My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
The Catholic way of life [Part II)
The Catholic way of life [Part II)
c) Action (Praxis) and Theoria (Vision of God)
A result of this foregoing is that we usually make a distinction between ACTION and THEORIA, as well as between PRACTICAL and THEORETICAL people. This distinction is made because the Westen (Roman Catholic) distinction of action and contemplation has influenced us.
In the West according to Mesaiona, they speak of theory and practice, the latter meaning mission, action, while the former is intellectual occupation with God and the truths of the Church. In the Orthodox Tradition, however, action IS CHIEFLY PURIFICATION OF THE HEART, and theoria is NOETIC PRAYER and the VISION of the Uncreated Light, the THEOSIS (DEIFICATION) OF MAN.
Likewise, in the Orthodox Church we say that action and theoria of God ARE NOT OPPOSITES, BUT ONE FOLLOWS THE OTHER. Ilias the Presbyter says that the courageous man is like a woman who keeps two lamps burning, "mastering both action and theoria." Saint Maximus the Confessor says that there is no safe action without theoria, nor true theoria without action. "For action NEEDS TO BE LEARNED and THEORIA PUT INTO PRACTICE." And he points out that in some theoria is preceded by action and in others action is preceded by theoria, but finally both have to end in one thing."
d) Mystical and Ascetic Life
Yet many of us separate the MYSTICAL from the ASCETIC LIFE. We think that the Mysteries (Sacraments) are chiefly for those who live in the world, while asceticism is for the monks. But THERE IS NO SUCH DISTINCTION IN THE Patristic (Fathers) teaching, for as we have previously analyzed, the Mysteries (Sacraments) are NOT independent of the experience of God's PURIFYING, ILLUMINATING AND DEIFYING ENERGY. As Father John Romanides of blessed memory pointed out, medical science cannot be separated from DIAGNOSIS and THERAPY. And the diagnosis and the therapy CANNOT in any way degenerate into several external ceremonial acts. In the same way the DIVINE LITURGY and PRAYER CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM PURIFICATION OF THE HEART AND ILLUMINATION OF THE NOUS.
e) Apophatic (negative) and cataphatic (positive) theology
We make a further watertight distinction between APOPHATIC and CATAPHATIC Theology. We insist that apophatic theology IS MORE PERFECT, WHILE cataphatic is IMPERFECT. Still the worst is when we see apophatic theology only in the existence of a few terms and expressions.
True, in the Patristic Teaching we encounter such a division. The expression of Saint John of Damascus is characteristic: "The Divinity, them, is limitless and incomprehensible, and His limitlessness and incomprehensibility is all that can be understood about Him. All that we state affirmatively about God does not show His nature, but only what relates to His nature." But then again, Saint John of Damascus says: "Moreover, there are things that are stated affirmatively of God,but which have the force of extreme negation."
There is an interpretation between apophatic and cataphatic theology. THEOLOGY IS ONE, AND IT IS EXPERIENCE, REVELATION (Apocalypse). The Saints attained theosis (deification) and saw God. They saw that God is Light, they saw God's energy. Thus God is participated in with regard to His energy, but He is altogether unshared by man with regard to His essence. But when the Saints wish to express this experience, they use negative figures. They say, for instance, that God IS LIGHT, but as the same time add, "because of His surpassing brightness" also in relation to the created light of knowledge, it is "darkness." Moreover, even the so-called affirmative expressions, such as that God is love (agape), in reality ARE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HUMAN REASON TO UNDERSTAND, in the terms of human thought and employing representations.
We can say that the knowledge of God is experience. The way to knowledge of God is APOPHATIC, which means that WE CONCENTRATE OUR NOUS IN OUR HEART, FOLLOWING, ACCORDING TO SAINT DIONYSIOS THE AREOPAGITE, THE UNIFORM CONCENTRATION OF THE NOUS. The experience of God, of God's ENERGY, IS POSITIVE. But the expression of this experience is formulated also by negative expressions ("invisible," "incomprehensible," "indescribable" etc.), because of man's INABILITY TO EXPRESS THIS EXPERIENCE.
f) Monks and Married People
We divide people further into monks and married people, and life into MONASTIC and MARRIED, with the result that we praise the monastic life, which we regard as better and more suited to keeping God's Commandments, while we disparage married life as not suitable for the practice of God's will.
Indeed we know very well that the Church praises BOTH WAYS OF LIFE, BOTH THE MONASTIC LIFE AND THE MARRIED LIFE. But this does not mean that one is praised at the expense of the other. And at this point must say that the interpretation of the Parable of the talents applies, which we mentioned before.
It can be maintained that in the Church the people are not divided simply into unmarried and married, but INTO PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN CHRIST AND PEOPLE WHO DO NOT LIVE IN CHRIST. Thus on the one hand we have people who have the Holy Spirit and on the other hand people who do not have the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in the first Church, as it seems in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, all the Christians, unmarried and married, LIVED LIKE MONKS, because even marriage HAS ITS ASCETICISM. Therefore, if some monk criticises marriage in Christ, he shows that he has a problem with the monastic life, and if a married person criticises and looks askance at the monastic life, means that he has a problem with the way in which he is living his life. A good monk never criticises what God praises and a good married person never criticises anything that God praises, such as the monastic life. Itis characteristic that the best homily about VIRGINITY is said to have been composed by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who was married: and a man who was unmarried, Saint Amphilochios of Ikonio, wrote excellent things about the married life. Moreover let us not forget that Saint Paphnoutios defended marriage for the Clergy in the First Ecumenical Council.
In his homily Saint Aphilochios of Ikonio shows that the Christian is a catholic man, in other words, WHOLE. He praises VIRGINITY and MARRIAGE. In speaking about virginity he says of marriage: "the worthy marriage towers above every earthly gift, such as a tree in fruit… as living branches." Then he says: "remove the worthy marriage and you do not find the flower of virginity." Moreover, teh comparison is between two worthy things, because Saint Aphilochios says: "Saying these things, we are not introducing a fight between virginity and marriage; WE ADMIRE BOTH AS MUTUALLY INDEBTED." To conclude, he says characteristically: "For without knowledge of divine things neither is virginity modest nor marriage worthy."
And the holy Chrysostom teaches many things about this subject. He says: "For our married people have everything in common with the monks except marriage." All people should adapt themselves to Christ's commandments. Therefore the Holy Father says characteristically: "If we are temperate neither marriage nor nourishment nor anything else will prevent us from being able to be will-pleasing to God." If marriage and raising children was going to hinder us on the path of virtue, the Creator of all things would not have brought marriage into our life." What Saint Basil the Great says is also characteristic: "We people, monks and married, are all required to obey the Gospel. Therefore we cannot justify our indolence by the particular way of life which we have chosen, nor can we criticise and dismiss another way of life which is not like our own. To be sure, there are degrees and spiritual ages." [Resources: The Mind of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 