on Watchfulness and Holiness 10

Much water makes up the sea. But extreme watchfulness and the Prayer of Jesus Christ, undistracted by thoughts, are the necessary basis for inner vigilance and unfathomable stillness of soul, for the deeps of secret and singular contemplation, for the humility that knows and assesses, for rectitude and love. This watchfulness and this prayer must be intense, concentrated, and unremitting.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 164

Minor Arcana: Jack of Cups (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

how difficult it is to do this without thinking. there are so many things that come to mind as i do my devotion. are the boys ok? did i set the dishwasher? is there laundry to be folded? does deb want some company? or, more seriously, am i sincere in this? why do i feel like i'm talking to a brick wall? do i sound silly?
questions and worries plague me. i must find the answer to still my self.

the Prayer of Jesus Christ is so simple and so full.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.

on Watchfulness and Holiness 09

If you are an adept, initiated into the mysteries and standing before God at dawn (cf. Ps. 5: 3 - In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.), you will divine the meaning of my words. Otherwise be watchful and you will discover it.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 164

Major Arcana: High Priestess (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

 well, i am certainly no adept. so i must watch and pray, and discover the meaning of the words of St Hesychios.

a repost from elsewhere 04 - the Oriental Orthodox Order in the West

Equanimity

Mindfulness practice provides the foundation for love to become a true spiritual path. The ability to concentrate allows us to focus our minds even in times of emotional stress, and equanimity refines our ability to remain a friendly audience to any and all experiences. Equanimity can itself be known as love because it is the matter-of-fact, gentle acceptance of things just as they are. I often teach that relational love equals equanimity plus knowledge of the beloved. Equanimity allows us to relax and keep open, and concentration refines our ability to pay attention to our beloved's words, needs, feelings and gestures, and to remember them. Together, equanimity and concentration are the necessary supports for any communication or listening skills we attempt to bring to conflict resolution; without mindfulness our skills fall apart when we are triggered into habitual reactive patterns.

~Polly Young-Eisendrath

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 8

8. Moreover, the sacred writers proclaim not only such titles as these (titles drawn from universal or from particular providences or providential activities), but sometimes they have gained their images from certain heavenly visions (which in the holy precincts or elsewhere have illuminated the Initiates or the Prophets), and, ascribing to the super-luminous nameless Goodness titles drawn from all manner of acts and functions, have clothed It in human (fiery or amber) shapes or forms, and have spoken of Its Eyes, and Ears, and Hair, and Face, and Hands, and Wings, and Feathers, and Arms, and Back Parts, and Feet; and fashioned such mystical conceptions as its Crown, and Throne, and Cup, and Mixing Bowl, etc., concerning which things we will attempt to speak when we treat of Symbolical Divinity. At present, collecting from the Scriptures what concerns the matter in hand, and employing as our canon the rule we have described, and guiding our search thereby, let us proceed to an exposition of God’s Intelligible Names; and as the Hierarchical Law directs us in all study of Divinity, let us approach these godlike contemplations (for such indeed they are) with our hearts predisposed unto the vision of God, and let us bring holy ears to the exposition of God’s holy Names, implanting holy Truths in holy instruments according to the Divine command, and withholding these things from the mockery and laughter of the uninitiate, or, rather, seeking to redeem those wicked men (if any such there be) from their enmity towards God. Thou, therefore, O good Timothy, must guard these truths according to the holy Ordinance, nor must thou utter or divulge the heavenly mysteries unto the uninitiate. And for myself I pray God grant me worthily to declare the beneficent and manifold Names of the Unutterable and Nameless Godhead, and that He do not take away the word of Truth out of my mouth.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 7

7. Thus, then, the Universal and Transcendent Cause must both be nameless and also possess the names of all things in order that It may truly be an universal Dominion, the Centre of creation on which all things depend, as on their Cause and Origin and Goal; and that, according to the Scriptures, It may be all in all, and may be truly called the Creator of the world, originating and perfecting and maintaining all things; their Defence and Dwelling, and the Attractive Force that draws them: and all this in one single, ceaseless, and transcendent act. For the Nameless Goodness is not only the cause of cohesion or life or perfection in such wise as to derive Its Name from this or that providential activity alone; nay, rather does It contain all things beforehand within Itself, after a simple and uncircumscribed manner through the perfect excellence of Its one and all-creative Providence, and thus we draw from the whole creation Its appropriate praises and Its Names.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 6

6. For instance, they call It Nameless when they say that the Supreme Godhead Itself, in one of the mystical visions whereby It was symbolically manifested, rebuked him who said: “What is thy name?” and, as though bidding him not seek by any means of any Name to acquire a knowledge of God, made the answer: “Why askest thou thus after My Name seeing it is secret?” Now is not the secret Name precisely that which is above all names and nameless, and is fixed beyond every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come? On the other hand, they attribute many names to It when, for instance, they speak of It as declaring: “I am that I am,” or “I am the Life,” or “the Light,” or “God,” or “the Truth,” and when the Inspired Writers themselves celebrate the Universal Cause with many titles drawn from the whole created universe, such as “Good,” and “Fair,” and “Wise,” as “Beloved,” as “God of Gods” and “Lord of Lords”, and “Holy of Holies,” as “Eternal,” as “Existent” and as “Creator of Ages,” as “Giver of Life,” as “Wisdom,” as “Mind,” as “Word,” as “Knower,” as “possessing beforehand all the treasures of knowledge,” as “Power,” as “Ruler,” as “King of kings,” as “Ancient of Days;” and as “Him that is the same and whose years shall not fail,” as “Salvation,” as “Righteousness,” as “Sanctification,” as “Redemption,” as “Surpassing all things in greatness,” and yet as being in “the still small breeze.” Moreover, they say that He dwells within our minds, and in our souls and bodies, and in heaven and in earth, and that, while remaining Himself, He is at one and the same time within the world around it and above it (yea, above the sky and above existence); and they call Him a Sun, a Star, and a Fire, and Water, a Wind or Spirit, a Dew, a Cloud, an Archetypal Stone, and a Rock, and All Creation, Who yet (they declare) is no created thing.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library

on Watchfulness and Holiness 08

When the mind, taking refuge in Christ and calling upon Him, stands firm and repels its unseen enemies, like a wild beast facing a pack of hounds from a good position of defence, then it inwardly anticipates their inner ambuscades (ambushes) well in advance. Through continually invoking Jesus the peacemaker against them, it remains invulnerable.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 162 & 163

New ICEL Translation of the Missal

• Kyrie ("Lord Have Mercy") ENGLISH

from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

new books!!

dashed outside, just after the postie left, to find my latest amazon order had arrived :)...

Evelyn Underhill's "Mysticism - a Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness" & "Practical Mysticism"
"Pseudo-Dionysius - the Complete Works" & "John Climacus - the Ladder of Divine Ascent", both from Classics of Western Spirituality.

very excited... Carl McColman did and excellent write-up for Evelyn Underhill's book "Mysticism - a Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness"on his site, Anamchara.com. i'm sure it won't have gotten my expectations too high.

on Watchfulness and Holiness 07

In one who is attempting to dam up the source of evil thoughts and actions, continuity of watchful attention in the intellect is produced by fear of hell and fear of God, by God's withdrawals from the soul, and by the advent of trials which chasten and instruct. For these withdrawals and unexpected trials help us to correct our life, especially when, having once experienced the tranquility of watchfulness, we neglect it. Continuity of attention produces inner stability; inner stability produces a natural intensification of watchfulness; and this intensification gradually and in due measure gives contemplative insight into spiritual warfare. This in its turn is succeeded by persistence in the Jesus Prayer and by the state that Jesus confers, in which the intellect, free from all images, enjoys complete quietude.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 162

Major Arcana: Wheel of Fortune (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

let your thoughts move away from their focus, and all sorts of things start moving against you. set your attention in motion. let GOD's wind help turn the wheel. remove the sail and the Wind isn't there to help you; in fact, it may turn against you...trials come, tearing away at your sail, tearing at the stability you'd built, bringing you back to where you'd begun, perhaps even deeper than you'd gone before.

raise the sail, set your attention, and pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.

from the Jacobite Liturgy of St. Dionysius

Prayers Ancient and Modern
Mary Wilder Tileston

O GOD our Father, Good beyond all that is good, Fair beyond all that is fair, in whom is calmness and peace; do Thou make up the dissensions which divide us from each other and bring us back into an unity of love, which may bear some likeness to Thy sublime nature. Grant that we may be spiritually one, as well in ourselves as in each other, through that peace of Thine which maketh all things peaceful, and through the grace, mercy, and tenderness of Thine only Son - Amen

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 5

5. But if It is greater than all Reason and all knowledge, and hath Its firm abode altogether beyond Mind and Being, and circumscribes, compacts, embraces and anticipates all things while Itself is altogether beyond the grasp of them all, and cannot be reached by any perception, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, apprehension, or understanding, how then is our Discourse concerning the Divine Names to be accomplished, since we see that the Super-Essential Godhead is unutterable and nameless? Now, as we said when setting forth our Outlines of Divinity, the One, the Unknowable, the Super-Essential, the Absolute Good (I mean the Trinal Unity of Persons possessing the same Deity and Goodness), ‘tis impossible to describe or to conceive in Its ultimate Nature; nay, even the angelical communions of the heavenly Powers Therewith which we describe as either Impulsions or Derivations from the Unknowable and blinding Goodness are themselves beyond utterance and knowledge, and belong to none but those angels who, in a manner beyond angelic knowledge, have been counted worthy thereof. And godlike Minds, angelically entering (according to their powers) unto such states of union and being deified and united, through the ceasing of their natural activities, unto the Light Which surpasseth Deity, can find no more fitting method to celebrate its praises than to deny It every manner of Attribute. For by a true and supernatural illumination from their blessed union Therewith, they learn that It is the Cause of all things and yet Itself is nothing, because It super-essentially transcends them all. Thus, as for the Super-Essence of the Supreme Godhead (if we would define the Transcendence of its Transcendent Goodness) it is not lawful to any lover of that Truth which is above all truth to celebrate It as Reason or Power or Mind or Life or Being, but rather as most utterly surpassing all condition, movement, life, imagination, conjecture, name, discourse, thought, conception, being, rest, dwelling, union, limit, infinity, everything that exists. And yet since, as the Subsistence of goodness, It, by the very fact of Its existence, is the Cause of all things, in celebrating the bountiful Providence of the Supreme Godhead we must draw upon the whole creation. For It is both the central Force of all things, and also their final Purpose, and is Itself before them all, and they all subsist in It; and through the fact of Its existence the world is brought into being and maintained; and It is that which all things desire—those which have intuitive or discursive Reason seeking It through knowledge, the next rank of beings through perception, and the rest through vital movement, or the property of mere existence belonging to their state. Conscious of this, the Sacred Writers celebrate It by every Name while yet they call It Nameless.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Extreme Pilgrim - Ascetic Christianity

noted and understood

Spirit of Pride - John Dowson

the vile spirit of pride has a throne in my soul, and laughs there all day. i want so much to tear it down, but i think i may be rebuilding it each time i start. perhaps there is no tearing down, but it is simply strengthened by me fooling myself,  by a false humility, which is pride...

how do i clear my mind?

how do i humble myself?

how do i tear down thrones and towers?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.

America - Horse with No Name

On the first part of the journey - I was looking at all the life - There were plants and birds and rocks and things - There was sand and hills and rings - The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz - And the sky with no clouds - The heat was hot and the ground was dry - But the air was full of sound

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name - It felt good to be out of the rain - In the desert you can remember your name - 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain - La, la ...

After two days in the desert sun - My skin began to turn red - After three days in the desert fun - I was looking at a river bed - And the story it told of a river that flowed - Made me sad to think it was dead

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name - It felt good to be out of the rain - In the desert you can remember your name - 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain - La, la ...

After nine days I let the horse run free - 'Cause the desert had turned to sea - There were plants and birds and rocks and things - there was sand and hills and rings - The ocean is a desert with it's life  - underground - And a perfect disguise above - Under the cities lies a heart made of ground - But the humans will give no love

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name - It felt good to be out of the rain - In the desert you can remember your name - 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain - La, la ...

the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite - On Divine Names - Chapter 01 - Section 4

4. These mysteries we learn from the Divine Scriptures, and thou wilt find that in well-nigh all the utterances of the Sacred Writers the Divine Names refer in a Symbolical Revelation to Its beneficent Emanations Wherefore, in almost all consideration of Divine things we see the Supreme Godhead celebrated with holy praises as One and an Unity, through the simplicity and unity of Its supernatural indivisibility, from whence (as from an unifying power) we attain to unity, and through the supernal conjunction of our diverse and separate qualities are knit together each into a Godlike Oneness, and all together into a mutual Godly union And It is called the Trinity because Its supernatural fecundity is revealed in a Threefold Personality, wherefrom all Fatherhood in heaven and on earth exists and draws Its name. And It is called the Universal Cause since all things came into being through Its bounty, whence all being springs; and It is called Wise and Fair because all things which keep their own nature uncorrupted are full of all Divine harmony and holy Beauty; and especially It is called Benevolent because, in one of Its Persons, It verily and wholly shared in our human lot, calling unto Itself and uplifting the low estate of man, wherefrom, in an ineffable manner, the simple Being of Jesus assumed a compound state, and the Eternal hath taken a temporal existence, and He who supernaturally transcends all the order of all the natural world was born in our Human Nature without any change or confusion of His ultimate properties. And in all the other Divine enlightenments which the occult Tradition of our inspired teachers hath, by mystic Interpretation, accordant with the Scriptures, bestowed upon us, we also have been initiated: apprehending these things in the present life (according to our powers), through the sacred veils of that loving kindness which in the Scriptures and the Hierarchical Traditions, enwrappeth spiritual truths in terms drawn from the world of sense, and super-essential truths in terms drawn from Being, clothing with shapes and forms things which are shapeless and formless, and by a variety of separable symbols, fashioning manifold attributes of the imageless and supernatural Simplicity. But hereafter, when we are corruptible and immortal and attain the blessed lot of being like unto Christ, then (as the Scripture saith), we shall be for ever with the Lord, fulfilled with His visible Theophany in holy contemplations, the which shall shine about us with radiant beams of glory (even as once of old it shone around the Disciples at the Divine Transfiguration); and so shall we, with our mind made passionless and spiritual, participate in a spiritual illumination from Him, and in an union transcending our mental faculties, and there, amidst the blinding blissful impulsions of His dazzling rays, we shall, in a diviner manner than at present, be like unto the heavenly Intelligences. For, as the infallible Scripture saith, we shall be equal to the angels and shall be the Sons of God, being Sons of the Resurrection. But at present we employ (so far as in us lies), appropriate symbols for things Divine; and then from these we press on upwards according to our powers to behold in simple unity the Truth perceived by spiritual contemplations, and leaving behind us all human notions of godlike things, we still the activities of our minds, and reach (so far as this may be) into the Super-Essential Ray, wherein all kinds of knowledge so have their pre-existent limits (in a transcendently inexpressible manner), that we cannot conceive nor utter It, nor in any wise contemplate the same, seeing that It surpasseth all things, and wholly exceeds our knowledge, and super-essentially contains beforehand (all conjoined within Itself) the bounds of all natural sciences and forces (while yet Its force is not circumscribed by any), and so possesses, beyond the celestial Intelligences, Its firmly fixed abode. For if all the branches of knowledge belong to things that have being, and if their limits have reference to the existing world, then that which is beyond all Being must also be transcendent above all knowledge.

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C.E. Rolt Christian Classics Ethereal Library 

it's in the dictionary

look for 'glorious evening' in the dictionary and you will get a picture of us enjoying the first grill (bbq) of the year. blue sky, no clouds, warm weather, grilled chicken, delicious salad, and naturally a bottle of wine. tonight, we enjoyed a bottle of the Steffisburger Regent Rosé 2010!! delicious. soo fruity...

noted and understood

Spirit of Lust - John Dowson

the vile spirit of lust in me is jealous of the love i have for my wife. it flings its images, thoughts, and desires at me.
i note this presence in my life.
i watch for signs of its coming.
i stand ready to stave off its onslaught.
i pray for strength and willpower.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.

on Watchfulness and Holiness 06

Watchfulness is a continual fixing and halting of thought at the entrance to the heart. In this way predatory and murderous thoughts are marked down as they approach and what they say and do is noted; and we can see in what specious and delusive form the demons are trying to deceive the intellect. If we are conscientious in this, we gain much experience and knowledge of spiritual warfare.

St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 162

Major Arcana: Realization (Labyrinth Tarot)

Luis Royo

i have the tools, but i don't know how to use them. i like to stand, prepared, with my tools, but i don't know how to use them. i know the predatory thoughts as they come. i can see them bearing down, but the tools they sit useless on the table in front of me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of GOD, have mercy on me, a sinner.