General counsels on watchfulness

From Monachos Patristic Quotations Index

This page is part of the 'The Fathers Say...' Patristics Quotation Index by Topic. Quotations on this page relate to the virtue and practice of watchfulness in the spiritual life. You are welcome to add new quotations, citations, etc., in accordance with the guidlines.

Contents 1 Gregory of Sinai 2 Gregory the Theologian 3 Hesychios the Priest (8th/9th cent.?) 4 John Chrysostom 5 John Klimakos 6 Joseph the Hesychast (19th/20th cent.) 7 Paisios of the Mountain(20th cent.) 8 Symeon the New Theologian (10th/11th cent.)

Gregory of Sinai

• 'In the morning sow your seed,' says Solomon ... Sitting from dawn on a seat about nine inches high, compel your intellect to descend from your head into your heart, and retain it there ... keeping your head bent forcibly downwards ... restrain your breath ... control your uncontrollable intellect. (The Beginning of Watchfulness)

Gregory the Theologian

• 'It is more important to remember God than it is to remember to breathe.' ^{<citation needed>}

Hesychios the Priest (8th/9th cent.?)

• 'Watchfulness is a way embracing every virtue, every commandment. It is the heart's stillness and, when free from mental images, it is the guarding of the intellect.' (On Watchfulness and Holiness, 3; in the Philokalia, vol. i., pp. 162, 163.)
• 'One type of watchfulness consists in closely scrutinizing every mental image or provocation; for only by means of a mental image can Satan fabricate an evil thought and insinuate this into the intellect in order to lead it astray. A second type of watchfulness consists in freeing the heart from all thoughts, keeping it profoundly silent and still, and in praying. A third type consists in continually and humbly calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ for help. A fourth type is always to have the thought of death in one's mind. These types of watchfulness, my child, act like doorkeepers and bar entry to evil thoughts.' (ibid., 14-18; pp. 164, 165.)
• 'Guard your mind and you will not be harassed by temptations. But if you fail to guard it, accept patiently whatever trial comes.' (ibid., 54; p. 172.)

John Chrysostom

• Do you see the watchful souls? With women and children and maid servants, they sang hymns to God, made purer than the sky by affliction... Nothing ever was more splendid than that Church. Let us imitate these, let us emulate them: ... the Church of God rising up in the midst of the night. Do you rise up too, and behold the quire of stars, the deep silence, the profound repose, contemplate with awe the order of your Master's household. Then your soul will be purer: it will be lighter, subtler, and soaring, disengaged: the darkness itself, the imposing silence are sufficient to lead you to compunction... Sleep has invaded and defeated nature: it is the image of death, the image of the end of all things... " Let the house be a Church, consisting of men and women... For where two, He says, are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20) ... Where Christ is there must be Angels, and Archangels, and other Powers." (St. John Chrysostom. Homily XXVI on Acts XII. B#55, p. 172.)

John Klimakos

• 'Let mindfulness of Jesus be united to your breathing, and then you will know the blessings of stillness.

Joseph the Hesychast (19th/20th cent.)

• "In addition, learn this: with love towards Christ and the Panagia, you obtain more watchfulness and theoria than with other struggles. Everything else is also good, when done properly, but love surpasses them all. So when you venerate her icon, kiss it fervently with tears as if she were alive. "My dear Mother," cry out, "My Panagia, save me for I am lost if you leave me! O Lord my God, have mercy on me, through the intercessions of Thine All-immaculate Mother and of all Thy saints!" --^{<citation needed>}

Paisios of the Mountain(20th cent.)

• "Once I was on a bus and the conductor turned the music on really loud. Some religious men pointed out to him that there was a monk on the bus and they repeatedly made signs to him to turn it off. They tried once or twice without result. He turned the music even louder. "Let him be." I told the young men, "it does not matter. It keeps the drone tone to my chanting."

• ...Our goal should be to take all that comes our way and make the best out of it for the sake of the spiritual struggle in which we are engaged. We must strive to aquire inner tranquility and to this end even noise can become a good thing if it is met with the right thought. ... When in the midst of noise, you manage to reach inner tranquility, you have achieved something of great value. If you cannot find tranquility in the midst of disturbance, you will not be tranquil even in the midst of tranquility. When inner tranquility comes to a man, everything inside him will be tranquil, and he will not be disturbed by anything. But if he requires external tranquility in order to find inner tranquility, then when he does find himself in such a place, he will want a cane to cahse away the cicadas by day and the jackal by night, so that they will not bother him!"

• “When our soul lives carelessly without watching over its thoughts, it will consequently fill up with dirty and sly thoughts. As a result, people start developing psychological problems which gradually pile up. Some people, while they are found in this situation and come face to face with the problem itself, they do not realise it, and thus are unable to humbly confess to their spiritual father their fall. Instead, they look for a “secular” solution and consult a psychiatrist, who will inevitably prescribe medication. Pills will not solve the problem, but will temporarily cover it. This is not an effective solution, as once they stop taking their medication, the problem will come to the surface again, and the person will be found in the same miserable condition. The only solution is to become aware of the problem and confess it to a spiritual father and then humbly follow his advice.

• In our days, people have lost control over their lives, and they do not know what they are doing. The reason being, that they do not wish to be guided; they want to live undisturbed, following their own free will, which will eventually bring their total destruction. God gave man his freedom and independence to do as he likes, but He also gave him the knowledge, the ability to realise, that he is unable to achieve good acts by solely relying on himself, “… for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5), “If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Lk 12:26). Therefore, when man uses his freedom and independence without taking into consideration his human weakness, he becomes deceived; he experiences and interprets everything by using his own logic. Instead of God’s grace, human logic rules his life, and his mind is in confusion. This is terrible.” --^{<citation needed>}

Symeon the New Theologian (10th/11th cent.)

• 'He who does not have attention in himself and does not guard his nous, cannot become pure in heart, and so cannot see God. He who does not have attention in himself cannot be poor in spirit, cannot weep and be contrite, nor be gentle and meek, nor hunger and thirst after righteousness, nor be merciful, nor a peacemaker, nor suffer persecution for righteousness sake.' ^{<citation needed>}.
• 'Restrain the drawing-in of breath through your nostrils, so as not to breath easily;