wisdom for wednesday (octave)
Today we turn to the topic and critical discipline of stillness and the imperative that without stillness of the body - we can never achieve inner stillness. The pages of The Philokalia again are the source of our wisdom.
- “He [or she] who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant, and self-controlled. If one impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross. Stillness helps us by making evil inoperative. If it also takes to itself these four virtues in prayer, it is the most direct support in attaining dispassion. The intellect cannot be still unless the body is still also; and the wall between them cannot be demolished without stillness and prayer.” [St. Mark the Ascetic I, On Those Who Think They Are Made Righteous By Works, Sec. 29-31. As quoted in Selections From the Philokalia p. 165]
You’ve GOT TO SEE THIS BOOK on THE JESUS PRAYER!