A Course in Desert Spirituality

by Thomas Merton

  Conference 2: “On Discretion”

  At the end of the first Conference, Abbot Moses observes that they have passed naturally from purity of heart to a new subject: discretion. He adds that they have now been up late and talked long. Hence he will break off, and they can get the necessary sleep to refresh body and mind, so that on the next day he may speak to them of discretion after they have first practiced it by moderation in speech and taking the necessary rest. He tells them that the subject of discretion is very important, since according to him discretion holds the first place among the virtues. (This can be held in the sense in which St. Thomas holds that prudence: [a] disposes the use of means towards attaining the proper end of each moral virtue; [b] by disposing the means properly, it aids us in attaining the proper balance between extremes, which is essential to every moral virtue [II–II, Q. 47, art. 6 and 7]. Hence without prudence the other moral virtues will not function properly, and in this sense prudence is the most important of them all.) Cassian’s discretion is a special aspect of prudence: prudence in so far as it is enlightened as to the true motives of our actions, and disposes means to ends in the light of this knowledge. But it is also more than prudence, it is a work of the Gift of Counsel.

  Chapter 1: Abbot Moses begins by stating that the necessity of discretion will be seen from the examples of the many Desert Fathers who fell through lack of it. And this is the sober truth. He will therefore concentrate first on the need for discretion. Then he will go on to discuss the ways of acquiring and practicing it.

  Moses declares that discretion is a heroic virtue, “not an ordinary virtue.” He adds that it is eminently supernatural, and a true gift of grace, “not one which human effort is somehow capable of gaining, unless it has been united with the divine gift of grace.” Here he speaks evidently not only of the infused virtue of prudence but of the charismatic gift of discernment of spirits. Scholastic theology would make clearer distinctions. It is for us to take Cassian as he stands, and not to demand too great technical precision: “The task assigned to discretion is neither earthly nor small. . . . The monk must go after it with all his energies.” Note his description of discretion as a certain knowledge of the “spirits that arise within us.” “If not, he will walk in complete darkness, and not only incur grave dangers of complete spiritual ruin, but meet with many obstacles and difficulties where the way should be smooth and simple.”

  [For] proof from the tradition of the Desert Fathers, especially St. Anthony, read an account of a discussion of St. Anthony and his disciples at which Moses was present as a young monk in the Thebaid. The question was raised, which is the most important of the virtues (or means of monastic perfection)? Some said fasting, vigils; others poverty, solitude; still others, in the practice of fraternal charity. St. Anthony having listened to them all, said: “All these things are necessary and useful—but many who have practiced them have nevertheless come to ruin. Hence they do not of themselves bring a monk to sanctity. There must be something else.” He adds that if they study the ruin of great ascetics and solitaries and find out what was lacking, they will probably discover the real key to true perfection, “that which first and foremost leads to God.” They fell because they went to excess, and they did this because they had not been properly instructed in the ways of monastic perfection and hence lacked discretion. Without discretion their other virtues came to nothing and bore no fruit. Discretion, avoiding contrary extremes, teaches the royal road to God, and this discretion is what the Gospel calls: “the light of the body which is the eye, and if the eye be single the whole body is lightsome” (Matt. 6:23). Discretion is neither carried away by enthusiasm, “lifted up” in time of fervor, nor depressed and discouraged in time of trial. After the discussion of some Scripture texts on the necessity of doing all things with wisdom and counsel Abbot Moses concludes that “no virtue can be made perfect or even continue in existence without discretion.” Discretion leads us safely to God; it brings us more easily to the heights of perfection, while without it these heights would be impossible to reach at all by most men. Discretion in a word gives sound judgement which is absolutely necessary in a solitary. It gives solidity and perseverance to monastic vocation: “that leads a monk undisturbed to God by set stages.”

  Examples of indiscretion: Hero—following his own will and judgement rather than the monastic traditions, [he] refused to participate in Easter synaxis, [and] deluded by the devil, he jumped in a well; the two brothers in the desert, one of whom dies of presumption because he wants to be fed by a miracle; the monk who tried to sacrifice his son to God, deluded after many false visions—his son sees him sharpening up the knife and takes to flight; the monk whose illusory revelations led him to circumcise himself and fall into Judaism. In all these examples we have presumption, independence, reliance on one’s own interior lights, leading to complete lack of contact with reality and gross errors ending in spiritual destruction.

  Fully convinced by these stories that discretion is absolutely necessary and that all the other virtues depend on it, Germanus asks how it may be acquired and how true and false discretion may be known. Moses answers that discretion depends entirely on humility. (St. Benedict was therefore very wise in making it the heart of his ascesis and of his Rule.)

  Signs of true humility:

  a) The first sign of humility is submission to the judgement of a senior (Spiritual Father), not only in the matter of one’s actions but also of all one’s judgements. Humility therefore goes with docility, and obedience. It is marked by a salutary distrust of our own judgements, and submission to those who have likewise submitted to those before them. This standard is practical only when applied to concrete monasteries and Spiritual Fathers. It is not merely a matter of guiding yourself with an approved book, but of following the customs and traditions of the group to which you belong. If it is certain that these customs and traditions are not for you, then go elsewhere.

  b) Together with docility, the other necessary disposition for acquiring discretion is openness with the Spiritual Father. The enemy cannot deceive one who, “has learned not to conceal, out of a dangerous shame, all the thoughts being produced in his heart, but either rejects or allows them in conformity with the mature probing of the elders.” By this we are protected against our own ignorance and inexperience. Evil or indiscreet thoughts often lose their sting as soon as we resolve to manifest them.

  [Consider] the example of the disciple who was hiding an extra loaf and eating it in the evening—the devil departs from him as soon as he confesses his fault to the Spiritual Father. Conclusion: the devil ruins those who trust in their own judgement and hide their acts and thoughts from their Spiritual Father.

  [Now,] not all Spiritual Fathers are of equal merit. Cassian does not believe blindly in manifestation of conscience as a universal remedy for all ills. It can happen that the Father himself is indiscreet. Hence one must make a wise choice of the senior to whom one entrusts himself. The mere fact that a monk is old and has grey hair does not mean that we should accept his teaching or follow his example. The Spiritual Father himself is to be chosen for his true discretion, proved by a long life of virtue, and by fidelity to the true monastic tradition, not just adherence to his own will and opinions. The prudent Father is one who is able to understand and [is] compassionate with human weakness. He must above all understand that it is grace of God that makes saints.

  The second Conference ends with answering the main question which had interested Germanus and Cassian, namely how to overcome distractions and live in a state of continual prayer. This will be treated in Conferences 9 and 10 by Abbot Isaac; also in Conference 4 of Abbot Daniel, on Temptations, and Conference 7 of Abbot Serenus, on “The Instability of the Mind and Evil Spirits.”

  Conference 4: “On the Desire of the Flesh and of the Spirit” by Abbot Daniel

  The question: Why are our thoughts and moods so mobile and unstable? Consolation and desolation—fervor and inability to pray—alternate without appar
ent reason.

  We asked this blessed Daniel why it was that as we sat in the cells we were sometimes filled with the utmost gladness of heart, together with inexpressible delight and abundance of the holiest feelings, so that I will not say speech, but even feeling could not follow it, and pure prayers were readily breathed, and the mind being filled with spiritual fruits, praying to God even in sleep could feel that its petitions rose lightly and powerfully to God: and again, why it was that for no reason we were suddenly filled with the utmost grief, and weighed down with unreasonable depression, so that we not only felt as if we ourselves were overcome with such feelings, but also our cell grew dreadful, reading palled upon us, aye and our very prayers were offered up unsteadily and vaguely, and almost as if we were intoxicated: so that while we were groaning and endeavoring to restore ourselves to our former disposition, our mind was unable to do this, and the more earnestly it sought to fix again its gaze upon God, so was it the more vehemently carried away to wandering thoughts by shifting aberrations and so utterly deprived of all spiritual fruits, as not to be capable of being roused from this deadly slumber even by the desire of the kingdom of heaven, or by the fear of hell held out to it.

  Threefold cause: “from our own negligence, or from the attack of the devil, or from the permission of the Lord.” He begins with this one.

  Reasons for our testing by Divine action causing aridity and desolation.

  1) To promote humility and self-knowledge, self-distrust, [and] realization of our dependence on grace.

  2) To test our perseverance [and] the seriousness of our will to serve God, and to stimulate us to further effort.

  We can do nothing without grace, and indeed grace visits us frequently and awakens us from negligence when we have done nothing to deserve it:

  And by this it is clearly shown that God’s grace and mercy always work in us what is good, and that when it forsakes us, the efforts of the worker are useless, and that however earnestly a man may strive, he cannot regain his former condition without His help, and that this saying is constantly fulfilled in our case: that it is “not of him that willeth or runneth but of God which hath mercy.” And this grace on the other hand sometimes does not refuse to visit with that holy inspiration of which you spoke, and with an abundance of spiritual thoughts, even the careless and indifferent; but inspires the unworthy, arouses the slumberers, and enlightens those who are blinded by ignorance, and mercifully reproves us and chastens us, shedding itself abroad in our hearts, that thus we may be stirred by the compunction which He excites, and impelled to rise from the sleep of sloth. Lastly we are often filled by His sudden visitation with sweet odours, beyond the power of human composition, so that the soul is ravished with these delights, and caught up, as it were, into an ecstasy of spirit, and becomes oblivious of the fact that it is still in the flesh.

  The value of trial and temptation [is then] illustrated by texts from Old and New Testaments. The struggle between flesh and spirit is salutary, willed for us by God to keep us from a false security and complacent self-satisfaction.

  [The] psychology of temptation and conflict: in examination of the limits of voluntary control, and involuntary activity of the passions, he represents the will as situated in between “the desire of the flesh” and the “desire of the spirit.” The latter a desire and appetite for fasting, prayer, etc. The will is represented as by nature inclined to compromise, wanting the fruits of the spirit without renouncing the flesh; hence, [it is] tepid. However there is another aspect. The will is also inclined to moderation and should not be drawn away to excess even in the use of spiritual means like fasting and mortification. So the struggle is productive of “balance through moderation.” The desires of the flesh remind the will to turn to God for help. Excess of mortification leads to exhaustion and will returns to necessary relaxation of flesh in order to maintain a just equilibrium. In this way purity of heart is acquired by constant struggle. Thus the soldier of Christ is taught to follow the “Royal Way,” the King’s highway (via regia) which is the middle path. Demons try to upset this balance by undue pressure on one side or the other—leading to excess in material things or in spiritual exercises.

  Conferences 9 and 10: “Abbot Isaac on Prayer”

  Together with the first, of which they are a logical continuation, these are the two most important of Cassian’s conferences, and the most interesting for contemplative monks. They are the solid foundation of Benedictine prayer.

  At the end of Abbot Moses’ first Conference on Purity of Heart, the question of distractions and constant prayer was raised. That led into the topic of discretion in the second Conference, but this was a by-path. Not until the ninth Conference does Cassian return to the question of the pure prayer which must constantly rise from the heart of the monk who is tranquil and purified of his attachments to inordinate passion. Conference 9 begins with a résumé of the basic ideas in Conference 1, to tie in the subject of pure prayer. It starts with a treatment of the qualities of pure prayer, goes on to talk of the different kinds of prayer and how they are to be used. This is followed by a brief commentary on the Lord’s Prayer. After this, Cassian goes on to speak of mystical prayer and the gift of tears, and returns after that to certain external conditions for solitary prayer.

  Conference 10 begins with a couple of brief digressions, on the Egyptian custom for the celebration of Easter and on the anthropomorphite heresy, which leads in to the question of the humanity of Our Lord and our prayer. The rest of the conference is taken up with the question of perpetual prayer and how to avoid distractions. We have already touched upon this in connection with the subject of distractions in the first conference. Let us turn now to Conference 9 which is the more important of the two.

  Purity of Heart and Pure Prayer

  Abbot Isaac takes up the theme of Abbot Moses: purity of heart. Why? Because the monk is essentially and above all a man of prayer. He purifies his heart in order by prayer and contemplation to be as constantly united with God as is possible in the present life. According to Abbot Isaac, constant prayer is the reason for our withdrawal from the world, and it is the normal accompaniment of purity of heart. The two go together. So just as everything in the monastic life tends to produce purity of heart so everything in the monastic life tends to promote uninterrupted perseverance in prayer, unshaken tranquillity of mind, and perfect purity of heart. With constant prayer there is the problem: not constant consolation; not constant feeling after prayer; prayer as a virtue, a habitus, part of a whole context of virtues. All the virtues of the monk tend to this summit of prayer, but if they do not attain it, they cannot remain stable themselves. All the monastic observances should tend to keep us in constant prayer; for instance, the balance between bodily and spiritual works is designed to promote true prayer.

  Note the wisdom of the Desert Fathers: A superficial reader of such a text might think the important thing is the perpetual application to prayer and unconsciously think that this would mean perpetual application of the mind in the same way all the time to prayer, and this is in fact fatal to the life of prayer. We must wisely preserve a healthy alternation between bodily and spiritual works, so that our faculties and powers apply themselves in turn in different ways to prayer, and one rests while the other works.

  Prayer is the soul of the life of virtue. Prayer is the completion of the edifice of virtue. Virtue without prayer is then imperfect, and the most important thing is lacking to a life of virtue if contemplation (in some sense) is absent from it. Isaac even goes further, and adds that unless the organism of virtue is kept alive and integrated by prayer, which is its fulfillment, it will die and disintegrate. “Unless all these things have been brought together [and joined] with this as its completion, by no means can they endure in firmness and stability.” Prayer climaxes and “fixes” perfection. At the same time, prayer (contemplation) cannot be acquired without the exercise of all the virtues. Hence there is a vital and essential relationship between prayer and all the virtu
es in the spiritual life (virtues—“strengths”). Since the life of prayer is built on the foundation of virtues, it is useless to talk about it unless we keep in mind the virtues on which it depends. This is just another way of linking prayer and purity of heart, because the function of all the virtues is to purify the heart and remove those obstacles which make it difficult or impossible to keep recollected and engage ourselves with God alone.

  The most important virtues for the life of prayer, singled out here for special mention, are simplicity, humility, mortification, [and] faith (in the Gospels). When these four foundation stones are laid at the base of the edifice it cannot be shaken by passions or by the attacks of the enemy. But note—it will be attacked. Steps to take in the life of virtue to prepare for pure prayer “in order for prayer to be offered with that fervor and purity that is proper”:

  a) Get rid of all cares for material things, and for worldly business. A clean sweep must be made of all sources of distraction—i.e., of all avoidable business. Renounce all concern with secular and material affairs, in so far as it is possible.

  b) Purify the memory of all vain talk, distractions, idle jokes, and avoid all conversations where these will be heard; hence serious practice of silence.

  c) Get rid of temptations to anger, tristitia “sadness,” and lust—this most of all by solitude, withdrawal from the world.

  d) Lay the foundations of humility really deep in the soul (“stable foundations of deep humility”).

  e) Then build on humility all the other virtues.

  f) Take a special care for recollection, outside the time of prayer, lest we bring distractions with us to our prayer. An interesting expression is used: “prostrating ourselves for peace”—for “going to pray” or “settling down to prayer”: “peace” taken as synonymous for prayer. Lesson: prayer depends on our submission to God and humility, in which is true peace.