How do we talk about and understand despondency? I never heard about the word or the nature of the vice until I was in my 20s and after having read the fathers. And yet we hear from the fathers that it is the greatest and gravest of the eight capital vices. It afflicts the soul in such a way that it draws it into darkness. The soul loses its capacity to see the presence of God or to love the things of God. It becomes most dangerous when we are engaged in the spiritual life in isolation; either as those who live the life of a hermit, or as those who see the spiritual life as a private affair. We live in a radical solidarity with each other, and with God. Our understanding of this, and our embrace of that reality may be the one thing that keeps us from falling into a general death.
This demon uses the most subtle forms of temptation to make us lax in our spiritual practice or come to despise it all together. There are very few remedies for it for this reason. One must remember death and the brevity of our life. We must understand that we are in the end times and see the urgency of the moment. We must also cling to obedience; placing our thoughts before another and allow them to guide us when we cannot see the path before us.
Prayer filled with hope, St. John tells us, is the only thing that brings this vice to utter death. Only when we cling to He who is life and love and hope and let go of the illusion that we can simply endure the spiritual trials of this world on our own will this vice be conquered. But once it is conquered, a person has come to experience all that is good; they are prepared for every spiritual battle that lies ahead.
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Text of chat during the group:
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Nineteen
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventeen Part III and Homily Eighteen
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventeen Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventeen Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixteen
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifteen Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifteen Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Thirteen, Homily Fourteen and Homily Fifteen Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Eleven and Homily Twelve
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Ten
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Nine
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Eight
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part V and Homily Seven
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - End of Homily Five and Homily Six Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Five Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Five Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Five Part II
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