Learning How To Die
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| (St. Mark the Ascetic - found here) |
“Man dies only once in his life, and as he lacks experience of the event he bungles it. So that he may die successfully, he must learn how to die by following the instruction of experienced men who know what it means to die in the midst of life. Asceticism gives us this experience of death.”
~Pavel Florensky
~Pavel Florensky
From St. Mark the Ascetic:
“Do not claim to have acquired virtue unless you have suffered affliction, for without affliction virtue has not been tested.”
“Do not claim to have acquired virtue unless you have suffered affliction, for without affliction virtue has not been tested.”
“When you are wronged and your heart and feelings are hardened, do not be distressed, for this has happened providentially; but be glad and reject the thoughts that arise within you, knowing that if they are destroyed at the stage when they are only provocations, their evil consequences will be cut off, whereas if the thoughts persist the evil may be expected to develop.”
“Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort.”
“Some without fulfilling the commandments think that they possess true faith. Others fulfill the commandments and then expect the kingdom as a reward due to them. Both are mistaken.”
“Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely enmeshed.”
“He who neglects action and depends on theoretical knowledge holds a staff of reed instead of a double-edged sword; and when he confronts his enemies in time of war, ‘it will go into his hand, and pierce it’ (2 Kgs. 18:21), injecting its natural poison.”
“Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort.”
“Some without fulfilling the commandments think that they possess true faith. Others fulfill the commandments and then expect the kingdom as a reward due to them. Both are mistaken.”
“Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely enmeshed.”
“He who neglects action and depends on theoretical knowledge holds a staff of reed instead of a double-edged sword; and when he confronts his enemies in time of war, ‘it will go into his hand, and pierce it’ (2 Kgs. 18:21), injecting its natural poison.”
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