Письмо 15
The Interior Gaze
The author commends the wisdom of Isaac the Syrian regarding the necessity of keeping the mind focused within the heart to drive away malice.
I've just opened St. Isaac the Syrian—that singular teacher of the sober life.1 Wherever you are, carry this book with you. I started reading, and the opening lines are exactly what you need. See what praise is given to those who always behold the Lord in the heart—(Homily 8).2 "Whoever always keeps thoughts of God drives the demons away from himself and roots out the seed of their malice. Whoever watches over his soul hour by hour—his heart will be enlarged by revelations. Whoever gathers the gaze of his mind within himself sees the spiritual dawn inside him. Whoever has come to loathe every soaring of the mind sees his Master within his own heart.»3
A Universal Calling
The author reflects on the lives of the saints, asserting that their hidden life in God is the standard for every Christian.
Take Fr.4 Seraphim stood before the Lord his whole life and burned like a candle. It was the same for all the others, too. But weren't they people, too? And was their calling any different from ours?5 "Your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).✦6 3:3). The Apostle said this of everyone.✦
The Commandment of Unceasing Prayer
The author clarifies that the apostolic command to pray without ceasing applies to all believers, not just the elect.
— And he doesn't say that it ought to be hidden, but that it already is hidden, to show that a Christian is precisely one who has, with his whole being, hidden himself in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.✦ And the Apostle's word: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17)—who does it apply to? .7 .8 Only to the elect, or to everyone without exception? Yes! To everyone. . . So, this commandment has to be kept as well.✦ . . May the Lord bless you!
Read the original Russian
Сейчас развернул св. Исаака Сирианина – сего единственнаго учителя трезвеной жизни. Где бы вы ни были, возите с собою эту книгу. Начал читать, и первыя строки, – как раз, что нужно вам. Смотрите, какая похвала зрящим выну Господа в сердце – (Слово 8). «У кого помышления всегда о Боге, тот прогоняет от себя демонов, и искореняет семя их злобы. Кто ежечасно назирает за своею душею; у того сердце возвеличится откровениями. Кто зрение ума своего сосредоточивает внутри себя самаго; тот зрит в себе духовную зарю.
Кто возгнушался всяким парением ума; тот зрит Владыку своего внутрь сердца своего».
Вот О. Серафим всю жизнь стоял пред Господом, и горел как свечка. Так и все другие. А разве они не были люди? И предназначение их разве другое, чем наше? – «Живот ваш сокровен есть со Христом в Боге» (Кол. 3:3). Это о всех сказал Апостол.
– И не говорит, что должен быть сокровенен, а уж есть сокровен, чтоб показать, что то и христианин, что всем существом своим сокрылся в Боге, чрез Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. А слово Апостола: «непрестанно молитеся» (1Сол. 5:17), к кому относится? . . К избранникам только, или ко всем без изъятия? – Да! – ко всем.
. . Стало, и исполнять надо сию заповедь. . . Благослови же вас Господи!
Scripture echoes
Notes
- 1 ↩трезвеной: Orthodox ascetical 'sobriety' (nepsis/watchfulness), not mere temperance from drink.
- 2 ↩Слово 8: rendered Homily 8 (Isaac's discourses); could also be Discourse/Word 8.
- 3 ↩Russian «парение ума» is ascetical technical language: the mind’s restless soaring/flight (wandering elevation of thought). Rendered as “soaring of the mind” to keep the traditional force; not ordinary “daydreaming.”
- 4 ↩Russian «О.» is the conventional abbreviation for «Отец» (Father) before a monastic name; it belongs with «Серафим» in the next sentence.
- 5 ↩«предназначение» can mean destiny, vocation, or appointed purpose; rendered as «calling» for the shared Christian vocation in view.
- 6 ↩Church Slavonic «живот» here means life, not modern Russian «belly/stomach».
- 7 ↩Source sentence is only a period (likely segmentation/OCR artifact). No recoverable Russian content.
- 8 ↩Source sentence is only a period (likely segmentation/OCR artifact). No recoverable Russian content.
Letters on the Christian Life companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit