A Prayer From Libya: Dancing With the Angels

St. Thalassios the Libyan

St. Thalassios was the abbot of an Orthodox monastery in Libya and a contemporary of the great 7th century figure St. Maximos the Confessor.  In volume II of the Philokalia, we find a stirring prayer included in his treatise On Love, Self-control and Life in accordance with the Intellect:

“Christ, Master of all, free us from all these destructive passions and the thoughts born of them. For Thy sake we came into being, so that we might delight in the paradise which Thou hast planted and in which Thou hast placed us.  We brought our present disgrace upon ourselves, preferring destruction to the delights of blessedness.

We have paid for this, for we have exchanged eternal life for death.  O Master, as once Thou hast looked on us, look on us now; as Thou becamest man, save all of us.  For Thou camest to save us who were lost.  Do not exclude us from the company of those who are being saved.  Raise up our souls and save our bodies, cleansing us from all impurity.  Break the fetters of the passions that constrain us, as once Thou has broken the ranks of impure demons.  Free us from their tyranny, so that we may worship Thee alone, the eternal light, having risen from the dead and dancing with the angels in the blessed, eternal, and indissoluble dance.  Amen.”

As a Wesleyan, I am quite drawn to the Orthodox language of “those who are being saved” (and of course, such language is Pauline also).  The emphasis on salvation as a path rather than an achievement is sadly overlooked in much of the Western church.

I also love the image of Jesus victoriously dancing after the resurrection, and bidding all to join in his “blessed, eternal, and indissoluble dance.”  I know many Christians for whom Jesus and dancing are opposites!

I was reminded of one of my favorite hymns, The Lord of the Dance, which I was blessed to hear in worship this past Sunday. No, not the Irish dancing guy.  But here are some Irish guys, not dancing, but singing it quite well:

It also seems appropriate to offer a prayer from Libya asking for deliverance from destructive passions, which have been on display so tragically in Libya and across the Middle East.  May Christ, the Lord of the Dance, free us from love of self and slavery to sin, and may he teach us instead to join in the blessed, eternal, life-giving dance.

On Vestments and Character: Some Wisdom from the Philokalia

For my devotional reading, I’ve been working through the collection of centuries-old Orthodox teachings called the Philokalia.  I was struck this morning by some words from St. Neilos the Ascetic.   He writes about the dissonance, in his day, between the holy garments worn by monastics (called the “habit”) and the life they live.  I think it has something to say to those of us who wear clergy vestments as well (even if you’re Baptist and that means a suit!).  Here goes:

Today, a person wears the monastic habit without washing away the stains on his soul, or erasing the marks which past sins have stamped upon his mind; indeed, he may still take lustful pleasure in the fantasies these sins suggest.  He has not yet trained his character so as to fit his vocation, nor does he grasp the purpose of the divine philosophy.  Already he has developed a Pharisaic superciliousness, being filled with conceit by his robes.  He goes about carrying various tools [the Bible, perhaps?] the use of which he does not understand.  By virtue of his outward dress he lays claim to a knowledge which in reality he has not tasted even with the tip of his tongue.  He is a reef, not a harbor; a whited sepulcher, not a temple; a wolf, not a sheep; the ruin of those decoyed by his appearance. (“Ascetic Discourse,” The Philokalia: Volume 1 [New York: Faber & Faber 1979], 204).

Whew.  Hard words.  Such language represents a stringent spirituality that is absent from nearly all Protestant contexts these days.  They are humbling and powerful, to me, as one who wears another kind of robe.

Peace to you today, and grace to all those who wear the robes.  May our character reflect our vocation.

 

P.S. For more Orthodox inspiration, check out Ancient Faith radio.  It’s like K-Love, except it is spiritually profound and has theological integrity.