Saint Dorotheos of Gaza Resource Page

St. Dorotheos of Gaza (Feast Day - August 13)

Verses

Discerning words flowed from you,

O Dorotheos the boast of monastics.

Holy Abba Dorotheos of Gaza

Abba Dorotheos of Gaza as a Model for our Lives

Homily on Abba Dorotheos of Gaza and Saint Maximus the Confessor (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Holy Abba Seridos of Gaza

Saint Dositheos the Submissive, Disciple of Abba Dorotheos

Saints Barsanuphios and John Resource Page

On the Holy Lenten Fast (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

Directions on the Spiritual Life (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

Homily on the Conscience (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

On Resentment (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

An Interpretation of Certain Sayings of St. Gregory the Theologian Found in Paschal Hymns (Abba Dorotheos of Gaza)

Homily on the Conscience (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

By St. Dorotheos of Gaza

When God created man, he breathed into him something divine, as it were a hot and bright spark added to reason, which lit up the mind and showed him the difference between right and wrong. This is called the conscience, which is the law of his nature. This is compared to the well which Jacob dug, as the Fathers say, and which the Philistines filled up. [cf. Genesis 26:15] That is, to this law of conscience adhered the patriarchs and all the holy men of old before the written law, and they were pleasing to God. But when this law was buried and trodden underfoot by men through the onset of sin, we needed a written law, we needed the holy prophets, we needed the instruction of our Master, Jesus Christ, to reveal it and raise it up and bring to life through the observance of the Commandments that buried spark.

Directions on the Spiritual Life (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

By St. Dorotheos of Gaza

1. In His loving-kindness God has given us purifying commandments so that, if we wish, we can by their observance be cleansed not only of sins but also of passions themselves. For passions are one thing and sins another. Passions are: anger, vanity, love of pleasures, hatred, evil lust and the like. Sins are the actual operations of passions, when a man puts them into practice, that is, performs with the body the actions to which his passions urge him. For it is possible to have passions and yet not to act from them.

2. The (old) law had as its purpose to teach us not to do what we did not want done to us; consequently it forbade only the actual doing of evil. Now however (in the New Testament) we are required to banish the passion itself, which urges us to do evil—hatred itself, love of pleasures, love of fame, and other passions.

An Interpretation of Certain Sayings of St. Gregory the Theologian Found in Paschal Hymns (Abba Dorotheos of Gaza)

In Abba Dorotheos of Gaza's Ascetic Works, Teaching 16 is "An Interpretation of Certain Sayings of Saint Gregory the Theologian Found in Paschal Hymns." These hymns are no longer sung at Easter, since they have been superseded by the famous Canon by Saint John the Damascene, though he may have used them for inspiration. Abba Dorotheos seems to be basing his remarks on a troparion which was, indeed, sung at Easter when he was alive and elements of which are to be found in a homily preached by Saint Gregory the Theologian on Easter day, 383 A.D. (S.C. vol. 92, p. 458). The troparion was published by S. Petrides in Byzantinische Zeitschrift 1904, 421-3).

On Resentment (St. Dorotheos of Gaza)

By St. Dorotheos of Gaza

This is like a person with a wound. He puts a plaster on it and temporarily heals it through that and it forms a scar. That spot remains sensitive and if one throws a stone at him it is more easily struck than the rest of the body and immediately starts to bleed. This is what happened to the person as well. He was wounded and put on a plaster, which is repentance, and he temporarily healed the wound, as in the example, that is to say, anger. He also started to take care of the resentment through trying to obliterate any bad memory from his heart. This is the scar of the wound. However, he was not perfectly healed. He still retained the problem of resentment that is like the scar from which the wound is easily reopened if it receives a small blow. Therefore, he has to struggle to completely blot out the scar so that hair grows again, no disfigurement remains and you cannot discern where the wound was.

But how is it possible to achieve this? By praying for the person that upset him, with his whole heart, saying, "God help my brother and through his prayers, me." Thus, he prays fervently for his brother, which is evidence of sympathy and love, and, at the same time, he humbles himself by asking for help through his brother’s prayers. Where there is sympathy, love and humility how can anger, resentment or any other passion prevail? As Abba Zosimas said, "If the devil should use all the tools of his evil and all his devils, all his efforts become ineffectual and are destroyed through humility according to the commandment of Christ." Another saintly father said that, "The person that prays for his enemies has no resentment."

Work at this and understand what you hear, for unless you work you cannot receive all this through the word. Who desires to learn an act and does so through words alone? Certainly, he always begins by doing and undoing and thus, gradually, labouring and enduring he learns the art through the help of God who sees his intention and his labour. How then can we seek to learn the art of arts without undertaking it through deeds? How is this possible? Therefore, brethren, let us be attentive and work with diligence while we have time. May God grant us to remember and maintain what we hear so that it should not be for our damnation on the day of judgment.

To Him belong glory and dominion to the ages of ages. Amen.

From Practical Teaching on the Christian Life.