An excerpt from The Theory of Knowledge of St. Isaac the Syrian
…By an unceasing renewal of self through a grace-filled asceticism, a man gradually drives sin and the passions from his whole being and from his organs of understanding, in this way healing them of these death-dealing illnesses. The healing of the organs of understanding from sin and the passions is at the same time their purification. Especial care must be taken with the chief organ of understanding, the intellect, for it has a particularly important role in the realm of human personality.
In nothing else is powerful vigilance as vital as in the work of purifying the intellect. For this task, the ascetic of faith must do battle with all his forces, so that with the help of the grace-filled evangelical virtues, he may renew and transform his intellect. St. Isaac offers us his rich experience in this.
According to him, impurity and heaviness of the intellect come from a satiated stomach. Fasting is therefore the chief means of purifying the intellect. The intellect is by nature fine and delicate, while heaviness is an unnatural addition introduced by sin. It is through prayer that the intellect is refined and rendered clear. Working on himself, a man tears the hard crust of sin from his intellect, refines it and makes it capable of discernment.
Transforming himself with the help of grace-filled ascetic effort, a man acquires purity of intellect and with this purified intellect comes to see the mysteries of God. The purification of the body produces a state that rejects the stain of the impurity of the flesh. The cleansing of the soul frees it from the secret passions that arise in the mind. The cleansing of the intellect takes place through the revelation of the mysteries.
Only the mind that has been cleansed by grace can offer pure, spiritual knowledge. “Until the mind is freed from its manifold thoughts and becomes completely pure, it cannot receive spiritual knowledge.” The men of this world cannot cleanse their minds because of their great knowledge and acceptance of wickedness. Few there are who are able to return to man’s original purity of mind.
Perseverance in prayer cleanses the intellect, illumines it and fills it with the light of truth. The virtues, led by compassion, give the intellect peace and light. The cleansing of the intellect is not a dialectical, discursive and theoretical activity, but an act of grace through experience and is ethical in every respect. The intellect is purified by fasting, vigils, silence, prayer and other ascetic practices.
“What is purity of intellect? Purity of intellect is the achievement, through striving in the virtues, of divine illumination.” It is the fruit of ascetic effort in the virtues. The practice of the virtues increases grace in a man, and the bringing of grace to the intellect cleanses it from impure thoughts. It is through asceticism that the intellect of a saint becomes pure, clear and discerning. Purity of soul was an original charism of our nature. Until it has been purified from the passions, the soul has not been healed of the sickness of sin and cannot attain to the glory it lost through transgression. If a man becomes worthy of purification - or health of soul - his intellect then truly receives into itself joy through spiritual awareness, for he becomes a son of God and a brother of Christ.
If he overcomes the passions, a man achieves purity of soul. The darkening of the intellect comes from lack of compassion and from laziness. The virtues are “the wings of the intellect,” by the help of which it rises to heaven. Christ sent down the Holy Spirit upon His apostles and the Holy Spirit purified their intellects and made them perfect, slaying in them the old man of the passions and bringing the new, spiritual man to life.
Fragmented by sinful and impure thoughts, the intellect recollects itself through prayer, silence and the other acetic practices. When the intellect frees itself by repentance from its close connection with the passions, at first it is like a bird that has had its wings clipped. It strives to rise above earthly things through prayer but it cannot, being tied to the earth. The ability to fly comes only after long striving in the virtues, for it is then that it collects itself and learns to fly.
The love of God is a power that brings the intellect to itself. The reading of hymns and psalms, pondering on death and the hope of future life are all things that collect the intellect and protect it from fragmentation. The intellect is destined to reign over the passions, to rule over the senses and to control them.
The purpose of all the laws and commandments of God is purity of heart. God took flesh to cleanse our hearts and souls from evil and to bring them back to their original state. But there is a certain difference between purity of heart and purity of intellect. St. Isaac writes: “In what does purity of intellect differ from purity of heart? Purity of intellect is one thing, but purity of heart is another. For the intellect is one of the senses of the soul, but the heart contains the interior senses and governs them. It is their root. And if the root is holy, then the branches are holy also. If then, the heart is purified, clearly all the senses are purified.
The hearts acquire purity by means of many trials, tribulations and tears, and by the mortifying of all that is of the world. Tears cleanse the heart from impurity. To the question, what is the sign by which one can know if a man has achieved purity of heart, St. Isaac replies: “When he sees all men as good, and no one appears to him to be unclean or profane.”
…The sign of purity is: to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep; to be in pain with the sick and in anguish with the sinners; to rejoice with the repentant and to participate in the agony of those who suffer; to criticize no man and, in the purity of one’s own mind, to see all men as good and holy.
The intellect cannot be cleansed, nor can it be glorified with Christ if the body does not suffer with and for Christ; the glory of the body is “temperate submission before God, and the glory of the intellect is the true contemplation of God.” The beauty of temperance is achieved through fasting, prayer and tears. Purity of heart and intellect, the healing of the intellect and the other organs of understanding, all this is the fruit of long striving, under grace, in asceticism. In the pure intellect of the ascetic of faith there bubbles up that fountain of light which pours sweetness upon the mystery of life and of the world.
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