#saint symeon

[orthodoxadventure]

The Lord never allows those who come to Him unhesitantly to fall completely. When He sees them faltering He helps them in their efforts, stretching a hand of power down to them and drawing them up to Himself. He works with them visibly and invisibly, consciously and unconsciously, until having climbed every step of the ladder, they draw near Him, wholly united with Him.

Saint Symeon the New Theologian

[apenitentialprayer]

Some Sixth-Century Fools for Christ

The true saint must be able to deal with shame and opprobrium. In fact, he is likely to seek out or create situations that will test his strength of self-abandonment. Thus in the sixth century, young Theophilus and Maria, who had been well brought up, wandered about in the guise of a comedian and a prostitute. No one knew their former identities, and, more important, no one was aware of their spiritual status, until John of Ephesus discovered them absorbed in deep prayer. Their theatrical performances earned them not only cheers but also a degree of rough handling. They had gone “underground” for the sake of their spiritual life. Then there were fools, like St. Simeon, who displayed their simulated madness still more dramatically and at great personal risk. In the mid sixth-century, in order to curb his spiritual pride, St. Simeon left his peaceful hermitage to rejoin civilization in the role of a crazy outcast. One time he tied his cord belt to a dead dog and dragged it after him, receiving ridicule and plenty of blows. On another occasion, he went to Sunday church and extinguished the candles as the liturgy was beginning. When the faithful tried to remove him, he ran up to the pulpit and began to throw nuts at the women. More than once he ended up getting beaten bloody for his pranks. Although he fasted constantly and observed strict disciplines, he sometimes visited inns and brothels and is said to have collected money so that the prostitutes could get married. He had his beneficence deeds well behind his craziness. Also in the sixth century, the Christian monk Mark the Mad abandoned his eremitical existence in the desert, announcing that he had “failed” by sinning against purity. After fifteeen years of living in solitude, he came to the city of Alexandria, supposedly to atone for his sins. He sustained himself by his winnings at the hippodrome and slept on the benches there. People considered him insane and mistreated him. When Daniel of Skete, another saintly person, met him, Mark went into histrionics, screaming for help. The crowd advised Daniel to ignore the madman, but the saint surprised them by saying: “You are the fools! This is the only reasonable man I have found in this city today." Mark the Mad was one of the Fools for Christ's Sake. Following the apostle Paul's advice, he chose a life that celebrated God’s wisdom, which is folly to the world, and in doing so, showed the world’s wisdom to be the greater folly.

- Georg Feuerstein (Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus, page 10)

[1five1two]

[orthodoxadventure]

Thus everyone--priest, laymen, or monk-- must on rising from sleep first think of Christ and be mindful of Him, and must offer this recollection as the first-fruit of all his thoughts and as a sacrifice to Christ. For before every other thought we ought to be mindful of Christ, who in His great love has saved us.

Saint Symeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, The Philokalia, Volume V

[orthodoxadventure]

The souls of those who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His great and fearful Sacrifice [on the Cross] are resurrected by God in this present life; and a sign of this resurrection is the Grace of the Holy Spirit which He gives to the soul of every Christian, as if giving a new soul.

Saint Symeon the New Theologian, First-Created Man, (p. 48)

[orthodoxadventure]

The World is Death for what does it offer that is not transient?

Saint Symeon the New Theologian

[orthodoxadventure]

Whoever fears the Lord will not fear the sickly attacks of demons or the threats of evil people. Like a flame or burning fire, he goes about day and night through dark and hidden places, and instead of fleeing from the demons he makes them flee from him, so as not to be scorched by the flaming rays of divine power that pour from him.

Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Philokalia Vol. IV

[orthodoxadventure]