So Many Books

Friday, Jun. 19, 2015

I love it when a fellow pilgrim on the road to God’s grace stretches out a helping hand.

Two weeks ago I mentioned being puzzled about this comment about one of the Desert Fathers: “It was said of Abba Sisoes that when he was sitting in the cell he would always close the door.”

A couple of days later, Mick Collins, a St. John the Baptist parishioner, cleared up the confusion by referring me to Gregory Palamas, a 14th-century monk of Mount Athos who later became archbishop of Thessaloniki. (See the letter to the editor on p. 13.)

Some of Gregory’s writings are included in the “Philokalia,”a collection of texts by Eastern Orthodox spiritual masters; he is venerated as a saint in that church, and Pope John Paul II also referred to him as a great theological writer.

According to St. Gregory, “close the door” is a metaphor for shutting off the outside world and opening to God. He writes, “The closet of the soul is the body; our doors are the five bodily senses. ... Our senses become closed and remain closed when we do not let them be attached to external sensory things, and in this way our mind remains free from every worldly attachment, and by secret mental prayer unites with God its Father.”

Now the quote about Abba Sisoes makes sense; it praises him for being able to shut out the world when he prayed.

I’m very thankful for Mr. Collins’ correspondence; he also referred me to St. Albert the Great’s “On Cleaving to God,” and a saying by St. Romuald.

I read once “When the student is ready the master will appear,” and that’s what’s been happening; in yesterday’s mail I received a catalog listing “The Wisdom of the Desert” by Thomas Merton, which apparently was one of the American Trappist’s favorites among the books he had written. (I’d ask if anyone has a copy of any of these books that they would be willing to lend me, but I’ll probably end up just buying them because I want my own, like I did with “The Sayings of the Desert Fathers” – belated thank you for letting me borrow it, Fr. Carl!)

Another non-coincidence is that this week I received a review copy of a biography of St. John of the Cross, about which I will write at a later date.

I am reminded of a line in “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” (which I recently stayed up all night to finish, and highly recommend) “That’s what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It’s geometrically progressive – all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.”

This is so true; thanks to “Guernsey” I plan to read Charles Lamb, Catulus, Seneca and Thomas Carlyle (yes, my education is sadly lacking in that I never once read any of them.)

I only want two things: the budget to buy the books and the time to read them all. These may be worldly manuscripts, but I’m balancing them with the religious ones already mentioned, all the while hoping that the only time God wants me to “shut the door” is when I’m in prayer. 

I’ll sign off now so I can pick up a book.