The Roots of Christian Mysticism Session 8
Summary of Dr. Marcus Plested's
"Evagrius and Macarius" talk, The London Christian Meditation
Centre, St Mark's, Clerkenwell, 08 November 2005
Evagrius
He was born 345-6 in Pontus on the Black Sea at a time when Christianity
was becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. He was from
a Church family, the son of a rural bishop. He was very well educated
and closely connected to the Cappadocians. Basil ordained him reader
and Gregory of Nazianzus ordained him deacon. Evagrius went with
Gregory to the Council of Constantinople in 381 (famous for the
version of the Nicene creed still in use today). After spending
a bit of time in Constantinople he then went to Jerusalem for a
while before spending the rest of his life in the Egyptian desert
learning the desert tradition. Evagrius was more sophisticated than
anyone else in the desert. In him there is a remarkable coming together
of the desert wisdom and a more intellectual, speculative wisdom.
Here is a saying handed down among the Sayings of the Desert Fathers
and is a common type of saying but this one specifically relates
to Evagrius:
Abba Evagrius once said to Abba Arsenius: “How is it that
we educated and learned men have no virtue, and Egyptian peasants
have a great deal?” Abba Arsenius answered: “We have
nothing because we go chasing worldly knowledge. These Egyptian
peasants have acquired virtues by hard work.”
Occasionally Evagrius was put down by the other monks for presumption
although he did take the view that the mystical life was incumbent
on all Christians.
He pursued a rigorous life in Nitria and Kellia. He had a very
fine faculty of discernment and observation.
With regard to his work, he wrote the most systematic account of
the desert tradition. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers are otherwise
pithy and some even contradictory. His main works are Praktikos,
Gnostikos and Kephalia Gnostica. Praktikos deals with the practical
aspects-fasting, prayer. Gnostikos looks for God’s hand in
creation and Kephalia Gnostica, which is his largest work, is more
speculative and looks for a purer vision of God. Here he displays
an extreme form of Origenism. He was more insistent than Origen
that there was pre-existent intellectual life. Praktikos was the
most popular of his works the others being condemned in 553 for
being too speculative.
Evagrius actually defines Christianity as the teaching of Jesus
Christ which moves from the practical through to the vision of God
in nature and then to the pure vision. Living a monastic life is
not a pre-requisite for achieving this. Ultimately the intellect
must be divested of form and images. Any image is a sign of weakness.
Evagrius spoke of the imageless mind as the “naked intellect.”
Some of his work can be found in the Philokalia volume 1. When
the Philokalia was first put together in the late 18th century Evagrius’
works were ascribed to someone called Nilus probably because Evagrius
had been condemned. The best place to start is with “On Prayer:
153 Texts” (153 recalls the number of fish caught by Peter
in John 21:11)
Some of his sayings
The monk becomes equal to the angels through prayer, because of
his longing to “behold the face of the Father who is in heaven”
(cf. Matt. 18:10)
Blessed is the intellect that during prayer is free from materiality
and stripped of all possessions.
Blessed is the monk who regards every man as God after God.
Blessed is the monk who looks with great joy on everyone’s
salvation and progress as if they were his own.
A monk is one who regards himself as linked with every man, through
always seeing himself in each.
A monk is one who is separated from all and united with all.
The man who always dedicates his thoughts to God has perfect prayer.
It is the intellect that engages with prayer. There is a slightly
cerebral dimension to Evagrius. He does not say much about the heart.
He was a deeply Platonic thinker. What we are is soul and the highest
part of the soul is the intellect. The imbalance in Evagrius between
the heart and the intellect seems to be accounted for by his Platonism.
Probably the most famous saying of Evagrius is:
If you are a theologian you will pray truly. And if you pray truly
you are a theologian.
Macarius
This is not Macarius the Alexandrian or Macarius the Egyptian
both of whom appear in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers but Macarius
the Syrian (sometimes you will find him described as Macarius Symeon
or Pseudo-Macarius).
The Syrian monks were more involved with the Church than the monks
of the Egyptian desert. There was not so much tension between the
two.
The Macarian Homilies
Is how Macarius’ works are referred to. The Homilies are
important for the development of the Christian mystical tradition.
(Cf. Philokalia volume 3). The Homilies have been translated into
many languages the first English translation appearing in 1726.
Not all of them have been translated into English however.
Macarius was not only influential in the East. John Wesley was
also a great devotee. German Pietism was influenced by Macarius.
Macarius is mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy part III (Canto
22) as one of the two highest contemplatives. New Jesuit novices
are advised to read the Homilies. Also influenced was St. Seraphim
of Sarov (Russian) who defined the aim of the Christian life as
the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. If you acquire this then all
around you will be saved.
It is clear from the Homilies that perfection is expected of every
Christian, not just of those pursuing the monastic life.
The Homilies are Spirit-centred (God’s dwelling in man),
Christocentric and deeply Trinitarian. Macarius is one of the key
witnesses to the concept of deification (man becoming god):
(saying 1)
There is a mutual indwelling:
(saying 2)
Note the reference to the intellect. Macarius does not just talk
about the heart.
Like many mystics he uses audacious imagery to talk about this
mutual indwelling
(saying 3)
He makes a clear statement about the ontological gap but warmly
speaks of how the gap is bridged by love:
(saying 4)
His understanding of the human person is deeply holistic. It is
the heart that holds the body and soul together. He affirms the
deeply holistic nature of grace, how it affects the body:
(saying 5)
Macarius expresses his teaching in vivid and elevated language.
He is under no illusions about how difficult the spiritual life
can be. He talks about “invisible warfare”, “a
call to arms against enemy powers”, “an exhortation
to fight for the experience of grace”. He says we have to
go through our own Passover. There are almost shades of John of
the Cross in the language he uses to describe this when he talks
about the Blessed being those who pass through a dark night. He
holds together well the crucifixion and the transfiguration. Sufferings
are a way of education and growth. His is essentially a message
of hope. He has an utter confidence in grace and in the sacraments
of the Church. This of course is one of the reasons he is recommended
to novices:
(saying 6)
There is an enormous amount of teaching on prayer in the Macarian
Homilies. Prayer is the only way we get through the struggle. Prayer
is the focus of the spiritual life for Macarius. Though without
being linked to service of neighbour and the other virtues prayer
is dead. Prayer is sending the intellect to God. It is a conversation
with God. Ultimately all prayer is the Holy Spirit working in us.
Prayer is essentially an inward activity. We must pray unceasingly
(as St. Paul says). We should almost become prayer. We should even
pray in the theatre. This was a shocking suggestion from Macarius
at a time when most Christians avoided going to the theatre which
was the scene of vulgar and lewd activity. Prayer must become rooted
in us. Once we are free of material images then we will see God’s
glory.
(saying 7)
Note the nuptial imagery.
We do not lose our solidarity with other human beings. Note how
deeply Trinitarian is the experience:
(saying 8)
Macarius uses the image of a stone in water for our soul being
swallowed up by the Spirit. This is a good image for emphasising
that in union our nature is not absorbed in God. We share in God’s
nature but we are not lost in the Godhead.
(saying 9)
The following statement is also a classic statement of deification
stressing the distinctiveness of our individual nature in eternal
union with God:
(saying 10)
Macarius says a lot about light:
(saying 12)
Here are some more extracts from the Macarian Homilies:
(rest of sayings)
|
