You thought that "our" Francis of Assisi was the subject of study and mystic of the Orthodox Church and matter for meditation? There's really surprise that the Orthodox study the Catholic saints, Catholics meditate on the Gospel teachings, evangelicals deepen Catholic mystic ... then we are ready for true ecumenism and not words that "brotherly hug" but blood and adoration, which awaits the return of the king together, without distinction and without making any noise ...
The prayer of the heart
The prayer of the heart is a "state" in which the spiritual prayer is constantly immersed in God and contemplate it at any time. If this statement is true, it means that the prayer of the heart is not considered a kind of "monopoly" of those who cultivate the prayer of Jesus - be it by the method of St. John Climacus or Hesychast according to the scheme - but it can be accessed by all. For the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to those who seek Him with a sincere heart (Ps. 145, 18). The Lord reveals Himself to those who seek His face, his heart. If the continuous prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit because the Spirit of God who constantly moans in front of the face of the Lord (Gal 4, 6), means that praying is inhabited in depth from His presence is pneumatophoros (bearer of the Holy Spirit), is holy. In this perspective we can
certainly expand the horizon of the prayer of the Church and cultural heart. A look at the issue objectively you can make perfectly aware that not only lives in the Eastern Church this opportunity to contemplation of God's presence, but also in the Western Church is no shortage of evidence on this "universality" of prayer of the heart, because where there is holiness there is presence of the Spirit of God
certainly expand the horizon of the prayer of the Church and cultural heart. A look at the issue objectively you can make perfectly aware that not only lives in the Eastern Church this opportunity to contemplation of God's presence, but also in the Western Church is no shortage of evidence on this "universality" of prayer of the heart, because where there is holiness there is presence of the Spirit of God
San Francisco: holy ecumenical
What San Francisco has been a very charismatic man and that his holiness seems well with conjugated Eastern spirituality, this seems so obvious from his writings, from which he drew up rules and various biographies.
Spiteris Father in his book "Francis Christian Orient, a comparison" emphasizes very well this correlation between the Franciscan experience the holiness and Eastern Europe. In a chapter of his book, he tackles the subject of prayer emphasizing the experience of prayer of St. Francis is an experience of pure prayer, prayer of the heart.
In this context of irenic comparison between the figure of Saint Francis and the sanctity East, it seems important to emphasize some points of contact between these two worlds, those who in our opinion appear to be more significant
San Francisco: A "Crazy for Christ
In the tradition of the Eastern Churches, there is a hagiographic type which is not covered in the Western Church and is fittingly called" foolishness for Christ. "
I crazy for Christ are called in greek yurodivij Salo and in Russian. In support of this category of saints is a verse from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:10): "We are fools for Christ's sake." The fools in Christ have rejected the human wisdom to acquire only the spiritual wisdom, they appear first in the monastery in Egypt and Syria, and only later - In the sixteenth century. - Arrive in Russia.
One of the distinctive features of insanity for Christ is the desire of identification with the poor and crucified Christ and the attitude that they have a complaint against the immorality of men or monks. Among the fools for Christ include an exemplary figure like that of San Nicola Pellegrino said Kyrie eleison, which are some traits Biography:
Nicola was born in 1075 about a village near the Monastery of St. Luke's Stirion by poor farmers do not receive no education and, at the age of eight years or so, he is sent to graze the sheep. Enlightened by the uncreated energies, however, one day, suddenly began to shout: Kyrie eleison!
mother resorts to threats and beatings, in order to make the child come to your senses, and when you realize you could not turn away from that practice, the out of the house. Nicola Monks close in a tower, and stop the door with a rock: about midnight, here's a thunder rolls the boulder and the boy can go out freely and goes to church, saying, as usual Kyrie eleison. A
Orac and continues to carve crosses of cedar wood. It 's so busy when he is meeting, on horseback, Massimo Monaco, treasurer of the monastery of Styria, violent and harsh man, the saint greets him with humility and says to him: - Why you mistreat workers and subjects them to oppress and afflict unfairly?
In the tradition of the Eastern Churches, there is a hagiographic type which is not covered in the Western Church and is fittingly called" foolishness for Christ. "
I crazy for Christ are called in greek yurodivij Salo and in Russian. In support of this category of saints is a verse from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:10): "We are fools for Christ's sake." The fools in Christ have rejected the human wisdom to acquire only the spiritual wisdom, they appear first in the monastery in Egypt and Syria, and only later - In the sixteenth century. - Arrive in Russia.
One of the distinctive features of insanity for Christ is the desire of identification with the poor and crucified Christ and the attitude that they have a complaint against the immorality of men or monks. Among the fools for Christ include an exemplary figure like that of San Nicola Pellegrino said Kyrie eleison, which are some traits Biography:
Nicola was born in 1075 about a village near the Monastery of St. Luke's Stirion by poor farmers do not receive no education and, at the age of eight years or so, he is sent to graze the sheep. Enlightened by the uncreated energies, however, one day, suddenly began to shout: Kyrie eleison!
mother resorts to threats and beatings, in order to make the child come to your senses, and when you realize you could not turn away from that practice, the out of the house. Nicola Monks close in a tower, and stop the door with a rock: about midnight, here's a thunder rolls the boulder and the boy can go out freely and goes to church, saying, as usual Kyrie eleison. A
Orac and continues to carve crosses of cedar wood. It 's so busy when he is meeting, on horseback, Massimo Monaco, treasurer of the monastery of Styria, violent and harsh man, the saint greets him with humility and says to him: - Why you mistreat workers and subjects them to oppress and afflict unfairly?
In this respect, the figure seems to be very similar to the figure of many fools for Christ. We remember that St. Francis says of himself: "The Lord has revealed to me to be his will that I was crazy in the world: this is the science to which God wants us to dedicate ourselves." In his "confession" then he says he is an "ignorant and illiterate."
Another aspect that is common to the experience of St. Francis Salo is represented by events in his life where he is naked in the aftermath of his conversion St. Francis decide to live the Gospel radicalism, left everything and undressing in front of the bishop . Other episodes are narrated in the Franciscan Sources and culminate in the episode of his death when he wants to be deposed 'naked on the bare earth'
When neighbors heard the last days, where the light would be short-lived successor, the eternal light, he showed with the example of his virtues that had nothing shared with the world. Exhausted by his illness, so severe, that put an end to all his suffering, he lay naked on the bare ground to be prepared in this last moment, in which the enemy could still vent his anger, to fight naked with an opponent naked.
San Francisco contemplates the beauty of creation: theoria physik
Another aspect that links San Francisco to the sanctity of the East Christian is the contemplation of creation, what the Fathers called theoria physik. Father says Špidlík:
The knowledge of God through the works is proclaimed by all the Fathers. So every man is able to come to the knowledge of God through creation. The visible universe becomes an open book for friends of God, a school for souls. God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:9), because it contemplated the logos of the things that are ready for the Messiah (Jn 4:35).
The contemplation of creation is a "ladder" that leads us to God, is an instrument - the most immediate known to man - to see His presence in the world. Creation has the ability to see the man a piece of Heaven, feeds the desire to meet him in the face of the Most High, aroused in him a fervent "remembrance of God": The prof. Panaghiotis Yfantis describes well the experience of applying this dynamic San Francisco:
Saints consider the creation with discretion: not deify nor despise. Respect it because they see it half anagogical capable of leading the spiritual vision of God in the eyes of Francis, all creatures form a "ladder" to the Creator. In his biography we read that was very fond of a lark, because this bird seemed to bring the headset and it was a humble monk, and his face symbolizes the good brothers that isolated from the world praising God [...] esemplaristico This method has its counterpart in a continuous effort of Eastern saints always have the mind directed to God
This ability to San Francisco to capture the presence of God in all things, not in a pantheistic, emerges clearly from the understanding that he has some creatures. The saint called everyone "brother" and "sister". This particular aspect of Franciscan spirituality turned out to be, over the centuries, even the misunderstanding so that San Francisco, for example, has become the "saint of ecology."
But understanding that the saint was the creation is far from being "animal rights" or "ecological" he proclaimed, simply, the goodness of creation as the work of the hands of God The world is a "divine manifestation" of God, a "sacrament" of His presence as a whole patristic tradition has always emphasized. This is wonderful "feel" of St. Francis, and he expresses this in his brilliant Canticle of Brother Sun, which seems to be present the invitation of St. Paul: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks" ( 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-17):
Another aspect that is common to the experience of St. Francis Salo is represented by events in his life where he is naked in the aftermath of his conversion St. Francis decide to live the Gospel radicalism, left everything and undressing in front of the bishop . Other episodes are narrated in the Franciscan Sources and culminate in the episode of his death when he wants to be deposed 'naked on the bare earth'
When neighbors heard the last days, where the light would be short-lived successor, the eternal light, he showed with the example of his virtues that had nothing shared with the world. Exhausted by his illness, so severe, that put an end to all his suffering, he lay naked on the bare ground to be prepared in this last moment, in which the enemy could still vent his anger, to fight naked with an opponent naked.
San Francisco contemplates the beauty of creation: theoria physik
Another aspect that links San Francisco to the sanctity of the East Christian is the contemplation of creation, what the Fathers called theoria physik. Father says Špidlík:
The knowledge of God through the works is proclaimed by all the Fathers. So every man is able to come to the knowledge of God through creation. The visible universe becomes an open book for friends of God, a school for souls. God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:9), because it contemplated the logos of the things that are ready for the Messiah (Jn 4:35).
The contemplation of creation is a "ladder" that leads us to God, is an instrument - the most immediate known to man - to see His presence in the world. Creation has the ability to see the man a piece of Heaven, feeds the desire to meet him in the face of the Most High, aroused in him a fervent "remembrance of God": The prof. Panaghiotis Yfantis describes well the experience of applying this dynamic San Francisco:
Saints consider the creation with discretion: not deify nor despise. Respect it because they see it half anagogical capable of leading the spiritual vision of God in the eyes of Francis, all creatures form a "ladder" to the Creator. In his biography we read that was very fond of a lark, because this bird seemed to bring the headset and it was a humble monk, and his face symbolizes the good brothers that isolated from the world praising God [...] esemplaristico This method has its counterpart in a continuous effort of Eastern saints always have the mind directed to God
This ability to San Francisco to capture the presence of God in all things, not in a pantheistic, emerges clearly from the understanding that he has some creatures. The saint called everyone "brother" and "sister". This particular aspect of Franciscan spirituality turned out to be, over the centuries, even the misunderstanding so that San Francisco, for example, has become the "saint of ecology."
But understanding that the saint was the creation is far from being "animal rights" or "ecological" he proclaimed, simply, the goodness of creation as the work of the hands of God The world is a "divine manifestation" of God, a "sacrament" of His presence as a whole patristic tradition has always emphasized. This is wonderful "feel" of St. Francis, and he expresses this in his brilliant Canticle of Brother Sun, which seems to be present the invitation of St. Paul: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks" ( 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-17):
Most High, omnipotent, Good Lord, Yours
'All praise and glory el'honore et onne Benediction.
For you alone, Most High, do konfano,
et homo nullu dignu Ene Te Mantua.
Praised be You, me, 'Lord, cum all your creatures,
spetialmente Messor Brother Sun, which is the
ay et us light. Et
ellu is bellu and radiant with great splendor
de Te, Altissimo, door signification.
Praised be 'me' Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, the celu
in the formats and precious and beautiful.
Praised be 'me' Lord, through Brother Wind
et per aere et et maiden peaceful et every kind of weather,
for which you give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be 'me' Lord, sor'Acqua,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be 'me' Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the
nocte:
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be 'me' Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be 'me' Lord, for those who give pardon for Your love and bear infirmity and tribulation
.
Blessed are those who 'I endure in peace,
ka da Te, Altissimo, they will be crowned.
Praised be 'me' Lord, through Sister Death,
from whom no living man 'can escape: woe to those
ke die in mortal sin;
Blessed are those who'll achieve them Thy holy will,
ka death secunda no 'I harm.
Praise and bless me, 'Lord et rengratiate
serviateli and with great humility.
The Holy Spirit in the life of Saint Francis: theosis
One of the highlights that St. Francis is glad the 'acquisition of the Holy Spirit ": for him the sanctity of a person derives from the intimate union with the SS. Trinity dwelling in the heart of the servant of God will be the same saint to call on his brothers in the Earlier Rule to accept this indwelling of the Trinity.
Interestingly, the main goal for St. Francis to reach the goal be achieved in the lives of "penitents" is the acquisition of the Spirit: for the saint of Assisi shall not dwell in the heart of another concern that is not to make effect the grace of God in their hearts, and this grace is "active" only in a pure heart of every passion
warn, then, and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to beware the friars of all pride, vainglory, envy, avarice, care and concerns of this world, detraction and murmuring.
And those who do not know letters, do not care about learning, but make sure that what we should desire above all things is to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy operation, to pray with a pure heart and always have humility, patience in persecution and infirmity and to love those who persecute and slander us and we take over. A similar
Board, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, is also found in a well-known saint of the Orthodox Church, St. Seraphim of Sarov, which defines the end of Christian life in view dell'inabitazione Holy Spirit in man. These, for the Russian saint, he must make sales on spiritual man is called to pray for the Spirit of the Lord and through him the greatest possible number of thanks. Here, in this regard, a song from "Interview with Motovilov"
The real purpose of the Christian life is therefore the acquisition of this Spirit of God, and prayer vigils, fasting, almsgiving and other actions virtuous done in the name of Christ are only the means to buy it.
- How to "capture"? - I asked Father Seraphim. - I do not understand perfectly.
- The acquisition is the same as the achievement. You know what it means to acquire money? For the Holy Spirit is the same. For ordinary people the purpose of life is the acquisition of money, money. The nobles also want to get honors, medals and other rewards for services rendered to the State. The acquisition of the Holy Spirit is a capital, but an eternal capital, and a dispenser of grace, similar to capital and time that you get with the same procedures.
[...] - Try to obtain the graces of the Holy Spirit bear fruit by the name of Christ in all possible virtues, and make a spiritual trade, traffic with those that give the most benefits.
[...] How to trade the aim is to obtain as much money as possible, so in the Christian life the goal must be not only to pray and do good, but also to get the most thanks.
San Francisco living prayer: prayer of the heart
In this section we specifically address the issue of prayer in the experience of St. Francis, who on several occasions in his writings calls the monks to have a heart always ready to He turned to God and everything, always ready to pray, as it is written in the commentary on the Our Father:
[All] we love you with all my heart, always thinking of you, with all your soul, always wanting you, with all mind, guiding you all our intentions and everything looking for your honor, and with all our strength, spending all our energy and sensibility of soul and body in the service of your love and for no other, and so that we can love our neighbors as ourselves, dragging everyone with all our power to your love, enjoying the goods of others as our ills and suffering together with them and not bringing any offense to anyone.
And again in the Earlier Rule we find this admonition of Saint Francis;
And everywhere, all of us, everywhere, at any time and at any time, and every day and continuously truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor , worship, serve, praise and give thanks Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Creator of all things and Savior of all who believe and trust in him who is without beginning and without end.
This need to be always in the presence of God requires that the servant of God has a pure heart, detached - as the Fathers would say - from all attachment and passionate concern. So it is written in the Rule:
Always build in us a home and a permanent home to Him, who is the Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and says: Be alert at all times, therefore, and pray, that ye may escape all the evils that happen and to stand before the Son of Man. And when you stand praying, say: Our Father which art in heaven. And adore Him with a pure heart, because we must always pray not to lose heart, because the Father seeks to worship him.
is interesting to see how St. Francis in the "purity of heart" is not only the meaning of a "moral cleansing" but it's the attitude that makes possible the contemplation of God in this respect the holy nell'Ammonizione XXVII has an expression that resembles very closely the way in which the Hesychasts wanted the purity of the heart:
Where is the fear of the Lord to guard his house (the heart), there can not find the enemy's route of entry .
For St. Francis, the purity of heart is therefore free from all earthly concerns, is being able to keep the house interior from any enemy attack. In previous sections we have got to address this issue with regard to the custody of the heart: only a pure heart can see the Face of the Beloved, can contemplate.
The vision of God, prayer of pure Hesychasts is called theoria, it always has its roots in a clean heart, who knows how to despise the things of the world:
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God truly pure in heart are those who disdain of-the earthly and heavenly things are looking, and never cease to worship and see the Lord God living and true, with heart and mind pure.
A heart and a mind polluted by passion, by impure thoughts, sin can not possibly contemplate the divine light in order to enjoy the splendor of God is necessary for man to regain the original beauty, returning to the natural condition. Man is transformed by the Spirit: shifts from the similarity with the prototype which is Christ.
Only then can enjoy the spiritual meaning of God's presence: so also the man feels compassion for all creation, for every creature, writes Isaac of Nineveh:
When you do good, do not worry the purpose of immediate reward and you will be doubly rewarded by God, and if you can [do not] even for future reward. Be virtuous but above all for the sake of serving God's desire of love is more intimate than the service of God, and the latter is more intimate in the mysteries of him. More intimate than the soul is the body [...]. What is purity? It is a merciful heart to every creature [...]. And what is a merciful heart? It is the fire in my heart for all creation: for men, for birds, animals, for demons and all that exists. In their memory and their view of the eyes [of such a person] shed tears for the violence of mercy shaking [his] heart because of great compassion. The heart melts, and can not bear to hear or see little harm or suffering to any creature. 'S why he offers prayers with tears every time, even for beings that are not endowed with reason, and for the enemies of truth and for those who are opposed, that they be kept and further strengthened, and even reptiles; because of his great mercy, that in his heart comes without measure, in God's image
Even St. Francis had the gift of prayer continues, "his stable disposition was such that, wherever he could, he prayed. This was his normal disposition of the heart ', as is well described by Thomas Celano in his second biography: When
[instead] was praying in the woods and in lonely places, filling the woods of groans, tears watered the ground, beat his chest with his hand, and there, almost taking advantage of a more intimate and private, often conversed aloud with his Lord knew the judge, pleading with the Father, spoke to his friend, joked amiably with the Bridegroom. And in fact, to offer sacrifice to God in all multiple fibers of his heart, regarded in many respects the One who is supremely One. Often without moving his lips, long-meditated within himself and focusing outward within the powers, the spirit rose to heaven. In this way ran all the understanding and affection for that one thing he asked for, God was not so much a praying man, but rather he turned in all living prayer.
is clear that for St. Francis prayer is not so much a way of relating to God but is a vital attitude. As the body needs to breathe, so the human heart has always needed to draw, in prayer, the Spirit of the Lord, not to die, not to harden.
All aspects of Franciscan spirituality that we have set forth are communicating with each other, in fact:
a clean heart is purified from the passions and despises all worldly attachment;
à pure heart is inhabited by the Holy Spirit that transforms man from within, the work of the enemy is outside of the heart since, through logismoi, he wants to enter the inner garden. The Holy Spirit, by contrast, works from the inside man, the image becomes the similarity with the prototype that Christ has purified the heart à
the eye sees the deep and logo in all creation that is no longer an enemy of man.
to every creature becomes a "brother" and "sister", even death, the creation elevates the mind and heart to God, a heart
inhabited by the Spirit groans of the Lord continually before the face of the Lord; it as a gift from the Lord in prayer continues.
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