Conference Fourteen
Conference Fourteen
ON SPIRITUAL
KNOWLEDGE
I he sequence ordained by what I have undertaken to do, and also by my travels, demands that the teachings of abba Nesteros should come up now.
1 le was a man outstanding in every way and possessed of the deepest knowledge.
W'e had memorized certain passages of the holy Scripture and he knew that w e verv much wished to know their meaning and so he began to speak to us as follows:
"There are many kinds of knowledge in this world. Indeed they are as varied as the arts and the professions. But though all of them are either of no practical value or else merely of benefit to the present world, still no one of them lacks its own appropriate sequence of knowledge, its own logical order, which is then open to those seeking to acquire it.
"Now if know ledge of these arts is to be gathered within fixed and appropriate limits, how much more is it the case that the professed discipline of our religious belief exists w ith its ow n definite sequence and rationale, for the discipline reaches out to contemplate the hidden depths of unseen mysteries and it seeks not today's advantage but the pay ment of everlasting rew ard. And the knowledge of it has a twofold aspect.
I here is first the practical side which is achieved through the correction of one's moral acts and through the purging of sin. Second, there is theory, that is, the contemplation of things divine and the aw areness of very sacred meanings.
JOHN CASSIAN
"Anyone w ishing to master contemplation must, with all zeal and energy, acquire first the practical side. This practical mode can be reached independently of contemplation. But in no way can contemplation be arrived at without the practical. There are two arranged and separate stages by which human lowliness can reach up to the sublime.
W ith these in the order which I have indicated, the human can attain the heights. But take away the first stage and there is no flying across it. fherefore the one who does not avoid the stains of sin strives v ainly for a sight of God: 'For the spirit of God hates pretense and it does not make its abode in a body subdued by sin.' (W'is
1:4, 5)
"The active stage of perfection has a two-fold schema. First is to know the nature of one's sins and the means of curing them. Second is to discern the order of the virtues and to have our spirit shaped by their perfection, so that the soul is not, as it were, in thrall to them and violently subjected to their rule but, rather, is filled with a natural pleasure at their goodness, feeding upon them, delightedly climbing that high and narrow road. When someone is unable to understand the nature of his sins and makes no effort to root them out, how^ will he be able to arrive at that sense of the virtues which is the second stage in the practical discipline, or how will he come to the mysteries of things spiritual and heavenly?
It will have to be said that progress toward the higher things is not possible for someone w ho has not coped with w hat is lower down, and still less w ill he lay hold of w hat is outside him if he has no understanding of what is w ithin himself.
"But we should be clear about the fact that we must work twice as hard to drive out sin as to acquire virtue. In this
I am not simply taking up my own opinion. Rather, we are instructed by the opinion of the One w ho alone know s the strength and the rational w orking of His ow n creation. 'Look, today I am setting you over nations and over kingdoms to tear up and destroy, to scatter and overthrow', to build and to plant'
(Jer 1:10).
"1 le notes that four things are necessary for the driving out of destructive things, to tear up, to destroy, to scatter, to overthrow. For the achievement of virtue and for the acquisition of all having to do with justice what is necessary is to build and to plant. Clearly, then, it is
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harder to snatch away and to uproot the inveterate passions of the body and of the spirit than to build and to plant the virtues of the spirit.
"This practical mode has a twofold aspect, as I have said. But it is subdivided into many professions and many goals.
"Some direct all their efforts toward the secrets of the desert and purity of heart. In the past there were Elias and Elisaeus. In our own day there are the blessed Antony and those others who follow the same purpose, and we know that in the quiet of their solitude they enjoy the closest union with God.
"Some have given all their concern and zeal to the teaching of their brothers and to the care of cenobitic houses. This was so in the recent case of abba John who had charge of the great monastery in the neighborhood of the city named Thmuis.
It was true also of some other monks of like merit and outstanding, as we remember, for the apostolic signs worked by them.
"Others like to engage in the holy w ork of w elcoming strangers at hostels. In past times this w as the work w ith w hich the patriarch Abraham and Lot pleased the G)rd. In more recent days this was so in the case of the blessed Macarius, a man of outstanding gentleness and patience who ran the hostel in Alexandria and w ho did so in such a way that no one could think of him as being in any w ay inferior to any of the lovers of solitude.
"Some chose to take care of the sick.
Others worked for the wretched and the oppressed. Others took up teaching. Others brought help to the poor, and in their love and their piety they flourished in the company of the great and of the holy.
"Hence it is valuable and proper that each one should strive with zeal and diligence to achieve perfection in whatever work he has undertaken, w hether this be something he has chosen to do or something he has been given the grace to do. He can praise and admire the virtues of others, but he ought never to depart from the profession which he himself has picked. For, as the apostle says, he know s that the body of the church is one but its members numerous, that 'our gifts differ in accordance w ith the grace given to us.
If one's gift is administration then let it be used for administration, if teaching then let it be used for
JOHN CASSIAN
teaching, if exhortation then let it be used in exhortation. Let the one who distributes do so in all simplicity. Let the one who is in charge be so solicitously and let the one doing the works of mercy be cheerful'
(Rom 12:6-8). One member cannot undertake the work of others. Fhe eyes do not perform the task of the hands nor does the nose do the work of the ears. Not everyone can be apostle, prophet, or doctor. Not everyone has the grace of healing. Not everyone speaks in tongues. Not everyone is an interpreter.
"What usually happens to those not yet established in their chosen profession is this. I'hey hear people talked about because of zeal or virtues w hich are different from their own. Straight away they want to take up a discipline like theirs, and because of human frailty their efforts are necessarily in vain. For it is quite impossible for one and the same man to shine outstandingly with all the virtues mentioned above. And if one tries to pursue them all together what happens of necessity is that in chasing them all one does not really catch any of them, and out of this changing about and this variety one draws loss rather than gain.
I he journey to God follows many routes. So let each person take to the end and with no turning back the way he first chose so that he may be perfect, no matter what his profession may be.
"We have already spoken of the harm done to the monk who, out of spiritual turmoil, wishes to take up pursuits different from his own.
Actually he runs a deadly danger here because it sometimes happens that what some do quite rightly others mistakenly imitate. What has turned out well for some has been observed to be dangerous for others.
If we might give an example, it is as if one wished to imitate the virtue of that man whom abba John used to refer to, not as a model to be followed but in order to cause some wonder.
"Someone came to this old man, and he was dressed in civilian clothes and he brought to him some of his first fruits. The old man found that the other was in the grip of a most ferocious demon. Abba
John gave him orders and commands, but he treated them with contempt and he proclaimed that he would never quit the body of which he had taken possession. But he grew frightened at the approach of the old man and having spoken his name with the utmost respect the spirit departed.
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"The old man was amazed that such a grace had been revealed and his wonder grew when he observed that his new visitor \\ as dressed in civilian clothes. So he began most diligently to ask him about his life and his profession.
"The other man said he was a civilian and that he was bound by ^ the ties of marriage. The blessed John, thinking of the excellence of this man's virtue and of the grace that he had been given, began more eagerly to enquire about his way of life.
"The man said he was of rural background and that he sought his living with the daily work of his hands. He claimed that he did not think of himself as being any way good, merely that each morning before going to work and again in the evening when going home he was in the habit of going into the church to thank God for the gift of his daily bread. He never took anything of what he had grown until he had given a tithe of his first fruits to God. He never drove his cattle through another's meadows without first binding their mouths lest his neighbors should suffer some damage because of his negligence.
"In all of this, abba John saw nothing to match the outstanding grace which had drawn him to pick out this village. So he continued to ask questions. He tried to figure out the hidden virtue which could be on a level with so precious a grace.
"The other man was drawn by the deference shown in such persistent questioning. He admitted he had wished to be a monk but that twelve years earlier the compulsion and the authority of his parents had driven to him to take a wife. But without anyone knowing about it he had kept her a virgin, like a sister.
"1 learing this the old man in his amazement said openly that it was no wonder that the demon had despised him and had not been able to endure his presence. And as for himself he would not dare to risk his chastity in the imitation of such virtue, and this would be true not only of the feverish days of his youth but even now.
"Despite his admiration for such a deed abba John nevertheless advised strongly that no monk should try it. He understood that many things which are rightly done by some can bring great danger to those others who imitate them and that not everyone can hope for those special favors which the Lord has granted as a privilege to some few.
"But let us return to the discussion of that knowledge which was the original theme of this talk.
JOHN CASSIAN
"As I said earlier, the practical side of knowledge is hived off among many professions and disciplines. 1 he contemplative side is divided into two parts, namely, historical interpretation and spiritual insight. Hence, Solomon, having listed the multiform grace present in the Church, goes on to say, 'All those of her household are clothed twice over' (Prv 31:21).
"Now there are three kinds of spiritual lore, namely, tropology, allegory, and anagoge, d his is what Proverbs has to say about them:
'W rite these three times over the spread of your heart' (Prv 22:20).
"History embraces the know ledge of things which are past and w hich are perceptible.
I he apostle gives an example: 'It is written that Abraham had tw o sons, one by a servant and one by a free w oman, d'he offspring of the slave was born in accordance w ith the flesh; the child of the free w oman was born as a result of a promise' (Gal 4:22-23).
"What follows is allegorical, because the things which actually happened are said to have prefigured another mystery.
'I'hese two w omen stand for the two covenants, fhe first, who comes from Mount Sinai and whose children are born to slavery, is Hagar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, and she corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem and is a slave along with her children' (Gal 4:24-25).
"Anagoge climbs up from spiritual mysteries to the higher and more august secrets of heaven, such as what the apostle adds: 'The Jerusalem above is free and is our mother. For it is written, "Shout for joy you barren women w ho have borne no children, break forth and shout because you never knewthe pain of childbirth. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife"
' (Gal 4:26-27).
"Tropology is moral teaching designed for the amendment of life and for instruction in asceticism.
It is as if bv these tw o covenants wc w ere to mean the practical discipline and the contemplative, or else w e could take Jerusalem or Sion to be the human soul, as the following words express it: 'Praise Jerusalem the Lord, praise Sion your God' (Ps
147:12).
"And if we wish it, these four modes of representation flow' into a unity so that the one Jerusalem can be understood in four different ways, in the historical sense as the city of the Jew s, in allegory as the church of Christ, in anagoge as the heavenly city of God 'which is mother to us all' (Gal 4:26), in the tropological sense as the human soul which, under this name, is frequently criticized or blamed by the G)rd.
"The blessed apostle spoke as follow s about these four modes of
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explanation; 'Now, brothers, if I were to come to you with the gift of tongues, of v\ hat use w ill I be to you if my talking to you reveals nothing, tells you nothing, is no inspiration to you and does not instruct you?' (1 Cor 14:6).
"Revelation is linked to allegory insofar as it explains in a spiritual sense the truths hidden under the historical account. For example, suppose we wished to discover how 'our fathers w ere all beneath the cloud and all were baptized in Moses in the cloud and in the sea and [how ] all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink from the rock and that rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:1-4). This way of stating the matter prefigures allegorically the body and blood of Christ w hich w e receive every day.
"The telling of things similarly referred to by the apostle is tropology. W ith this v\e prudently discern the value and the worth of everything in the domain of practical judgment. An example of this is when we are instructed to consider w hether
'it is fitting that a w oman should pray to God w ith an uncovered head'
( 1 Cor 11-13). As has been said, this w ay of thinking has a moral content.
"Then there is prophecy, w hich the apostle puts in third place. He means anagoge, by means of w hich words are moved to the plane of the invisible and the future: 'Brothers, we do not w ish you to be in ignorance w ith regard to the dead, so that you will not grieve like those others w ho have no hope. If w e believe that Christ died and rose again then w e must believe that God will raise up along with Jesus those w ho are asleep in Him. W'e tell you this from the Lord's ow n teaching that any of us left alive until the Lord's coming w ill not have any advantage over those who are asleep in Christ. For the Lord Himself w ill come dow n from heaven at a sign given by the voice of an angel and the sound of a trumpet and those who are dead in Christ will be the first to rise'
(1 Thes 4:12-15). Here in this type of exhortation the mode of anagoge is used.
"Doctrine makes plain the straightforward sequence of historical explanation. In it there is no more hidden meaning than wTat is in the words themselves, for example, the following:
'In the first place I handed on to you what I had been taught myself, namely, that Christ died for our sins in accordance w ith the Scriptures, that He w as buried and that He rose on the third day and that 14e was seen by Cephas' (1
Cor 15:3-5); 'God sent 1 1 is Son who was born of a woman, born under the Law', so that He might redeem those under the Law' (Gal 4:4—5);
'Listen, Israel, the L^ord your God is a unique God' (Dt 6:4).
JOHN CASSIAN
"So if vour concern is to reach the light of spiritual knowledge and to do so not through the sin of empty boastfulness but rather by a purifying grace, then be entlamed first of all by the longing for this blessedness, concerning which is said, '1 lappy are the clean of heart for they shall see God' (Mt 5:8). Do this in order that you may achieve what the angel spoke of to Daniel: 'The learned will shine like the splendor of the skies and those w ho have taught virtue to many will be like the stars for all eternity' (Dn 12:3). I here is this about it in another prophet:
'While there is time light up within you the lamp of knowledge' (Hos 10 : 12 ).
"Preserve that eagnerness for reading which I believe is in you and hasten in all eagerness to acquire practical, that is, moral, knowledge.
W ithout it, this contemplative purity, of which I spoke, cannot be acquired. I'his purity comes to those who are made perfect not by the words of those w ho teach them but rather through the virtuousness of their ow n acts.
It comes as a kind of reward after so much work and labor.
I hey w ill acquire know ledge not from meditation upon the Law' but as the fruit of their work.
Fhey sing along with the psalmist:
'Know ledge has come to me from your commands' (Ps 118:104) and after they have driven out all passion they assert confidently, 'I will sing psalms and I w ill have know ledge on the road of innocence' (Ps 100:12). For the man singing the psalms understands what is sung, the man traveling the road of innocence with a pure heart.
"If, then, you w ish to build in your heart the sacred tabernacle of spiritual know ledge, clear all the stain of sin aw ay from you and w ipe out all the concerns of this present world. For it is impossible that a soul which is in the slightest way taken up with worldly cares should win the gift of knowledge or should bear the fruit of spiritual aw areness or should concentrate on spiritual readings.
"So be careful—you especially , John, whose youthfulness must especially heed what
I say—be careful to completely hold your tongue unless you want your zeal for reading and your eager effort be raised up uselessly. For this is the first step in practical knowledge, namely, to receive the instructions and the opinions of all the older men w ith an attentive heart and a silent mouth, to place them carefully in your heart, and to hasten to put them in practice rather than to lecture about them.
For on the one side is the flourishing harvest of spiritual know ledge.
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"During discussions with older men do not dare to speak up unless it be either to ask for something which it would be harmful for you not to know' or else to seek w hat you ought to know
. There are some people who are so puffed up by a love of vainglory that for the sake of show ing off they go through the public motions of asking questions about doctrinal matters w hich they very well know.
It is therefore quite impossible that someone w ho devotes himself to scriptural reading merely for the sake of w inning human praise should indeed earn the gift of spiritual know ledge. For if he is bound by this passion he w ill necessarily be chained by other vices, especially that of pride. And in any case by being brought low' in moral and ethical practice then the contemplativ e lore w hich follow s from this will in fact scarcely arise.
"t herefore in all things be 'quick to listen and slow to speak' (Jas 1:19) lest the remark of Solomon be fulfilled in you: 'If you see a man
UK) ready of speech know' that a fool has more hope than he' (Pry 29:20).
.\nd nev er dare to teach someone w hat you hav e not practiced yourself.
"Our D)rd taught by I lis example that this was the procedure w hich we should follow'. This is what is stated: 'Jesus began to do and to teach these things' (Acts 1:1). So have a care that you do not rush to teach something you have not done yourself. Otherwise, you will be counted among those in regard to w hom Jesus had the follow ing to say to His disciples: 'Do w hat they tell you and listen to w hat they say, but do not act as they do. They talk and do not act. They tie up heayy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders but they w ill not lift a finger to move them' (Mt 23:3-4). Therefore 'he w ho breaks the least of the commandments and teaches men to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven' (Mt 5:19). But as for the man who dares to teach the many greater commands and also neglects them himself, not only will he not be least in the kingdom but he shall be foremost for punishment in hell. So be careful not to be caught doing as some others do.
I hey give lessons. They manage to be articulate in discussion. And because they know' how' to talk elegantly and abundantly they seem to hav e spiritual know ledge, or so it appears to those w ho hav e not learned to recognize its true character, f or it is one thing to be a skilled talker and a shining speaker.
It is something else to enter into the very heart and core of heav enly utterances, to contemplate w ith heart's purest gaze the deep and hidden mysteries.
Fhis is not something to be possessed by humanistic lore and w orldly erudition.
It w ill be gained only by purity of heart and through the illumination of the I loly Spirit.
JOHN CASSIAN
"If you wish to achieve true knowledge of Scripture you must hurry to achieve unshakable humility of heart. This is what will lead you not to the knowledge which puffs a man up but to the lore which illuminates through the achievement of love.
It is impossible for the unclean of heart to acquire the gift of spiritual knowledge. Therefore be very careful that your zeal for scriptural reading does not, because of empty pretentiousness, prove to be a cause of perdition, instead of being for you the source of knowledgeable light and of the endless glory promised to the man enlightened by knowledge.
"Then, having banished all worldly concerns and thoughts, strive in every way to devote yourself constantly to the sacred reading so that continuous meditation will seep into your soul and, as it were, will shape it to its image. Somehow it will form that 'ark' of the Scriptures
(cf. Heb 9:4-5) and will contain the two stone tablets, that is, the perpetual strength of the two testaments. There will be the golden urn which is a pure and unstained memory and which will preserve firmly w ithin itself the everlasting manna, that is, the eternal, heavenly sw eetness of spiritual meanings and of that bread which belongs to the angels.
1 he branch of Aaron is the saving standard of our exalted and true high priest Jesus Christ.
It leafs out forever in the greenness of undying memory. This is the branch which was cut from the root of Jesse and w hich after death comes more truly alive.
"Now' all of these things are covered over by the two cherubim, that is, by the plenitude of historical and spiritual lore. Cherubim means knowledge in abundance. They provide an everlasting protection for that which appeases God, namely, the calm of your heart, and they will cast a shadow' of protection against all the attacks of malign spirits.
"And thus your soul will not only become the ark of God's testament but it will be carried forward into a priestly realm and, by its unfailing love of purity, its concentration upon the disciplines of the spirit, it w ill implement the priestly command imposed by the Law giver: 'He will not emerge from the holy place, lest he profane the sanctuary of Ciod' (Lv 21:12). That is, he will not depart from his ow n heart w here the Ivord promised to live continuously when He said,
'I will live and walk among them' (2 Cor 6: 16).
" therefore the sequences of holy Scripture must be committed to memory and they must be pondered ceaselessly. Such meditation will profit us in two ways.
First, when the thrust of the mind is occupied
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by the study and perusal of the readings it will, of necessity, avoid being taken over by the snares of dangerous thoughts. Second, as we strive with constant repetition to commit these readings to memorv, wc have not the time to understand them because our minds have been occupied. But later w hen w e are free from the attractions of all that w e do and see and, especially, w hen we are quietlv meditating during the hours of darkness, w e think them over and we understand them more closely. And so it happens that when we are at ease and when, as it were, we are plunged into the dullness of sleep, the hidden meanings, of which w e were utterly unaware during our waking hours, and the sense of them are bared to our minds.
"As our mind is increasingly renewed by this study. Scripture begins to take on a new face. A mysteriously deeper sense of it comes to us and somehow the beauty of it stands out more and more as we get farther into it.
Scripture shapes itself to human capacity.
It will be earthly for the men of the flesh, divine for those of the spirit, so that those w ho once thought of it as somehow wrapped up in thick clouds find themselves unable either to grasp its subtlety or to endure its brilliance.
"The truth of what I am trying to say will become clearer from an example.
It w ill be enough to cite one testimony of the Law and in this way I can show that all the commands of heaven apply to the w hole human race in proportion to our capacity. Now' this is w hat is written in the Law: 'You w ill not fornicate' (Ex 20:14). This is observed—and rightly—in a literal sense bv the man who is tied dow n by the obscene passions of the flesh.
"But the man who has got aw ay from the morass of such carry-on and from this impure outlook observes it in a spiritual sense. Therefore he stays awav not only from idolatrous ceremonies but from all pagan superstition, from augury, from all the study of signs and days and times. Certainly he will not be tied up in the speculations w hich corrupt the purity of our faith and which have to do with words and names.
4 his is the fornication by which Jerusalem is said to have been corrupted, the fornication 'on every high hill and beneath every leafing tree' (Jer 3:6).
It was for this that the I^ird criticized her through the words of the prophet: 'Let them stand and save you, these augurs of the heavens who studied the stars and reckoned the months so as to tell from these what was coming to you' (Is 47:13). fhis is the fornication
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of which the I^ord accuses them elsewhere: 'A spirit of fornication has misled them and they have fornicated themselves away from their Cjod'
(I los 4:12).
"Anyone free of this double fornication will have a third one to avoid, namely, that \\ hich is found in the superstitions of the Law and ofJudaism. I'his is what the apostle said: 'You make observations of the months and of the times and of the years' (Gal 4: 10). Or again: 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not pick up' (Col 2:21). And there is no doubt that this is said about the superstitions of the Lav\'. To plunge into them is to be an adulterer from Christ and one no longer earns the right to hear the following from the apostle:
'I arranged for you to marry Christ so that I might give you aw ay as a chaste virgin to this one husband' (2
(]or 1 1:2). But the voice of the same apostle has this to add:
'I fear that just as the serpent in its cleverness seduced P'we, so your thoughts w ill be corrupted awav from the simplicity w hich is in Christ Jesus' (2 Cor 11:3).
"And if one has avoided the uncleanness of this fornication he w ill have a fourth to escape, the adultery wrought by heretical doctrine.
The same blessed apostle has this to say:
'1 know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you. They w ill not spare the dock. And even among yourselves men will rise up to say perverse things so as to lead disciples away after them' (Acts 20:29-30).
"If someone has been able to avoid this, let him be careful not to slip into the sin of a subtler kind of fornication w hich consists of the straying of thoughts, k or every thought w hich is not simply disgraceful but valueless or w hich shifts in the slightest wav from God will be deemed a most unclean fornication by the perfect man."
Upon hearing all this, I w as first moved by a secret sorrow. And then I groaned heavily.
"All of what you have discussed so very fully has caused me more discouragement than I have ever felt before. Leaving aside those things in general which imprison the soul, leaving aside the distractions which come battering from w ithout against souls that are weak,
1 feel that a particular obstacle to my salvation is the very slight knowledge I seem to have of literature. 1 he insistence of my teacher and my ow n urge for continuous reading have so softened me that at this point mv mind is, as it were, infected by those poetic w orks, worthless stories, tales of w ar in w hich I was steeped from the beginning of my basic studies when
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was v ery young.
I think of them even w hen I am praying. W hen I am singing the psalms or else begging pardon for my sins the shameful memory of poems slips in or the image of \\ arring heroes turns before my eyes. And the conjuring up of such fantasies makes such a sport of me that my mind is unable to aspire to the contemplation of heavenly things, and my daily tears are unable to drive them out."
Nesteros: "This very thing from which comes your desperate urge to be cleansed can actually give rise to a speedy and effective cure. All you need is to transfer to the reading and meditation of the spiritual
Scriptures the same care and the same zeal which, you said, you had for worldly studies.
"Of necessity, your mind will be taken up by those poems for as long as it fails to show equal application and zeal in dealing with those other matters which occupy it and for as long as it fails to give birth to things spiritual and divine instead of profitless and earthly thoughts.
If it manages to enter deeply into these new ideas, if it feeds upon them, these previous topics of thought can be driven out one by one or expelled entirely. The human mind is unable to be empty of all thought.
If it is not taken up with spiritual concerns it will necessarily be wrapped up in what it previously learned. As long as it has nowhere to go at everv moment while engaging in its tireless activity then it has to slide toward those things which preoccupied it from the days of infancy. Always it thinks over and over about what concerned it during long practice and study.
"Spiritual knowledge must have a solid lasting strength in you.
It is not something to be enjoyed occasionally, as happens with those who do not work for it, who only know of it from what others tell them or whose acquaintance with it is, so to speak, like that of some fragrance in the air.
It is something to be hidden, perceived, and felt in one's innards. But for this to happen there is something you must note.
It can happen that you know already something you hear at a discussion. Do not listen to this in a contemptuous or disdainful way. Rather, take it to heart with the same eagerness which we should alw ays display when either hearing desirable, saving w'ords or when speaking them ourselves. No matter how' often there is talk that has to do with holy subjects, a soul thirsting for true know ledge w ill neyer have too much of it or never grow' tired of it. Such matters w ill be received every day as something new', something longed for.
I he more frequently the soul
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hears it, the more eagerly it w ill listen to it or speak of it. Repetition w ill confirm w hat the soul knows, and the soul will not grow bored w ith continuous discussion. A sure sign of a lukew arm and proud soul is to listen carelessly and negligently to the saving medicine of words w hich are too zealously and too constantly uttered to it.
'1 he overfed soul mocks the honev, but to the hungry soul everything bitter is sweet'
(Prv 27:7).
"If, then, such matters are carefully received, if they are hidden and consigned within the quiet places of the mind, if they are marked in silence, they w ill later be like a wine of sw eet aroma bringing gladness to the heart of a man. Matured by long reflection and by patience, they will be poured out as a great fragrance from the vessel of your heart. Like some everlasting spring they will flow out from the channels of experience and from the flow ing waters of virtue. They w ill come bounding forth, running, unceasing, from, as it w ere, the abyss of your heart, fhere w ill happen to you what is said in Proverbs to the man for whom all such things have become utterly real: 'Drink the waters from your ow n wells, fresh w ater from your own source. iVlay the waters of your ow n spring pour out for you and may your waters pass over all your ways' (Prv 5:15-16). And, as the prophet Isaiah declares, 'You will be like a well-watered garden, like a flowing spring whose w aters will never fail. And places emptied for ages will be built up in you. You w ill lift up the foundations laid by generation after generation. You will be called the builder of fences, the one w ho turns the pathways tow ard peace' (Is 58:1 1-12). That blessing promised by the prophet w ill come to you: 'And the Lord will not cause your teacher to fly far away from you and your eyes will look upon your guide. And your ears shall hear the word of warning from behind, "This is the path. Walk along it and turn neither to the right nor to the left"
' (Is 30:20-21). And so it will happen that not only the whole thrust and thought of your heart, but even all the wanderings and the straying of your thoughts will turn into a holy and unending meditation on the Law of God.
"But, as we have said already, it is impossible either to know or to teach that of w hich one has no experience. For how can someone pass on what he is incapable of perceiving? And if he is presumptuous enough to teach, his words will come to the ears of those listening to him as being worthless and useless. He will not reach their hearts. He will be betrayed by his lack of practical experience and by his own fruit-
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less vanity. For his words come not from the treasury of a ijood conscience but from the emptiness of his arrogance.
"The fact is that it is impossible for an unclean soul to acquire spiritual knowledge, no matter how' hard it labors at the reading of the Scriptures. No one pours some rare ointment or the best honey or a precious liquid into a foul and filthy container. A jar once shot through by evil smells will more easily contaminate the most fragrant myrrh than receive from it some sweetness or capacity to please. Purity is corrupted more speedily than corruption is made pure. So it goes with the container which is our heart.
If it has not first been cleansed of all the foulest contagion of sin it will not deserve to receive that perfume of benediction about which the prophet speaks, 'Like the oil poured over the head, comes down on to the beard of Aaron, comes down on to edges of his clothing' (Ps 132:2). He will not keep unpolluted possession of that spiritual knowledge and scriptural lore which are 'sweeter by far than all honey' (Ps 18:11). 'What share does justice have in iniquity?
V\ hat companionship has the light with the shadows? What agreement can there be between Christ and Belial?' (2 Cor 6:m— 15)."
IS Germanus: "This assertion does not look to us to be founded upon truth or supported by plausibility. Those who withhold faith in Christ or w ho corrupt it bv the unholy perversity of their ideas are quite clearly unclean of heart. Yet how' is it that there are many Jew s and heretics—and even Catholics—w ho are sinners in many ways and who nevertheless, have a perfect know ledge of Scripture and w ho can boast about the extent of their know ledge of things spiritual? And on the other hand there is a countless mass of saints with hearts entirely cleared of sin who are satisified w ith a faith that is simple and that is unaw are of the mysteries characteristic of a more profound know ledge.
What, therefore, w ill be the force of that idea of yours w hich attributes spiritual knowledge solely to purity of heart?"
Nesteros: "Someone wTo does not carefully examine all the words of a proferred opinion is not really examining the aptness of a particular definition.
I have said already that people of this sort have a certain articulateness and style but that they cannot enter either the heart of Scripture or the hidden depths of spiritual meanings. True knowledge is found only among those genuinely worshiping God, and of these
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other kinds of people it is said, 'Listen, foolish people. You have no heart. You have eyes and do not see. You have ears and do not hear'
()er 5:21). Or again: 'Since you have rejected true knowledge I will reject you and w ill not have you function in my priesthood' (Hos 4:6).
Since 'all the treasures of w isdom and true knowledge are hidden in Christ' (Col 2:3) how' can one believe that he w ho refuses to find Christ or who, having found Him, blasphemes with sacrilegious tongue, or w ho dishonors the Catholic faith by unclean works—how^ can one believe that such a one has arrived at true know ledge? 'For the spirit of God flees from cunning nor does it dw^ell in a heart enslaved by sin'
(Wis 1:4-5).
"To attain spiritual knowledge there is no other route except the follow ing, w hich has been so aptly described by one of the prophets:
'Sow integrity for yourselves, reap a harvest of the hope of life, light up w ithin you the light of know ledge' (Hos 10: 12). First, then, we must sow integrity for ourselves, that is, we must propagate real perfection in us w ith the w orks of justice. Second, w e must reap the hope of life.
In other words, the fruits of spiritual virtue must be gathered by way of the expulsion of the sins of the flesh and in this w ay it w ill be possible for us to turn on the light of knowledge w ithin us.
"The psalmist also declares that this is the sequence w e must follow. He says: 'Blessed are those who are unsullied upon their journey, w ho w alk in the Law of the Lord. Blessed are those who pay heed to 1 lis w itness' (Ps 1 18:1-2). He does not first say, 'Blessed are those who pay heed to His witness,' followed by 'blessed are those who are unsullied upon their journey.' He starts by saying 'blessed are those who are unsullied upon their journey.' In this way he shows clearly that no one can manage to engage in the correct scrutiny of God's Word unless in his daily life he proceeds unstained along the road of Christ.
" therefore those you have mentioned cannot possess this knowledge if they are unclean. What they have is a false so-called lore, the kind about which the apostle had this to say: 'O Timothy, guard what has been given to you. In all that you say avoid profane novelties and the claims of a falsely named knowledge' (1 Tm 6:20).
"As for those w ho seem to have some semblance of knowledge and those w ho do not abandon the sins of the flesh even when they apply themselves diligently to the reading and the memorizing of Scripture,
Proverbs has the following w ell-put statement: 'The beauty of a w oman of evil w ays is like a golden ring in the snout of a pig' (Prv
1 1:22). What use is it for a man to possess the jewel of heaven's words and to give
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himself over to that most precious loveliness of Scripture if he himself is stuck fast in muddied works and thoughts?
It is as if he were taming a most unclean earth by smashing it up into little pieces or polluting it with the filthy wallowings of his own passions. Normallv this is an adornment for those who make right use of it. But people of this kind will not onlv fail to be enhanced but thev \^'ill be covered bv even greater defilement. 'There is no beauty in the praise coming from the mouth of a sinner' (Ps 15:9). And God Himself says to him through the words of the prophet: 'W hy are you reciting mv commands and w hy does your mouth speak of my covenant?' (Ps 40:16).
In Proverbs one reads the follow ing quite appropriate w ords about souls which do not have a sufficiently adequate fear of the Lord: 'Fear of the Lord is a discipline and a w isdom' (Prv 15:33). Vet such people persist in their meditation in order to enter into the meaning of Scripture. 'WTat is the value of riches for a fool?
I he stupid man w ill not lav hold of w isdom'
(Prv 17:16).
"True know ledge is far removed from that w orldlv lore w hich is polluted bv the gross sins of the flesh. Indeed, this true know ledge has sometimes flourished miraculously among men who were inarticulate and often illiterate. I'his is clearly show n among many of the apostles and saints. Such men w ere not like trees w hich are thickly covered with useless leaves. Rather, they were bent down by the real fruits of spiritual know ledge and it w as about them that the follow ing w as written in the Acts of the Apostles: 'Seeing the assurance of Peter and of John and know ing that thev w ere illiterate and low Iv men thev were amazed'
(Acts 4:
1 3).
"So then if vou are anxious to w in the incorruptible fragrance of Scripture, begin bv turning your effort to w inning the cleanness of chastity from the Lord. No man w ho is still under the sw ay of fleshly passion and, especially, of fornication will be able to possess spiritual knowledge. 'W isdom comes to rest in a good heart' (Prv
1 4: 3 3).
'I le w ho fears the Lord w ill find knowledge as well as justice' (Eccl 32:20).
I he blessed apostle also teaches us the sequence I have mentioned, if w e are to arrive at know ledge.
I le w anted to put together a list of all his virtues and also to show the source and sequence of each of them.
I hen, after a bit, this is w hat he says:
. in sleeplessness, in fasting, in chastity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in a spirit of holiness, in genuine love' (2 Cor 6:5-6).
I his way of linking the virtues is clearly designed to teach us that one passes from sleeplessness and fasting to chastity, from chastity to know ledge, from know ledge to patience, from patience
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to kindness, from kindness to a spirit of holiness, and from a spirit of holiness to the rew ards of genuine love. When, therefore, you too reach spiritual knowledge bv wav of this discipline and this sequence
I have no doubt that, as I have said already, you will possess a lore which is neither sterile nor dead but living and bearing fruit.
I he seed of your saving words, which you have planted in the hearts of your audience, w ill be made fruitful bv the generous w aterings of the I loly Spirit. As was promised to the prophet, 'Rainwater will be given to your seed w hcrever vou have sow n in the earth and the bread coming from the fruits of your land w ill be very rich and nourishing' (Is 30:23).
"But be careful. You will be teaching something acquired not so much bv reading as by the sweat of experience. Your greater age will incline vou to teach. But do not be seduced by a love of vainglory to scatter what vou know among men who are unclean. You may risk w hat the very w ise Solomon proscribed: 'Do not bind the unholy man in the pastures of the just and do not be deceived by satiety' (Prv 24:15). 'Delicacies are useless to a fool' (Prv 19: 10) and 'there is no need for wisdom when common sense is lacking, k'olly w ill be all the more easily led on'
(Prv 18:2). 'I'he obstinate servant will not be cured by w ords, and even if he were to have understanding he will not obey' (Prv 29:19). 'Say nothing in the hearing of an imprudent man in case he laughs at the w isdom of your w ords' (Prv 23:9). 'Do not give w hat is holy to the dogs and do not scatter your pearls before swine in case they stamp on them and turn around to tear you apart' (Mt 7:6). The mysteries of spiritual meanings must be hidden from such men so that you may rightly sing,
'I have kept your words hidden in my heart in order not to sin against you' (Ps 1 18:
1 1).
"Perhaps you may ask to whom the mysteries of the divine Scriptures are to be granted.
Phe very wise Solomon has instructions for you. 'Clive strong drink to those who are in gloom and wine to those who are sad so that they may forget their poverty and be reminded no more of their grief (Prv
1 :6>-7). What he means is this. To those filled with bitter regret and sadness over their earlier lives give abundantly the joy of spiritual knowledge like 'a wine w hich gladdens the heart of a man' (Ps 103:5). Warm them with the headiness of saving words lest they sink into gloom and deadly despair and, 'being the kind they are, they are sucked into a greater misery' (2 (>or 2:7).
"As for those who are lukewarm and careless, who are gnawed by
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no heartfelt remorse, this is what is said: 'He who is soft and without pain will be in want' (Prv 14:23).
"So take the greatest possible care not to be puffed up by a love of vainglory in case you cannot be a colleague of that man whom the prophet praises 'who has not given his monev for interest' (Ps
14:5).
Now 'the words of the Lord are chaste words, coinage tested in the fire, pure from the earth, refined seven times' (Ps
1 1:7). And everv man who hands out the w ords of the Lord because of love for human praise is giving his wealth out for interest. For this he will not only deserve no praise but will earn punishment. He chose to waste his Lord's wealth so as to gain w orldly rew ard for himself, instead of acting like the Lord, of w hom it is written: 'Coming He w ill receive back w hat is His own and with interest' (Mt 25:27).
"Clearly, there are two reasons w hy spiritual lore does not work.
Pdther the teacher has no experience of w hat he is talking about, so that all his effort to instruct the listener is simply the empty sound of words, or else the listener is loaded dow n w ith sin and his hardened heart is closed to the saving and holy teaching of a spiritual man. About such people the prophet has this to say: 'The heart of this people is blinded and their ears barely hear and their eyes are closed so that they may not see anything with their eyes or hear anything with their ears or have understanding in their hearts or be converted or have me heal them' (Is
6 : 10 ).
"Still there is the providence of our God, 'w ho w ants all men to be saved and to come to the recognition of the truth'
(1 Tm 2:4). W ith splendid generosity this providence sometimes allows someone w ho has not earned the right to preach the gospel by a blameless mode of life to receive, nevertheless, the grace of spiritual knowledge for the salvation of the multitude.
"This brings us now to the discussion of the various ways in w hich the Lord bestows the charisma of healing so that demons may be driven out. But we must rise now and go to take a meal. VVe will leave the examination of that problem until this evening. Anyhow, the mind can better understand what is presented to it bit by bit and w ithout too much strain on the body."