The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily VIII, Part II

“A heart that is broken and humbled, God will not despise.”

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A man begins in need.

Not in strength. Not in clarity. Not in light. He begins in the knowledge that he cannot sustain himself. That something is lacking. That without help from above he will collapse inward upon his own poverty.

So he prays.

Not once, but many times. Not with ease, but with insistence. He multiplies prayers because he feels his need multiplying within him. And in this repetition something begins to happen that he did not plan.

His heart is broken.

Not by violence, but by truth. For no man can stand long in supplication without being humbled. To beg is already to descend. To entreat is already to abandon self-sufficiency. And so the heart, once scattered and wandering, begins to be gathered. Humility draws it inward. It ceases to roam because it has found its place. The low place.

And there, suddenly, everything changes.

Mercy encircles him.

Not as an idea, not as a consolation imagined, but as a presence that moves within him. A quiet strength. An assurance not born of reasoning. He perceives that help has come. That Another is acting. That he is no longer alone within himself.

And this perception gives birth to faith.

He understands now what prayer is. Not words cast into the air. Not effort straining toward heaven. But refuge. Shelter. Light. A staff in weakness. A shield in battle. A harbor in the storm. Everything he sought elsewhere is found here, hidden within this turning of the heart toward God.

Prayer is no longer something he does.

It becomes something he enters.

And then, without warning, it becomes joy.

The labor ceases. The heaviness lifts. The tongue that once struggled now moves with ease, or falls silent altogether. For the heart itself has begun to pray. It overflows. It glistens with assurance. It burns with a quiet knowledge that cannot be spoken.

And from this burning, thanksgiving erupts.

Not as duty. Not as obligation. But as astonishment. The soul, seized by the nearness of God, cannot contain itself. It bows, it trembles, it gives thanks. Sometimes in silence. Sometimes with a cry. Sometimes with a whisper that is more flame than sound.

This is the prayer that is given.

Not achieved. Not mastered. Given.

And here the Christian life is revealed for what it truly is.

Not discipline alone. Not struggle alone. But joy.

A joy that is born only in the humbled heart. A joy that the world does not know. A joy that rises from the knowledge that God Himself has drawn near, and that all things are now held within Him.

If you would learn to pray, do not seek words.

Descend.

Let your heart be broken.

Remain there.

And you will find that prayer is already waiting for you, not as effort, but as fire, as refuge, as joy that sends up thanksgiving without end.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:01:18 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 185 paragraph 2

00:13:05 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 185 paragraph 2

00:14:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 185 paragraph 2

00:15:57 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 185, 2

00:18:24 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "P. 185, 2" with 👍🏼

00:28:09 Kathryn Rose: Mary as co-redemptrix

00:28:14 Eleana Urrego: Mary is the supplicant omnipotence.

00:31:36 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "Mary as co-redemptri..." with ❤️

00:32:03 Jessica McHale: i think a sign of deepenied relationship with God is that prayer become joyful. It's like checkiing in during the day with a spouse and coming home at night to spouse, waking up to a spouse. I see Issac's point about humbling, but it can be a joyful humbling and sign of great trust and love.

00:36:11 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Mary as co-redemptri…" with ❤️

00:43:38 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 186, #4, first paragraph

00:49:09 Kathryn Rose: Joyful /ecstatic prayer is like god praying within us rather then us praying to god

00:49:52 Maureen Cunningham: Treasury of assurance could say a little

00:50:01 Eleana Urrego: Pray is how my heart breaths

00:50:19 Kate: Is this joy something other than psychological joy?  A joy that is not necessarily felt on a psychological level?

00:55:19 John ‘Jack’: I’d recently spoken to a man (an unbeliever) ; who had a believer friend come to his fathers funeral, he said the freind had a joy about him that actually changed him more than anything else ever had before.

00:56:23 John ‘Jack’: Yes

00:56:38 Maureen Cunningham: Pearl of great price

00:56:47 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "I’d recently spoken ..." with 😯

00:59:31 David Swiderski, WI: If you look back to the early church it was seeing love and joy that brought people to God. A spiritual director early in my life asked me "how many candles" have you lit for good things that have happened- getting a job, some blessing and how many asking for help for yourself or others. Love is rushing to share all good things with beloved as well as sharing our burdens.

01:00:59 Kathryn Rose: Yurodstvo is a Russian term for "holy foolishness" - becoming foolish for God

01:02:08 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "Yurodstvo is a Russi..." with ❤️

01:02:47 John ‘Jack’: Was just thinking today how so many of us will question why this “bad thing” happens, yet if we count them against our many blessings (which we often do not) it’s insignificant, just uncomfortable for us, so don’t like it.

01:05:37 Joan Chakonas: From My 51 years in the secular world I can attest to a zero apprehension of life with Christ; it is really hard to describe. But upon my first communion in 2012 it literally radically changed my life.  Overnight I felt the Eucharist and I became a daily communicant.  A completely different life ever since.

01:06:10 John ‘Jack’: Reacted to "From My 51 years in …" with ❤️

01:06:12 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "From My 51 years in ..." with ❤️

01:12:03 Kathryn Rose: I am learning how to pray different psalters, which I'm finding is a completely different than regular prayer. What is the purpose of psalter?

01:14:57 David Swiderski, WI: It helped me to understand the psalms a simple book Psalm basics for Catholics really helped me by John Bergsma. They are grouped. The book can be understood for kids as well.

01:14:58 John ‘Jack’: That’s the one I use, every day

01:15:24 Anna: Praying Psalter for a single night discussion

01:16:41 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You

01:17:16 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:17:20 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:17:27 Art: Thank you Father!

01:17:34 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you father, may God bless you, your mother and this group.

01:17:47 Anna: Lol

01:17:47 John ‘Jack’: I love a copy please!

01:17:50 Anna: 😂

01:17:51 Andrew Adams: Lol

01:17:56 Paul Grazal: too funny

01:17:58 Eleana Urrego: me 2 please

01:18:05 Anna: Amazon

01:18:18 Anna: What's the book?

01:18:28 Jesssica Imanaka: God Bless you Father and everyone! See you in teh Summer!

01:18:50 Andrew Adams: Should we send addresses if we haven’t already? I didn’t realize we were that far along.

01:18:53 Eleana Urrego: I dont mind please

01:19:34 Paul Grazal: Thank you Father !

01:19:40 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!

01:19:45 Eleana Urrego: how can I get a book?

01:19:47 jonathan: God bless you father