Sacrament and Asceticism

What does a pious Orthodox life look like? For those of us in North America, who so often come from diverse, non-Orthodox backgrounds, this normative pattern of life is difficult to acquire in and must be sought out. As a result, we often find ourselves full of pious feeling, but without a normative expression of this piety being in our experience, we fall into a state of spiritual disorientation—what the Holy Fathers sometimes call prelest, or delusion—when our zeal is not yet formed by the mind of the Church. This manifests itself in a myriad of ways, but for the sake of a quick definition I will describe the extremes.

Some might adopt rigorous asceticism and outward forms of piety, but place very little importance on the sacramental life of the Church. Suddenly, without a spiritual father, and leaning only on their own understanding and ascetic effort they find themselves deluded and alone. They rarely go to confession and communion. They might become puffed up and think of themselves as wise and holy, and therefore, they believe they have no need of guidance. They disregard the teachings of their Bishop or their Priest who represents him, thinking, perhaps not consciously, they are beyond such instruction. As St. Ignatius Brianchaninov warns, “He who has no guide, no Elder, no obedience, walks a path of self-deception.”

However, even the monks on Mount Athos regularly celebrate the Divine Liturgy and receive Holy Communion. They go to confession often, in most cases daily. Some Athonite Fathers, such as Saint Sophrony, and Elder Aimilianos especially emphasized the Divine Liturgy. Archimandrite Zacharias of Essex says that “...it is above all through the Divine Liturgy that God preserves us.”Archimandrite Aimilianos writes that “Present with us when we celebrate the Liturgy is the whole of the Church of Christ.” and, again, Archimandrite Zacharias says:

"For as long as the Liturgy is celebrated on earth and man continues to exchange his created life for the uncreated, infinite life of God, there is hope. The Liturgy is an unfathomable gift to humanity. Indeed, whether the world knows it or not, the energy of its hypostatic prayer upholds the existence of the whole universe."

Our entire Orthodox life must be shaped by the rhythm of the Church's feasts and fasts, by the Divine Services which are the very breath of our soul. As St. John of Kronstadt teaches, “The Church is heaven on earth; when you are in Church, be as if in heaven.” We do not merely attend the Liturgy—we enter into the mystery of Christ’s Kingdom. The services are not optional devotions but the norm-forming foundation of a life truly lived in Christ.

Some people, on the other hand, might have great faith in the power of the sacraments, but see no real need for ascetic practice. They grow lazy and luke-warm. They have no zeal and merely go through the motions. They have a form of piety but deny its power. They may decide that there is no real difference between the One Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church and any other “church” or for that matter any ragtag group of people who gather together and pray. They may decide that the moral norms of the Church are old fashioned and could use some updating. 

But we know asceticism is absolutely necessary. Of course we read this in Matthew, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry,” and “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Christ Himself fasted and expects us to fast. 

   I turn time and time again to the classic “Way of the Ascetics” by Tito Colliander. In his chapter on The Denial of Self, he says this:

You are perhaps wondering, is this really necessary? The Holy Fathers reply with another question: Do you really think that you can fill a jar with clean water before the old, dirty water has been emptied out? Or do you wish to receive a beloved guest in a room crammed with old trash and junk? No; he who hopes to see the Lord as he is, purifies himself, say the Apostle John (I John 3:3)

My suggestion to you is that there is a path offered to us in which we should walk, which includes both the Holy Sacraments and the practice of asceticism. This path can be simply called Holy Tradition. 

You see, we must embrace the whole life of the Church, the whole of her faith, piety, practice, and rhythm, or, more poetically, our whole life must be in tune with the great choir of the saints from whom we have received this Tradition. 

But to walk the path, we need someone who is already on their way down it to show us the way. For most of us this will be our parish priest. So, before I venture any further on this topic, let me state this clearly: you need to establish a relationship with your parish priest if at all possible. This is the safest and most normal way of building up our spiritual lives and finding that path the Saints walked before us. 

The teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor, a saint I deeply love, on asceticism sits at the very center of the mainstream of the normative life of the Church, and indeed the daily practice of asceticism and spiritual life for Orthodox Christians everywhere. Let us see what he has to say on the topic of asceticism, the Holy Sacraments, and their relationship, in an effort to shine a light down that narrow but well-worn path that so many saints have walked. This golden path, this narrow gate, is an answer to both veering off too far into isolated, self-directed ascetic practice, or ignoring ascetic practice all together because we "go to church". It answers this question of balance, or better yet, of wholeness. This is the life of the saints—the narrow way of the Cross, illumined by the Paschal light of Christ. Let us then walk it together, with joy, under the protecting veil of the Most Pure Mother of God, until we too may sing with the saints: Christ is Risen!