Elder Joseph Hesychast - Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Monastic
Wisdom

The Letters of
Elder Joseph the Hesychast

2016 St. Anthonys Greek Orthodox Monastery
4784 N. St. Josephs Way
Florence, Arizona 85132

www.stanthonysmonastery.org

All rights reserved.

Dedication

We humbly dedicate this volume to all
the divinely illumined ascetics of the
Holy Mountain who have left us as an
inheritance their monastic wisdom.

Preface

I was nineteen years old, I remember, when I followed the path that took me to the garden of the Theotokos , The road that lead me to the monastic life was shown to me by my philomonastic mother, now Nun Theophano of blessed memory.

During the first years of hardship during the German Occupation, when for the sake of work I had to stop going to high school, a hieromonk and he became my spiritual father. This hieromonk from the Holy Mountain was for me at that time a precious advisor and helper in my spiritual journey. With the many stories he told me about the Holy Mountain and with his spiritual counseling, I soon began to feel my heart drifting away from the world and cleaving to the Holy Mountain. Especially when he would speak about the life of Elder Joseph, I would burn with the ardent desire for the day that I would meet him.

When the time finally cameSeptember 26, 1947a small boat brought us slowly one morning from the world to the Holy Mountain as if from the shores of the ephemeral to the other side of eternity.

At the dock of St. Annes, a venerable old man, Geronda Arsenios, was waiting for me.

Arent you Johnny from Volos? he asked.

Yes, I replied, but how do you know me?

Oh, he said, The Honorable Forerunner appeared to Elder Joseph last night and said to him, I am bringing you a little lamb. Put it in your sheepfold.

My thoughts were fixed on the Honorable Forerunner, my patron saint, on whose birthday I was born. I was very grateful to him for looking out for me in this way.

So, Johnny, lets go, said Arsenios, for Geronda is waiting.

We started up the narrow cobblestone path. What feelings! Try as one might, they cannot be described.

That night within the small chapel of the Honorable Forerunner that was built in a cave, I did my metanoia to my Elder. It was within that dimly lit chapel that my soul became acquainted in its own way with the luminous countenance of my holy Elder.

Spiritually and physically, I was the youngest in the synodia , spiritual personages of our times. I stayed by his side, learning from him for twelve yearsthat was how long he lived thereafter. The Lord made me worthy of serving him until his last holy breath. And he was worthy of being served because of his many spiritual toils and holy prayers that he left to us as a precious spiritual inheritance. When I met him, he was a true God-bearer, a spiritual general par excellence, most experienced in the battle against the passions and the demons. It was impossible for a person to come and stay with him and not be cured of his passions, regardless of how many and how strong they were, as long as he was obedient to him.

The elder always taught his monks that Christ-like obedience was more important than anything else. He permitted the Christians in the world who knew him to practice noetic prayer , but always under the guidance of those who were experienced, for he had seen much delusion and had become fearful of it. He would often tell us, If you see a person not asking for advice or not heeding advice given to him, expect to see him deluded soon.

As for our ascetic struggles, he was most strict. With all his soul he loved fasting, vigils, and prayer. His food was always in moderation. He did not eat freshly cooked food if he knew that there were some leftovers from the day before or even three days before .

Concerning the diet of us younger members of the brotherhood, however, he was more moderate. Seeing our many physical weaknesses, he deemed this necessary. But it was as if this concession used up all his lenience; beyond that he was extremely demanding. Not that he didnt know how to forgive mistakes or put up with weaknesses, but he wanted us to employ all our spiritual and physical powers in our ascetic endeavors. He would say, Whatever we do not give to God to use in our ascetic struggles will be used by the other one (i.e., Satan). Our Lord gives us the commandment to love Him with all our soul and all our heart , so that the evil one cannot find a place of rest within us.

We would stay awake all night in prayer. This was our typikon . and the various states of grace, because human vocabulary was poor and insufficient for him to express those deep meanings. He would become silent and distant, unable to communicate to us those things which exist in the utterly unknowable, superbrilliant apex of mysticswhere the simple and absolute, the immutable and ineffable mysteries of theology lie.

My elder did not study academic theology, but he theologized with profound depth. He writes in one of his letters: When through obedience and hesychia A mixing occurs; he is transformed and becomes one with God to the point that he cannot recognize or distinguish himself, just like iron in a furnace becomes one with the fire. (Forty-eighth Letter)

From these words we see that the divine cloud, which is illumined by the uncreated light, was not something unknown or inaccessible to him, but he knew it as a place and a manner of Gods presence, as an ineffable mystery, as resplendent light. And all this was because the Elder knew how to pray. Many times we saw him after hours of prayer of the heart are simply a reflection of the uncreated light of grace which shines within them.

The Elders purity was truly astonishing. I remember that when I would enter his cell at night, it was all fragrant. I felt the fragrance of his prayers imbue everything that surrounded him, affecting not only our internal senses, but our external senses as well. Whenever he talked to us about the purity of soul and body he always used the All-holy Mother of God as an example.

I cannot describe to you how much Panagia loves chastity and purity. For she is the only Pure Virgin and that is how she wants us and loves us all to be. There is no sacrifice more fragrant to God than purity of body and soul which is obtained through the shedding of blood and a dreadful struggle. He would then conclude, So struggle forcefully in purifying the soul and body; do not allow any carnal thoughts to enter the nous at all.

As for silence, he would not utter a single word unless it was necessary. Especially during Great Lent, when he was alone with Elder Arsenios, they were silent the whole week. They spoke only when necessary from Vespers on Saturday until Sunday evening Compline, and then remain silent again throughout the following week, using hand signals to communicate when necessary. Because he had found this practice very salutary, he forbade us to talk as well, except when absolutely necessary. When he would send us away from the hermitage on a task, we were not allowed to talk to anyone. I remember that when I returned, he always interrogated me thoroughly to see if I had been obedient and had kept absolute silence. For a minor transgression of two or three words, my first penance was two hundred metanoias.