Learning from St John of Karpathos on Living a Godly Life

Today we will learn and reflect on the work in the Philokalia by St John of
Karpathos, 100 Texts for the Monks in India.
You may ask, how can we benefit when we ponder this writing?
We can learn from St John Karpathos the need to persist in living a godly
life in both deeds and prayer.

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video, and the history behind this
ancient work, like how many manuscripts have
survived.
Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments, sometimes these will generate short
videos of their own. Let us learn and reflect
together!

YouTube Video:
Philokalia, St John of Karpathos, 100 Texts for
the Monks in India
https://youtu.be/lU510yXDFFg
Read ending slides for comments on sources.
Blog:
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/
NOTE: YouTube video corrections may not be
reflected on the slides, and the blog may
differ somewhat in content.
© Copyright 2021
https://amzn.to/3eCtqBo
YouTube Channel (please subscribe):
Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLqDkfFbWhXOnzdjp__YZtg
https://amzn.to/2V1dhhQ

St Nikodemus knows little about St John of the island of Karpathos, we know he is a
monk, perhaps he was also the bishop of that island. Perhaps the monks from India
to whom he addresses this work lived in Ethiopia. We know from the earliest times
there was some contact between India and the Greek world, the belief in
reincarnation by Plato and the Pythagorean Philosophers suggest an Eastern
influence, but we know little of these contacts.
St John of Karpathos encourages us to persevere in the spiritual life. When we
stumble on the rocky path, when we skin our knees on the hard rocks, we should
seek the hand of the Lord to pull us back up again. When we allow evil thoughts to
roam about in our consciousness, for a time we forget grace, we distance ourselves
from God, but that is when we should make every effort to seek God, so we are not
deprived of the grace of God.

As the moon wanes, so we succumb to temptation; as
the moon waxes, as the moon brightens, so through
repentance “man regains his true splendor.” “The man
who believes in Christ, ‘even though he dies, he shall
live.’ ” (John 11:25, #4)
Christ has come to deliver us from the land of Egypt,
from our passions, delivers us “from the destructive
and sinful impulses of soul and body.” What is
demanded of us? That we not grow listless, that we
cling to the Lord with prayer, that we cling to the Lord
with hope that perseveres, with hope that is
unashamed.(#6) That in thankfulness we praise God,
for when we “praise God in simplicity of heart we
overthrow and destroy the schemes of the
enemy.”(#7) That we pray, for “the enemy knows
prayer is our invincible weapon against him, and so he
tries to keep us from praying.”(#13)

The Church Fathers teach us to practice
self-discipline, to reinforce good habits
that draw us closer to God, to avoid bad
habits that lead us to stray away from
God. The soul must “endure with
fortitude every tribulation, whether
inflicted by men or by demons. . . Our
sufferings are no more than we deserve,
and we should never blame anyone but
ourselves.”(#21) Our virtue is increased
by “fear of God, attentiveness, constant
meditation on the words of Scripture,
and arming ourselves with prayer.”(#20)

Our virtue is also destroyed by mockery
and idle talk. (#20) “Lovers of slander and
gossip shut themselves out from the
kingdom of heaven. St John of Karpathos
provides us examples from Scripture. “A
single good word made the thief pure and
holy, despite all his previous crimes, and
brought him into Paradise, whereas a
single ill-advised word prevented Moses
from entering the Promised Land. (#90)
When we fall, we should always get back
on our feet, we must persevere. “When
someone is defeated after offering stiff
resistance, he should not give up in
despair; let him take heart.”(#29)

What should a dieter do when they are tempted and heartily and
gluttonously in a moment of weakness? Get back on the diet. The best diet
of all is not to go on a diet, as all diets end, but to instead change how you
eat for the rest of your life, to change your lifestyle. This is very much the
advice the Church Father offer, to change our lives, to develop better
habits, to persist after a momentary fall. That is why in the Eastern Divine
Liturgy the faithful pray, Lord, let us keep this day without sin, not this week,
not this month, not this year, but we only pray that today will be a day
without sin, for tomorrow is another day, another struggle. The past is
gone, but we live today, for today is the first day of the rest of our lives.

How do we defeat the enemy, the
demons who tempt us to stray from the
spiritual life? Through unceasing prayer
(#50), “the recitation of psalms and the
keeping of vigils, humility, service to
others and acts of compassion,
thankfulness, and attentive listening to
Scripture.”(#51) The demons fear our
prayers, as St John of Karpathos teaches,
“fire makes iron impossible to touch, as
frequent prayer renders the intellect
more forceful in its warfare against the
enemy. That is why the demons strive
with all their strength to make us slothful
in attentiveness to prayer, for they know
that prayer is the intellect’s invincible
weapon against them.”(#77)

We who are not monks cannot often keep vigils, although Catholics often keep vigil through the
adoration of the Eucharist. As laymen, we should not neglect attending the Mass or Divine Liturgy,
and we should attend as many Holy Week and Lenten services as we can. We shouldn’t skip
services during vacation, do we expect God and our guardian angels to take a vacation also, or do
we especially want their protection during our travels? When we are careless what we watch on
television and the movies, are we not abandoning our daily vigil, when we should remember our
Lord?
How do we know that we truly Love God with all of our heart and with all of our soul and with all
of our mind and with all of our strength, how do we know truly that we love our neighbor as
ourselves? This is a question we must ask ourselves every day, as we must repent every day for
how we fall short of the glory of God each day, but we can begin by asking, what activity do we
schedule the rest of our free time around, particularly on the weekends? If the Mass and Divine
Liturgy is the most important activity on our schedules, then the rest of our lives scheduled around
church, but if sports or dancing or the beach is the most important, then everything else, church
included, must get in line for our attention.

Perhaps we do hold a daily vigil, a most sinister vigil, when our daily lives
after school and work revolve around an idiot box, or perhaps the Church
Fathers would call it a demon box, a demonic influence that caters to our
basest instincts, encourages our basest prejudices, which teaches our
children not to respect our parents, which teaches all of us not to respect
authority, which feeds our selfish lusts and our basest selfish desires,
which confuses love and lust, which encourages us ceaselessly to spend,
spend, spend!

Likewise, we should choose our close friends
with care. As St John of the Cross teaches, our
close friends whose friendship increases in us
our Love for God. St John of Karpathos teaches
us to “never form a close friendship with
someone who enjoys noisy and drunken feasts,
or who likes telling dirty stories. . . Do not let
his filth defile you; do not fall under the
influence of people who are unclean and
uncircumcised in heart.”(#61) Likewise, we
should not “spend time with someone who is
sloppy, a mischief maker,” someone “who
cannot control his tongue, who is quarrelsome
and full of agitation inwardly or outwardly,” lest
“you will be infected with his leprosy and be
destroyed.”(#88)

When we refuse to repent, we are held “fast with
bonds we cannot break, and the desires which
drive us to our own destruction are fiercer and
more vehement.”(#57)
St John of Karpathos teaches, “it is more serious
to lose hope than to sin.” Where there is love,
there is hope, faith, and love are intertwined. St
John of Karpathos compared Judas, who slung the
silver at the feet of the high priest then hung
himself in despair, to Peter, who repented though
he denied Christ three times before the cock
crowed. “Although Peter was brought down by a
terrible fall, yet because of his experience in
spiritual warfare he was not broken by despair,
but leaping up he shed bitter tears form a contrite
and humiliated heart.”(#85)

We will end our discourse as
St John of Karpathos ends
his teaching, “If, as St John
says, ‘God is Love,’ then ‘he
who dwells in love dwells in
God, and God in him.’ (1
John 4:16) But he who
hates his neighbor is
separated from Love, and he
who hates his brother is
separated from God.” (#100)

SOURCES:
This work is found in Volume 1 of the Philokalia.
We also recommend this book covering the Philokalia, though it does not have any
articles devoted to works by this particular saint.
If you wish to purchase this work from Amazon, please use the links in the
description to support our channel, and please also subscribe to our channel.
Information and excerpts from the works of this eastern saint can be found in the
website shown.

One hobby of mine is taking photographs of
icons and stained-glass windows of churches.
These churches have not reviewed these
videos, so they do not endorse them.
1895 Lake Emma Road
Longwood, FL
(407) 260-6003

Mount Athos, The arsanas of the monastery of Zografou

PLEASE click on the link for our blog in the description below.
And please click on the links for interesting videos that will broaden
your knowledge and improve your soul.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
YouTube Description has links for:
• Script PDF file
• Blog
• Amazon Bookstore
© Copyright 2021
Blog and YouTube Description
include links for Amazon books
and lectures mentioned, please
support our channel with these
affiliate commissions.
Link to blog: https://wp.me/pachSU-fC

Learning from St John of Karpathos on Living a Godly Life

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Learning from St John of Karpathos on Living a Godly Life

Similar to Learning from St John of Karpathos on Living a Godly Life (20)

More from Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History

More from Reflections on Morality, Philosophy, and History (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Learning from St John of Karpathos on Living a Godly Life