Colloquium on St. Maximos the Confessor's Mystagogy

If you have not seen the list of speakers and papers to be presented at the upcoming Colloquium on St Maximos the Confessor's Mystagogy, be sure to check it out:https://t.co/iPnhsRtvUq

[*2022 - corrected] pic.twitter.com/FEqos2chCD

— The Pappas Patristic Institute (@PappasPatristic) January 9, 2022

Pageau on Holy Maximos the Confessor

10 years ago I could have only dreamt of a world where a discussion on St-Maximus the Confessor could attract the attention of thousands people in just one day. Here we are. What a time to be alive. https://t.co/5N4MQcx0sI

— Jonathan Pageau (@PageauJonathan) December 14, 2021

Colloquium on the Mystagogy of St. Maximos the Confessor

📢@PappasPatristic is pleased to announce six additional speakers to the Colloquium on the Mystagogy of St. Maximos the Confessor (April 28-30, 2022) https://t.co/AgkeDJYXAI: Jelena Bogdanović, Thomas Cattoi, Demetrios Harper, Robin Jensen, Tamsin Jones, and Vitaly Permiakov.

— The Pappas Patristic Institute (@PappasPatristic) October 19, 2021

Colloquium on St. Maximos the Confessor

@PappasPatristic is pleased to announce the inaugural Colloquium on St Maximos (April 28-30, 2022): the MYSTAGOGY, featuring Paul Blowers, Maximos Constas, Alexander Golitzin, Jean-Claude Larchet, Andrew Louth, Nikolaos Loudovikos, and Marcus Plested ➽➽➽https://t.co/BrKuIWaN3S

— The Pappas Patristic Institute (@PappasPatristic) August 20, 2021

Our @PappasPatristic website features a list of upcoming conferences and events related to the field of #patristics, including our April Colloquium on the Mystagogy of St. Maximos the Confessor. Check us out, and don't forget to Subscribe for updates.https://t.co/ryc5p3a7vP pic.twitter.com/NKnmJ2ad3H

— The Pappas Patristic Institute (@PappasPatristic) August 20, 2021

A New Book on the Theology of St. Maximos the Confessor

Happy to say that @UNDPress has officially accepted my book manuscript for publication. Title: "The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus the Confessor." Dates etc. to come as available.

— Jordan Daniel Wood (@JordanW41069857) June 14, 2021

Eastern Christian Books: Scripture and Emotion in Maximus the Confessor

Eastern Christian Books: Scripture and Emotion in Maximus the Confessor

Brill: Divine Scripture and Human Emotion in Maximus the Confessor: Exegesis of the Human Heart by Andrew J. Summerson

The Book of Nature

It was astounding to learn how central the idea of Nature as a Book as been in the Christian tradition, from Basil to Bonaventure to Benedict.

Here's a fantastic article by Fr. Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti that I drew on: https://t.co/XQ4cbZmjLJ

— Peter Mommsen (@PeterMommsen) May 25, 2021

St. Maximos on the Reception of Divine Wisdom

A Christian receives divine wisdom in three ways: by the commandments, teachings, and faith. The commandments free the mind from passions. Teachings lead it to true knowledge of nature. Faith leads to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity.
St. Maximus the Confessor pic.twitter.com/2V7mbvlDXZ

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) March 13, 2021

Holy Maximos the Confessor, Pray for Us!

Ever heard of St. Maximus the Confessor? An aide to Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, he would later enter monastic life. He preached against Monothelitism and was persecuted for his defense of the Chalcedonian formula. He was exiled and would later die in Georgia. pic.twitter.com/vmzZWaB1fT

— Pontifical Oriental Institute (@theorientale) January 21, 2021

Today the Church celebrates St. Maximos the Confessor
Christianity is an entirely new way of being human.
Maximus the Confessor pic.twitter.com/1mrrFUE1M9

— Trisagionfilms (@TrisagionFilms) January 21, 2021

You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God inspired pride of monastics. O wise Maximos, you have enlightened everyone by your teachings. You are the harp of the Spirit. Intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls. pic.twitter.com/V8GFmxGAg9

— Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada (@GO_Metropolis) January 21, 2021

🕊ORTHODOX CALENDAR

ℹ️St.Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and raised in a pious Christian family.He received an excellent educational.He was well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy and theology.

👉https://t.co/Uf8X6SwuV2 pic.twitter.com/05MZpCtK9a

— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) January 21, 2021

Champion of Orthodoxy, teacher of purity and of true worship, enlightener of the universe and adornment of hierarchs: All-wise father Maximus, your teachings have gleamed with light upon all things. Intercede before Christ God to save our souls. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/jskGm7KmMk

— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) January 21, 2021

Today we celebrate Saint Maximus the Confessor (icon); Blessed Maximus the Greek; Holy Hieromartyr Neophytus of Nicaea; Saint Agnes of Rome pic.twitter.com/eBxGmmiAcx

— Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada (@GO_Metropolis) January 21, 2021

Life, Writings and Theology of Saint Maximus the Confessor (Fr. George Florovsky)https://t.co/BpFDaWCIzL pic.twitter.com/TlqrSobv2J

— Mystagogy (@mystagogy1) January 21, 2021

On Thursday, January 21, 2021, feast day of Saint Maximus the Confessor, Metropolitan Maximos of Selyvria celebrated his name day#orthodox_timeshttps://t.co/uVDkv659Iw

— Orthodox Times (@orthodox_times) January 21, 2021

And Some Would Hold This Against Her?

as a sign of imperfection...

“Perhaps someone will say [of Mary]: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely.” —St. Bernard pic.twitter.com/Ax2JsMLo39

— Fr. David Paternostro, SJ (@DavidPaternostr) September 15, 2020

St. Maximos on the Love of God

Saint Maximus the Confessor: He who loves God first loved his neighbor#orthodox_timeshttps://t.co/ljBhkcHTiT

— Orthodox Times (@orthodox_times) September 3, 2020

St. Maximos the Confessor

5.\ WEEK IN REVIEWhttps://t.co/KHmoAlBFcn

— Church Life Journal (@ChurchLifeND) August 15, 2020

CLJ

Periphyseon

Attention ACS followers! This is a game-changer: Dumbarton Oaks is reprinting the translation of John Scotus Eriugena's _Periphyseon_, a text standing at the crossroads of the thought of Pseudo-Dionysius, Maximus the Confessor, & the Carolingian Latin tradition. Details below 👇 https://t.co/kWKdROWnvB

— American Cusanus Society (@CusanusSociety) July 15, 2020

All in Christ

Fr. Andrew Summerson: "Exegesis of the Human Heart: Narrating the Emotional Life of Christians with Maximos the Confessor"

The Weeping of Christ

One more follow up to this post. I definitely need to become more familiar with the writings of St. Maximos, so I can't write a response to his writings on this topic.

What of the difference between Christ and the mourners for Lazarus? Did the mourners, including Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha, sin when they experienced grief, wept, and spoke and acted while in that condition, or was their sadness blameworthy?

It may be objected that Christ does not have any reason to weep for Lazarus as such, because of the knowledge that He possesses. He knows that Lazarus is not lost forever (but temporarily in Hades?). He knows that He will raise Lazarus from the dead (as a prefigurement of His own resurrection), and that Lazarus will be redeemed.

Is death an evil, something to be sad about, even if "everything will be ok in the end"? Even if we believe in the Resurrection of the righteous, when we grieve and weep for those who have passed away, is that a sin, a mark of imperfection or some sort? Can and did Christ feel sadness because someone has died, despite everything that He will do to remedy death? Christ knows as God that He saves; would it be objectionable to claim that Christ knows as man what he will do to redeem mankind ?

Does not Christ also know as man that He himself will be raised from the death on the third day? How could he make that prediction to His apostles if He did not know? And yet he nonetheless suffers in the garden before He is betrayed by Judas, and He has fear of death. How can such an emotion be justifiable (or sinless) if He knows that He will be triumphant over death? (And I know that St. Maximos at least does not claim that our Lord sinned in fearing His Passion and  His Death, though St. Maximos has his way of explaining it, something along the lines of His fear not affecting or swaying His will.)

It would seem that even for Christ, knowledge that Death does not have the last word, etc. does not exclude the possibility of associating emotions relating to death as an evil. So could it not be reasonable, then, for someone to be sad that a friend has death? And if it is reasonable, is it therefore sinless? And if sinless, could we not say that Christ did experience sadness that Lazarus had died, and not just out of compassion for the suffering of those who still live, not just sympathy, but a true sympathy, a suffering with others?

As I stated before, I hardly know the writings of St. Maximos, so I don't know if these objections are answered or deal with by him. I don't know if he (or St. Cyril of Alexandria) makes a mistake of applying a priori reasoning about human passion on Christ or the Theotokos. Perhaps the mourning of Martha and Mary was "imperfect," as their sadness lead to them being tempted to have doubts about Christ or to experience other disordered movements in the soul. We have their words at least to claim as evidence of this at least.

Is self-love bad? Disordered self-love that is so because of a rejection of God? Yes. But does that mean that everything that is done through disordered self-love is evil in itself? Is any passion associated with something perceived as evil necessarily blameworthy or sinful? Or only that which is motivated or left unchecked by disordered self-love? And would not passion motivated by a rightly-ordered love that is one with the Divine Agape be not blameworthy but praiseworthy? (If it is indeed possible to be righteous and yet experience the passions associated with evil or loss.) It seems that St. Maximos or St. Cyril of Alexandria might accept these distinctions, but need confirmation.

Speculation on Prelapsarian Human Nature

How far can one take it? And why should one take St. Maximos the Confessor as THE expression of Tradition on these points?

Orthodox Christian Theology: How Does Grief Demonstrate Our Original Sin?

If passions, like sadness (or "grief") is a consequence of the Fall, then it is because death is a consequence of the Fall and so we suffer loss and are sad as a result. But what does it mean that sadness is "blameworthy"? Are there no legitimate reasons for being sad, because we have suffered a loss? Is it only legitimate to feel sad out of compassion for the suffering for others? This seems too strict or rigorist to me. 

Saint Maximus taught that sadness is in fact a blameworthy passion that is the result of the fall—a stain of original sin. In the Questions to Thalassius he writes that after the Fall:

[T[he great and innumerable mob of passions was introduced into human life and corrupted it. Thus our life became filled with much groaning…If, on the other hand, our condition of self-love is distressed by pain, then we give birth to anger, envy, hate, enmity, remembrance of past injuries, reproach, slander, oppression, sorrow, hopelessness, despair, the denial of providence, torpor, negligence, despondency, discouragement, faint-heartedness, grief out of season, weeping and wailing, dejection, lamentation, envy, jealousy, spite, and whatever else is produced by our inner disposition when it is deprived of occasions for pleasure. (1.2.15)

Now, many may contend with Maximus’ teaching by saying Jesus “groaned” (John 11:34) and “wept” (John 11:35). We must be careful to read these passages in a Christologically orthodox way.

We know that Jesus “was tempted in every way,” but we also know that “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13). So, we must understand He was “tempted in every way, WITHOUT SIN” (the Greek does not necessarily include the word “but.”)

In other words, He was tempted in every blameless, without sin. sort of way—hunger, thirst, pain, privation—but not by sinful temptations such as sex, avarice, and the like. I have covered in detail elsewhere that Jesus Christ voluntarily assumed blameless passions, which were in fact not inherent to His sinless human nature as by nature flesh that is sinless, like Adam’s in paradise, experiences none of these things. However, Jesus did voluntarily experience these things as it was naturally possible for Him to. Adamite (prelapsarian) flesh is not glorified flesh—it can contain fallen aspects naturally because the fall did really occur in the prelapsarian flesh, turning it into postlapsarian flesh. Prelapsarian flesh tends towards immortality, but it is not truly immortal until it is glorified. Glorified flesh cannot experience the fall. So, Enoch, Elijah, Moses, Mary, and others (if they exist) with resurrected bodies cannot fall into sin like Adam and Eve, because they have glorified bodies. This, for them, would be an impossibility.

This being said, we must be careful not to assume Jesus weeps for the same reason we grieve. We often grieve because we feel an intense, sorrow due to personal loss or some sort of self-love. Jesus did not experience this sort of sorrow, which Maximus states is from the passions.

Weeping that arises from the blameless passions is much different. For example, weeping from laughter is not the same as grief. Weeping from hitting one’s thumb with a hammer also is not the same as grief. Weeping out of compassion and empathy is also not the same as grief.

When Jesus wept, this does not mean he was weeping from grief—which clearly the
Theotokos did during her son’s crucifixion.

As a brief aside, while grief and weeping from such are blameworthy passions, only the consent of the will to despondency is sin. So, our Orthodox icons of the Theotokos and Saint John weeping at the crucifixion is not a terrible example of sin—this would be absurd. It is a demonstration of God’s people, with postlapsarian flesh, experiencing grief as we all do. They were not despondent and so did not sin. Saint Basil (Letter 260, Par 9) and Saint Maximus (Life of the Virgin, Par 53) both speak of the Theotokos having instant healing from precisely this predicament.

The preceding being said, how did Jesus weep? First, let’s plainly look at what the Scriptures indicate. In John 11:31 there are “Jews” consoling Mary and Martha. It is not clear whether they were professional mourners (Jer 9:17), but they wept with Mary and Martha (John 11:33) akin to those wailing for a ruler’s dead daughter in Matt 9:23. Clearly, community-mourning was some sort of social custom in Judea. Contextually, we must understand that Jesus was joining in this social custom, which He was obviously accustomed to. What he was not doing was grieving the death of Lazarus, as He was calm four days beforehand being fully cognizant of its occurrence. Clearly, Jesus was showing pity for Mary and those there, joining in the community mourning.

Fr. Joshua Lallor on St. Maximos

More of Maximos Constans on St. Maximos the Confessor

Maximos Constans on St. Maximos the Confessor