In the
previous post, we read from Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi about “noetic prayer” for
those of us living in the world, and how noetic prayer – true prayer, if
you will, communing with God on the level of the nous – is essential for
anyone attempting a hesychastic lifestyle.
For those of
you who may not be familiar with the term, a “hesychast” could roughly be
translated as a “contemplative”. For
myself, it means “a contemplative in the Orthodox tradition”, but you would not
have to be Orthodox to be a hesychast.
What you would have to be, however, is immersed not just in
contemplative prayer – as it’s commonly practiced in the West, particularly
among Roman Catholics and Anglicans – but also in the ascetic tradition as a
whole.
Asceticism is
not a popular term in our Western society, and it has, unfortunately, almost
completely disappeared from Western Christianity.[1] However, many Eastern Orthodox would argue
that a Christianity that is not ascetic is simply not Christianity. Asceticism involves such things as repentance
and fasting – among others – so that we may lower and humble ourselves
before God. It is a therapy, if you will
– one that allows for noetic prayer to truly “take root” so to speak.
Without
humility, however, asceticism is not only useless, it is possibly even
dangerous.
Humility has
long been extolled as the greatest of virtues among the Holy Fathers of the
Church. The piece I present here is from
Elder Dorotheos of Gaza.
First, a
little background. The following brief
bio is from Orthodox Wiki (www.orthodoxwiki.org):
Dorotheus, an
Egyptian hermit, was a native of the Thebaid region in Egypt and labored in
asceticism for 60 years in the Skete desert, on the Western side of the River
Nile. Palladius, Bishop of
Helenopolis and author of the renowned Lausiac History, was adisciple of
Dorotheus in his youth, and preserved what memories we have of him. According
to his work, Dorotheus led an austere and ascetical life. After finishing his prayers, he would
venture into the heat of noon and gather stones along the seashore to buildcells for the other
hermits. By night he would weave baskets, in exchange for which he received the
supplies he needed in order to live.
His food
consisted of bread and the the grass of the wilderness and would eat only once
a day and drank a little water. He barely slept, but only dozed off sometimes
at work, or after eating.
Once, St.
Dorotheus sent his disciple to fetch water, but he returned saying that he saw
a snake in the well and that the water in the well was now poisoned. St.
Dorotheus went to the well himself, took up a ladle of water, and making the
Sign of the Cross over it he drank it, saying: "Where the Cross is, there the
demonic powers do no harm." St. Dorotheus died peacefully at an advanced
age.
Now, let’s
turn to Dorotheos’ writing on “Concerning Humility of Wisdom”:
Concerning Humility of Wisdom
Abba Dorotheos of
Gaza
One of the elders
has said: "Before everything else humility of wisdom is needful for us, so
that we may be ready to say to every word which we hear, forgive me; for
by humility of wisdom all the arrows of the enemy and adversary are
broken." Let us examine what meaning the words of the elder has. Why does
he not say that continence (temperance) is needed first of all? For the Apostle
says, (I Cor. 9:25) Every man that strivest for the mastery is temperate
in all things. Or why did the elder not say that before everything else
the fear of God is needful for us? For in the Scriptures it is said: (Ps.
110:10) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and again,
(Prov. 15:27)By the fear of the Lord everyone departs from evil. Why did
he not say that before everything else alms-giving or faith is necessary for
us? For it is said, (Prov. 15:27), By alms and by faithful dealings sins
are purged away, and the Apostle says, (Heb. 11:6)Without faith it is
impossible to please Him(God).
Thus, if without
faith it is impossible to please God, and if by means of almsgiving and faith
sins are cleansed, if by the fear of the Lord everyone is brought away from
evil, and if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and one who is
laboring must be continent in everything, then why did the elder say before
everything else that humility of wisdom is needful for us, setting aside
everything else which is so needful? The elder wishes to show us by this that
neither the very fear of God, nor almsgiving, nor faith, nor continence, nor
any other virtue can be perfected without the humility of wisdom. This is why
he says, "Before everything else, humility of wisdom is needful to us—so
as to be ready to say to every word we hear forgive me; for by
humility of wisdom are all the arrows of the adversary broken." And so you
see, brethren, how great is the power of humility of wisdom; you see what force
the word forgive has. But why is the devil called not only enemy, but
also adversary? He is called enemy because he is the hater of mankind, the
hater of good, and a slanderer; and he is called adversary because he strives
to hinder every good deed. If one should wish to pray, he opposes and hinders him
by means of evil remembrances, by means of captivity of the mind and
despondency. If one wishes to give alms, he hinders by means of the love of
money and stinginess. If one wishes to keep vigil, he hinders by means of
laziness and carelessness, and in this way he opposes us in every deed when we
wish to do something good. This is why he is called not only enemy, but also
adversary. But by humility of wisdom, all the weapons of the enemy and
adversary are broken. For in truth, great is humility of wisdom, and every one
of the saints has travelled by this path; by labor they have made short their
path, as the Psalmist says, Behold my lowliness and my toil, and forgive
all my sins; (Ps. 24:18) and I was brought low, and He saved me(Ps.
114:6). And besides, it is humility alone that may conduct us into the Kingdom,
as the elder Abba John has said—but only slowly.
Thus, let us also
be humbled a little, and we shall be saved. If we who are infirm cannot labor,
then let us try to be humbled; and I believe in the mercy of God that for the
little we do with humility, even we shall be in the place of the saints who
have labored much and worked for God. Even if we are infirm and cannot
labor—can it be that we cannot become humble? Blessed, O brethren, is he who
has humility. Great is humility! One saint who had true humility said it very
well: "Humility does not become angry at anyone and angers no one, and it
considers anger completely foreign to itself." Great is humility, for it
alone opposes vainglory and preserves a man from it. And do not people become
angry also over property and food? But how is it that the elder says that
humility does not become angry at anyone and angers no one? Humility is great,
as we have said, and it strongly attracts to the soul the grace of God. Having
come, the grace of God protects the soul from the two onerous passions
mentioned above. For what can be more onerous than to become angry and to anger
one's neighbor? As someone has said: "It is not at all the nature of monks
to become angry, nor likewise, to anger others." For in truth, if such a
one, (i.e. one who becomes angry or angers others) is not soon covered with
humility then he, little by little, comes into a demonic state, disturbing
others and himself being disturbed. This is why the elder said that humility
does not become angry and does not anger. But what am I saying? As if humility
protected from only two passions… It protects the soul also from every passion
and from every temptation.
When St. Anthony
saw all the nets of the devil and, sighing, he asked God: "But who can
escape them?" Then God replied to him: "Humility will escape
them," and what is even more astonishing, He added: "They will not
even touch you." Do you see the grace of this virtue? In truth there is
nothing stronger than humility of wisdom—nothing vanquishes it. If something
painful should happen to one who is humble, he immediately turns to himself,
judges himself that he is worthy of this, and he does not begin to reproach
anyone, or lay the blame on anyone else. In this way he bears whatever happens
without disturbance, without sorrow, with complete calmness, and therefore he
does not become angry, nor does he anger anyone. And thus, before everything
else, humility of wisdom is needful for us.
There are two humilities, just as there are
two prides. The first pride occurs when one reproaches his brother, when one
judges and dishonors him as being of no importance, and deems himself superior.
If that person does not soon come to himself and strive to correct himself,
little by little comes to the second kind of pride, rising up against God
Himself. He ascribes all his labors and virtues to himself and not to God, as
if he performed them by himself, through his own reason and efforts, and not
with the help of God. In truth my brethren, I know one person who once came to
such a pitiable condition. At first when any of the brethren would say
something to him, he would belittle each one and reply: "What is the
meaning of that? There is no one worthy apart from Zosimas and those like
him." Then he began to judge these persons also and say: "There is no
one worthy except for Macarius." After a little time he began to say,
"Who is Macarius? There is no one worthy except for Basil and Gregory."
But soon he began to judge these also, saying: "Who is Basil, and who is
Gregory? There is no one worthy except for Peter and Paul." I said to him:
"In truth, brother, you will soon begin to belittle them also." And
believe me, in a short time he began to say: "Who is Peter? And who is
Paul? No one has any significance except for the Holy Trinity." Finally he
raised himself up in pride against even God Himself, and in this way he went
out of his mind. Therefore, O my brethren, we must labor with all our power
against the first pride, so that we may not little by little fall into the
second, that is, into complete pride.
There is a
worldly pride and a monastic pride: worldly pride is when one becomes proud
before his brother that he is richer or more handsome than he, or that he wears
better garments than he or that he is more nobly born than he. When we see that
we are becoming vainglorious over such qualities, or because our monastery is
larger or richer than others, or because there are many brethren in it, then we
must know that we are still in worldly pride. It likewise happens that one
becomes vainglorious because of some kind of natural gifts: one, for example,
is vainglorious because he has a good voice and sings well, or because he is
modest, works zealously, and is efficient in service. These qualities are
better than the first ones mentioned, however this is also worldly pride.
Monastic pride, on the other hand, is when one becomes vainglorious because he
is exercising himself in vigils, in fasting, that he is devout, that he lives
well and is careful. It likewise happens that one might become humble for the
sake of glory. All this has to do with monastic pride. It is possible for us
not to become proud at all; but if one is unable to escape this entirely, then
at least let him become proud over the qualities of monastic deeds, and not
over something worldly.
We have talked
about the first kind of pride is and what is the second. We have likewise
talked about worldly pride and monastic pride. Let us examine now the two kinds
of humility. The first kind of humility consists in respecting one's brother as
more intelligent than oneself and more excellent in every way, and in a word,
as the Holy Fathers have said, it consists in considering that one is lower
than all." The second kind of humility consists in ascribing one's labors
to God—this is the perfect humility of the saints. It is naturally born in the
soul from the fulfillment of the commandments. It is just as with a tree—when
there is much fruit on it, the fruits themselves bend the branches down; and
the branches on which there is no fruit strive upwards and grow straight. There
are certain trees which do not give fruit; but if someone were to take a stone
and hang it to the branch and bend it down, then it would give fruit. The soul
also, when it is humble, produces fruit, and the more fruit it produces, the
humbler it becomes; and the nearer the saints came to God, the more they saw
themselves as sinners.
I recall that
once we were conversing about humility, and when one of the well-known citizens
of Gaza heard us say that the closer one comes to God, the more one sees
himself as a sinner, he was astonished and said: "How could this be?"
Not understanding, he wished to know what these words meant. I said to him: "Noble
citizen, tell me what you consider yourself to be in your city." He
replied, "I consider myself to be great and the first one in the
city." Then I said to him, "But if you were to go to Caeserea, then
whom would you consider yourself to be there? He replied, "To be the last
of the nobles who are there." "And if," I said, "you were
to go to Constantinople, and come near to the Emperor, whom would you consider
yourself to be there?" He replied, "Almost as a beggar." Then I
said to him, "Even so, the nearer the saints came to God, the more they
considered themselves to be sinners. So, when Abraham saw the Lord, he called
himself earth and ashes. (Gen. 18:27); and Isaias said I am wretched and
unclean (Isa. 6:5); and likewise Daniel, when he was in the pit with the lions
and Habakkuk brought him bread saying: Receive the meal which God hath
sent thee, replied: Thou has remembered me, O God (Dan. 14:36,
37). What humility his heart had! He was in the pit in the midst of the lions
and was unharmed by them, and not once only, but twice, and after all this he
was astonished and said, And thus God hath remembered me.
Do you see the
humility of the saints and how their hearts were? They even refused out of
humility what was sent from God to help them, fleeing glory. Just as one who is
clothed in a silk garment would run away if someone were to throw an unclean
garment at him, so as not to soil his own precious garment, so also the saints,
being adorned with virtues, flee human glory so as not to be defiled by it. One
who seeks glory is like a naked man who desires to find some shirt or anything
else with which to cover his shame; so also one who is not clothed in virtue
seeks human glory. Thus the saints, sent by God to help people, in their
humility refused glory. Moses said (Exod. 4:10, 12), I beg Thee to place
another one who is able, for I am a stutterer.Jeremiah said: I am the
youngest one (Jer. 1:6). In a word, each of the saints acquired this
humility, as we have said, through the fulfillment of the commandments. But what
precisely this humility is and how it is born in the soul, no one can express
in words, unless a man learn this by experience; for it is impossible to learn
it from words alone.
Once Abba Zosimas
spoke about humility, and a certain sophist who was present heard what he said
and desired to understand it precisely. He asked him, "Tell me, why do you
consider yourself sinful? Do you not know that you are holy? Do you not know
that you have virtue? After all, you see how you fulfill the commandments—so
how can you consider yourself sinful when you act in this way?" The elder
did not know what answer to give him, but only said: "I do not know what
to say to you, but I consider myself sinful." The sophist insisted,
desiring to know how this could be. Then the elder, not knowing how to explain
this to him, began to say to him in his holy simplicity, "Do not upset me;
in truth I consider myself to be sinful."
Seeing that the
elder was perplexed as to how to reply to the sophist, I said to him:
"Does not the same thing happen in the arts of both sophistry and
medicine? When someone has studied an art well and is practicing it, then
according to the measure of his practice the physician or sophist acquires a
certain habit, but he cannot say and does not know how to explain how he became
experienced. In fact, the soul acquires the habit gradually and imperceptibly,
through practice in the art. So it is also with humility—from the fulfillment
of the commandments there comes a certain habit of humility, but it is impossible
to express this in words." When Abba Zosimas heard this he rejoiced,
immediately embraced me and said, "You have understood that matter, it is
precisely as you have said." Having heard these words, the sophist was
satisfied and agreed.
The elders also have
told us something which helps us to understand humility. No one can explain the
very condition into which the soul comes from humility. Thus, when Abba Agathon
was near death and the brethren asked him, "Are you also afraid,
Father?" he replied, "As much as I was able, I forced myself to keep
the commandments, but I am a man, and how can I know if what I have done is
pleasing to God? For one is the judgment of God, and another the judgment of
man." Behold how he opened our eyes to understand humility and showed us
the path whereby we acquire it. But how it is in the soul, as I have already
said many times, no one can say or aphrehend through words alone—the soul can
learn this but a little, and only from life. However, the Fathers have told us
what brings us to humility, for in the Patericon it is written: "A certain
brother asked an elder, "What is humility?" The elder replied,
"Humility is a great and divine matter. Serving as a path to humility are
bodily labors, performed reasonably. Also, it is when one considers himself
below everyone else and constantly prays to God—this is the path to humility.
But humility itself is divine and beyond understanding."
But why did the
elder say that bodily labors bring a soul to humility? In what way do bodily
labors become spiritual virtues? By considering himself below everyone, as we
have already said, one opposes the demons and the first kind of pride—for how
can one consider himself greater than his brother, or become proud towards
another or reproach or belittle anyone, if he considers himself below everyone?
Likewise, to pray without ceasing also clearly opposes the second kind of
pride, for it is evident that one who is humble and reverent, knowing that it
is impossible to perform any kind of virtue without the help and protection of
God, does not cease always to pray to God that He might have mercy on him. For
one who is ceaselessly praying to God, even if he should be able to do
something, knows why he did this and cannot become proud. He does not ascribe
this to his own power, but he ascribes all his success to God, always gives
thanks to Him, and always calls upon Him, trembling lest he be deprived of such
help and his infirmity and powerlessness be discovered. And thus with humility
he prays, and by prayer he becomes humble, and the more he advances always in
virtues, the more he always becomes humble. And to the degree he becomes humble
he receives help and advances through humility of wisdom. But why does the
elder say that bodily labors bring one to humility? What relation do bodily
labors have to the disposition of the soul? I will explain this for you. After
transgressing the commandments the soul was given over, as St. Gregory says, to
the deception of the love of pleasure and self-will and came to love the
bodily. It became, as it were, united or one with the body, and everything
became flesh as, is written, (Gen. 6:4) My spirit shall not remain among
these men, for they are flesh. The poor soul then sympathizes with the
body and with everything which is done with the body. This is why the elder
also said that bodily labor also brings the soul to humility. For there is one
disposition of soul in a healthy man and another in a sick man; one disposition
in one who is hungry and another in one who is full. Likewise, there is one
disposition of soul in a man who is riding upon a horse, another in one who is
sitting on a throne, and yet another in one who is sitting on the earth; there
is one disposition in one who wears beautiful clothing and another in one who
wears poor clothing. Thus, labor humbles the body; and when the body is
humbled, the soul is also humbled with it. So, the elder said well that bodily
labor leads to humility. Therefore, when Agapius was subjected to warfare from
blasphemous thoughts, knowing as a wise man that the blasphemy proceeded from
pride, and that when the body is humbled then the soul is also humbled with it,
he spent forty days in the open air so that his body, as the writer of his life
says, began to bring forth worms as happens with wild animals. He undertook
such a labor not for the sake of the blasphemy, but for the sake of humility.
Thus, the elder said truly that bodily labors also lead to humility. May the
good God grant us humility, for it delivers a man from many evils and protects
him from great temptations. May there be glory and dominion to God forever.
Amen.
[1] I
believe that this is only recently the case.
As recent as 200 years ago, you would have commonly heard, or read,
Western Christians – both Protestant and Roman Catholic – extol the virtues of
humility, repentance, and fasting.
