Is this word from the desert father useful in your life? Why or why not?
Lecture 15
Merton summarizes Philoxenos in Homily 4 about Adam and Eve in the Garden:
Adam and Eve before the Fall knew nothing of “worldly affairs”—which were simply irrelevant to their state. God was always with them, taking them wherever they went. He showed them everything from near at hand like a man. And they received no thought about Him in their Spirit. They never asked: Where does He live who shows us these things? How long has He existed? And if He created all else, was He also created? And we, why has He created us? Why has He placed us in this Paradise? Why has He given us this Law?
Do you feel it’s better that we ask these questions today? Why or why not?
Finally, one of the joys of reading Merton are the ways his spiritual teaching reflect, deliberately as well as inadvertently, his biography. To those who know Merton’s biography, reflect on this passage from the second half of the lecture on Philoxenos:
Philoxenos emphasizes the importance of interior silence—calming down before trying seriously to pray. The new man is a “man of silence”—there is a relationship of silence and joy. But again there are two levels: by grace (of the Sacrament) one puts on the new man but does not experience this silence; by the practice of joy one experiences the silence of the Spirit. This means getting rid of all the old man by renunciation, and putting on all the new man, made in the likeness of God. If one does not completely renew himself in Christ, the old man becomes merely “the tomb in which the new man is buried.” (Conflicts of monastic life are due to this!)
Do you experience this conflict in your life? In your relationships?
Editor’s Notes
The original, unabridged versions of thirteen of these lectures were first published in Thomas Merton, Cassian and the Fathers: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition, edited by Patrick F. O’Connell (Trappist, KY: Cistercian Publications, 2005). Two of those thirteen, “Aberrations in the Early Centuries” and “Palestinian Monasticism and St. Jerome,” also include material from Pre-Benedictine Monasticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 2, edited by Patrick F. O’Connell (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2006), and two of the lectures here—“The Community of St. Melania” and “Philoxenos of Mabbug”—come entirely from that latter book.
I have done abridgements throughout, and the result is a book that differs substantially from O’Connell’s scholarly work. My task has been mostly to pare the talks down to more digestible size. Occasionally, I have replaced a Latin quotation that Merton read, and which appeared in his typescript, with O’Connell’s English translation. At other times, I have retained an O’Connell footnote, but often in edited form, and then credited to him. O’Connell’s added words in brackets, to supplement the shorthand of Merton’s transcript, have been incorporated into the whole; on very few occasions, I have changed a word from those added in brackets, and then incorporated all, from what O’Connell provided in the scholarly editions. Other editing on my part includes changing certain instances of shorthand in the manuscript, for instance changing “v.g.” to “for example,” and “n.b.” to “note well,” for the sake of the average reader. Occasionally, I found it necessary to break up a long paragraph into two, or to add a new heading or subheading. Occasional editorial additions of my own, which appear rarely, are in brackets [ ]. Any other changes are noted below.
Preface: Combines passages from two places in the original type-script. The first part comes from the opening of what Merton called his “Prologue to Cassian”; the second part is taken from the portion of typescript presented here as Lecture 9.
Lecture 2: The section “Hatred of the Flesh” includes portions of a lecture on St. Basil from Pre-Benedictine Monasticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 2 (pp. 126–28), and portions of a lecture on Syrian and Persian Monasticism; see pages 216–18 of that book.
Lecture 8: Twice in the opening paragraph, I silently changed Merton’s use of the outdated “monachism” to “monasticism.” This same change is made on a few other occasions throughout the whole.
The section “Jerome’s Monastic Doctrine” includes several paragraphs from Pre-Benedictine Monasticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 2; see pages 162–64 of that book.
Lecture 11: Some small editorial fixes here; for instance, changing Merton’s Isaac of “Niniveh” to Isaac of Nineveh.
Index
Abbey of Gethsemani, xi, xiv
Abbot Daniel, 103, 120, 121
Abbot Isaac, 106, 120, 123–24, 127, 129–35, 167
Abbot Moses, 106, 112–13, 116–18, 123, 124
Acts of Thomas, The, 9
Africa, 64–66, 110
Alcibiades of Lyons, 7–8
Alexandrian school, 6, 12, 15–22, 43, 52, 107, 160–61
Ambrose of Milan, St., 6
angelic life, 48, 60, 85
anthropomorphism, 107, 124
apatheia, 13, 16, 26, 58, 78–79, 87, 88, 115, 116, 166
apocatastasis, 18, 106
Apology against Rufinus, 57
Apothegmata, ix, 70–72, 89, 101
Aquinas, Thomas, St., 76, 90, 117
Arian controversy, 29, 38, 43–44, 47, 62
Aristotle, 20
Ascent of Mount Carmel, The, 28, 152
asceticism, xiv, 1, 7–11, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 43, 66, 75, 96, 104, 111, 116, 126, 143–44, 159
Athanasius, St., 24–29, 38, 107
Augustine of Hippo, St., 7, 27, 58, 64–65, 93–94, 98
Basil of Caesarea, St., 10–11, 17, 31, 37–42, 43–51, 55, 63, 70, 82, 91
Benedict of Nursia, St., 26, 29, 31–32, 35, 53, 70, 91–92, 110, 114, 119, 133
Benedictine charism, x, 123
Bernard of Clairvaux, St., 17, 20, 22, 39, 49, 97, 114, 137
Buber, Martin, 135
Butler, Alban, 53
Byzantine Empire, 83
Caesarea, 18, 37–43
Camaldolese, 31
Cappadocian Fathers, x, 43–51, 55
Carthusians, xii, 31
Cassian, John, St., x, xii–xiii, 22, 28, 52, 57, 58, 68, 70, 82, 87, 89, 90–110, 111–35, 143
Cenobitism, xii–xiii, 30–36, 37, 40, 41–42, 77, 78, 109, 111, 128, 137, 147, 162
chastity, 5, 20, 58, 98, 103 172
Chrysostom, John, St., 6, 68, 70, 108–9
Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 161
Citeaux Abbey, 31
Clement of Alexandria, St., 3, 15–16, 17, 160–61
cloud imagery, 49
Cluny Abbey, 31
Conferences (Cassian), 111–35
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, xiii
Constantinople, 44–46, 68–69, 108–10
contemplation, 12, 38, 40, 44–50, 74, 76–81, 85–88, 91–92, 102, 104, 111–12, 116, 124– 25, 131–37, 149, 152
continual prayer, 5, 120, 123–24
Contra Celsum, 20, 22
conversion, 24, 78, 93
Council of Chalcedon, 136
Council of Constantinople, 18, 44–46
Council of Ephesus, 78
Council of Gangres, 10–11
Cyprian, St., 4, 159
Cyril of Scythopolis, 55
Damascus, xiii
darkness imagery, 21, 47–49, 51, 86, 156
De Hominis Opificio, 47, 48
De Principiis, 19
demons (and devil), x, 18, 25, 26, 28, 42, 54, 74, 79, 82, 87–88, 99, 103–4, 111, 119, 120–21, 123, 128, 137
Desert Mothers, xviii, 163–64
Devotio Moderna, 76
Didache, 2
divinization, 48
Eckhart, Meister, 49
Edict of Milan, 23
Egypt, 95–96, 99–104, 106–8, 124, 133, 163–64
Elder Zosima, 164–65
Encratism, xiv, 7–10
Ephrem, St., 68, 77, 136
Epistle of Clement, 3
&n
bsp; eschatology, 2, 9, 11, 60
Eustathius, 10–11, 65
Evagrius Ponticus, x, 46, 71, 76, 77, 80, 82–89, 90, 92, 102, 107, 108, 136, 137, 160, 166
evil (see also demons/devil), 7–9, 13–14, 17, 27–28, 40, 50, 66, 73, 87, 92, 96–97, 100, 103–5, 106, 120
Exhortation to Martyrs, 4, 20
false mystics, xiv, 11
fasting, 5, 8, 23, 52, 53, 59, 65, 67, 75, 104, 115, 123, 138, 157
Gnosticism, 13–14, 16, 83
Gregory Nazianzen, St., 37, 43–45, 82
Gregory of Nyssa, St., 38, 39, 40, 43, 45–51, 55, 78, 83–84, 150, 163
Hart, Brother Patrick, OCSO, 162
Hellenistic, 12
heresy, 10, 11, 46, 47, 57, 58, 78, 92, 107–9, 124
hermits, ix, xiii, 24, 30–36, 53–55, 64, 66, 68, 70–72, 76, 95, 100, 102, 106, 109, 111–12, 128, 134, 162
hesychia, 76, 78–80
Historia Lausiaca, 48, 62, 70, 102
humility, 78, 87, 96–99, 100, 103–5, 119–22, 125, 126, 129, 139, 145–46, 166
Ignatius of Antioch, St., 2
Ignatius of Loyola, St., 90
illuminism, 49, 112, 136–37
In Cantica, 21
indulgence, 4, 159
intercessions, 130–31
Jaeger, Werner, 78
James of Nisibis, St., 68
Jerome, St., 8, 23, 32, 52–61, 62, 64, 65, 94, 106–7, 109, 163
Jerusalem, xiii, 46, 54, 55, 62–67, 102, 106–7
John, St., 22
John the Baptist, St., 3, 24
John Chrysostom, St., 6, 68, 70, 108–9
John Climacus, St., 82, 90
John of the Cross, St., 22, 28, 49, 50, 88, 152
Jones, Rufus, 159–60
Jovinian, 8, 58
Judaism, 119, 143–44
Julian Cassianus, 8, 45
knowledge, 15, 21, 47–49, 74, 101, 112, 117–18, 134–35, 138–39, 143–44. See also self-knowledge
Life of St. Anthony, 24–29
liturgy, 32, 55, 67, 111
Living Flame of Love, 50
logoi, 88
Macarius of Egypt, St., 71, 76, 77–81, 100, 102
Manichaeism, 13–14
Marcion, 8–9
martyrdom, 1–10, 17, 20, 28, 67, 95, 159
Mary of Egypt, St., 163–64
Maximus the Confessor, St., 46, 82, 83, 85
Melania the Elder, St., 57
Melania the Younger, St., 57, 62–67
Messalianism, 10, 77, 78–80
Methodius, St., 7
Meyendorff, John, 80, 81
miracles, 28, 29, 53–54, 69, 75, 77
Monophysitism, 136
Montanism, 11–12, 159–60
mortification, 5, 25, 48, 95, 98, 106, 123, 125, 146
Moschus, John, 55, 82
Neoplatonism, 7, 12–13, 14, 21, 75
New Asceticism, The, 159
O’Connell, Patrick F., xiv, 53, 73, 81, 142, 170
Odes of Solomon, 9
On Prayer (Evagrius), 83–89, 166
On Prayer (Origen), 19
Origen, 5, 13, 15, 17–22, 43–46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 57, 82, 83, 90, 136–37
Origenism, 38, 43, 46, 57, 68, 82, 106–8
Pachomius, ix, 30–36, 162
pagans, 2, 17–18, 54, 69
Palestine, x, 18, 37, 52, 55–57, 62–64, 68, 70, 95, 99, 108, 164
Palladius, 62, 70, 90, 100, 102, 107
Patristic teachings, 45, 50, 65, 90
Paul, St., 12, 98, 104, 130, 152
Paula, St., 56–57
Paulinus, St., 62, 64
Pelagianism, 27, 58, 92–93, 110, 126
penances, 5, 33–34
perfection, 7, 11, 20, 27, 39–40, 48–50, 78, 86, 88–92, 95–98, 99–101, 112, 115, 118, 125, 149–50, 153
phantasms, 28, 100
Philo, 17, 20, 48–49
Philocalia (and Philokalia), 43, 90, 110
Philoxenos of Mabbug, 136–58
Pius XII, Pope, xvii
Plato, 12, 15, 18, 20, 80, 88, 165–66
Plotinus, 12
pneuma, 48
pneumatikos, 21, 137
prayer of the heart, 81, 160
prophecies, 28, 77, 159
prostrations, 69
psalmody, 6, 84, 138, 146
Pseudo-Dionysius, or Pseudo-Denys, 46, 49, 83, 136
Pseudo-Macarius, 77–81, 165
psyche, 48
purgation, 136–37
purity of heart, x, 48, 92, 100–101, 104–5, 112, 114–16, 123, 124–29, 142–45
quietists, 79
Rhenish mystics, 22
Rome, 55–56, 109
Rule of St. Basil, 91
Rule of St. Benedict, 29
Rule of St. Pachomius, 32–36
Rumi, x
self-knowledge, 20, 41, 122
self-love, 41, 115, 129
Shepherd of Hermas, 2
skopos, 112–16
Song of Songs, 17, 20, 50, 97, 163
Spiritual Canticle, 88
Spiritual Espousals, 88
spiritual fatherhood, 119–20
Spiritual Meadow, 52, 82
Stone, Naomi Burton, 162
Stromata, 16, 160
Studies in Mystical Tradition, 159–60
stylites, 68–70, 165
supplication, 85, 130–31
Syria, x, 8, 55–56, 68–77, 78, 83, 94, 104, 136, 137, 171
Tatian, 8–9
tears, 99, 112, 124, 134–35, 139, 149
Teresa of Avila, St., 49, 61, 133
Tertullian, xvi, 3, 11, 15, 159
Theodoret of Cyrrhus, 68, 79
Theophilus of Alexandria, Archbishop, 107–8
theoria physica, 87–88, 132, 137
Timaeus, 166
vanity, 50, 115
Virgin Mary, 58
virginity, 1, 5, 6, 9, 20, 37, 58, 66
Visigoths, 109
visions, 2, 12, 28, 31, 88, 119, 142, 152
Vivian, Tim, 161
Von Balthasar, Hans Urs, 45
Vulgate, 57
watchfulness, 27–28
Way of Chuang Tzu, The, xi
Way of Perfection, The, 133
William of Saint-Thierry, 46, 48, 137
Wisdom of the Desert, The, x, 167
yoga, 81
Zacchaeus, 140–41
zeal, 18, 25, 27, 63, 87, 91, 108, 127, 128, 134, 145, 166
Zen Buddhism, x