Themes from the Philokalia
“The study of divine principles teaches knowledge of God to the person who lives in truth, longing and reverence”. “Knock and it will be opened to you”. The pious study of the Sacred Scriptures leads to opening the door of divine knowledge, to revelation of ineffable mysteries, to a purified heart burning with heavenly longing and divine eros for the kingdom of God and eternal life: “This is eternal life, that they know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent”.
In the contemporary rabble of human opinions and false knowledge, in the flood of human words and philosophies, “blessed is the man who.. on the law of the Lord.. meditates day and night”.
The Philokalia is a true “neptic” encyclopedia, i.e., an encyclopedia of watchfulness, study and commentary of Holy Scripture, and of the Mystical Orthodox Tradition; it is a philosophy of action in Christ the God-Man; it is the road leading man to his divine destiny, to deification by grace, and to contemplation through asceticism; it is a collection of powerful texts, the fruit of Orthodox spirituality. They are offered here in fragments from the classic work, The Philokalia.
Our Orthodox Church is the Church of the Fathers, of watchfulness, of asceticism, of Philokalia. The “neptic” hue of the Philokalia permeates the Church in all its expressions and arts. An effort is made here to recover this purely Orthodox colour (like the marvelous Byzantine fresco which has been painted over and covered by a fleshy, rationalistic, European painting of western origin). The THEMES FROM THE PHILOKALIA must uncover it within Holy Scripture, the lives of our saints, the apophthegmata of the ascetis, the texts of the Fathers, our Hymnology, our Liturgy, our contemporary ascetic scene. Besides, the depth of Orthodox life according to the Fathers of the Philokalia is not new: it is the very essence of the everlasting, inviolate and unchanging Tradition of our Church.
THEMES FROM THE PHILOKALIA are intended mainly for the average layman. They seek to contribute to the knowledge of the mystical life of our Church to the general public. Especially in our times, the thirst for such a pure fountain becomes stronger in fellow Orthodox as well as in the heterodox and followers of Eastern religions drowning in the sea of an egocentric or demonic mysticism. Only Orthodox mysticism is Life, Grace, Joy, Light,and Truth.
THEMES FROM THE PHILOKALIA will comprise a series of separate volumes readily accessible and easy to comprehend. We present here the first volume in the series, titled “Watchfulness and Prayer”.
It is our hope that spiritual progress in watchfulness, coupled with frequent sacramental and eucharistic life, will help essentially our shepherds and their flock with their spiritual renewal in Christ during these difficult, arid, and unproductive years.
Whatever these THEMES have to say is not the property of the “poor and needy” author. Their content is but a loan from the inexhaustible spiritual Treasury of the holy Fathers and from the inheritance they left us, their modern, unwise children; an inheritance which up to now has remained untouched on the dusty shelves of our libraries… They have only this to say, only this message to send:
“..It is full time now for you to wake from sleep”.
It is time for repentance and joyful mourning.
It is time for Watchfulness and prayer.
Watchfulness in ecclesiastical terminology means wakefulness, fine and unceasing vigilance of the mind and heart. It is also known as attentiveness, or guarding of the intellect. The noun “watchfulness” is derived from the verb “to watch”, which signifies: “I am careful, wakeful, alert, sober”
In order for watchfulness to bear fruit, it must be coupled with prayer, particularly with the mental, unceasing prayer of the heart. One cannot conceive of watchfulness without mental prayer and, conversely, mental prayer
without watchfulness. The two are inseparable in the work of the purification of the heart from passions, in the unseen warfare with unclean thoughts and demons.
Watchfulness and mental prayer is not the exclusive property of monastics. To be sure, it is used primarily by them because their quiet, saintly life renders itself to it more readily. However, if it is every man’s destiny to be deified through purification from passions -and without this internal catharsis, in the words of the Lord, everything else is futile- then watchfulness and prayer open the age-old tried and tested road which leads to the perfection described in the Gospels.
Therefore, whoever of our readers, monastics or laymen, want to follow the road of Elijah the Tishbite; whoever is aflame with the desire to become a “second herald of Christ”, a desire generated inside us by the prayer of the heart; let him prepare the chariot of watchfulness and prayer in order to ride heavenward with the zealous prophet.
St. Hesychios the Presbyter has these wise words to say: “A true monk is one who has achieved watchfulness; and he who is truly watchful is a monk in his heart” We believe that the saint will justify us if we generalize this truth- something which the Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition of our Church confirm- and say: “A true Christian is one who achieves watchfulness; and he who is truly watchful is a Christian at heart”.
By Archim. Ioannikios Kotsonis
Publications of the holy Monastery of St Gregory Palamas
Koufalia – Thessaloniki
Hellas 1998
