Byzantine Ramblings: Philokalia

Showing posts with label Philokalia. Show all posts

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Wisdom of the Church Fathers

There is a breaking of the heart which is gentle and makes it deeply penitent, and there is a breaking of the heart which is violent and harmful, shattering it completely.

Mark the Ascetic
The Philokalia

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Weigh Carefully the Times

Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines, fill thee with apprehension. Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten. It is the part of a noble athlete to be wounded, and yet to conquer. And especially, we ought to bear all things for the sake of God, that He also may bear with us. Be ever becoming more zealous than what thou art. Weigh carefully the times. Look for Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes.

(Epistle of Saint Ignatius to Saint Polycarp, 3)

Piotr Ilyich Kamenev: This is you. Political prisoner 103592R, Kiril Pavlovich Lakota. All of you is here, from the day you were born until now. Except for the answer to one question. What have you learned in twenty years of confinement?

Kiril Lakota: That is a big question, Piotr Ilyich.

Piotr Ilyich Kamenev: The answer is important to me, you know.

Kiril Lakota: What I have learned? I have learned that without some kind of loving a man withers like a grape on a dying vine.

Piotr Ilyich Kamenev: Is that all?

Kiril Lakota: [Chuckles] I am trying to learn more.

(The Shoes of the Fisherman, 1968 MGM)

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Sunday, March 07, 2010

Wisdom of the Church Fathers

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