Thou has calmed and quieted my soul
Like a Child Quieted at his mother’s breast. (Psalm 131:2)


Before the beginning of Lent, I read an article by Abbot Jonah of the Monastery of St. John of San Francisco. One part that jumped out at me was this, “Silence is not only abstaining from talking. That is valuable. We must abstain from idle talk, and especially gossiping, judging, criticizing, and hurting others with our words. This is a beginning. But we need to strive also for inner silence, the quieting of the internal dialogue, the stilling of our thoughts. This is a process, and we work from the outside inwards.”

I have been contemplating this a lot – not only because it’s hard enough for me to do the first part of being silent (What? You mean no gossiping?) but to even think about quieting my soul is a daunting and challenging thought. I think one of the many reasons that we hear the lovely Songs of Ascent during our Presanctified Liturgies during Lent is a reminder of this, with the inclusion of the above verse which stood out the first time I heard it – heavy with child 11 years ago – and stands out for me every time I hear it even today.

Last Sunday, I had the distinct pleasure of attending St. Elizabeth’s Church, and had a lovely tea and chat with Dawn afterwards. It was the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, which is always commemorated on the Second Sunday of Lent. What struck me was, even though I can rattle off the Sundays of Lent, I really *heard* why St. Gregory is commemorated during Lent this time. St. Gregory defended hesychasm as a way, indeed a very good way (in a monastic setting or otherwise under the guidance of a spiritual father), to know God. Father Christopher reiterated (and I am doing a very poor retelling of this) that the God of the Old Testament is the God that was Incarnate and is the God that those who pray and fast know.

St. Gregory began by reaffirming the Biblical doctrine of man and of theIncarnation; i.e. the whole man, united in body and soul, was created in theimage of God, and Christ, by taking a human body at the Incarnation, has'made the flesh an inexhaustible source of sanctification'. The Hesychasts,so he argued, in placing emphasis on the body's part in prayer, are notguilty of a gross materialism but are simply remaining faithful to theBiblical doctrine of man as a unity. Christ took human flesh and saved thewhole man; therefore it is the whole man that prays to God. How is it possible for man to know God and, at the same time, affirm thatGod is by nature unknowable? St. Gregory answered this question by quotingSt. Basil the Great who said "We know our God from His energies, but we donot claim that we can draw near to His essence. For His energies come downto us, but His essence remains unapproachable". St. Gregory added "God isnot a nature, for He is above all beings.... No single thing of all that iscreated has or ever will have even the slightest communion with the supremenature, or nearness to it". Even though God's essence may be remote from us,He has revealed Himself through His energies (or grace). These energies donot exist apart from God, but are God Himself in His action and revelationto the world. It is through these energies that God enters into a direct andimmediate relationship with us. When we say that the saints are 'deified' bythe grace of God, we mean that they have a direct experience of God Himselfthrough his energies (or grace), not in His essence. (quote sent by Father Thomas)

In other words, we are called during Lent to “ be still, and know God” as the Psalmist says. Or, as the unintentional Theologians Depeche Mode say, “Enjoy the Silence”.