close off all the intellect's avenues of escape, by means of the remembrance of God.58
What distinguishes a man who is virtue's friend is that he constantly consumes everything that is earthly in his heart by means of the remembrance of God, so that, bit by bit, the evil in it is dispersed by the fire of the 1·cmembrnncc of the Uood, nn<l hi11 11oul
Ancient Spiritual Exercises
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returns in perfection to its natural brilliance; nay, even with increased splendor.59
Clearly, remembrance of God is, in some sense, the very essence of prosoche.
It is the most radical method for ensuring one's presence to God and to oneself.6Cl Vague intentions, however, are not sufficient for true attention to one's self. We noted that Diadochus of Photice speaks of the "remembrance of God and of His commandments." In ancient philosophy as well, prosoche required meditating on and memorizing rules of life (kanones), those principles which were to be applied in each particular circumstance, at each moment in life. It was essential to have the principles of life, the fundamental
"dogmas," constantly "at hand."
We encounter this same theme once again in the monastic tradition. Here, however, philosophical dogmas are replaced by the Commandments as an evangelical rule of life, and the words of Christ, enunciating the principles of Christian life. Yet the rule of life could be inspired not only by the evangelical commandments, but also by the words of the "ancients;" in other words, of the first monks. We have only to recall Antony, on his deathbed, recommending that his disciples remember his exhortations.61 Evagrius Ponticus declares:
" It is a very nece&-sary thing . . . to examine carefully the ways of the monks who have traveled, in an earlier age, straight along the road and to direct oneself along the same paths." 62
Both the evangelical commandments and the words of the ancients were presented in the form of short sentences, which - just as in the philosophical tradition - could be easily memorized and meditated upon. The numerous collections of Apophlhegmata and of Kephalaia we find in monastic literature are a response to this need for memorization and meditation. Apophthegmata63
were the famous sayings which the ancients - that is to say, the Desert Fathers - pronounced in specific circumstances. This literary genre was already in existence in the philosophical tradition, and we find numerous examples of it in the works of Diogenes Laertius. As for Ke_phalaia,64 these are collections of relatively short sentences, usually grouped into "centuries."
This, too, was a literary genre much in vogue in traditional philosophical literature; some examples are Marcus Aurelius' Meditations and Porphyry's Sentences. Both these literary genres are responses to the requirements of meditation.
Like philosophical meditation, Christian meditation flourished by using all available means of rhetoric and oratorical amplification, and by mobilizing all possible resources of the imagination. Thus, for example, Evagrius Ponticus used to invite his disciples to imagine their own death, the decomposition of their bodies, the terrors and sufferings of their souls in Hell, ilnd eternal fire; then, by way of contrast, they were to picture the happiness of 1hc ju111 .M
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Meditation must, in any case, be constant. Dorotheus of Gaza insists strongly on this point:
Meditate constantly on this advice in your hearts, Brothers. Study the words of the holy Elders.66
If we remember the sayings of the holy Elders, brothers, and meditate on them constantly, it will be difficult for us to sin.67
If you wish to possess these sayings at the opportune moment, meditate on them constantly.68
In the spiritual life, there is a kind of conspiracy between, on the one hand, normative sayings, which are memorized and meditated upon, and, on the other, the events which provide the occasion for putting them into practice. Dorotheus of Gaza promised his monks that, if they constantly meditated on the "works of the holy Elders," they would "be able to profit from everything that happens to you, and to make progress by the help of God." 69 Dorotheus no doubt meant that after such meditation, his monks would be able to recognize the will of God in all events, thanks to the words of the Fathers, which were likewise inspired by the will of God.
Vigilance and self-attention clearly presuppose the practice of examining one's conscience. We have already seen, in the case of Basil of Caesarea,711 the close link between prosoche and the examination of conscience. It seems that the practice of the examination of the conscience occurs for the first rime, within the Christian tradition, in Origen 's Commentary on the Song of Songs. 71
In the course of his interpretation of verse l : 81 "Unless thou know thyself, 0 fair one among women," 72 Ori gen explains that the soul must examine its feelings and actions. Does it have the good as a goal? Does it seek after the various virtues? Is it making progress? For instance, has it completely suppressed the passions of anger, sadness, fear, and love of glory? What is its manner of giving and receiving, or of judging the truth?
This series of questions, devoid as it is of any exclusively Christian feature, takes its place in the philosophical tradition of the examination of conscience, as it had been recommended by the Pythagoreans, the Epicureans, the Stoics
- especially Seneca and Epictetus - and many other philosophers, such as Plutarch and Galen.7l We find the practice recommended again by John Chrysostom,7� and especially by Dorotheus of Gaza: We ought not only to examine ourselves every day but also every season, every month, and every week, and ask ourselves: "What stage nm I at now with regards to the pm1sion by which I waN overcome luNt week?"
Ancienl Spiritual Exercises
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Similarly every year: "Last year I was overcome b y such and such a passion; how about now?"
The Fathers have told us how useful it is for each of us to purify himself in tum, by examining, every evening, how we have spent the day, and every morning, how we have spent the night . . . . Truly, however, we who sin so much and are so forgetful, really need to examine ourselves every six hours also, so that we may know how we have spent these hours and in what way we have sinned.75
In this regard there is an interesting detail in Athanasius' Life of Antony.
According to his biographer, Antony used to recommend to his disciples that they take written notes of the actions and movements of their souls. It is possible that written examinations of conscience were already part of the philosophical tradition;76 they would have been useful, if not necessary, in order to ensure that the investigation was as precise as possible. For Antony, however, the important aspect was the therapeutic value of writing: "Let each one of us note and record our actions and the stirrings of our souls as though we were going to give an account of them to each other." 77 Surely, he continues, we would not dare to commit sins in public, in full view of others: