Selected Writings of St. John Cassian the Roman

Publication Data: Safford, AZ: St. Paisius Orthodox Women’s Monastery, 2000
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: 143
Dimensions (l × w × h): 17.7 cm × 12.1 cm × 0.8 cm
Additional Information: black-and-white illustrations

   
“St. John Cassian the Roman was born, most likely, in Gaul (present day France), about 357-360 A.D., near the present Marseilles, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. He calls his homeland a country rich and pleasant in the produce of the earth, such as the region of Provence is even today, where a marvelous climate is united to the fertility of the earth. He was the son of wealthy and eminent parents and received a good education. Marseilles at that time gloried in a flourishing of secular sciences, and it is known from history that Romans even travelled to the school of Marseilles instead of to the East for education. John Cassian loved from his youth the God-pleasing life, and, burning with a desire to attain perfection in it, he went to the East, where he entered a monastery in Bethlehem and became a monk. Having heard of the ascetic life of the Egyptian Fathers, he wished to see them and learn from them. For this purpose he made an agreement with his friend Germanus, and they went to Egypt about the year 390, after he had been two years in the monastery in Bethlehem.”
—“The Life of ST. JOHN CASSIAN The Roman”

CONTENTS

THE LIFE OF ST. JOHN CASSIAN
SELECTED WRITINGS
PERFECTION: The Theory of the Spiritual Life
   PRAYER
      Of Preparation for Prayer
      Of Wandering Thoughts
      Of the Acquiring Steadfastness of Mind
      Of Different Kinds of Prayer
      Of the Fourfold Nature of Prayer
      Of the Use of These Four Kinds of Prayer
      Of the Lord’s Prayer
      Of the Causes of Effective Prayer
      That Prayer Should Be Silent, Short, and Frequent
   MEDITATION
      Of the Importance of Meditation
      Of Meditation on God
      Of the Use of the Psalms in Meditation
      Of the Method of Continual Prayer
      Of Contemplation and Vision
   SOME ESSENTIALS OF PERFECTION
      Of Training in Perfection
      Of the Need of a Practical Aim
      Of Detachment
      Of the Right and the Left Hand
      Of the Use of Trials
      Of the Need of Progress
      Of the Gradual Growth of Sin
      Of Love, as the Motive for Avoiding Sin
      Of That Fear, Which Is the Outcome of Love
      Of Different Kinds of Perfection
      Of Spiritual Knowledge and Practical Perfection
      Of the Use of the Scriptures
SOME ENEMIES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
   ACCIDIE AND DEJECTION
      Of the Nature of Accidie
      Of the Wrong Remedy
      Of Resistance, not Flight, as the Cure
      Of the True Remedy
      Of Manual Labour as a Remedy
      Of the Spirit of Dejection
      Of Its Cause
      Of Why God Permits It
      Of When Dejection Is Alone Valuable
      Of How to Test and Abolish It
      Of Dejection as a Result of Lukewarmness
      Of the Use of the Will in Acquiring Equilibrium
   PRIDE AND ANGER
      Of the Peril of Vainglory
      Of Inverted Pride
      Of a Spiritual Fog
      Of the Awfulness and Manifold Nature of Pride
      Of the Need of God’s Grace
      Of Signs of Pride
      Of the Example of the Saints
      Of the Spirit of Anger and the Evils Produced by It
      Of God’s Anger
      Of Self-Discipline
      Of the Only Case in Which Anger Is Good
      That the Peace of the Heart Lies in Our Own Control
      Of Some Remedies for Anger
SOME REMEDIES FOR SIN
   FASTING
      That It Must Be Wise and Careful
      That It Must Be a Fast of Soul and Body
      That It Must be Secret, Discreet, and Considerate of Others
      Of Why Fasting Is Good
      That There Is No Uniform Rule of Fasting
      That Fasting Should Be Less Needed As We Grow Older
      Of the Need of a Pure Intention
   HUMILITY AND PATIENCE
      Of Humility
      That Humility Is Learned Through Struggle
      Of Some Signs of Humility
      Of Patience and Humility
PENITENCE
      Of the End of Penitence
      Of What Penitence Is
      Of Different Causes of Penitence
      Of Different Sorts of Penitence
      Of Some Fruits of Penitence
      Of the Reward of Penitence
      Of the Case of the Thief, David, etc.
THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN
      Of the Rarity of Attaining Perfection
      Of the Example of the Centurion
      Of Cleaving unto God