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St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection
1. We receive salvation by grace and as a divine gift of the Spirit. But to attain the full measure of virtue we need also to possess faith and love, and to struggle to exercise our free will with integrity. In this manner we inherit eternal life as a consequence of both grace and justice. We do not reach the final stage of spiritual maturity through divine power and grace alone, without ourselves making any effort; but neither on the other hand do we attain the final measure of freedom and purity as a result of our own diligence and strength alone, apart from any divine assistance. If the Lord does not build the house, it is said, and protect the city, in vain does the watchman keep awake, and in vain do the laborer and the builder work (cf . Ps. I 27 : I -4).
2. What is the will of God that St Paul urges and invites each of us to attain (cf. I Thess. 4:3)? It is total cleansing from sin, freedom from the shameful passions and the acquisition of the highest virtue. In other words, it is the purification and sanctification of the heart that comes about through fully experienced and conscious participation in the perfect and divine Spirit. 'Blessed are the pure in heart,' it is said, 'for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8); and again: 'Become perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect' (Matt. 5:48). And the psalmist says: 'Let my heart be unerring in Thy statutes, so that I am not ashamed' (Ps. I 19:80); and again: 'When I pay attention to all Thy commandments, then I will not be ashamed' (Ps. I 19:6). And to the person that asked, 'Who will ascend the Lord's hill, or who will stand in His holy place?' The psalmist replied: 'He that has clean hands and a pure heart' (Ps. 24:3-4), that is to say, he who has completely destroyed sin in act and thought.
3. The Holy Spirit, knowing that the unseen and secret passions are hard to get rid of - for they are as it were rooted in the soul - shows us through the psalmist how we can purify ourselves from them. 'Cleanse me from my secret faults', writes the psalmist (Ps. 19: 12), as though to say that through much prayer and faith, and by turning completely to God, we are able, with the help of the Spirit, to conquer them. But this is on condition that we too strive against them and keep strict watch over our heart (cf Prov. 4:23).
4. Moses indicates figuratively that the soul should not be divided in will between good and evil, but should pursue the good alone; and that it must cultivate not the dual fruits of virtue and vice but those of virtue only. For he says: 'Do not yoke together on your threshing floor animals of a different species, such as ox and ass; but yoke together animals of the same species and so thresh your corn' (cf. Deut. 22:10). This is to say, do not let virtue and vice work together on the threshing floor of your heart, but let virtue alone work there. Again he says: 'Do not weave flax into a woolen garment, or wool into a linen garment' (cf. Deut. 22: 11); and: 'Do not cultivate two kinds of fruit together on the same patch of your land' (cf. Deut. 22:9). Similarly, you are not to mate an animal of one species with an animal of another species, but to mate like with like. All this is a concealed way of saying that you must not cultivate virtue and vice together in yourself, but you must devote yourself singlemindedly to producing the fruits of virtue; and you must not share your soul with two spirits - the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world - but you must give it solely to the Spirit of God and must reap only the fruits of the Spirit. It is for this reason that the psalmist writes: 'I have prospered in all Thy commandments; I hate every false way' (Ps. 119: 128).
5. The virgin soul that desires to be united to God must keep itself pure not only from overt sins like unchastity, murder, theft, gluttony, backbiting, falsity, avarice, greed and so on; but to an even greater degree it must keep itself pure from sins that are hidden, such as desire, self-esteem, love of popularity, hypocrisy, love of power, wiliness, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, self-love, affectation and other things of this kind. According to Scripture, these concealed sins of the soul are just as pernicious as the overt sins. 'The Lord has scattered the bones of those who seek to please men', it says (Ps. 53:5. LXX); and: The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man' (Ps. 5:6), thus making it clear that deceitfulness is just as abhorrent to God as murder. Again, it numbers among the 'workers of iniquity' those who 'speak peace to their neighbor but have evil in their hearts' (Ps. 28: 3), and elsewhere it speaks of those who commit lawless acts in their hearts (cf. Ps. 58:2). It also says: 'Woe to you, when men speak well of you' (Luke 6:26) - that is to say, when you want to hear people say good things about you and when you hang upon their glory and praise. It is true that those who do good cannot escape notice altogether. Indeed, the Lord Himself says: 'Let your light shine before men' (Matt. 5:16), though here it is understood that we do good for the glory of God and not for our own glory or because we desire men's praise. If this is not the case, then we are lacking in faith, as the Lord makes clear when He says: 'How can you have faith when you receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?' (John 5:44). St Paul bids us to do everything, even to eat and to drink, for the glory of God; 'for.' he says, 'whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do it for the glory of God' (1 Cor. 10:31). And St John equates hatred with murder when he says: 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer' (1 John 3 : I 5).
6. 'Love bears with all things, patiently accepts all things; love never fails' (1 Cor. 13:7-8). This phrase 'never fails' makes it clear that, unless they have been granted total deliverance from the passions through the most complete and active love of the Spirit, even those who have received spiritual gifts are still liable to falter: they are still in danger, and must struggle in fear against the attacks launched on them by the spirits of evil. St Paul shows that not to be in danger of falling or liable to passion is such a lofty state that the tongues of angels, prophecy, all knowledge and gifts of healing are as nothing compared to it (cf. I Cor. 13:1-8).
7. St Paul has here indicated the goal of perfection so that everyone, realizing his poverty in the face of such richness, may long for it intensely and may strive forward along the spiritual path until he attains it. As has been said: 'Run, that you may reach your goal' (1 Cor. 9:24).
8. To deny oneself (cf. Matt. 16:24) is to be ready to give up everything for the brethren's sake and not to follow one's own will in anything, or to possess anything except one's own clothes. He who attains this state, and is thus freed from all things, joyfully does only what he is asked to do. He regards all the brethren, and especially the superiors and those appointed to bear the burdens of the monastery, as lords and masters for Christ's sake. In this way he obeys Christ who said: 'He among you who wants to be first and pre-eminent, let him be the last of all and the servant and slave of air(cf Mark 9:35), not inviting any glory, honor or praise from the brethren for his service and conduct. He serves the brethren with complete goodwill, with love and simplicity, not with outward show and with an eye to gaining popularity, but regarding himself as a debtor in everything.
9. The superiors of the community, who shoulder a great burden, must fight the crafty designs of evil with the weapon of humility, lest because of the authority they exercise over their subordinate brethren they grow proud and so act to their own detriment rather than to their profit. They should be like compassionate fathers, in the name of God giving themselves bodily and spiritually to the service of the community, keeping watch over the brethren and constantly looking after them as children of God. Outwardly they should not disown the rank of superior, as for instance in giving orders or advice to the more experienced monks, or in punishing or rebuking someone when necessary, and in encouraging where it is appropriate; otherwise, on the grounds that they are being humble or gentle, they will introduce confusion into the monastery through not preserving the due order of superiors and subordinates. But inwardly, in their own minds, they should regard themselves as unworthy servants of all their brethren, and as teachers entrusted with the Lord's children; and with unreserved goodwill and fear of God they should do all they can to make each of the brethren apt for every good work, knowing that the reward they will receive from God for such labor will be great and inalienable.
10. There are times when servants whose task it is to instruct the young do not hesitate in all charity to beat them for the sake of discipline or good behavior, even if those they punish are the children of their own masters. Similarly, superiors should punish those of the brethren in need of discipline, yet not in anger or haughtiness, or for personal revenge, but with compassion and with a view to their reform and spiritual profit.
11. He who wants to be stamped with the virtues should pursue before everything else and at all times fear of God and holy love, the first and greatest of the commandments (cf. Matt. 22:38). Let him continually beseech the Lord to send this love into his heart, and thus let him advance and grow, augmenting it by grace day by day through the ceaseless and unbroken remembrance of God. Through diligence and effort, concern and struggle he becomes capable of acquiring love for God, given form within him by the grace and bounty of Christ. Through such love the second commandment, love for one's neighbor (cf Matt. 22:39), can easily be attained. Let these two primary commandments take precedence over the others and let him pursue them more than the others. In this way the secondary commandments will follow naturally on the primary. But should he neglect this first and great commandment, the love for God that is formed with divine help from our inner disposition, our clear conscience and our life-giving remembrance of God, then in consequence of this neglect he cannot soundly and purely accomplish the second commandment, that requires simply the outward diligence of service. For the guile of evil, finding the intellect void of the remembrance of God, and of love and longing for Him, will make the divine commandments appear harsh and laborious, kindling in his soul grumbling, resentment and complaints about having to serve the brethren; or else it will deceive him with the presumption of self -righteousness, filling him with arrogance and making him think that he is of great importance and worthy of esteem, and that he has entirely fulfilled the commandments.
12. When a man thinks that he is keeping the commandments perfectly, it is obvious that he is mistaken and that he is breaking one of them, since he judges himself and does not submit to the true judge. But when, in St Paul's words (cf. Rom. 8:16), the Spirit of God testifies along with our spirit, then indeed we are worthy of Christ and are children of God. This is not the case', however, when we justify ourselves merely on the basis of what we ourselves think. It is not the man who commends himself that is to be trusted, but he whom Christ commends (cf. 2 Cor. 10:18). When a man lacks the remembrance and fear of God, it is inevitable that he will long for glory and will seek for praise from those whom he serves. As has already been explained, such a person is called an unbeliever by Christ; for He says: 'How can you have faith when you receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?' (John 5:44).
13. As has been said, love for God can be attained through the intellect's great struggles and labors in holy meditation and in unremitting attention to all that is good. The devil, on the contrary, impedes our intellect, not letting it devote itself to divine love through the remembrance of what is good, but enticing the senses with earthly desires. For the intellect that dwells undistractedly in the love and remembrance of God is the devil's death and, so to say, his noose. Hence it is only through the first commandment, love for God, that genuine love for one's brother can be established, and that true simplicity, gentleness, humility, integrity, goodness, prayer and the whole beautiful crown of the virtues can be perfected. Much struggle is needed, therefore, and much inward and unseen travail, much scrutiny of our thoughts and training of our soul's enfeebled organs of perception, before we can discriminate between good and evil, and strengthen and give fresh life to the afflicted powers of our soul through the diligent striving of our intellect towards God. For by always cleaving to God in this way our intellect will become one spirit with the Lord, as St Paul puts it (cf I Cor. 6:17).
14. Those aspiring to the state of virtue must strive to fulfill the commandments by sustaining this inward struggle, travail and meditation unceasingly night and day, whether praying or serving, eating or drinking, or doing anything else. In this way, if any good comes about it will be to God's glory and not to their own. The fulfillment of the commandments presents no difficulty or trouble to us when it is facilitated by the love of God and when this love relieves it of all that is burdensome. As has been said, the whole effort of the enemy is directed towards distracting the intellect from the remembrance, fear and love of God, and to turning it by means of earthly forms and seductions away from what is truly good towards what appears to be good.
15. The patriarch Abraham, when he was receiving Melchisedec, the priest of God, made him an offering from the firstfruits of the earth and so obtained his blessing (cf. Gen. 14:19-20). Through this incident the Spirit indicates that the first and highest elements of our constitution - the intellect, the conscience, the loving power of the soul - must initially be offered to God as a holy sacrifice. The firstfruits and the highest of our true thoughts must be continually devoted to remembrance of Him, engrossed in His love and in unutterable and boundless longing for Him. In this way we can grow and move forward day by day, assisted by divine grace. Then the burden of fulfilling the commandments will appear light to us, and we will carry them out faultlessly and irreproachably, helped by the Lord Himself on account of our faith in Him.
16. Where outward ascetic practice is concerned, which virtue is the most important? The answer to this is that the virtues are linked one to the other, and follow as it were a sacred sequence, one depending on the other. For instance, prayer is linked to love, love to joy, joy to gentleness, gentleness to humility, humility to service, service to hope, hope to faith, faith to obedience, and obedience to simplicity. Similarly, the vices are linked one to another: hatred to anger, anger to pride, pride to self-esteem, self-esteem to unbelief, unbelief to hardheartedness, hardheartedness to negligence, negligence to sluggishness, sluggishness to apathy, apathy to listlessness, hstlessness to lack of endurance, lack of endurance to self-indulgence, and so on with all the other vices.
17. The devil tries to soil and defile every good thing a man would do by intermingling with it his own seeds in the form of self-esteem, presumption, complaint, and other things of this kind, so that what we do is not done for God alone, or with a glad heart. Abel offered a sacrifice to God of the fat and firstlings of his flock, while Cain offered gifts of the fruits of the earth, but not of the firstfruits: and that is why God looked with favor on Abel's sacrifices, but paid no attention to Cain's gifts (cf Gen. 4:3-5). This shows us that it is possible to do something good in the wrong way - that is to say, to do it negligently, or scornfully, or else not for God's sake but for some other purpose; and for this reason it is unacceptable to God.
