Homily On the Nativity by St Ephraim the Syrian, Translated by Dr Sebastian Brock

Icon of St Ephraim the Syrian
available from Convent of St Elizabeth

This homily is available from IOCS and posted on  Ancient Faith Radio here

I find it fascinating that St Ephraim writes that "God entered her through her ear". Jacob of Serug also writes in his first homily On the Mother of God that "The Word entered and dwelt in her within the guarded seals", and "But come and see the Watcher (Archangel Gabriel-in the Syriac tradition angels are sometimes called 'Watchers') instilling salvation into Mary's ear and removing the insinuation of the serpent from her and consoling her".

Dr Sebastian Brock in his Introduction to Mary Hansbury's translation of four homilies by Jacob of Serug (a non-Chalcedonian Syriac writer of the 5th century), notes that, "the object (of this detail of entering through her ear) being to provide a contrast with Eve's disobedience through listening to the serpent, sin being pictured as entering through her ear, like poison, as the serpent spoke" from 'On the Mother of God p.10 by Jacob of Serug, trans. by Mary Hansbury, Introduction by Dr Sebastian Brock, SVS Press, 1998.
  

Have Peace in your Heart by St Isaac of Syria

This icon of St Isaac of Syria is available from Uncut Mountain Supply Icons

I found a most amazing passage from the writings of St Isaac of Syria,
in a little booklet entitled, "Daily Readings with St Isaac of Syria", 
Introduced and edited by A. M. Allchin, Translated by Sebastian
Brock, Templegate Publishers, Springfield Illinois 1990

It reads, " Someone who has actually tasted truth is not 
contentious for truth.

Someone who is considered among men to be zealous for truth has
not yet learned what truth is really like: once he has truly learnt it,
he will cease from zealousness on its behalf.

The gift from God and of knowledge of him is not a cause for turmoil
and clamour; rather this gift is entirely filled with a peace in 
which the Spirit, love and humility reside.

The following is a sign of the coming of the Spirit; the person whom
the Spirit has overshadowed is made perfect in these very virtues.

God is reality. The person whose mind has become aware of God
does not even possess a tongue with which to speak, but God resides
in his heart in great serenity. He experiences no stirring of zeal
or argumentativeness, nor is he stirred by anger. He cannot even be
aroused concerning the faith." p.61 translated by Dr. Sebastian Brock.

Of course, reading something like this has to make one wonder, How
often do we state the truth with such passion even anger, as if Truth
which is Reality Itself, was so fragile it needed our protection? Or 
even worse, what if all we are doing by affirming Truth (or our 
misunderstanding of it as mere facts) is affirming our egos, our self-
image and asserting ourselves in dominance over those around us?

We do well if, before we speak or act, we pause for a moment and 
make an honest assessment of our emotional and spiritual state.
We do even better if, more than anything else, we pursue a first-
hand personal experience of this Ultimate Reality, our Triune 
God in a spirit of peace, humility and love.

This longing for the Truth must be first and foremost a longing for
the transformation of our own hearts, that the prayer of our Lord
Jesus Christ be fulfilled in us, when He prayed, 

"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into
the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I 

sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in 

truth." John 17:17-19 NASB

Which means;
Sanctify them (Make them holy, preserve them in holiness, restore
them to spiritual health)

in the truth (in Me- "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father but through Me" John 14:6; John 15:15,
"apart from Me you can do nothing".)

Your Word is truth ( "In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God John 1:1. Again the
Lord is saying, "I am the Word of God and I am the Truth")

As you sent Me (the Word of the Father and the Truth) into
the world, I also have sent them into the world (we must
become, by Grace, the very Word of God to our generation, the
Truth of God to our generation, not merely as ideology but in our
very beings, we must become a healing presence to those who are
broken and ill with the sickness of sin!)

For their sakes I sanctify Myself (I offer Myself on the cross
for their healing and restoration )

that they themselves also be sanctified in truth (that they
themselves be made holy- be healed- in Me)

This book is available from Amazon

The Prayers of Saint Isaac the Syrian

Available from St John's Bookstore

"Let us take refuge in the Lord,

And ascend a little to the place

Where thoughts dry up

And stirrings vanish,

Where memories fade away

And the passions die,

Where human nature becomes serene

And is transformed

As it stands in the other world."

Isaac of Nineveh
The Second Part, Ch.10 #28


The prayers included in this prayer book come from Chapter V
pp. 5 to 19 of the book Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian), 
'The Second Part', Translated by Sebastian Brock, 1995
by Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
Available from Barnes & Noble

In the preface to the prayers, St Isaac assures us that the one
who prays these prayers, "will receive sanctification by them,
and will be filled with the grace of the Spirit". p.5


The prayers cut to the heart and are very moving and uplifting;


"I beseech you, O God, send me help from your highest heavens
so that I may keep far from my heart every evil intention and every
carnal wish. Do not cast me, Lord, from your protection lest my
adversary find me and trample upon me just as he desires, 
destroying me utterly. It is you who grant repentance and a 
sorrowful heart to the sinner who repents; in this way you ease 
his heart from the weight of sin that is laid upon it, thanks to the
comfort which comes from mourning and from the gift of tears."
#3 p.8


"O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open up for me the great door
to your treasure-house so that I may enter and offer you heartfelt
praise in return for your mercies which I have experienced in
latter days; for you came and renewed me with an awareness 
of the new world." #5 p.9


"O Christ, upon whom the many-eyed cherubim are unable to
look because of the glory of your countenance yet, out of your
love, you received spit upon your face: remove the shame 
from my face, and grant an open face before you at the time of
prayer." #22 p.22


By the prayers of St Isaac the Syrian, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
have mercy on us and save us!

For more on  St Isaac please read the post here.

St Isaac the Syrian - A Guide to the Heart

St Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh



Commemorated on January 28

Saint Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah, lived during the sixth century. He and his brother entered the monastery of Mar Matthew near Ninevah and received the monastic tonsure. His learning, virtue, and ascetic manner of life attracted the notice of the brethren, and they proposed that he head the monastery. St Issac did not want this burden, preferring a life of silence, so he left the monaster to live alone in the desert.


His brother urged him more than once to return to the monastery, but he would not agree. However, when the fame of St Isaac's holy life had spread, he was made Bishop of Ninevah. Seeing the crude manners and disobedience of the inhabitants of the city, the saint felt that it was beyond his ability to guide them, and moreover, he yearned for solitude.


Once, two Christians came to him, asking him to settle a dispute. One man acknowledged that he owed money to the other, but asked for a short extension. The lender threatened to bring his debtor to court to force him to pay. St Isaac, citing the Gospel, asked him to be merciful and give the debtor more time to pay. The man said, "Leave your Gospel out of this!" St Isaac replied, "If you will not submit to Lord's commandments in the Gospel, then what remains for me to do here?" After only five months as bishop, St Isaac resigned his office and went into the mountains to live with the hermits. Later, he went to the monastery of Rabban Shabur, where he lived until his death, attaining a high degree of spiritual perfection.


From the early eighth century until the beginning of the eighteenth century, nothing was known about St Isaac of Syria in Europe except for his name and works. Only in 1719 was a biography of the saint published at Rome, compiled by an anonymous Arab author. In 1896,more information on St Isaac came to light. The learned French soteriologist Abbot Chabot published some eighth century works on Syrian history by Iezudena, bishop of Barsa, where the account of St Isaac the Syrian was found.
From http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100333


Prayers

"O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open up for me the great door of
your treasure-house so that I may enter and praise you with the
praise that comes from the heart in return for your mercies which I
have experienced in latter days; for you came and renewed me
with an awareness of the New World".

O mystery exalted beyond every word and beyond silence, who
became human in order to renew us by means of voluntary union
with the flesh, reveal to me the path by which I may be raised up to
your mysteries, traveling along a course that is tranquil, free from
concerns of this world.
Gather my mind into the silence of prayer, so that all my wandering
thoughts may be silenced within me during that luminous converse
of supplication and mystery-filled wonder".


"Sanctify me by your Mysteries, illumine my mind with knowledge of
you, make your hope to shine out in my heart, hold me worthy to
supplicate for it, O God my Father and Lord of my life; illumine your
lamp within me, place in me what belongs to you so that I may forget
what belongs to myself.
Cast upon me the constraint of wonder of you, so that the constraint of
nature may be overpowered by it. Stir up within me the vision of your
mysteries so that I may become aware of what was placed in me at
holy baptism. You placed within me a Guide: may He show me Your
Glory at all times".
From; 'The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life' p. 350-351,
Trans. by Sebastian Brock, Cistercian Publications, Inc. 1987


"Hold me worthy, O Lord, to behold your mercy in my soul before I
depart from this world; may I be aware in myself at that hour of your
comfort, along with those who have gone forth from this world in good
hope. Open my heart, O my God, by your Grace and purify me from
any association with sin.

Tread out in my heart the path of repentance, my God and my Lord,
my hope and my boast, my strong refuge, by whom may my eyes be
illumined, and may I have understanding of your truth, Lord. Hold me
worthy, Lord, to taste the joy of the gift of repentance, by which the
soul is separated from co-operating with sin and the will of flesh
and blood. Hold me worthy, O Lord, to taste this state, wherein lies the
gift of pure prayer. O my Saviour, may I attain to this wondrous
transition at which the soul abandons this visible world, and at which
new stirrings arise on our entering into the spiritual world and the
experience of new perceptions".
From 'Daily Readings with St Isaac of Syria' p37, Introduced and edited by
A. M. Allchin, Translated by Sebastian Brock, Templegate Publishers 1990


Sayings


"No one has understanding if he is not humble, and he who lacks
humility is devoid of understanding. No one is humble if he is not at
peace, and he who is not at peace is not humble. And no one is at
peace without rejoicing". Ibid p.65


"From stillness a person can gain possession of the three causes of
tears: love of God, awestruck wonder at his mysteries, and humility
of heart". Ibid p.85


"This shall be for you a luminous sign of the serenity of your soul:
when, on examining yourself, you find yourself full of compassion
for all humanity, and your heart is afflicted with pity for them, burning
as though with fire, without making distinction between one person
and another". Ibid p.88


"Sin, Gehena and death do not exist at all with God, since they are
effects, not substances. Sin is the fruit of self-will. There was a time
when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist.
Gehena is the fruit of sin. At some point in time it had a beginning
but its end is not known.
Death however, is a dispensation of the Creator's wisdom. It will rule
only a certain time over nature; then it will certainly disappear". Ibid p.82


"The assembly of the humble is loved of God just as the assembly of
the seraphim. A chaste body is more precious before God than a
pure offering. These two, humility and chastity, prepare a tabernacle
in the soul for the Holy Trinity". Ibid p.64

"Humility, even without works, gains forgiveness for many offenses; but
without her, works are of no profit to us, and rather prepare for us great
evils. Therefore, through humility as I said, find forgiveness for your
iniquitous deeds".
From 'The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian' Homily 69, p.338,
Trans. by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston MA 1984



"At the time when your mind is scattered, persevere in reading rather
than in prayer. Not all books, however, are profitable for the
concentration of the mind. Love stillness far more than labors. Give
more honor to reading, if possible than to standing, for it is a source
of pure prayer".
St Isaac in Homily 64 of the 1st part as quoted by Matthew the Poor in
'Orthodox Prayer Life' p.192 no.268, St Vladimir Seminary Press, N.Y. 2003


"Spread your cloak over the man who is falling and cover him. And if
you cannot take upon yourself his sins and receive his chastisement
in his stead, then at least patiently suffer his shame and do not
disgrace him". Homily 51, Ibid, no.165 in p.143






Troparion of St Isaac the Syrian in Tone V
Illumined by rays of the virtues, O God-bearer Isaac, in spirit
thou wast shown to be an all-radiant beacon of the life which
is in Christ; and by thine divinely inspired teachings, O father,
thou dost guide safely to the way of salvation those who bless
thee as a godly servant of Christ.

Kontakion of St Isaac in Tone VIII
By thine angelic way of life thou wast shown to be a divine
instrument of the Comforter, and a model of monastics in all
things, O blessed Isaac. As the habitation of grace divine,
ask grace and heavenly light for us who cry out to thee:
Rejoice O divinely wise father!

Megalynarion
We bless thee, O venerable father Isaac, and we honor thy
holy memory, O instructor of monks and converser with the
angels.

From the 'Service to St Isaac the Syrian', Menaion published
by St John of Kronstadt Press, Isaac Lambertsen, 2001

Stories That Warm Up The Heart-On The Heart Ready For God

Martyrdom of St Demetrios of Thessaloniki, the Myrrh-Gusher

The Great Martyr Demetrios of Thessaloniki was in such a state of grace and peace in his soul, that when he saw the soldiers coming to slay him, he raised his right arm, so he would be lanced on his side, like his Lord Jesus Christ. When he was pierced, at once, blood and water flowed from his wounds. The icon above is on the wall inside the shrine of the saint, in the great church of St Demetrios, Thessaloniki, Greece. Also in the church, is the vase that was used to collect the blood of the martyr, with dried up blood still visible inside it!

          Vase Containing the blood of St Demetrios

"ON THE HEART READY FOR GOD

Homily for October 26-St Demetrios the Myrrh-Gusher, Prologue of Ohrid vol 2, p.450 by St Nikolai Velimirovich

My heart is ready O God, my heart is ready (Psalm 57.7)

Brethren, blessed is he who is able to speak like this to his Lord! Blessed is he whose heart is completely ready to follow the will of God. The readiness of the heart of man lies in this: to joyfully follow the will of God and not be confused by one's own thoughts and desires. At first, the repentant King David had followed his own sinful thoughts and desires, and was like a boat on a stormy sea. However, when he realized that the storm was going to drown him, he turned to God with great repentance and tears, and turned the boat of his life entirely over to God. "My heart is ready O God, my heart is ready", he cried out with great peace of soul, for he knew that he had given his boat into the hands of the Most-skilled Helmsman. The storm still raged and the winds and waves still assaulted him, but he was not afraid, convinced that nothing could smash his boat, and that his boat would sail safely to a calm harbor. A 'ready heart' means a heart cleansed of pride and humbled before the majestic power and wisdom of God. A 'ready heart' means a heart emptied of all worldly desires and illusions, and filled with nothing but aspirations toward God and love for God. A 'ready heart' means a heart that is healed of all restlessness, cares and fears, and is quieted and encouraged by the presence of God's grace. "I will sing and give praise in my glory" (Psalm 57:7), continues the Psalmist. This shows that his heart is truly ready - he is not proud of his royal glory but ascribes it to God. He humbled himself before God as nothing, and now his sole pleasure is to magnify and glorify God. His personal glory only gives him a reason for glorifying His All-glorious God.

O my brethren, let us endeavor that our hearts be ready before God: ready to hear the word of God, ready to follow the will of God, ready to glorify the Living God.

O Lord God, our immortal Creator, help us to ready our hearts, that they may be vessels of Thy life-giving grace. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen".

"How wonderful is this abundance that the Lord should reside in us continually,

for He has left the heavens and descended:

let us make holy for Him the bridal chamber of our hearts"

Ephraim the Syrian, 'Armenian Homilies' 47,Quoted by Dr Sebastian Brock in 'The Luminous Eye' p.128