We Are All Monks Now
As we face each day in the constantly changing new ‘normal’ it is essential that we cultivate in our spirits a certain peace and calm. There is of course nothing normal about what we’re facing, but we will make it through and we will rejoice with our saving God. We have been forced into a situation that makes us monks of a sort. St. Isaac the Syrian (7th century) left behind a wonderful series of discourses that can help in our troubled times guide our spirits into prayer and contemplation that are free from fear. What he wrote all those centuries ago can help us face the increasing isolation and social distancing of today. Notice in the excerpt below that he speaks of ‘liturgy’. But this is not the Liturgy that we celebrate in churches. Monks and ascetics in those times rarely participated in a community Liturgy. Isaac’s ‘liturgy’ was simply his personal time of prayers and chanting or reading the psalms. It was also a time of silent contemplation of God’s beauty and goodness. Perhaps this short excerpt from the Discourses of St. Isaac will inspire us to create our own liturgies in the solitude of our homes. Perhaps it is a time for our creativity to go beyond cute Facebook posts. Perhaps it is time for our creativity to explore and express our faith! St. Isaac’s words here can be a start. Psalmody (the singing or reading of Psalms) has always been the core of prayer in the monastic tradition. The Psalms of the Bible can also be the core of our own times of prayer during this time when we cannot participate in church services.
When you desire to stand in the liturgy of your vigil, with God as your helper do as I tell you. Bend your knees and rise up again, but do not immediately begin your liturgy. After you have made a prayer and completed it, and signed your heart and your limbs with the life-creating sign of the Cross, stand silently for a moment until your senses have been set at rest and your thoughts have become tranquil. Then raise up your inner vision to the Lord, and beseech Him with an afflicted soul to fortify your weakness, and to grant that the psalmody of your tongue and reflections of your heart be pleasing to His will, saying quietly in the prayer of your heart the following:
O Lord Jesus my God, you oversee all creation. My afflictions and the weakness of my nature are known to You. Shelter me from the evils that surround us, for great is their power to destroy and we are weak. Therefore, O Good One, because You know our weakness and did take upon yourself the burden of our frailty, safeguard me from the turmoil and confusion of thoughts and the assault of passions. Count me worthy to perform my sacred liturgy, lest by any chance I should corrupt the sweetness of my prayers with fear and selfish desires.
With these thoughts your heart will be unlocked straightaway by grace, and you will shed tears at the beginning of your prayer. Your thoughts will be purified by the memory of the Lord, and your soul will receive tranquility and shining chastity. And while your mind is collected and shining, you will begin your liturgy without turmoil, and will joyously continue until its completion.
St. Isaac the Syrian, Discourse No. 75, opening paragraphs. Though he is called the Syrian, because he wrote in the Syriac language, he was actually born and lived in Persia, today’s Iraq.