Episode 11: “Keep Thy Mind in Hell and Despair Not”, Saint Silouan the Athonite, with Prof. C. Veniamin

Episode 11: “Keep Thy Mind in Hell and Despair Not”
 Unit 16: “Sts. Silouan and Sophrony the Athonites: Principles of the Christian Life”, by Prof. Christopher Veniamin
Series: “Mystical Theology"

Based on the reading of St. Sophrony’s chapter, “Keep Thy Mind in Hell and Despair Not”, in Saint Silouan the Athonite, Episode 11 attempts to discern the practical significance of the great word given to St. Silouan the Athonite after 15 long years of arduous struggle against that most subtle of passions, pride. Presented by Prof. Christopher Veniamin, a spiritual child of St. Sophrony.

It is hoped that these presentations will help the enquirer discern the interwoven character of Orthodox theology and the Orthodox Christian life, and to identify the ascetic and pastoral significance of the Orthodox ethos.

Q&As related to Episode 11 available in The Professor’s Blog.

Recommended background reading: Saint Silouan the Athonite, by St. Sophrony the Athonite; and The Enlargement of the Heart, by Archimandrite Zacharias

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I wish to express my indebtedness to the spoken and written traditions of Sts Silouan and Sophrony the Athonites, Fr. Zacharias Zacharou, Fr. Kyrill Akon, Fr. Raphael Noica, Fr. Symeon Brüschweiler; Fr. John Romanides, Fr. Pavlos Englezakis, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Prof. Constantine Scouteris, Prof. George Mantzarides, Prof. John Fountoulis, Mtp Kallistos Ware, and Prof. Panayiotes Chrestou. My presentations have been enriched by all of the above sources. Responsibility however for the content of my presentations is of course mine alone. ©Christopher Veniamin 2023

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Transcript

Power of Humility and Despair

Speaker 1 0:00

Okay, let's turn to page 208 in Saint Siloane. As you can see, this is the chapter on Keep thy mind in hell and despair, not the word that was given to Saint Siloane after 15 years of intense spiritual struggle. The ascetic, in spiritual contemplation, beholds things which, for the overwhelming majority of people, are a mystery. But afterwards he is faced with the impossibility of communicating this mystery. Translated into human language, it is construed quite otherwise by him who hears it. The language of human words and concepts is able only to a very limited extent to convey one man's inner state to another. The indispensable condition for mutual understanding is a common or identical experience. Without it, there cannot be understanding, because behind our every word lies our whole life. Into every concept, each one of us introduces the compass of his own experience and knowledge, which makes it unavoidable that we should all speak in different tongues. Yet since we all share a common nature, it is equally possible, by words, to provoke a new experience in the soul of another and thus generate new life in him. And if this applies to human intercourse, how much more so does it apply where divine action is involved? The Word of God does in fact, given a certain inner disposition of the soul, offer new life, the eternal life which is contained within it. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

Speaker 1 2:23

No reader of the Gospels can fail to notice the apparent lack of sequence in Christ's conversation. Consider, for example, the exchanges with Nicodemus, with the woman of Samaria, with the disciples at the Last Supper. Christ's interest is directed not so much to what man says as to what there is in his heart of hearts and to what he is capable of receiving from God. Bearing in mind, then, not only the inadequacy but the clumsiness of language as a medium, let us now examine that strange manner of dialogue between God and the starets at prayer, which concluded with the starets hearing within himself the words keep thy mind in hell and despair not. At first reading, there appears to be little of profound significance about this prayer colloquy, but if we understood its inner meaning and the force of the revelation given to Siloan, we should be shaken to our very depths.

Speaker 1 3:43

Year after year, weeping, the starets implored the Saviour that the world should know God. If people, he thought and by people he meant all human beings could know the love and humility of God, like St Paul, they would count all things but loss, count them but dung. Their pastimes and interests would seem like childish toys, and with their whole strength, day and night, they would pursue this humility, this love. And if it were thus so, the starets would say, the entire face of the earth and the fate of all mankind would be transfigured in a single hour. So powerful is Christ-like humility.

Speaker 1 4:46

On Mount Tabor and on the day of Pentecost, it was revealed to Peter with indisputable force that there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The nations of Israel and the scribes marveled at the boldness of Peter and John, unlearned and ignorant men. To the unlettered and simple Siloan, mysteries hid from the wise and prudent were likewise revealed. And the night of that supernatural prayer, koalakui, is of immense importance in his life. The world is plunged deep in the darkness of spiritual ignorance. The way to life eternal is preached unceasingly in all languages, but in each generation those who really find it may be counted on one hand. Keep thy mind in hell and despair not. What does it mean to keep the mind in hell? Can it be that we are to use our imagination to conjure up circumstances for ourselves similar to those figured in some primitive painting In this instance.

Speaker 1 6:15

No, father Siloan, like certain greatfathers Saint Anthony, saint Sissoi, saint Macarius, saint Piemann during his lifetime actually descended into the darkness and torments of hell. They did this not once, but over and over again, until their hearts were so permeated that they were able to repeat the movement at will. They took refuge in it when passion, especially that most subtle of passions, pride, reared its head. The struggle against pride is, in fact, the final stage in the battle against the passions. To begin with, the ascetic must wrestle with the greater passions of the flesh, then with irritability and finally pride. This last combat is undoubtedly the most painful of all. Taught by long experience that pride leads to loss of grace, the ascetic consciously descends into hell, where every passion is seared with a hot iron. The starets observed that most people despair when they approach this state and give in. This is why the great Sissoi said who can bear Saint Anthony's thought? By the way, I know a man it was himself Sissoi who is able to bear it here.

Speaker 1 8:05

As Starit Siloan explained, sissoi was thinking of what Saint Anthony learned from the shoemaker of Alexandria. Saint Anthony had prayed the Lord to show him to what measure he had attained, and the answer was that he had not reached the standard of a certain shoemaker in Alexandria. Saint Anthony made his way to the man and asked him how he lived. The latter replied that he gave a third of his earnings to the church, a third to the poor and kept the rest for his own needs. Anthony, who had himself given up all he possessed and lived in the desert in greater poverty than the shoemaker, found nothing extraordinary in this. It was not here that he excelled. Anthony said to him the Lord sent me to you to see how you live. Then the humble working man, who looked up through Saint Anthony and was dismayed by his words, answered I don't do anything special. Only when I am working I look at passersby and think they'll all be saved. Only I shall perish.

Speaker 1 9:36

Anthony, sent by God to learn of the shoemaker Anthony, prepared by long and extraordinarily arduous ascetic struggle that had amazed all Egypt to grasp the real meaning of what the shoemaker said, sensed the force of his words and realized that he had not attained to the stature of the man. Returning to the desert, he applied himself to the matter and taught it to other Ancorites who had need not of milk but of strong meat. Since then other of the great desert fathers have passed it down through the centuries, a priceless heritage. Each of them, it is true, expressed it in his own way. Piemann the Great, for instance, used to say to his disciples Believe me, my children, where Satan is there shall I be cast also. But in essence the message remains the same.

Speaker 1 10:50

Blessed Staret Siloan said that many ascetics, when they approached that state, which is vital if one would be cleansed of the passions, would fall into despair and be unable to continue. But the one who knows how greatly the Lord loveth us escapes the pernicious effect of total despair and knows how to stand prudently on the verge so that the hellish fire burns away his every passion and he does not fool victim to despair. And despair not If the star at his account is a simple one, as simple as the shoemakers of Alexandria. The power and mystery of the matter will remain incomprehensible for anyone who has not known a similar experience of hellish torment on the one hand and the great gifts of grace on the other. Especially after that night of supernatural conversation in prayer, the star, at his long life of spiritual struggle, was wholly devoted to the search for humility. And if we would know the manner and secret of that striving, we must meditate on his beloved song, quote Soon I shall die and my accursed soul will descend into hell.

Speaker 1 12:33

There I shall suffer alone in the darkness of the prison house and cry with bitter tears. My soul wearies after the Lord and I seek him in tears. How could I not seek him? He first sought me out and manifested himself to me, a sinner. When he said my accursed soul will descend into hell, it was no mere figure of speech. He was referring to a real experience of hell, an experience which, through the years, et its way into his heart To such a degree that he was able, by a deliberate movement of his spirit, to renew it in himself. And when the burning torment had achieved its end, had destroyed the passionate thought or feeling he would stay the all-consuming fire by the saving action of the love of Christ, which he also knew and bore within him. He learned of this when he heard the response Keep thy mind in hell and despair not. The first words of his beloved song plunged him into hell. Then, by reminding him of God's love, he eluded.

Speaker 1 14:06

Despair and despair. Not Very few are able to do as the starretts did. By persevering in this struggle, the soul grows accustomed and acquires endurance. The thought of hell so takes over the soul as almost to become permanent. And this persistence is indispensable, for man clothed with flesh and living in the world is constantly subject to the pressure of sin all around him To defend himself, against which he must put on the armor of humility to the utmost degree. The star is declared. The Lord himself taught me the way to humble myself. Keep thy mind in hell and despair not. Thus is the enemy vanquished. But when my mind emerges from the fire, the suggestions of passion gather strength again.

Speaker 1 15:23

This brief, inconsistent expose is incapable of conveying any real understanding of the ineffably wondrous life where extreme suffering is allied to extreme bliss, the one accompanying the other in the strangest manner. If the suffering existed alone, it would be impossible to bear it, and if there were only bliss, that too would be past bearing. What do you take away from this passage? What do you understand that might be of help to you? You remember, on page 210, father Sophrony summarizes the struggle against the passion of pride.

Speaker 1 16:19

But he says the struggle against pride is the final stage in the battle against the passions. And first he says the ascetic must wrestle with the greater passions of the flesh, and then with irritability and finally pride. And of course, keep thy mind in hell and despair not. Is this final battle against pride, one would say, on the deepest possible level? And so I think it's fair to say it's probably on a level that, at least for most of us, is incomprehensible. We really have no knowledge, because we don't have the experience that St Silvan has. We really have no knowledge of the actual state that Father Sophrony is attempting to describe in human images and concept, in human language. So the question there is in what way can this example be of help to us? If it's so far above and beyond what many of us have experienced or even are likely to experience, what practical relevance does it have for us? But when Father Sophrony outlines in just a few words the quintessence of the shape of the spiritual life, that first we must struggle against the passions of the flesh, most of us understand that, at least we understand something of that.

Speaker 1 18:24

And then of irritability, you may have noticed in your own lives or in the lives of those around you that irritability, the passion of anger, is seen quite commonly among those who are struggling in the spiritual life to lead a chaste life. The enemy, when he sees that this is taking place, comes in various subtle ways to irritate, to disturb a soul that is truly striving to be temperate in order to destroy the peace that that striving brings. The peace, the calmness and the tranquility that is there can be destroyed in an instant by the fiery passion of anger, of irritability and with God's help we'll take a look at that, with the help of St John of the Ladder in his step on irritability. Because as soon as we begin to hold back a little bit and be a little more restrained on the physical level and place a certain emphasis on the spiritual life, on the life of prayer of course, then the enemy attacks us quite viciously. Because if he can succeed in doing that, then perhaps half the battle is won for him. Because, as we said, in an instant everything that we have gained, everything that we have managed to achieve in spiritual terms can be destroyed.

Speaker 1 20:26

I think it's Sturridge Thaddeus who says that a man who is subject to the spirit of anger is like a person who puts a blowtorch to his home. That's what we are doing spiritually when we allow ourselves to be defeated by the spirit of irritability and anger, but on the positive side. That's because we're waging a war, that's because we're trying to lead the chaste life and we must expect this reaction from the enemy. It's actually a sign that you're making progress, although when this happens and we fall, it doesn't feel like progress at all, it feels like desolation. But it's an opportunity to remind ourselves, to be reminded. God reminds us that we can do nothing without God's help, but anything that we might have achieved is with His help. So if we have even the slightest idea that we are something, because we've achieved some kind of modicum of peace or spiritual progress of some kind, the Lord gives us opportunities to see that without Him we can do nothing. Without Him, what is left is a very sad state of human wretchedness. So when Father Sophrony says, those who really find the way, this spiritual way that leads to the level of existence that St Sillian is an example of, those people may be counted, on one hand it doesn't sound very encouraging, does it? On the one hand, you could say it doesn't sound very encouraging On the other, what it does is it underlines for us that our saints, our holy fathers, are truly great. They're truly great Athletes of the Spirit, great men of God, and they are on our side.

Humility's Power in Spiritual Warfare

Speaker 1 22:57

What about the example of St Anthony that Father Sophrony gives? That Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, left the desert to find a humble shoemaker in the city of Alexandria? You know, emperor Constantine desired to see Anthony the Great and issued an invitation to him, and Anthony didn't go. But he went to see what it was that God wanted to teach him through the example of this simple shoemaker in Alexandria. And Father Sophrony presents this as another way of understanding the word that was given to St Sillian Keep thy mind in hell and despair not. What was the word of the shoemaker that Anthony managed in the end to elicit from him? I don't do anything special. Only when I'm working I look at passersby and think they'll all be saved, only I shall perish. Doesn't sound like any great philosophy, does it Back to?

Speaker 1 24:23

Father Sophrony says that these words that were given to St Sillian after 15 years of long and arduous struggle, a little curious to us because we don't understand what they mean. But to those who are in the midst of that cosmic battle, these words keep thy mind in hell and despair not. Or the words of the humble shoemaker they'll all be saved, only I shall perish. These words sound the trumpet of victory over death. Victory over death and corruption. To grasp the real meaning of what the shoemaker said, anthony sensed the force of his words and realized that he had not attained to the stature of the man. Notice. There are many things we could note from this description. One of them is not to denigrate asceticism because, as we said, asceticism is living the commandments of Christ and that's for all of us. But no amount of asceticism is going to do the trick unless it is accompanied by a humble thought, unless it's accompanied by humble mindedness.

Speaker 1 26:00

I know as an instructor, I know as a student, because I'm still a student, and I know as an instructor how difficult it is to teach someone who is not humble minded, who has a high regard for himself or herself. Such a person already knows, and I've met by this time I've met probably all the different kinds of characters. Some of them are there to see how well you know your subject. They're judging the instructor, how orthodox the instructor may be, but the basic problem is that without that humble mindedness they're closed up in themselves. They're wrapped up in themselves, and you see this not just in the classroom but in interactions with others. They don't make room, they don't make space for the other. They are the ones who say ah, that's me, that's how I am, and they expect the others to be flexible and to adjust and to adapt to them, to their will, to their way of thinking and to their way of living.

Speaker 1 27:32

But, as we've said before, the word to forgive in Greek is made up of two elements sing horror. So I make space to be together with the other. Just as Christ emptied himself and thereby embraced the whole world. When we forgive, we empty ourselves in order to make space to include and embrace the other. When you encounter a proud person, you see that that person is full of himself, filled with himself, and there is no space for the other, neither for neighbour nor for God. And there is a certain inflexibility in that whole approach, which means that person is not in communion with others. That person is an individual isolated out of communion with neighbour and with God.

Speaker 1 29:00

We have been called to become like Christ. We've been called to become perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect, and we know that none is perfect but God. And yet we have this command to become like Him if we would be with Him, and that requires cleansing of the passions, cultivation of the virtues, because we can't leave a void, we can't leave a. There's no such thing as a vacuum in the spiritual life. So you have to place something better where a negative passion was. You have to replace that with something better. That's why the Fathers emphasise the cultivation of the virtues and then the illumination of the noose and that striving towards perfection which is theosis in Christ.

Speaker 1 30:12

Now, as the saints teach us, as the Fathers teach us, thoughts come to us, and there are three kinds of thought those thoughts that come to us from God, which we must learn to accept. And there are those thoughts which come to us from the enemy, which we must learn to reject. And thirdly, there are those thoughts which are born of our own noose, our own spiritual world, and in some cases, masters of the spiritual life teach us that they can be more or less neutral. But ultimately what interests us and what we must strive to do is to exist on the plane of divine life. So our focus must be on that which is of God. Yes, thus is the enemy vanquished. Keep thy mind in hell and despair not.

Speaker 1 31:35

What does the first part of that saying help us to do so, as Father Zechariah says in his books, what that is is a voluntary downward movement. When we take refuge in hell, we're condemning ourselves to hell, which seems like a very negative thing. We're condemning ourselves to hell. How does that help us? I just mentioned thoughts. I referred to that as a clue. How does that help us spiritually, that movement of going down? Think of it this way. Think of it in terms of a battle. You know, we're engaged in a war. We may not be always aware of it, but there's a war going on. Okay, how does it help in terms of that war?

Speaker 1 32:41

Let's say we are constantly being pursued by the enemy, especially if we're trying to do something good. The enemy is there and persistent. So think of it in terms of being pursued by the enemy. Where do you go to escape the enemy? What can't he stand? Specifically, he can't stand a humble thought. What will he not do? Ever humble himself.

Speaker 1 33:17

This is highly significant. This is what the Saints are showing us when they go down in humble self-condemnation. What does the enemy refuse to do? He will never humble himself and he will never condemn himself, because that's an act of humility, humble mindedness. So when we condemn ourselves as unworthy unworthy of God and worthy of hell. We escape. We escape the wiles of the enemy and for as long as we do that, he cannot touch us. We can pray with an undistracted mind. We are at peace, at peace from the thoughts that he will assail us with, the enemy comes to us with.

Speaker 1 34:22

But at the same time, there is the other part of the word that was given to Siloane, which is despair. Not Because this self-condemnation, this going down down, as they say, to the nethermost parts of the earth, condemning ourselves to Hades itself, we find that the cross of Christ was planted down into the nethermost parts of the earth, so that when we go down voluntarily we said before, we follow the voluntary way of Christ we enter mystically into the stream of Christ's passion, of Christ's love. When he went down, he embraced thereby the whole cosmos, including Hades, so that when he rose from the dead, the light of his resurrection and his life filled every corner of the cosmos, including Hades. And despair, not why? Because we know that God is love, god is merciful and he loves a humble soul, a kindred soul. He loves all of us, but he is well pleased with a humble-minded soul, because when we begin to live in that way we begin to resemble him. So it's very important to know these things, even though the state of St Siloan, the state of St Anthony, the state of Sissois, you know they may be unreachable for us at this moment in time.

Speaker 1 36:37

Yet we must have our reference, we must have our focus on Christ and his saints as our examples, because hard times will come, difficulties will come, it won't be all plain sailing. The initial stage of inspiration will come to an end, because it will be time for us to go through the desert, like the children of Israel, and to remember the days of old, to meditate on things past, in order to remind us that, though we attempted to believe that God is not with us, he doesn't exist. There's not really a. Is there really an enemy? Is there really a God?

Speaker 1 37:32

We are reminded by the days of old, we are reminded by that wonderful period when grace was given freely and abundantly and, as it were, unworthily, because God wants to show us what it's like to be with him and then what it's like when we are not with him, because we have to choose. What is it that we want? God created us free and without that freedom we cannot become like him, since he is free. So we have to decide and show God that we are his servants and that we know that it's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. So it's very important because it's practical and when the time of difficulty comes, we have a reference point, we have an example. We know that we are not the first to go through these difficulties, these temptations, and we won't be the last, but that there is victory. There is victory for those who are patient and persevering and call upon the name of the Lord in their time of trouble.