grande: vedere che Dio stesso ne è l'artefice. L'uomo non è che peccatore. Mi sembrava che il nostro buon Signore mi dicesse: “Guarda dunque! Non c'è forse materia per l'umiltà? Non c'è forse materia per amare? Non c'è materia per conoscere te stessa? Allora, per amore di me, rallegrati in me. Niente può piacermi di più”.

Giuliana di Norwich

The Gift

With all things, it is always what comes to us from outside, freely and by surprise as a gift from heaven, without our having sought it, that brings us pure joy. In the same way real good can only come from outside ourselves, never from our own effort. We cannot under any circumstances manufacture something which is better than ourselves. Thus effort truly stretched towards goodness cannot reach its goal; it is after long, fruitless effort which ends in despair, when we no longer expect anything, that from outside ourselves, the gift comes as a marvellous surprise. The effort has destroyed a part of the false sense of fullness within us. The divine emptiness, fuller than fullness, has come to inhabit us.

Simone Weil

Renunciation and forgiveness

Men owe us what we imagine they will give us. We must forgive them this debt.

To accept the fact that they are other than the creatures of our imagination

is to imitate the renunciation of God.

I also am other than what I imagine myself to be. To know this is forgiveness.

Simone Weil

Cantico Espiritual

A zaga de tu huella,
las jóvenes discurran al camino;
al toque de centella,
al adobado vino,
emisiones de bálsamo divino.

¿Adónde te escondiste, amado,
y me dejaste con gemido?
Como el ciervo huiste,
habiéndome herido;
salí tras ti, clamando, y eras ido.

Buscando mis amores,
iré por esos montes y riberas;
ni cogeré las flores,
ni temeré las fieras,
y pasaré los fuertes y fronteras.

¡Oh bosques y espesuras,
plantadas por la mano del amado!
¡Oh prado de verduras,
de flores esmaltado,
decid si por vosotros ha pasado!

Apaga mis enojos,
pues que ninguno basta a deshacellos,
y véante mis ojos,
pues eres lumbre dellos,
y sólo para ti quiero tenellos.

Buscando mis amores,
iré por esos montes y riberas;
ni cogeré las flores,
ni temeré las fieras,
y pasaré los fuertes y fronteras.

Descubre tu presencia
Y máteme tu vista y hermosura;
Mira que la dolencia
de amor, que no se cura
sino con la presencia y la figura.

La noche sosegada,
en par de los levantes de la aurora,
la música callada,
la soledad sonora,
la cena que recrea y enamora;

Buscando mis amores,
iré por esos montes y riberas;
ni cogeré las flores,
ni temeré las fieras,
y pasaré los fuertes y fronteras. X2

Palabras de Juan de la Cruz

La Fuente

Qué bien sé yo la fuente que emana y corre
aunque es de noche
su origen no lo sé pues no le tiene
mas se que todo origen de ella viene

aunque es de noche.

Sé que no puede ser cosa tan bella
y que cielos y tierra beben de ella
aunque es de noche
su claridad nunca es obscurecida
y sé que toda luz de ella es venida
aunque es de noche.


El torrente que nace de esta fuente
piense que es tan capaz y omnipotente
aunque es de noche
y esta eterna fuente está escondida
en este vivo Pan por darnos vida
aunque es de noche.


A esta viva fuente que deseo
en este Pan de vida yo la veo
aunque  es de noche, aunque es de noche.

Palabras de Juan de la Cruz

Vivo sin vivir en mí

 Vivo sin vivir en mí,
y de tal manera espero,
que muero porque no muero.

  Vivo ya fuera de mí
después que muero de amor;           5
porque vivo en el Señor,
que me quiso para sí;
cuando el corazón le di
puse en él este letrero:
que muero porque no muero.           10

  Esta divina prisión
del amor con que yo vivo
ha hecho a Dios mi cautivo,
y libre mi corazón;
y causa en mí tal pasión             15
ver a Dios mi prisionero,
que muero porque no muero.

  ¡Ay, qué larga es esta vida!
¡Qué duros estos destierros,

esta cárcel, estos hierros           20
en que el alma está metida!
Sólo esperar la salida
me causa dolor tan fiero,
que muero porque no muero.        

  ¡Ay, qué vida tan amarga           25
do no se goza el Señor!
Porque si es dulce el amor,
no lo es la esperanza larga.
Quíteme Dios esta carga,
más pesada que el acero,             30
que muero porque no muero.

  Sólo con la confianza
vivo de que he de morir,
porque muriendo, el vivir
me asegura mi esperanza.             35
Muerte do el vivir se alcanza,
no te tardes, que te espero,
que muero porque no muero.

  Mira que el amor es fuerte,
vida, no me seas molesta;            40
mira que sólo te resta,
para ganarte, perderte.
Venga ya la dulce muerte,
el morir venga ligero,
que muero porque no muero.           45

  Aquella vida de arriba
es la vida verdadera;
hasta que esta vida muera,
no se goza estando viva.
Muerte, no me seas esquiva;          50
viva muriendo primero,
que muero porque no muero.

  Vida, ¿qué puedo yo darle
a mi Dios, que vive en mí,
si no es el perderte a ti            55
para mejor a Él gozarle?
Quiero muriendo alcanzarle,
pues tanto a mi Amado quiero,
que muero porque no muero.

Teresa de Jesus

Seguo Lui... Solo...

Chiara segui le mie orme?

No seguo orme più profonde...

Vende quae habes

Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende quae habes, et da pauperibus,

et habebis thesaurum in caelo:

et veni, sequere me.

Iesus

Somos todos leprosos

Madre: Francisco, ¿qué te sucede? ¿estás enfermo? No será que por estar con todos...

Francisco: Madre, mírame, somos todos leprosos, aunque escondamos nuestras llagas y nos mintamos los unos a los otros para convencernos que olvidamos el único motivo ¡que Dios nos ama! A pesar de las llagas que ocultamos, Dios nos ama tanto, madre que se convirtió en uno de nosotros y fue clavado desnudo en una cruz mostrando sus llagas ante el mundo.

De la pelicula Clara y Francisco

Relying on God

I give you one counsel; that you don't think that through your own strength or efforts you can arrive, for reaching this stage is beyond our power; if you try to reach it, the devotion you have will grow cold. But with simplicity and humility, which will achieve everything, say: fiat vountas tua...

When we are more determined we are less confident of ourselves, for confidence must be placed in god. When we understand this... there will be no need to go about so tense and constrained... [We will] go about with a holy freedom.

Through the blood He shed for us I ask those who have not begun to enter within themselves to do so; and those who have begun, not to let the war make them turn back... Let them trust in the mercy of God and not at all in themselves, and they will see how his Majesty brings them from the dwelling places of one stage to those of another... and they shall enjoy many more blessings than one desire - blessings even in this life, I mean.

Teresa of Jesus

Cantico Espiritual

Conoscere

Se conosco chi sono, il terrore mi perderà; se conosco Chi è, 

la Sua grazia mi salverà. 

Gabriel Mandel khan - Mistico Sufi

Te Solo

Tutto il bene che hai decretato per me in questo mondo, donalo ai tuoi nemici; e tutto ciò che hai decretato per me nel paradiso, concedilo ai tuoi amici. Io non aspiro che a te solo.

Rābi´a al-´Adawiyya - Mistico Sufi

O Madre

O Madre, sorgente di amore,
fa ch'io viva il tuo martirio,
fa ch'io pianga le tue lacrime...

Ferisci il mio cuore con le sue ferite,
stringimi alla sua croce,
inebriami del suo sangue.

God alone

Do not wish to ask anything of God except God. 

Love Him. 

Desire Him alone.

St Augustine

The reham of God

The Hebrew text of the Old Testament does not draw on psychology to speak about God's compassionate suffering with man. Rather, in accordance with the concreteness of Semitic thought, it designates it with a word whose basic meaning refers to a bodily organ, namely, rahamin. Taken in the singular, rahamin means the mother's womb. Just as "heart" stands for feeling, and "loins" and "kidneys" stand for desire and pain, the womb becomes the term for being with another; it becomes the deepest reference to man's capacity to stand for another, to take the other into himself, to suffer him, and in this long-suffering to give him life. The Old Testament, with a word taken from the language of the body, tells us how God shelters us in himself, how he bears us in himself with compassionate love.

The languages into which the Gospel entered when it came to the pagan world did not have such modes of expression. But the image of the Pietà, the Mother grieving for her Son, became the vivid translation of this word: in her, God's maternal affliction is open to view. In her we can behold it and touch it. She is the compassio of God, displayed in a human being who has let herself be drawn wholly into God's mystery. It is because human life is at all times suffering that the image of the suffering Mother, the image of the rahamin of God, is of such importance for Christianity. The Pietà completes the picture of the Cross, because Mary is the accepted Cross, the Cross communicating itself in love, the Cross that now allows us to experience in her compassion; the compassion of God.

Joseph Ratzinger

Faith

Biblical faith is one: from Abraham to Jesus and Paul. There are not two ways of believing. Abraham is the archetype that Israel sets as a seal over its history: departure from one's own world, blind trust in the God who promises tremendous things but shows nothing of them, worse still, who starts things off, who gives the son of the promise and then demands the gift back on Moriah. God so outweighs any other considerations that he can demand, not only faith, but blind faith, faith that does not waver if God seems to contradict himself openly.  Later on, an entire people journeying through the wilderness will be trained in this kind of trust. And the desert journey continues even after the taking of the land, even in the exile and beyond: again and again the prophets train Israel in this letting go, this refusal to grasp, this trust and hope.

Jesus brings nothing other than this faith, but he does so as the "author and finisher of faith" who embodies it in person. He himself is pure trust that goes so far as the night of abandonment by the Father, without assurance, no longer understanding, in absolute preference of another's will. What he does and lets be done he imparts with plenary authority. His preaching is nothing but training in this fundamental act, which he both demands from man and coaxes from him at the same time. "I believe, help my unbelief." He entices man to make the leap and stretches out a hand to strengthen him for it.

Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Preferisco il Paradiso!

Appoggiati a Dio

"Non appoggiarti all'uomo: deve morire. Non appoggiarti all'albero: deve seccare. Non appoggiarti al muro: deve crollare. Appoggiati a Dio, a Dio soltanto. Lui rimane sempre." 

San Francesco d’Assisi a Santa Chiara

Your face, Lord do I seek!

How is it possible to love one's enemies; the persons who hurt you and make space for them in your heart? We feel repulsion towards people who are led by their thirst for power, by their jealousy, rage, bitterness... and who end up hurting us and others. And it is so easy to forget that people in Jesus' time felt the same repulsion towards the Man of Sorrows, the Suffering Messiah. Isaiah says: 

"so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance... he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity diseases... upon him was the punishment that made us whole."

Jesus had to bear the sins of all humanity, and sin disfigures us... Jesus had no form; was disfigured, so we could be made whole. There is nothing in a disfigured person that could draw us to him... except, maybe, the realisation that in the face of every person disfigured by sin, there is the disfigured God. If we look beyond the face of our enemy we can see God's disfigured face... and realise that this God without form or majesty is also present in us. My enemy and I have this presence in common. And maybe I could let compassion rise up in my heart, compassion for this suffering God, rejected by humanity, because there is nothing in his appearance that could draw us to him... except love and compassion. If the only face of God that I seek, is the beautiful face of God in those who love me, in the beauty of nature, in music, art... and abandon Christ broken beneath the cross in me and in my enemy... than I do not love.

Jacob and Esau's story is a story of great compassion. On his way back home Jacob fears his brother Esau, but hopes to be accepted by him: "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face, perhaps he will accept me." The face Jacob is hoping to see is the face of the Compassionate God in the face of his brother. He knew that his own face was disfigured by the wrong he had committed towards his own brother, but he hoped to find mercy; to see God's compassionate face. His hope was not in vain:

"But Esau ran to him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept...

Jacob said: 'No, please, if I find favour with you, then accept my present from my hand, for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me with such favour.'"

The parallelism with the parable of the Prodigal Son, cannot escape us. We can put Jacob's words of hope on the lips of the son on his way to his father, and Jacob's words during the encounter with his brother, on the lips of the son embraced by his compassionate father. Compassion receives the other... it creates a space in the heart of the receiver... compassion is linked with the womb - a space where one is with another and suffers with him. In their disfigurement our brothers and sisters, seek a face... the compassionate face of God... and they seek this face in us. In the same way that we in our disfigurement by our own sin seek the compassionate face of God in others. This is not easy at all especially when the persons do not seem to realise they are wrong and that they are hurting us and others. But in this case, it is all the more important to seek the burdened Jesus in them, the disfigured face of our loving God and love Him and not abandon Him under the weight of the sins of humanity. 

Veronica may well be a legendary figure. But she represents true compassion. She realised that the true icon of Christ... the true Face of God, is that of the suffering Christ; the God who in his compassion, chose to suffer with humanity and be disfigured to make us beautiful. And when others, mocked him, spat at him, because all they could see was a criminal walking to his shameful death, she saw the face of God and was moved with compassion... She became the symbol of the true face of God, the face of compassion - the Vera Icona.

May I live up to my name.

When the night becomes dark

Gospodi

Gospodi, vozvah k Tebje usliši mja, vonmi glasu moljenija mojego, vnjegda vozvati mi k tebje.
Da ispravitsja molitva moja, jako kadilo pred toboju, vozdjejanije ruku mojeju, žertva večernjaja.
Usliši mja Gospodi.

Chiara di Dio

12th September - 8th Anniversary from my Religious Perpetual Profession

Jekk għandi Lilek

Wara li ċċaħħadt, warrabt minn ħajti kull hena ta' din l-art.
L-għażla li għamilt, għażilt li ruħi priġuniera ssir.
Rajt li l-ferħ tad-dinja kollu jmur,
U bħalma s-sħana tnixxef bukkett fjur
Rajt li kull pjaċir malajr mar-riħ itir
Inti waħdek il-ferħ tiegħi
Fik il-hena ruħi ssib.

Jekk għandi lilek O Ġesù għandi kollox
din imħabbtek biss tiġbidni
rrid nersaq aktar lejk'
Int għalija l-isbaħ fjur illi tfewwaħ il-ħolqien
għax għalija Int biżżejjed
Nagħtik kollox kulma jien.

Fik jien għandi ġmiel il-ħolqien
Fik il-ward u l-fjur tal-widien
Fik għandi kulma rrid, Inti l-ogħla ġid
Sebħ tas-Sema u l-art huwa Int.

Silenzio e santità

Abbiamo bisogno di trovare Dio, e ciò non è possibile nell'agitazione né nel rumore. Dio è amico del silenzio. In quale silenzio crescono gli alberi, i fiori e l'erba! In quale silenzio si muovono le stelle, la luna e il sole! Non è forse la nostra missione dare Dio ai poveri dei tuguri? Non però un Dio morto, bensì un Dio vivente e amante. Quanto più riceviamo nella preghiera silenziosa, tanto più possiamo dare nella nostra vita attiva. Abbiamo bisogno del silenzio per diventare capaci di toccare le anime. L'essenziale non è ciò che diciamo, ma ciò che Dio dice e dice attraverso di noi. Tutte le nostre parole saranno vane finché non verranno dall'intimità più profonda. Le parole che non trasmettono la luce di Cristo accrescono le tenebre.

        Il nostro progresso nella santità dipende da Dio e da noi stessi, dalla grazia di Dio e dalla nostra volontà di essere santi. Dobbiamo prendere l'impegno vitale di giungere alla santità. «Voglio essere un santo» significa: Voglio distaccarmi da quanto non è Dio, voglio spogliare il mio cuore di ogni cosa creata, voglio vivere nella povertà e nel distacco, voglio rinunciare alla mia volontà, alle mie inclinazioni, ai miei capricci e ai miei gusti, e farmi servo docile della volontà di Dio.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded! I supplicate you, Lady/ now do I call upon you And I beseech you, Queen of all/ I beg of you your favor Majestic maiden, spotless one/ O Lady Panagia I call upon you fervently/ O sacred, hallowed temple Assist me and deliver me/ protect me from the enemy And make me an inheritor/ of blessed life eternal.

His left arm is under my head, his right embraces me...

How totally she surrenders in these hands! Powerful and at the same time tender hands; hands, of her Lord and hands of her Bridegroom. Hands that carry her and embrace her. Double gesture of her loving God!

Blaise Arminjon S.J.

The dark night of the will.

We should have accomplished nothing by the purgation of the understanding in order to ground it in the virtue of faith, and by the purgation of the memory in order to ground it in hope, if we purged not the will also according to the third virtue, which is charity, whereby the works that are done in faith live and have great merit, and without it are of no worth. For, as Saint James says: ‘Without works of charity, faith is dead.’

And, now that we have to treat of the active detachment and night of this faculty, in order to form it and make it perfect in this virtue of the charity of God, I find no more fitting authority than that which is written in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, where Moses says: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole strength.’  Herein is contained all that the spiritual man ought to do, and all that I have here to teach him, so that he may truly attain to God, through union of the will, by means of charity. For herein man is commanded to employ all the faculties and desires and operations and affections of his soul in God, so that all the ability and strength of his soul may serve for no more than this, according to that which David says, in these words: Fortitudinem meam ad te custodiam.

The strength of the soul consists in its faculties, passions and desires, all of which are governed by the will. Now when these faculties, passions and desires are directed by the will toward God, and turned away from all that is not God, then the strength of the soul is kept for God, and thus the soul is able to love God with all its strength. And, to the end that the soul may do this, we shall here treat of the purgation from the will of all its unruly affections, whence arise unruly operations, affections and desires, and whence also arises its failure to keep all its strength for God. 

These affections and passions are four, namely: Joy, hope, grief and fear. These passions, when they are controlled by reason according to the way of God, so that the soul rejoices only in that which is purely the honour and glory of God, and hopes for naught else, neither grieves save for things that concern this, neither fears aught save God alone, it is clear that the strength and ability of the soul are being directed toward God and kept for Him. For, the more the soul rejoices in any other thing than God, the less completely will it centre its rejoicing in God; and the more it hopes in aught else, the less will it hope in God; and so with the other passions.

And in order to give fuller instructions concerning this, we shall treat, in turn and in detail, as is our custom, of each of these four passions and of the desires of the will. For the whole business of attaining to union with God consists in purging the will from its affections and desires; so that thus it may no longer be a base, human will, but may become a Divine will, being made one with the will of God.

These four passions have the greater dominion in the soul, and assail it the more vehemently, when the will is less strongly attached to God and more dependent on the creatures. For then it rejoices very readily at things that merit not rejoicing, hopes in that which brings no profit, grieves over that in which perchance it ought to rejoice, and fears where there is no reason for fearing.

From these affections, when they are unbridled, arise in the soul all the vices and imperfections which it possesses, and likewise, when they are ordered and composed, all its virtues. And it must be known that, if one of them should become ordered and controlled by reason, the rest will become so likewise; for these four passions of the soul are so closely and intimately united to one another that the actual direction of one is the virtual direction of the others; and if one be actually recollected the other three will virtually and proportionately be recollected likewise. For, if the will rejoice in anything it will as a result hope for the same thing to the extent of its rejoicing, and herein are virtually included grief and fear with regard to the same thing; and, in proportion as desire for these is taken away, fear and grief concerning them are likewise gradually lost, and hope for them is removed. For the will, with these four passions, is denoted by that figure which was seen by Ezechiel, of four beasts with one body, which had four faces; and the wings of the one were joined to those of the other, and each one went straight before his face, and when they went forward they turned not back.

And thus in the same manner the wings of each one of these affections are joined to those of each of the others, so that, in whichever direction one of them turns — that is, in its operation — the others of necessity go with it virtually also; and, when one of them descends, as is there said, they must all descend, and, when one is lifted up, they will all be lifted up. Where thy hope is, thither will go thy joy and fear and grief; and, if thy hope returns, the others will return, and so of the rest.

Wherefore thou must take note that, wheresoever one of these passions is, thither will go likewise the whole soul and the will and the other faculties, and they will all live as captives to this passion, and the other three passions will be living in it also, to afflict the soul with their captivity, and not to allow it to fly upward to the liberty and rest of sweet contemplation and union. For this cause Boetius told thee that, if thou shouldst desire to understand truth with clear light, thou must cast from thee joys, hope, fear and grief.

 For, as long as these passions reign, they allow not the soul to remain in the tranquillity and peace which are necessary for the wisdom which, by natural or supernatural means, it is capable of receiving.

John of the Cross

Ascent of Mt Carmel

Palabras Pequenas

Solitude

For those who are not frightened by the solitude, everything will have a different taste.

In solitude, they will discover the love that might otherwise arrive unnoticed. In solitude, they will understand and respect the love that left them.

In solitude, they will be able to decide whether it is worth asking that lost love to come back or if they should simply let it go and set off along a new path.

In solitude, they will learn that saying ‘No’ does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying ‘Yes’ is not always a virtue.

And those who are alone at this moment, need never be frightened by the words of the devil: ‘You’re wasting your time.’

Or by the chief demon’s even more potent words: ‘No one cares about you.’

The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing.

And when we achieve that harmony, we receive more than we asked for.

Paulo Coelho

Stillness and Prayer

He who practices hesychasm must acquire the following five virtues, as a foundation on which to build: silence, self-control, vigilance, humility and patience. Then there are three practices blessed by God: psalmody, prayer and reading - and handiwork for those weak in body. These virtues which we have listed not only embrace all the rest but also consolidate each other. From early morning the hesychast must devote himself to the remembrance of God through prayer and stillness of heart...

Stillness requires above all faith, patience, love with all one's heart and strength and might (cf. Deut. 6:5), and hope.

Nothing so fills the heart with contrition and humbles the soul as solitude embraced with self-awareness, and utter silence. And nothing so destroys the state of inner stillness and takes away the divine power that comes from it as the following six universal passions: insolence, gluttony, talkativeness, distraction, pretentiousness and the mistress of the passions, self-conceit.


Nothing so makes the soul of those striving to advance on the spiritual path sluggish, apathetic and mindless as self-love, that pimp of the passions. For whenever it induces us to choose bodily ease rather than virtue promoting hardship, or to regard it as positive good sense not willingly to burden ourselves with ascetic labor, especially with respect to the light exertions involved in practicing the commandments, then it causes the soul to relax its efforts to attain a state of stillness, and produces in it a strong, irresistible sense of indolence and slackness.

St Gregory of Sinai

A free heart

A true sanctuary, even before the life to come, is a heart free from distractive thoughts and energized by the Spirit, for all is done and said there spiritually. If we do not attain such a state in this life, we may because of our other virtues be a stone fit for building into the temple of God; but we will not ourselves be a temple or a celebrant of the Spirit.

St Gregory of Sinai

Icons Documentary

Stat crux dum volvitur orbis

The Cross is steady while the world is turning.

From the Life of St Savvas

When St Savvas saw that a monk had thoroughly mastered the rules of monastic conduct, and was already able to keep watch over his intellect and fight off demonic thoughts - had indeed banished from his mind all memory of worldly things - then, if this monk was physically weak and ill, St Savvas allowed him to have a cell in the Lavra. But if such a monk was vigorous and in good health, he told him to build his own cell.

Do you see how the divine Savvas, too, required his disciples to keep watch over the intellect and only then
permitted them to dwell by themselves in their own cells? What are we doing who idly sit in our cells without even knowing whether there is such an art as keeping watch over the intellect?

Philokalia

From the Life of St Theodosios the Cenobiarch

St Theodosios was so deeply wounded by the sweet arrow of love, and was held so fast in love's fetters, that he fulfilled in actual practice the exalted commandment, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind' (Matt. 22:37). Such a state can be attained only by so concentrating the soul's natural powers that they aspire to nothing other than the Creator alone. So great were these spiritual energies in his soul that when exhorting someone he often inspired awe; yet when giving rebukes he was always gentle and tender. Who else could talk with so many people and be of such service to them, or could so concentrate their senses and turn them inwards that in the midst of tumult they lived with greater serenity than did those in the desert? Who else could remain just the same whether among crowds or dwelling alone? It was by thus concentrating the senses and turning them inwards that the great Theodosios came to be wounded by love for the Creator.

Philokalia

Nikiphoros the Monk On Watchfulness and the Guarding of the Heart

If you ardently long to attain the wondrous divine illumination of our Savior Jesus Christ; to experience in your heart the supracelestial fire and to be consciously reconciled with God; to dispossess yourself of worldly things in order to find and possess the treasure hidden in the field of your heart (cf. Matt. 13:44); to enkindle here and now your soul's flame and to renounce all that is only here and now; and spiritually to know and experience the kingdom of heaven within you (cf. Luke 17:21): then I will impart to you the science of eternal or heavenly life or, rather, a method that will lead you, if you apply it, painlessly and without toil to the harbor of dispassion, without the danger of being deceived or terrified by the demons. Terror of this kind we experience only when through disobedience we estrange ourselves from the life I am about to describe. This was the fate of Adam when he violated God's commandments: associating with the serpent and trusting him, he was sated by him with the fruits of deceit (cf. Gen.3:1-6), and thus wretchedly plunged himself and all those who came after him into the pit of death, darkness and corruption.

You should, then, return; or - to put it more truly - let us return, brethren, to ourselves, rejecting once and for all with disgust the serpent's counsel and our deflection to what is base. For we cannot be reconciled with God and assimilated to Him unless we first return or, rather, enter into ourselves, in so far as this lies within our power. For the miracle consists in tearing ourselves away from the distraction and vain concerns of the world and in this way relentlessly seizing hold of the kingdom of heaven within us.

That is why the monastic life has been called the art of arts and the science of sciences. For this holy discipline does not procure us what is corruptible, so that we divert our intellect from higher to lower things and completely stifle it. On the contrary it offers us strange, indescribable blessings, that 'the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and man's heart has not grasped' (1 Cor. 2:9). Henceforward 'we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world' (Eph. 6:12). If, then, this present age is one of darkness, let us flee from it. Let us flee from it in our thoughts so that we may have nothing in common with the enemy of God. For if you choose to be a friend of this present age you are an enemy of God (cf.Jas. 4:4). And who can help an enemy of God?

Let us therefore imitate our fathers and like them let us seek the treasure within our hearts. And when we have found it let us hold fast to it with all our might, both cultivating and guarding it (cf. Gen. 2:15); for this is what we were commanded to do from the beginning. And if another Nikodimos should appear and begin to argue, saying, 'How can anyone enter into his own heart and work or dwell in it?' - as the original Nikodimos, doubting the Savior, said, 'How can someone who is old enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?' (John 3:4) - let him in his turn hear the words, 'The Spirit blows where He wants to' (John 3:8). If we are full of disbelief and doubt about the practice of the ascetic life, how shall we enjoy the fruits of contemplation? For it is practice that initiates us into contemplation...

Some of the saints have called attentiveness the guarding of the intellect others have called it custody of the heart,or watchfulness, or noetic stillness, and others something else. All these expressions indicate one and the same thing, just as 'bread' and 'a round' or 'a slice' do; and you should read them in this sense. As to what attentiveness itself is and what its characteristics are, this you can now learn in more detail.

Attentiveness is the sign of true repentance. It is the soul's restoration, hatred of the world, and return to God. It is rejection of sin and recovery of virtue. It is the unreserved assurance that our sins are forgiven. It is the beginning of contemplation or, rather, its presupposition, for through it God, descrying its presence in us reveals Himself to the intellect. It is serenity of intellect or, rather, the repose bestowed on the soul through God's mercy. It is the subjection of our thoughts, the palace of the mindfulness of God, the stronghold that enables us patiently to accept all that befalls. It is the ground of faith, hope and love. For if you do not have faith you cannot endure the outward afflictions that assail you; and if you do not bear them gladly you cannot say to the Lord, 'Thou art my helper and my refuge' (Ps 91:2). And if the Most High is not your refuge you will not lay up His love in your heart.

Most if not all of those who attain this greatest of gifts do so chiefly through being taught. To be sure, a few

without being taught receive it directly from God through the ardor of their endeavor and the fervor of their faith; but what is rare does not constitute the norm. That is why we should search for an unerring guide, so that under his instruction we may learn how to deal with the shortcomings and exaggerations suggested to us by the devil whenever we deviate left or right from the axis of attentiveness. Since such a guide will himself have been tested through what he has suffered, he will be able to make these things clear to us and will unambiguously disclose the spiritual path to us so that we can follow it easily. If you have no such guide you must diligently search for one. If, however, no guide is to be found, you must renounce worldly attachments, call on God with a contrite spirit and with tears, and do what I tell you.

You know that what we breathe is air. When we exhale it, it is for the heart's sake, for the heart is the source of life and warmth for the body. The heart draws towards itself the air inhaled when breathing, so that by discharging some of its heat when the air is exhaled it may maintain an even temperature. The cause of this process or, rather, its agent, are the lungs. The Creator has made these capable of expanding and contracting, like bellows, so that they can easily draw in and expel their contents. Thus, by taking in coolness and expelling heat through breathing, the heart performs unobstructed the function for which it was created, that of maintaining life. Seat yourself, then, concentrate your intellect, and lead it into the respiratory passage through which your breath passes into your heart. Put pressure on your intellect and compel it to descend with your inhaled breath into your heart. Once it has entered there, what follows will be neither dismal nor glum. Just as a man, after being far away from home, on his return is overjoyed at being with his wife and children again, so the intellect, once it is united with the soul, is filled with indescribable delight.

Therefore, brother, train your intellect not to leave your heart quickly, for at first it is strongly disinclined to

remain constrained and circumscribed in this way. But once it becomes accustomed to remaining there, it can no longer bear to be outside the heart. For the kingdom of heaven is within us (cf. Luke 17:21); and when the intellect concentrates its attention in the heart and through pure prayer searches there for the kingdom of heaven, all external things become abominable and hateful to it. If, then, after your first attempts you enter through your intellect into the abode of the heart in the way that I have explained, give thanks and glory to God, and exult in Him. Continually persevere in this practice and it will teach you what you do not know.

Moreover, when your intellect is firmly established in your heart, it must not remain there silent and idle; it should constantly repeat and meditate on the prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me', and should never stop doing this. For this prayer protects the intellect from distraction, renders it impregnable to diabolic attacks, and every day increases its love and desire for God.

If, however, in spite of all your efforts you are not able to enter the realms of the heart in the way I have enjoined, do what I now tell you and with God's help you will find what you seek. You know that everyone's discursive faculty is centered in his breast; for when our lips are silent we speak and deliberate and formulate prayers, psalms and other things in our breast. Banish, then, all thoughts from this faculty - and you can do this if you want to - and in their place put the prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me', and compel it to repeat this prayer ceaselessly. If you continue to do this for some time, it will assuredly open for you the entrance to your heart in the way we have explained, and as we ourselves know from experience.

Then, along with the attentiveness you have so wished for, the whole choir of the virtues - love, joy, peace and the others (cf. Gal. 5:22) - will come to you. Through the virtues all your petitions will be answered in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor and worship now and always and throughout the ages. Amen.

Philokalia

Watch and Pray!

Il-ħtieġa tas-skiet

Jien bdejt inħossni bħallikieku mġewwaħ għat-talb, kelli ħtieġa urġenti li nferragħ 'l ruħi fit-talb, u kont ili ma nkun fil-kwiet jew inkella waħdi, aktar minn tmienja u erbgħin siegħa. Ħassejtni bħallikieku f'qalbi kelli għargħar jitħabat biex joħroġ u jinfirex ma' kull parti ta' ġismi. Li nħallih hemm ġew kien qed iġegħlni nħoss uġigħ kbir, iżda ta' ġid, f'qalbi, uġigħ li kellu l-ħtieġa jiġi kkalmat u kkwitat permezz tat-talb fis-skiet. U issa ntbaħt l-għala dawk li tassew jitolbu t-talb ġewwieni l-ħin kollu ħarbu l-kumpanija tan-nies u nħbew f'postijiet mhux magħrufa. Fhimt ukoll għaliex il-Venerabbli Esekija jsejjaħ tpaċpiċ fieragħ, saħansitra t-taħdit spiritwali u ta' għajnuna siewja, jekk ikun hemm wisq minnu. Kif jgħid ukoll Efrem is-Sirjan, "Kliem siewi huwa fidda, imma s-skiet huwa deheb safi."

Il-Mixja tal-Pellegrin

Kindle my heart

De Noche

De noche iremos de noche
que para encontrar la fuente ,
solo la sed nos alumbra ,
solo la sed nos alumbra.

Di notte andremo di notte
per incontrare la fonte,
solo la sete ci illumina
solo la sete ci illumina.

Vanità di Vanità

Vai cercando qua, vai cercando là,
ma quando la morte ti coglierà
che ti resterà delle tue voglie?
Vanità di vanità.
Se felice, sei, dei pensieri tuoi,
godendo solo d'argento e d'oro,
alla fine che ti resterà?
Vanità di vanità.

Vai cercando qua, vai cercando là,
seguendo sempre felicità,
sano, allegro e senza affanni...
Vanità di vanità.

Se ora guardi allo specchio il tuo volto sereno
non immagini certo quel che un giorno sarà della tua vanità.

Tutto vanità, solo vanità,
vivete con gioia e semplicità,
state buoni se potete...
tutto il resto è vanità.

Tutto vanità, solo vanità,
lodate il Signore con umiltà,
a lui date tutto l'amore,
nulla più vi mancherà.

Piccola Canzone dei Contrari

C'e`un posto bianco e un posto nero chissà dov'è?
per ogni volo di pensiero dentro di te
c'è un posto alto e un posto basso chissà dov'è?
per un violino e un contrabbasso dentro di te
e un posto dove ci son io
C'è un posto uovo e uno gallina chissà dov'è?
se non sai chi sia nato prima dentro di te
c'è un posto in pace e un posto in guerra chissà dov'è?
in piedi o tutti già per terra dentro di te
e un posto dove ci son io
che cerco un posto tutto mio là di fianco a te.
C'è un posto vino e un posto pane chissà dov'è?
per quando hai sete oppure hai fame dentro di te
c'è un posto verde e un posto rosso chissà dov'è?
per quel che resta o quel che passa dentro di te
c'è un posto vero e uno bugiardo chissà dov'è?
per quando va la gatta al lardo dentro di te
e un posto dove ci son io.
C'è un posto tutto e un posto nulla chissà dov'è?
per una donna e una fanciulla dentro di te
c'è un posto bello e un posto brutto chissà dov'è?
non sempre si può avere tutto dentro di te
c'è un posto fermo e uno animato chissà dov'è?
per come il mondo è disegnato dentro di te
e un posto dove ci son io
che cerco un posto tutto mio là di fianco a te.

Infinitamente Piccolo