CS LEWIS FINAL

What does Beatrice say when Dante asks her if she longs to go higher in heaven?

"Brother, our desires are stilled by love. We want only what we have. To want more would be discordant with the will of Him who disposes us here ..."

what does it mean when God is "angry"

"When God and His Saints are angry, anger does not tear them to pieces, distort their judgment and poison their lives: they pity, but pity does not ravage them with helpless torments and put them at the mercy of the blackmailing egotism which thrives by exploiting and playing upon the feelings of the tender-hearted; in C.S. Lewis's admirable phrase: "the action of pity will live for ever, but the passion of pity will not."

the Jesus prayer

'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me The name does not contain the presence (as in the case in magical formulae or in the religions of antiquity) but it summons it.

Kyrie Eleison

-->started the Jesus prayer version: Lord Have Mercy The name does not contain the presence (as in the case in magical formulae or in the religions of antiquity) but it summons it.

What does Gnosticism believe?

-Creation is evil -The outflowing of the One to the Many is a disaster -Telos of the Many = to lose the derived self and be reabsorbed into the One

How do we usually gain knowledge?

-External objects make an impression on our senses -the minds of other people are known in their actions or words -an intuitive consciousness of our own mind -we guess with animals

what is heaven?

-heaven is a reality; hell is illusion of our own choosing -once you have the healthy thing, the ill thing can be known -you can know crooked after you know straight -no equality or progress -no sins - lust, avarice, etc. --->what God allows understand everything fully to the extent you are able -as full of bliss as possible -the seeing of God in his essence -not that your memory of human life doesn't exist, but the shame doesn't matter -concerned with affairs on earth, but not troubled fullness of being - "I am" community, peace, concord, harmony, the only unconditioned Reality Heaven is the seeing of God in His essence.

distinguish image from doctrine

1. Unless we know the doctrine, we may mistake the imagery for the thing imaged -->Modern people might tend to discard the concept of Hell because we don't think with the images Medieval people used. But "The doctrine of hell is not mediaeval: it is Christ's. The imagery of the undying worm and unquenchable fire derives from the prophet Isaiah, but it is Christ who used it. Every Christian recognizes that damnation is a terrible possibility for and within himself. "mortal sin"

The Way of a Pilgrim

19th Century Russian work, first published in Kazan in 1884 • Uncertain whether the pilgrim was a real character, or if this was a fictional pilgrim journey used to teach the practice of inner prayer • Translated Reginald French in 1931 • From internal dating, he thought it was written between 1853 (Crimean war) and 1861 (liberation of the serfs) • Brought awareness of the Orthodox practice of the Jesus Prayer to the West • St Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute founded in Paris 1925 • Russian emigres come to Paris during and after WW II (Stalin)

perfection in this world?

21 Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, 16 go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Christian love can also be exercised in the positive affirmation and realization of values in this world (such as marriage, freedom, riches). There is, therefore, a Christian perfection in this world distinct from the practice of the Evangelical Counsels of poverty, celibacy, obedience The Christian in the world does not have the 'spirit' of the Evangelical Counsels, and moreover should not have it. (reepicheep & caspian)

what did mathosis say about how man sees himself?

8. Mathois said, 'The nearer a man comes to God, the more he sees himself to be a sinner. Isaiah the prophet saw the Lord and knew himself to be wretched and unclean

synergy

= co operation = co operating w/ grace For one must never forget that there are two parties to any act of forgiveness. However ready the injured party may be to forgive, the forgiveness cannot be effective - that is, the right relationship cannot be restored - unless the offender is prepared to accept forgiveness. When we sin, we alienate ourselves from God; and if we are ever to be happy in His presence in, it is something in us that has to be altered - not anything in Him. (p 80) The incorporation of man into Christ and his union with God requires the cooperation of two unequal, but equally necessary, forces: divine grace and human will." "Without God's grace we can do nothing; without our voluntary cooperation God will do nothing." Flaming Spirit, angel - "May I kill it? May I kill it? Have I your permission? Then may I?" "Speak your thought, Human Child," said the Lion. "I was wondering - I mean - could there be some mistake? Because nobody called me and Scrubb, you know. It was we who asked to come here. Scrubb said we were to call to - to Somebody - it was a name I wouldn't know - and perhaps the Somebody would let us in. And we did, and then we found the door open.' "You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you," said the Lion.

according to Thom. Aquin. and Sayers, what is culpa? what is reatus?

= guilty act Purge the culpa = Restoration of the equality of justice = stain of sin The stain = being separated from God Therefore the Reatus is purged by being reunited with God

faith, good works, pure prayer

= what salvation requires of us For the salvation of the soul, first of all true faith is necessary. Holy Scripture says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 6:6). He who has not faith will be judged good works are also required, for "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead. How are the required works of the law of God to be fulfilled when man is without strength and has no power to keep the commandments? He has no possibility of doing this until he asks for it, until he prays about it. And on the subject of doing it with Him, He gives this teaching:Abide in Me and I in you. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." • But to be in Him means continually to feel His presence, continually to pray in His name. "If ye shall ask Me anything in My name, that will I do." Thus the possibility of doing good works is reached by prayer itself. From what has been said above, it follows that the whole salvation of man depends upon prayer and, therefore, it is primary and necessary, for by it faith is quickened and through it all good works are performed.

commandment v counsel

A commandment testifies a most entire absolute will in him who gives it -a commandment obliges us, -A commandment makes the transgressors thereof culpable -Those who violate commandments deserve damnation -but counsel only represents the will of desire -counsel only invites us -Counsel only makes such as do not follow it less worthy of praise -Those who neglect councils deserve only to be less glorified

What type of place is heaven?

A populous one

postures for prayer

A reversal - the poles are reversed By catching your breath in your hand and signing yourself with the moisture of your breath, your body is purified, even to the feet. Standing up = praise, worship, thanksgiving Kneeling = penitence, intercession [in the West: adoration, so kneel at Eucharistic prayer, because at the coming of Jesus "every knee shall bend" Prostration = to prostrate and then get up again is a symbol of resurrection = the symbol of Paradise lost and regained

Q: Can the knowledge of a creature span the measureless distance between the made and the Maker?

A: Yes

does God know what man is going to become? If so, why does he wait until the man is overcome to reveal his true name?

As surely as he sees the oak which he put there lying in the heart of the acorn. He does not wait; he knows his name from the first. But as - although repentance comes because God pardons - yet the man becomes aware of the pardon only in the repentance; so it is only when the man has become his name that God gives him the stone with the name upon it, for then first can he understand what his name signifies.

bonum utile, bonum honestum

Bonum utile = values that are pragmatic & vital; means to an end e.g. work, food, school, grades bonum honestum = values which have a meaning in themselves, eg. e.g. marriage, fellowship, autonomy, property --> higher values frodo gives up fellowship omg

bree the horse

Bree becomes a wiser horse by learning humility. Glimpses of his vanity have been accumulating. He was worried about having had to cut his tail short as a disguise through Tashbaan, and had proposed to wait to enter Narnia until it is grown out. And he was genuinely sorry for having run from the lion, but does put on a bit of a show over it, blustering that all is lost, and slavery is all he is fit for. So the Hermit then says to him, "My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole ..." compare to monks-->Serapion said to him, 'Just now you were saying "I am a Sinner' and accusing yourself of being an unworthy monk. Then why were you angry when I gave you some loving advice?

sayer's teapot example (reatus)

But this does not restore the teapot. In law she could still, if she chose, take you into court. Though she's not likely to do so, you feel you ought to do something about it: pay for it, find another like it, give her something to make up Make an act of compensation = technical term for purging the reatus And if the sinner is truly penitent, he will be eager to purge it in any way that God may appoint. Indeed, if you are not anxious to purge the reatus one might feel a little dubious about the sincerity of your contrition. Since God is the injured party, it lies with Him to say in what way the reatus is to be purged: But the forgiveness cannot be effective (= the right relationship restored) unless the offender is prepared to accept forgiveness.

Christian perfection

Christian perfection consists simply and solely in the perfection of the love which is given us in Christ by the Spirit of God who is communicated to us in justification and sanctification. This perfection is - theological: by its origin in Xt and the Church - ecclesiological: by its goal (union of all redeemed in God) - transcendent: insofar as this love is directed toward God & God is supernatural - eschatological: insofar as this love is in the world only because there will be the eschatological event of Christ in this world at end of time.

What does Christianity believe in opposition to Gnosticism?

Derived self is the glory of the creature Multiplicity & otherness of the universe is its joy Telos of the Many = reflect, in your own way and capacity, a facet of the infinite variety

"to go against self"

Evagrius said, 'To go against self is the beginning of salvation.' • process; only the beginning • heaven is an "acquired taste" • decisions transcend time • opposite of "reign in hell" where I am a servant, there is heaven •give whole self (dentist) This also echoes the first Beatitude, which reads, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' •It echoes what we have been learning about how pride is truly the root of sin •Everyone has a desire or thought that would lead them down a path away from salvation. As soon as one is able to turn away from these desires, they are on the path to salvation •humanity is too easily satisfied and focused inward, rather than outward •resigning my will to God's is the first step towards sanctity in that It attacks the problem at its core: pride •We need to overcome, by God's grace, this philautia ... we must submit our own wills to God himself •because it so simply sums up the basis behind temptation and the way to defeat it •it seems to synthesize everything we've talked about in class so far •It is all about turning out from oneself and saying to God, "Thy will be done." •This teaching emphasizes the importance of humility and self-denial •both a warning and a hope in this statement for those that have ears to hear --story about the brother who couldn't rest til he gt his own -->We cannot be trusted to make fair and just judgment, and thus should default to God's judgment instead • emphasizes our tendency to try to get our way, ignoring God's wishes • We are meant to treat all of our brothers and sisters with kindness, even if they hurt you • the brother realizes that his intentions implicitly reject his relationship with God -->story about arsenius asking peasent for advice (greek & latin) not necessarily in books; it's the internal virtue • "revealing hidden wisdom to children and not the wise" • talk to anyone about temptations; struggles; politeia •worldly v spiritual ghost who is painter; "too special" "famous" shows that he is comfortable with sharing all of himself and does not need to project a strong (but false) image of himself to the world •all people face temptation no matter their status or place in society •displays his humble nature by consulting the Egyptian monk, but also shows that Jesus is open to all and displays Himself to all

the evangelical counsels

Example: Matthew 19:21 "Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'" chastity, poverty & obedience Now when our love is exceeding great towards God's will, we are not content to do only the Divine will which is signified unto us by the commandments, but we also put ourselves under the obedience of the counsels, which are only given us for a more perfect observing of the commandments, to which also they have reference Our Saviour when he was in this world declared his will in some cases by way of commandment, and in many others he only signified it by way of desire: for he did highly commend chastity, poverty, obedience and perfect resignation, the abnegation of one's own will, widowhood, fasting, continual prayer; and what he said of chastity, that he who could win the prize should win it, he said sufficiently of all the other counsels. At this desire, the most valiant Christians have entered on the race

beatific vision

Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is". So faith is already the beginning of eternal life = the realization in which the true self of all spiritual beings is made real =the true goal of every desire ="There every desire is perfect, ripe and whole" the soul, knowing God as He is, knows itself in God As God knows it and as it really is But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him, though some of them were very frightened at the same time. And all these came in at the Door, in on Aslan's right.

definitions of prayer

General, religious def: Any increase in the depth of existence, any perception of mystery in the presence of love or beauty or death, leads to prayer. Christian def: A personal relationship has to be established Evagrius: prayer is a conversation of the spirit with God. ... to hold converse with him without any intermediary. Prayer does not seek to draw God towards us Prayer seeks to bring us close enough to God for a dialogue, and make us aware of his nearness. Imagine standing in a boat, lassoing a rock, and pulling: we do not draw the rock nearer to ourselves PS-Macarius: to pray there is no need of gestures, nor cries, nor silence, nor kneeling.Our prayer that is at once tranquil and fervent ought to be a waiting upon God, for God to come and permeate all its approaches, all its ways, all its senses Prayer in our inner room = withdraw our heart from the clamor of our thoughts and preoccupations (solitude) Prayer with the door shut = without opening our mouth call on the One who considers the heart Prayer in secret = pray to God with the heart alone and with concentration of soul the various kinds of prayer [petition, promise, intercession, pure praise] are followed by a higher state still... It is the contemplation of God alone. The soul converses with God as with its own Father, familiarly, with special tenderness. praktike-->theoria-->physike or theologia = union

What is creation?

Generosity

What do all creatures do by existing?

God created so that His splendor might, shining back to Him, declare: I am 62 They should mirror God's glory and be wheeled about God as the center of reality. All creatures do this by existing; rational creatures (angels and human beings) consciously enjoy existing

40. A hermit said, 'If you lose gold or silver, you can find something as good as you lost. But the man who loses time can never make up what he has lost.*

Great Divorce: "only the present" "this moment has all moments" • time is a gift; not our own; don't squander • opposite of holy people who have lots of time; for passionate time is always escaping • Screwtape: I did neither what I ought nor what I like • • temporal - eternal

what are our life and death with?

He also said, 'Our life and our death are with our neighbour. If we do good to our neighbour, we do good to God; if we cause our neighbour to stumble, we sin against Christ.'

how does screwtape relate to dark times of prayer?/unattainability of God

He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; You must have often wondered why the Enemy does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use.

what is purgatory?

Heaven and Hell are eternal states; Purgatory is not. It is a temporal process, continuous with, and of a quality comparable to, our experience in this world.

hesychia, hesychasm--(experience of heyschia)

Heysychia: silence, peace, sweetness of union with God When a phrase or word takes hold of our soul we should stop and go deep into this intuition of God. • We should cease to multiply words, and find rather the silence in the heart of the word. • Bring wayward thoughts back to the body. • The body is the cell for anyone seeking Christ in the silent depths of the heart. hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God Since human beings are in the image of God and this image is restored in them and activated by baptismal grace, the presence is already in them, in their heart, in that most central of centers ...But this presence in the heart is unconscious; to call upon it is to make it gradually more perceptible by uniting heart and intellect The descent of the heart corresponds to Moses's climbing of Sinai. The interior heart-spirit is an interior Sinai on which God reveals himself

Can man achieve true faith on his own?

Holy Scrip: -man cannot himself bring to birth in him faith even as a grain of mustard seed; -that faith does not come from us, since it is the gift of God; - that faith is a spiritual gift. It is given by the Holy Spirit. How is one to reconcile man's need of faith with the impossibility of producing it from the human side? The way to do this is revealed in the same holy Scriptures: "Ask, and it shall be given you."

Can anything other than a human be gathered up in prayer?

If a Christian cannot pray in the dead of night, he should try to let Christ's presence permeate his sleep while creation keeps watchAt certain times the whole cosmos becomes Church - stars, plants and animals gathered together in a sort of prayer Gregory Nazianzus: grant to mine eyelids a light sleep, that my voice remain not long dumb. James of Sarug: from that time night has been far removed. Night has vanished. For light is risen upon his creatures. He entered into hell and the brightness of his light scattered the darkness. He has broken open the tombs and restored the dead to life. MacDonald: who can fit?

receiving what we really desire

If the true self is still alive, however feebly: if, deep down beneath all perversities of self-will, the absolute will is still set towards God's reality, and the soul can find it in itself, even if at that last moment, to accept judgment - to fling away the whole miserable delusion and throw himself upon truth, then it is safe. It will have to do in purgatory... the training which it should have done on earth: but in the end it will get to where it truly wants to be. There is no power in this world or in the next that can keep the soul from God if God is what you really desire. Conversely, But if, seeing God, the soul rejects him in hatred and horror, then there is nothing more that God can do for it. God, who has toiled to win it for Himself, and come for its sake to know death, and suffer the shame of sin, and set His feet in Hell, will nevertheless, if it insists, give it what it desires. --the dwarves MacD: If with our whole selves we are determined to have nothing but self, He will, in the end, say, "Take it." ○ He cannot, against our own will, force us into Heaven [if he forced us] Heaven would then be a greater agony Heaven would then be a greater agony than Hell - or rather, Hell is Heaven as seen by those who reject it

Sayer's teapot sin example (Culpa)

In a fit of anger or resentment or wicked carelessness you damage your friend's teapot. with the fragments of the teapot at your feet, your are overcome with shame and want to put matters right. 1. confess your guilty act 2. say how dreadfully sorry you are 3. promise to try to make it up = confession, contrition, atonement She forgives you, the relationship is restored, you are released from the guilt, you have purged the culpa

why have monks?

In addition to the hidden sacramental sign, and the expression in self-sacrificing love done by Christians in the world, God wills that the Church visibly manifest this transcending love Evangelical counsels are therefore an essential element of the appearance of the Church because she must represent tangibly, and cause to appear, what she lives interiorly. (he said the Church must do this; he did not say every Christian must do this.) Some of us will interiorly live chastity, and people watching will not know whether it is moral obedience or eschatological asceticism. But the monk is a walking billboard for the eschaton. He surrenders the highest moral good for the sake of a higher good not yet visible) the monk makes the eschatological love visible the laity have veiled their work in love the monk is a sign of Christian perfection Christian perfection = eschatological love of God and neighbor the laity sign this by their love-informed worldly life in the Church

describe difference between commanding and recommending

In commanding we use authority to oblige in recommending we use friendliness to induce and incite -A commandment imposes necessity counsel and recommendation introduce to what is a greater utility -Commandments correspond to obedience counsels to credence -We follow commandments lest we should displease we follow counsel with intention to please

quantity of prayer

In order that the dependence of man upon God, the will of God, may be shown the more clearly, and that he may be plunged more deeply into humility... God has assigned to the will and strength of man only the quantity of prayer. He has commanded unceasing prayer, always to pray, at all times and in every place. By this the secret method of achieving true prayer, and at the same time faith, and the fulfillment of God's commandments, and salvation, are revealed. Thus, it is quantity which is assigned to man, as his share; frequency of prayer is his own, and within the «province of his will. Evagrius: If you want to pray, you need God, who gives prayer to the one who prays Let sleep come upon you still considering this verse, till having been moulded by the constant use of it, you grow accustomed to repeat it even in your sleep. When you wake let it be the first thing to come into your mind, let it anticipate all your waking thoughts, let it when you rise from your bed send you down on your knees, and thence send you forth to all your work and business, and let it follow you about all day long.

describe pure prayer

It should be offered with a pure mind and heart, with burning zeal, with close attention, with fear and reverence, and with the deepest humility. holy Scripture says that it is not in the power of man to keep his mind steadfast, to cleanse it from unseemly thoughts, for the "thoughts of man are evil from his youth," and that God alone gives us another heart and a new spirit, for "both to will and to do are of God." From this it follows that we in ourselves are unable to offer true prayer. We cannot in our prayers display its essential properties. •

"Make speed to save me ..."

John Cassian's guide for unceasign prayer: To keep yourself continually mindful of God's presence you should set this formula before yourselves: '"O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me." ... it embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition, and all assaults. Since it contains an invocation of God against every danger, it contains humble and pious confession, it contains the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear, it contains the thought of one's own weakness, confidence in the answer, and the assurance of a present and ever ready help. Whatever work you are doing, or office you are holding, or journey you are going, do not cease to chant this. When you are going to bed, or eating, and in the last necessities of nature, think on this.

miserific vision

Last Battle: The creatures came rushing on, their eyes brighter and brighter as they drew nearer and nearer to the standing Stars. But as they came right up to Aslan one or other of two things happened to each of them. They all looked straight in his face, I don't think they had any choice about that. And when some looked, the expression of their faces changed terribly - it was fear and hatred: except that, on the faces of Talking Bears, the fear and hatred lasted only for a fraction of a second. You could see that they suddenly ceased to the Talking Beasts. They were just ordinary animals. This self-centered eternal Reality seems cruel, meaningless and hateful, because we will to see it so ○ God puts nobody in Hell ... They go to their own place, because it is the only place where they can bear to be =at bottom of Hell =knowing sin in its essence

times for prayer

Let every faithful man and every faithful woman , when they rise from sleep at dawn, before they undertake any work, wash their hands and pray to God. If you are at home, pray at the third hour and praise God. If you are elsewhere at that time, pray in your heart to God. 6For in this hour Christ was seen nailed to the wood. Pray also at the sixth hour. Because when Christ was attached to the wood of the cross, the daylight ceased and became darkness. Thus you should pray a powerful prayer at this hour, imitating the cry of him who prayed and all creation was made dark for the unbelieving Jews. Pray also at the ninth hour--> christ pierced in his side Pray also before your body rests on your bed. Around midnight rise and wash your hands with water and pray. If you are married, pray together. But if your spouse is not yet baptized, go into another room to pray, and then return to bed in this hour every creature hushes for a brief moment to praise the Lord. Stars and trees and waters stand still for an instant. All the host of angels serving him, together with the souls of the righteous, praise God Likewise, at the hour of the cock-crow, rise and pray. Because at this hour, with the cock-crow, the children of Israel refused Christ, who we know through faith, hoping daily in the hope of eternal light in the resurrection of the dead. Day = connected with Christ's suffering and death; midday becomes darkness Evening = sees the dawn; the spirit appears with sacramental water and blood from the crucified Night = filled with Paschal light

Lethe - Eunoe

Lethe destroys all memory of guilt and shame and sin Eunoe restores the memory of the sin as a historical fact, but the accompanying unhappiness remains forgotten =rivers in Dante's paradisio Great Divorce: "That's excellent," said the Spirit. "Not many of us had quite got over it when we first arrived. But if there is any of that inflammation left it will be cured when you come to the fountain." "What fountain's that?" "It is up there in the mountains," said the Spirit. "Very cold and clear, between two green hills. A little like Lethe. When you have drunk of it you forget forever all proprietorship in your own works. You enjoy them just as if they were someone else's: without pride and without modesty." God wastes nothing, not even sin Grace does not blot out evil but "makes it good" sin is not forgotten but forgiven--> redeemed man = even more precious than unfallen man The blessed joyously forgive themselves - a thing, as we all know, extremely difficult in this life, because pride gets in the way.

unceasing prayer

Lot went to Joseph and said, 'Abba, as far as I can, I keep a moderate rule, with a little fasting, and prayer, and meditation, and quiet: and as far as I can I try to cleanse my heart of evil thoughts. What else should I do?' Then the hermit stood up and spread out his hands to heaven, and his fingers shone like ten flames of fire, and he said, 'If you will, you can become all flame. praying this whole time Then he said, "Ceaseless interior prayer is a continual yearning of the human spirit toward God. To succeed in this consoling exercise we must pray more often to God to teach us to pray without ceasing. Pray more, and pray more fervently. It is prayer itself which will reveal to you how it can be achieved unceasingly; but it will take some time." "Pray without ceasing should be understood as referring to the creative prayer of the understanding. The understanding can always be reaching out toward God and praying to Him unceasingly. Rest assured that what has hitherto been accomplished in you is the testing of the harmony of your own will with the voice of God. It has been granted to you to understand that the heavenly light of unceasing interior prayer is attained neither by the wisdom of this world, nor by the mere outward desire for knowledge, but that on the contrary it is found in poverty of spirit and in active experience in simplicity of heart. The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling upon the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart, while forming a mental picture of His constant presence, and imploring His grace, during every occupation, at all times, in all places, even during sleep "Sit down alone and in silence. Lower your head, shut your eyes, breathe out gently, and imagine yourself looking into your own heart. Carry your mind, that is, your thoughts, from your head to your heart. As you breathe out, say "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Say it moving your lips gently, or simply say it in your mind. Try to put all other thoughts aside. Be calm, be patient, and repeat the process very frequently. My whole desire was fixed upon one thing only—to say the prayer of Jesus, and as soon as I went on with it I was filled with joy and relief. It was as though I pronounced the words entirely of themselves without any urging from me. I spent the whole day in a state of the greatest contentment. I felt as though I was cut off from everything else. I lived as though in another world ...

mortal sin

Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it. Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin

nominalism, realism

Nominalism-->Nomos = word, "good" is what you call good, It's what we say, Omnipotent = can be arbitrary Realism--> God has made laws, God has a character, a history of behavior, There is congruence in God, Omnipotent, yes, but not capricious Does God command it because it's good, or is it good because God commands it? This conundrum has a precedent in the history of theology. that the best way to affirm God's power was to assert he could do anything he wanted. There were a few theologians who believed "'Course he isn't safe. But he's good." They had forgotten the second half of what Mr. Beaver said they concluded if God is God: then he could say up is down, black is white, left is right. He could even say that a sinner is justified while remaining a sinner. He could even decide to send us to heaven for hating him, and to hell for loving him. But Yahweh= not a capricious God -->consistent in rules & commands

should everyone do the counsels?

Not all must follow, but all must love It is not a sin to not practice the counsels. This is the very difference between commandments and counsels, that the commandment obliges us under pain of sin, and the counsel only invites us without pain of sin. YET I distinctly say that to contemn [scorn, view with contempt] the aiming after Christian perfection is a great sin, and that it is a still greater to contemn the invitation by which our Saviour calls us to it. It is a horrible irreverence towards him who with so much love and sweetness invites us to perfection, to say: "I will not be holy o tor perfect, nor have any larger portion of thy benevolence, nor follow the counsels which thou givest me to make progress in perfection." We may indeed without sin not follow the counsels ... But to profess not to wish to follow the counsels, nor any one of them, cannot be done without contempt of him who gives them. To reject and contemn God's counsel can only spring from an idea that he has not counselled us well Although all the Evangelical Counsels cannot and should not be practiced by every Christian in particular, yet every one is obliged to love them all, because they are all very good. ... If a robe of gold does not suit you, will you say that therefore it is worth nothing? Or will you throw a ring into the dirt because it fits not your finger? Let us rejoice when we see others undertake all of those counsels, which we either cannot or must not observe; let us pray for them, bless, favor and assist them: for charity obliges us not only to love what is good for ourselves, but that also which is good for our neighbor We shall sufficiently testify our love for all the counsels, when we devoutly observe such as are suitable to our calling. Now we may with ease practice some of them, though not all of them together; for God has given many, in order that every one may observe some of them, and not a day passes without our having some opportunity of doing so. -------Reepicheep

paradoxes about prayer

Prayer upholds the virtues and prayer/ is itself upheld by them God gives prayer to whomever / makes it a rule pray Evagrius: If you want to pray, you need God, who gives prayer to the one who prays The intellect clarifies the movement of prayer,/ but only prayer gives it the fervor of spirit Prayer has to make a void / And this void waits on God, is attentive, recollected, loving -->To reach this stage of prayer we have to banish all thoughts and tricks

what are religious vows?

Religious vows in the form of the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience were first made in the twelfth century by Francis of Assisi and his followers, the first of the mendicant orders. These vows are made now by the members of all Roman Catholic religious institutes founded subsequently (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 573) and constitute the basis of their other regulations of their life and conduct. There are early forms of religious vows in the Christian monastic traditions. The Rule of Saint Benedict (ch. 58.17) stipulates for its adherents what has come to be known as the "Benedictine vow", which to this day is made by the candidates joining Benedictine communities, promising "stability, conversion of manners and obedience"

How is the reatus removed?

Removed by desiring to accept the order of divine justice: (a) by willfully taking on he punishment of past sin (b) or by willingly receiving the punishment if given by God

renunciation

Renunciation in the 'supernatural order' cannot be adequately explained from a standpoint of purely natural ethics. ex: fasting It may even be doubted whether, as measured by the laity, renunciation is the 'better' means for attaining the harmony of the natural desires under the command of the spirit. Since even renunciation is an attitude directed towards Xtn perfection, the ultimate sense of renunciation must be determined from the side of love Xtn renunciation in its real essence sacrifices positive values and goods of this world

How does Satan trick man into falling?

Satan suggests to him that there is a different way of knowing reality - it can be known not only as good, but also as evil But Satan omits to point out that can "know" evil purely as an intellectual possibility, without experiencing it But man If he is to know evil at all, you must know it as he knows everything else: by experience

What is Satan's end? What is a Christian's end?

Satan's end: reabsorption into the One. Christian end: "The higher the created being is, and the nearer to God, the more utterly it is itself and the more it differs from its fellow-creatures."

How does God usually know things?

Since he made all things, he knows them, and us, and all creatures from the inside - knows them in their essence

What is the visible sign of God's eschatological presence in the world?

The Church is the visible sign of the eschatological presence of God's salvation of the world. She visibly manifests this eschatological love: - sacramentally in baptism and Eucharist and penance

who are the counsels given to

The counsels are all given for the perfection of the Christian people, but not for that of each Christian in particular. There are circumstances which make them sometimes impossible, sometimes unprofitable, sometimes perilous, sometimes hurtful to some men, which is why Our Savior said of one of the counsels, "he that can receive it, let him receive it." ---> some monks given different instructions than other monks

How to pray?

The fundamental part consists in recollecting that God exists and that he loves us: In the Eucharist he gives us in earnest of the kingdom We long for all humankind to share this joy of ours, and we pray that all may be save. Then his sweetness invades our heart, we thirst for him --all traditions apply to psalms of Jesus Augustine: when we listen to the Psalms we must pay attention to seeing Christ John Cassian: penetrated by the same feelings in which the Psalm was composed, it is as if we became the authors of it ...

why were we given the counsels?

The loving heart does not receive any counsel for its utility, but to conform itself to the desire of him gives the counsel, and to render an homage due to his will. God does not desire that everyone should observe all counsels, but such only as are suitable, according to the diversity of persons, times, locations, strengths, as charity requires: for she it is who is Queen of all the virtues, of all the commandments and of all the counsels

McDonald: white stone

The soul knows at last what it was made for. [MacDonald's white stone] To him that overcometh, I will give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.-- Rev. ii. 17. In this passage about the gift of the white stone, I think we find the essence of religion. I say, in brief, the giving of the white stone with the new name is the communication of what God thinks about the man to the man. It is the divine judgment, the solemn holy doom of the righteous man, the "Come, thou blessed," spoken to the individual. The true name is one which expresses the character, the nature, the being, the meaning of the person who bears it. It is the man's own symbol,--his soul's picture, in a word,--the sign which belongs to him and to no one else. Who can give a man this, his own name? God alone. "God has cared to make me for himself," says the victor with the white stone, "and has called me that which I like best; for my own name must be what I would have it, seeing it is myself. What matter whether I be called a grass of the field, or an eagle of the air? a stone to build into his temple, or a Boanerges to wield his thunder? I am his; his idea, his making; perfect in my kind, yea, perfect in his sight; full of him, revealing him, alone with him. Let him call me what he will. The name shall be precious as my life. I seek no more. God's name for a man must then be the expression ... of his own idea of the man, that being whom he had in his thought when he began to make the child, and whom he kept in his thought through the long process of creation that went to realize the idea. To tell the name is to seal the success - to say "In thee I am well pleased." ... For each has within him a secret of the Divinity; each is growing towards the revelation of that secret to himself, and so to the full reception, according to his measure, of the divine. Every moment that he is true to his true self, some new shine of the white stone breaks on his inward eye ...

Is evangelical renunciation practiced by monks "better" than the renunciation practiced by the laity?

The tradition has always referred to evangelical renunciation as "the better way, happier, superior, more perfect." = But what it means is that it is a better way to represent the eschatological ≠ It did not mean that monks are better than laity e

describe the two kinds of perfection

There are certain inspirations which tend only to an extraordinary perfection of the ordinary exercises of the Christian life. [e.g. caring for the sick is an ordinary duty commanded Christians; someone might do it in an extraordinary way, like Mother Theresa of Calcutta] But there are other inspirations which are called extraordinary, not only because they make the soul pass the bounds of ordinary actions, but also because they move it to actions contrary to the common laws, rules and customs of the most holy Church and therefore are more admirable than imitable. Ex: going into the vast wilderness where one is deprived of hearing Mass • Simeon Stylites living on the pillar •Paulinus, who sold himself to ransom a poor widow's son • virgins who wounded themselves with deformity to preserve their chastity • monk who wounded himself so as not to be ordained

to be happy in God's presence

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' A

what is a dangerous trial associated with prayer?

There can be dangers: be on guard against images, apparitions and visions. Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. If the temptation persists, recite over and over again at an increasing rate the Jesus prayer

fruitful trials

There can be dangers: be on guard against images, apparitions and visions. Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. If the temptation persists, recite over and over again at an increasing rate the Jesus prayer "On the journey there are 'dark nights' that are not merely loss of contact with the visible and intelligible but trials of anguish and despair. Then it is important to fall, not into nothingness, but at the feet of the Crucified who went down to hell. ... Trials such as these are the crucible of humility, the exodus into the desert that is faith alone." This darkness and shrouding you has been given you by God's providence for reasons known to him alone ... It is an hour filled with despair and fear. The soul is utterly deprived of hope in God and the consolation of faith ... but those who have been tested by the distress of such an hour note that in the end it is followed by a change. God never leaves the soul for whole day in such a state ... Blessed is he who endures such temptations. For great will be the stability and strength to which he will come after that. However, it is not in one hour or at one stroke that such a combat is concluded. Nor is it at one moment, but gradually that grace comes to take up its dwelling completely in the soul origen: I have felt that the Bridegroom was drawing near to me and was as close to me as possible. Then all of a sudden he is gone away ... And that when he appears to me and I am holding him with my hands, once more he escapes me, and when he has vanished I begin to seek him again

no equality, no progress, no envy

There is no progress in the sense of "bettering oneself" or "getting even with other people" -->Sayer's ex: "the pint-pot and the quart-pot are equally full: but there is no pretense that a pint and a quart are the same thing; neither does the pint-pot ever dream of saying to the quart-pot, "I'm as good as you are" - still less of saying "It isn't fair that you should hold more than I. the old sin of Envy is utterly extinguished in Heaven Dante=s vision of heaven

why is praying constantly a duty?

To pray everywhere is not only possible, it is a duty, because the universe is primarily a place of prayer.---> cosmic temple In the prayer of Jesus, one sits on a low stool and bows low. When he rises again his soul expands in a spiral motion through the outflow of the divine glory.

Why are positive values in this world sacrificed?

When positive values in this world are sacrificed, the only possible reason for this renunciation can be the choice of a particular expression of love - A positive value can only be sacrificed for the sake of a higher value - the highest values (bonum honestum) include marriage, fellowship, autonomy - the monk (evangelical counsels) adopt celibacy, monachos, obedience Therefore, one could only renounce the highest natural good for a supernatural good.

what happens when we sin

When we sin, we alienate ourselves from God; and if we are ever to be happy in His presence again, it is something in us that has to be altered - not anything in Him

subsisto

Why did God create? To understand Hell, you must begin with Heaven: Hell is the absence of heaven, not vice-versa. And heaven is the fulfillment of creation. Not to gain any good for Himself, which cannot be, but that His splendor, shining back, might say Subsisto -in His eternity, beyond time, beyond every other bound, as it pleased Him, the Eternal Love revealed Himself in new loves "God desired that there should be others, derived from Himself but distinguishable from Him, and with a dependent but genuine reality of their own, having each a true selfhood, which should reflect back to Him the joy and beauty and goodness that they received from Him. ... "God is the light: the derived radiance of the creature is the splendore, the splendour. The right end of every creature is to shine back to God with that splendour, and to be able to say, thus shining (risplendendo): "I am - subsisto."

why do you pay the price?

You pay the price - but you pay it because you want to, and because that is your only means of expressing your love and sorrow: and in paying you grow clean and fit to receive the forgiveness freely offered and to return to that right relationship which nothing but your own folly ever disturbed.

what is liturgy

[Liturgy is doing the world the way the world was meant to be done]

what are some signs of entry into heyschia?

a silence that then remains, •an emotion pervading the whole being, sober, detached, •charismatic tears dropping quietly from the eyes, • without distorting the face, • the momentary union of the intellect and the heart if the verse comes suddenly to a halt on your tongue and immobilizes your soul in silence, and if, independently of your will, this silence remains in you, be sure you have entered peace you seek.... If you find tears filling your eyes and flowing with no effort down your cheeks, be sure that the wall before you is down.

Logical problem: x can only be sacrificed for higher y q: what if it is the highest x?

a: can only be sacrificed for supernatural y q: what if y cannot be attained? a: it is done in hope -->This renunciation of one value in favor of the other takes on a characteristic property Christian renunciation and to it alone: the giving up of a value which can be experienced in favor of a value possessed only by faith and hope.

What does the story about the monk who couldn't remember anything tell us?

asceticism + solitude: it's not for the sake of solitude. To battle • mirror God's grace: gracious. patient, forebearing, slow to anger, meek, intentional discipleship, concerned for the monk • lamp = God's love: when shared it doesn't diminish • • "always have enough time" (Lewis!) • don't hesitate; invite; welcoming Weight of glory: each other person shows the divine in him

What is a higher value which cannot be experienced in its intrinsic reality, but must be believed and hoped?

eschatological love

Giving up a higher good for a lower good is...

ethically perverse: -->A positive value can be sacrificed only for the sake of a higher value.

what is hell?

hell is what happens when you reject heaven • is not • perfect possession of one's own will forever • have the desire but not the glamor or pleasure • no pity, no reaction to other misfortunes wallowing in grievance because the universe does not conform to our desires • self-justification • pride even in the suffering - compare suffering • blame God • rejecting mercy "IF God were our friend ..." Hell = the fall into illusion. It is full of frustration and misery because it is at variance with the facts ○ Hell = the deliberate choosing to remain in illusion and see God and the universe as hostile to one's ego Hell is punishment only in the sense that a stomach-ache, and not a beating, is "punishment" for greed. What has gone is the glamour to gluttony, covetousness, squandering

what were the monks doing?

isolate from world do battle with spiritual begin living heaven already waking themselves from sleepwalking listening to movements of the soul hesychia purely praising God find eternal happiness beatitude; a taste for heaven pray always train (askesis) perfecting antidote for passions removing pride from the heart correcting appetites developing appetites subject wills to God preparing to receive God's grace

fame in heaven

not fame conferred by our fellow creatures fame with God, approval or (I might say) "appreciation" by God. And then, when I had thought it over, I saw that this view was scriptural; nothing can eliminate from the parable the divine accolade, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." With that, a good deal of what I had been thinking all my life fell down like a house of cards. I suddenly remembered that no one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child - not in a conceited child, but in a good child - as its great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. Not only in a child, either, but even in a dog or a horse. Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years, prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure of a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator. -------> samwise gamgee yoOOoOoOo

Connections b/t sayings and Lewis books

painter - humility of Arsenius • 3 monks, self-defeat; doorway. Stuck. Ghosts have to let go of something • 15.28 & transparent lady. self-aware. self-regard. embarrassed, naked • 15.60 hermit humility = forgiving before he's ready to apologize. Aslan + Edmund • Big Man - God will judge, don't take revenge • charity: give with whole heart "let your heart go with the gift" v. Screwtape 'mine' • 15.7 = Ghost talking to murderer. he's not worthy, like I am. 15.54 examine whether you're following commandments; can't fully; Screwtape "make them fall by feeling pride at their humility • • Go against yourself = Perelandra, go against sleeping on fixed land • Pam & Michael - mother asking to see son: if you don't see me now you will in heaven • Pam & Michael - mother asking to see son: if you don't see me now you will in heaven

What happens when the command to be hospitable in love comes into conflict with the ascetical praktike?

praktike - work of hospitality; what God wills; visitor = stranger = Christ • • charity trumps asceticism

when is prayer continuous??

prayer is continuous when the spirit clings to God with deep emotion and great longing, and remains forever attached to him by faith and hope in all the actions and events of its destiny

our true name

see white stone

what is the giving of a name?

self-disclosure and intimate gift.

educative desolation

the divine light veils itself in order that the human being may break free from illusion and pride ... and may become a pure receptacle for the grace that is able to fashion a new creature. -->Aslan is not a tame lion brings to the soul humiliation, grief and a proper despair in order that the part of the soul that seeks glory and is easily exalted may return to humility. It leads the heart immediately to the fear of God, to tears, and to a keen desire for the beauty of silence. --> monks cry bitter and sweet tears unceasingly God reminds us of the distance between himself and us. This keeps us from idolizing the mystical state.

How will we have knowledge in heaven?

the knowledge that blessed souls have of each other is of this intimate, intuitive and essential kind

How is sin linked to hell?

the tendency to this kind of illusion This is what the Church means by being "born in sin" - it does not mean that sex is sinful or that there's anything wrong about being born into a material world. Actual sin = the harboring of evil passions and doing evil acts as a result of surrendering to this illusion

hell as illusion

what is the meaning of this illusion of Hell? If we refuse assent to reality: if we rebel against the nature of things and choose to think that what we at the moment want is the center of the universe to which everything else ought to accommodate itself, the first effect on us will be that the whole universe will seem to be filled with an implacable and inexplicable hostility. ... If we cherish and fondle this grievance, and would rather wallow in it and vent our irritation in spite and malice than humbly admit we are in the wrong and try to amend our behavior so as to get back to reality, -->while it lasts, the deliberate choice of Hell, -->a foretaste of the experience of Hell Ex: A child who falls over a chair and reacts "Naughty chair"

Could a Christian in the world make renunciation apparent?

yes. "In death, man is really asked in the most fundamental manner whether he will allow himself to be disposed beyond himself into what is hidden and incalculable, and he thereby renounces himself.

can someone represent eschatological love?

yes. This is renunciation renunciation = the expression of eschatological love. It reaches out toward God without the mediation of the world

importance of obedience

• destruction of self-will, practice for giving up will to God • philautia (self-love) Syncletica said, it seems to me that for those who live in monasteries obedience is a higher virtue than chastity, however perfect. Chastity is in danger of pride, obedience has the promise of humility.'

"sober living"

• in the moment; God's will; without worry • "leave the world" • John Climacus "Poverty = resignation from care"

What does story about the monk unable to fear God tell us?

• politeia if not improving put yourself in uncomfortable situation to do so • "I don't like my neighbor" "live longer with him and pretend to like him and you'll learn to love him" • • "make believe" • become like the people you're around Screwtape - who does the patient hang around with? • solitude shows what you ought, society shows you what you are • • share the load • like 11.5 ____ will be shared "if we don't fear God, what do we fear?"

SHOULD everyone practice renunciation?

•Such renunciation can only be explained by a positive call by God. Such renunciation cannot in any sense be the sole possible form that realizes transcending love • God must give his special and express permission for this going beyond the world

how is envy excluded in heaven?

≠ by ignorance (by the lower realms not knowing the higher realms exist) = by love: the lower know that the higher exist, and it is a joy to the whole realm They do not envy, they are thrilled with delight that beings so noble can exist = by love: the lower know that the higher exist, and it is a joy to the whole realm The measure of their perceiving is a merit begotten of grace and goodwill; they were capacitated for it

Prayer to God =

≠ fusion, co-mixture but communion God remains more unknown the more he makes himself known Gregory of Nyssa: to go forward continually in its search, and never to cease raising its sights, constitutes the true enjoyment of what [the soul] desires. Each time its desire is fulfilled the desire for higher realities is engendered. -->higher and higher, further up and further in --> tremendum et fascia