Being Baptized Into All the Stages of the Life of Christ (St. Gregory of Sinai)

 

By St. Gregory of Sinai 

 

Everyone baptized into Christ should pass progressively through all the stages of Christ's own life, for in baptism he receives the power so to progress, and through the commandments he can discover and learn how to accomplish such progression. 

 

The Life and Works of Saint Gregory of Sinai (David Balfour)

The following study on the life and work of Saint Gregory of Sinai was published by David Balfour in Theologia between 1981 and 1983. All links in pdf format.

Saint Gregory the Sinaite: Discourse on the Transfiguration. First critical edition

Saint Gregory of Sinai's Life Story and Spiritual Profile (2)

The Works of Gregory the Sinaite (3)

The Works of Gregory the Sinaite (4)

The Works of Gregory the Sinaite (5)

The Works of Gregory the Sinaite (6)

Baptism as a Door Towards Spiritual Progress (St. Gregory of Sinai)

By St. Gregory of Sinai

Everyone baptized into Christ should pass progressively through all the stages of Christ's own life, for in baptism he receives the power so to progress, and through the commandments he can discover and learn how to accomplish such progression.

Discourse on the Transfiguration (St. Gregory of Sinai)

The following discourse was translated by David Balfour from the first critical edition of the text. The Greek text and an introduction with analysis of it can be read here.

On Christian Ministries That Lack the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit

By St. Gregory of Sinai

Those who write and speak and who wish to build up the Church, while lacking the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are 'psychic' or worldly people void of the Spirit, as St. Jude observes (cf. Jude 19). Such people come under the curse which says, 'Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and esteem themselves as possessors of knowledge' (Isa. 5:21); for they speak from themselves and it is not the Spirit of God that speaks in them (cf. Matt. 10:20). For those who speak what are simply their own thoughts before they have attained purity are deluded by the spirit of self-conceit. It is to them that Solomon refers when he says, 'I knew a man who regarded himself as wise; there is more hope for a fool than for him' (Prov. 26:12 LXX); and again, 'Do not be wise in your own sight' (Prov. 3:7). St. Paul himself, filled with the Spirit, endorses this when he says, 'We are not qualified to form any judgment on our own account; our qualification comes from God' (2 Cor. 3:5), and, 'As men sent from God, we speak before God in the grace of Christ' (2 Cor. 2:17). What people say when they speak on their own account is repellent and murksome, for their words do not come from the living spring of the Spirit, but are spawned from the morass of their own heart, a bog infested with the leeches, snakes and frogs of desire, delusion and dissipation; the water of their knowledge is evil-smelling, turbid and torpid, sickening to those who drink it and filling them with nausea and disgust.

From The Philokalia, vol. 4, "On Commandments and Doctrines" 128, p. 247.

Saint Gregory of Sinai Resource Page

St. Gregory the Sinaite (Feast Days - November 27, February 11, April 6)

Verses

Perceived O Gregory as the consummate standard,
You encourage all to divine prayer.

Saint Gregory of Sinai (+ 1346)

Saint Gregory of Sinai (Intro. to his Writings in the "Philokalia")

Saint Gregory of Sinai as a Model for our Lives

The Life and Works of Saint Gregory of Sinai (David Balfou)

Saint Gregory of Sinai (+ 1346)

St. Gregory of Sinai (Feast Days - November 27, February 11, April 6)

Verses

Perceived O Gregory as the consummate standard,
You encourage all to divine prayer.

By Monk Moses the Athonite

Venerable Gregory the Sinaite was a great neptic father and teacher of noetic prayer to Mount Athos and the Balkan people.

John Wycliffe and Saint Gregory of Sinai

St. Gregory of Sinai

By Protopresbyter Fr. Thomas Vamvinis

History can inform us to interpret the present. Within it is treasured the experience of previous generations, as it is preserved in the texts of the past as well as by its modern scholars and analysts.

We will attempt, therefore, referring to history, to draw a parallel between the ecclesiastical actions of two people, one a "western" priest and professor at Oxford, who was one of the precursors of the Reformation in the area of England, and an "eastern" contemporary of his, a Holy Father, whose texts are in the Philokalia of the Sacred Neptics.

Going back to the fourteenth century, the people we will occupy ourselves with are John Wycliffe and Saint Gregory of Sinai. The point we will focus most of our attention on is the view of Wycliffe concerning the "general priesthood" and the teaching of Saint Gregory on the "spiritual priesthood".

Saint Gregory of Sinai (Intro. to his Writings in the "Philokalia")

St. Gregory of Sinai (Feast Day - April 6)

Introduction to the Writings of Saint Gregory of Sinai in the Philokalia

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Our holy Father Gregory, who received monastic tonsure at Mount Sinai and so was given the name Sinaite, flourished under the rule of Andronikos Palaiologos (1281-1328). Arriving at Mount Athos, he visited the monasteries and hermitages there, and found many ornamented with prudence and dignified manners, but they had only dug the trenches of practical virtue, while they were so deprived of initiation into the guarding of the nous, the rigors of hesychia and theoria, that there were those who did not even know of these things, even by name. He met only three at the Skete of Magoula, opposite Philotheou Monastery, whose names were Isaiah, Cornelius, and Makarios, that dedicated themselves a little to theoria. 

Two Forms and Three Sources of Delusion (St. Gregory of Sinai)

By St. Gregory of Sinai

Here something must be said about delusion, so far as this is possible; for, because of its deviousness and the number of ways in which it can ensnare us, few recognize it clearly and for most it is almost inscrutable. Delusion manifests itself or, rather, attacks and invades us in two ways - in the form of mental images and fantasies or in the form of diabolic influence - though its sole cause and origin is always arrogance. The first form is the origin of the second and the second is the origin of a third form - mental derangement.

The first form, illusory visions, is caused by self-conceit; for this leads us to invest the divine with some illusory shape, thus deceiving us through mental images and fantasies. This deception in its turn produces blasphemy as well as the fear induced by monstrous apparitions, occurring both when awake and when asleep - a state described as the terror and perturbation of the soul. Thus arrogance is followed by delusion, delusion by blasphemy, blasphemy by fear, fear by terror, and terror by a derangement of the natural state of the mind. This is the first form of delusion, that induced by mental images and fantasies.

The second form, induced by diabolic influence, is as follows. It has its origin in self-indulgence, which in its turn results from so-called natural desire. Self-indulgence begets licentiousness in all its forms of indescribable impurity. By inflaming man's whole nature and clouding his intelligence as a result of its intercourse with spurious images, licentiousness deranges the intellect, searing it into a state of delirium and impelling its victim to utter false prophecies, interpreting the visions and discourses of certain supposed saints, which he claims arc revealed to him when he is intoxicated and befuddled with passion, his whole character perverted and corrupted by demons. Those ignorant of spiritual matters, beguiled by delusion, call such men 'little souls'. These 'little souls' are to be found sitting near the shrines of saints, by whose spirit they claim to be inspired and tested, and whose purported message they proclaim to others. But in truth they should be called possessed by the demons, deceived and enslaved by delusion, and not prophets foretelling what is to happen now and in the future. For the demon of licentiousness himself darkens and deranges their minds, inflaming them with the fire of spiritual lust, conjuring up before them the illusory appearance of saints, and making them hear conversations and see visions. Sometimes the demons themselves appear to them and convulse them with fear. For having harnessed them to the yoke of Belial, the demon of licentiousness drives them on to practice their deceits, so that he may keep them captive and enslaved until death, when he will consign them to hell.

Delusion arises in us from three principal sources: arrogance, the envy of demons, and the divine will that allows us to be tried and corrected. Arrogance arises from superficiality, demonic envy is provoked by our spiritual progress, and the need for correction is the consequence of our sinful way of life. The delusion arising solely from envy and self-conceit is swiftly healed, especially when we humble ourselves. On the other hand, the delusion allowed by God for our correction, when we are handed over to Satan because of our sinfulness, God often permits to continue until our death, if this is needed to efface our sins. Sometimes God hands over even the guiltless to the torment of demons for the sake of their salvation. One should also know that the demon of self-conceit himself prophesies in those who are not scrupulously attentive to their hearts.

Question: What should we do when the devil transforms himself into an angel of light (cf. 2 Cor. 11:14) and tries to seduce us?

Answer: You need great discrimination in order to distinguish between good and evil. So do not readily or lightly put your trust in appearances, but weigh things well, and after testing everything carefully cleave to what is good and reject what is evil (cf. 1 Thess. 5:21-2). You must test and discriminate before you give credence to anything.

You must also be aware that the effects of grace are self-evident, and that even if the devil does transform himself he cannot produce these effects: he cannot induce you to be gentle, or forbearing, or humble, or joyful, or serene, or stable in your thoughts; he cannot make you hate what is worldly, or cut off sensual indulgence and the working of the passions, as grace does. He produces vanity, haughtiness, cowardice and every kind of evil. Thus you can tell from its effects whether the light shining in your soul is from God or from Satan. The lettuce is similar in appearance to the endive, and vinegar, to wine; but when you taste them the palate discerns and recognizes the differences between each. In the same way the soul, if it possesses the power of discrimination, can distinguish with its noetic sense between the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the illusions of Satan.

Source: "One Hundred and Thirty-Seven Texts", Philokalia, vol. 4.

Read more here.

Mysteries We Should Not Contemplate Without the Grace of Illumination

By St. Gregory of Sinai

We confirm that there are eight principle subjects for contemplation:

First, God, invisible and unseen; without beginning and uncreated; the First Cause of everything that exists; Triune; the one and only pre-existing Divinity;

Second, the order and rank of rational powers [the bodiless powers of heaven; the angelic world];

Third, the composition of visible things;

Fourth, the plan of the Incarnation of the Word;

Fifth, the general resurrection;

Sixth, the awesome Second Coming of Christ;

Seventh, eternal torment;

Eighth, the Kingdom of Heaven.

The first four have already been revealed and belong to the past. The last four have not yet been revealed and belong to the future, even though these four are clearly contemplated by those who, with the help of acquired Grace, attained complete purity of mind. Whosoever approaches this task of contemplation without the illumination of Grace, let him know that he is building fantasies and does not possess the art of contemplation.

The Virtuous Life Begins With Patience (St. Gregory of Sinai)

"You will gain possession of your souls through your patient endurance" (Luke 21:19).

St. Gregory of Sinai writes:

- In whatever work we engage patience gives birth to courage,

- Courage to commitment,

- Commitment to perseverance,

- Perseverance to an increase in the work done.

- Such additional labour quells the body's dissolute impulses and checks the desire for sensual indulgence.

- Thus checked, desire gives rise to spiritual longing,

- Longing to love,

- Love to aspiration,

- Aspiration to ardour,

- Ardour to self-galvanizing,

- Self-galvanizing to assiduousness,

- Assiduousness to prayer,

- Prayer to stillness.

- Stillness gives birth to contemplation,

- Contemplation to spiritual knowledge,

- Knowledge to the apprehension of the mysteries.

- The consummation of the mysteries is theology,

- The fruit of theology is perfect love,

- Of love humility,

- Of humility dispassion,

- Of dispassion foresight, prophecy and foreknowledge.

- No one possesses the virtues perfectly in this life, nor does he cut off evil all at once. On the contrary, by small increases of virtue evil gradually ceases to exist.

Saint Gregory of Sinai on Intelligence and Knowledge

By St. Gregory of Sinai

- Only those who through their purity have become saints are spiritually intelligent in the way that is natural to man in his pre-fallen state. Mere skill in reasoning does not make a person’s intelligence pure, for since the fall our intelligence has been corrupted by evil thoughts. The materialistic and worldly spirit of the wisdom of this world may lead us to speak about ever wider spheres of knowledge, but it renders our thoughts increasingly crude and uncouth. This combination of well-informed talk and crude thought falls far short of real wisdom and contemplation, as well as of undivided and unified knowledge.

- By knowledge of truth understand above all apprehension of truth through grace. Other kinds of knowledge should be regarded as images of intellections or the rational demonstration of facts.

From The Philokalia, "On Commandments and Doctrines, Warnings and Promises; on Thoughts, Passions and Virtues, and also on Stillness and Prayer: One Hundred and Thirty-Seven Texts."

Three Thoughts To Cultivate Humility (St. Gregory of Sinai)

 By St. Gregory of Sinai

Those who seek humility should bear in mind the three following things:

1. That they are the worst of sinners,

2. That they are the most despicable of all creatures since their state is an unnatural one,

3. That they are even more pitiable than the demons, since they are slaves to the demons.

You will also profit if you say this to yourself:

"How do I know what or how many other people’s sins are, or whether they are greater than or equal to my own? In our ignorance you and I, my soul, are worse than all men, we are dust and ashes under their feet."

From The Philokalia, Vol. 4.

 

Saint Maximos Kavsokalyvites on Noetic Prayer

St. Maximos Kavsokalyvites or "the Hut-burner" (Feast Day - January 13)

A native of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, Saint Maximos became a monk at the age of seventeen. When his spiritual father died, he went on pilgrimage to Constantinople, where he took up the ascesis of folly for Christ, pretending madness in order to conceal his virtues and struggles from the world. He then went to the Great Lavra of St Athanasius on Mount Athos, where he lived as a simple monk in complete obedience.

One day, he was told in a dream to go to the summit of Athos to receive (like Moses) the tablets of the spiritual law. He prayed continuously atop the Holy Mountain for three days, after which the Mother of God appeared to him surrounded by angels. She gave him a miraculous loaf for his sustenance and told him to live in solitude on the wild slopes of Mount Athos. Henceforth he lived apart, barefoot in all weather.

He would build himself crude shelters of branches and brush; after living in one for a short time he would burn it and move to a new place. Thus he received the name Kavsokalyvites "the Hut Burner" from the other monks, who dismissed him as a madman.

Saint Gregory the Sinaite, one of the great Hesychasts, heard of St Maximos, and hurried to meet him. When they met, St Maximos put aside his usual silence at St Gregory's pleading, and they discoursed together for many hours. St Gregory asked St Maximos the story of his life, and Maximos told him of the wonders God had accomplished in him since his youth. He said that one day, when still very young, he was praying with tears before the icon of the Mother of God, and as he bent to venerate it a gentle dew-like warmth suddenly filled his chest and heart, producing abundant compunction; and that since then his nous, stationed unshakeably in his heart, had not ceased to invoke the Name of Jesus and that of the Mother of God with unutterable sweetness.

They went on with the following conversation concerning Noetic Prayer:

"In saying the Prayer, are you sometimes rapt in ecstasy?" Gregory asked.

Maximos answered: "I made haste to the desert and have sought solitude for this very thing - in order to find the fruits of prayer in abundance - I mean the pure love of God and the ravishment of the nous by the Lord."

"What does the nous do when that happens? Does it continue to utter the prayer in the heart?"

"By no means", replied Maximos. "When the Holy Spirit visits the man of prayer, prayer ceases; for the nous, absorbed completely in the Spirit of God, ceases to act from its own energy. It lets itself be led 'where the Spirit wills' (Jn. 3:8), into the immaterial heaven of the divine light, or into other contemplations, or even into an inexpressible conversation with God. For just as wax, which is by nature hard, burns and becomes all fire and all light when brought into contact with fire, although remaining a material quite distinct from it, in the same way, the nous, in so far as it remains in its separate nature, conceives only what is connected to its nature and under its power; but when the divine fire, the Holy Spirit, draws near, it burns with the fire of the Godhead, carried away by the power of the Spirit; every thought and every concept vanishes, and the whole nous, swallowed up by the light of God, becomes divine and radiant light."

"What are the signs of illusion and the signs of Grace?" Gregory asked.

"The signs of diabolical illusion are disturbance of spirit, hardness of heart, fear, agitation of the thoughts, vanity, anger, vain imaginations and terrifying visions of light and fire. But when the Holy Spirit draws near to our spirit, He integrates it, makes it wise, humble and restrained. He instills in man the thought of death and of the Judgement, and leads him to weep tears of compunction at the thought of the Savior's loving kindness. He raises the nous to contemplation of things on high, and illumines it by bathing it in divine light. He gives peace to the heart, and conveys unutterable joy and exultation to all its powers. As the Apostle teaches, 'The fruits of the Spirit are joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, compassion and humility'" (Gal. 5:22).

Saint Gregory was astonished at the wonders that God had accomplished in St Maximos, at his depth of spiritual understanding and his eloquence. Returning to the nearby monks, he said "He is an angel and not a man!" He begged St Maximos to give up his nomadic life and his pretended madness, and to live among his fellow monks for their edification. This St Maximos did. He settled in one of his crude huts, living on bread miraculously provided from heaven and on sea-water, which was made sweet by his prayer. He received and counseled any monks who sought him out, and over the years was visited by two Emperors and by the Patriarch of Constantinople. In his last years he returned to a small cell in his Lavra, where he reposed in peace at the age of ninety-five in the year 1365. The monks of Mount Athos immediately venerated him as a Saint.