Isaac the Syrian Quotes

When the power of stillness overshadows you on account of prolonged abiding in your cell,

When the solitary has passed on to another <stage>

Prayer, however, is lower in rank than being stirred in spirit: on this there is no dispute, for prayer is inferior to this mystery.

Do not reckon the entire mode of life <as a solitary>

Just as the non-rational light was entrusted for the distinction of bodies,

Fire that has flared up in dry wood is difficult to put out,

Some rational beings are without any appellations, and some have many names;

No part belonging to any single one of (all) rational beings will be lost,

Abba Arsenius for God’s sake conversed with no one,

Accordingly, as I have said above, when—

To the extent to which a person is distanced from the settled world,

A desolate place, because of the great barrenness that reigns there, causes us to acquire a deadness of heart <to the world>,

By saying that He will even hand us over to burning for the sake of sufferings, torment and all sorts of ills,

Just as there is nothing which resembles God,

There are times when a person sits in a stillness that is guarded and wakeful,