Psalmody and prayer by Isaac the Syrian

Contents Isaac and his context Psalmody and prayer in the works of Isaac About the beginning of the service of psalmody The law of freedom Some practical advice Conclusion In his book Psalmody in the Writings of Evagrius of Pontus, Benedictine monk Luke Diesinger notes: “A balanced assessment of Evagrius’s spiritual theology must take into account this “background rhythm” of alternating psalm singing and prayer.” 1 The same applies to Isaac of Nineveh. In my report before addressing Isaac directly, 2 I will first try to consider what was meant by psalmody in the East Syrian monastic tradition of the 7th century. Isaac was from the region of Qatar on the shores of the Persian Gulf and was very briefly bishop of Nineveh (i.e. Mosul) before becoming a hermit at the monastery of Rabban Shabur in the region of Bet Khuzayeh (Khuzistan). He lived most of his life under early Arab rule and died probably around 700. The Church of the East, to which he belonged, experienced a wonderful revival of monastic life in the 6th century, and everything we know about the nature of this life comes from the works of several East Syrian authors who either lived before Isaac, such as Bavai the Great, Shuvhalemaran, Gabriel Katraya and Martyrius (or Sahdona), or were his contemporaries, somehow connected with the monastery of Rabban Shabur, namely Dadisho (also from Qatar) and Simeon, the author of the Book of Grace. The Psalter in East Syrian monastic life By the middle of the 6th century. and, in particular, by the time of Isaac the liturgical use of the psalms in the Church of the East had clearly already taken the shape of what later became the liturgical pattern. This later pattern goes back to the liturgical reforms of Patriarch Ishoyav III (649–659), the predecessor of Patriarch Gevargis I (George, 659–680), who consecrated Isaac as Bishop of Nineveh around 676. It appears that parish and monastic services - evening ( ͪ ͡ ͫ ͐ , ramšā ), night ( ͠ ͠ ͝ ͐ , lēlyā) and the morning vigil ( ͨ ͦ ͪ ͐ , saprā ) – had, in fact, the same structure, although we will see that the hermits had great variety in the practice of celebrating the all-night vigil ( ͩ̈ ͐͠ ͕ͫ͗ͪͪ͐ , qālē d-šahrā) before Sunday. Isaac specifically notes that there were seven daily monastic services, four of which later became the services of the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours, as well as Compline (ࣣ॥, subbāʕā). In most services, especially in lēlyā, psalmody (in the sense of continuous recitative singing of psalms) played a large role 3. Most hermits probably gathered in the monastic community to which they belonged for Sunday liturgy and a meal after the all-night vigil on Saturday night. Judging by the protests that we find in Isaac's contemporary, Dadisho, against the inclusion of poetic works in monastic liturgical practice, 4 it seems that this was a rather rare phenomenon, which was especially liked by young monks. Isaac himself did not show such hostility, simply mentioning 5 as an example of the variety of practice at the all-night vigil of the monk, who, after a short reading of the psalms, spent the rest of the night in the chanting of ʕonyātā (॥࢈), tešbḥāṯā (๯๯ā) and maḏrāšē (𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑠𝑧𝑠𝑧𝑧𝑠𝑧𝑧𝑠𝑧𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠 all these are poetic works; in the Greek translation, one word is used for all three types - τροπάρια). The East Syriac Psalter survives, dating back to about 600. 6 In it, individual psalms are already provided with standard headings indicating the supposed historical event to which they relate 7 . They are based on a commentary on the psalms of Theodore of Mopsuestia. For liturgical use, the Psalter was provided with refrains, or qānōnē ( ͩ ̈͢ ͘ ͢ ͐ ), and divided into 57 small groups of psalms called marmyāṯā ( ͡ ͡ ̈ ͡ ͝ ͬ ͐ ; singular ͡ ͡ ͡ ͝ ͬ ͐ , marmīṯā ) - a term originating from from the prayer that accompanied each marmīṯā 8. This usage, quite possibly based on doxologies (δόξαι) from liturgical practice in Jerusalem, was widespread by the end of the 6th century, as is clear from the detailed “Commentary on the Liturgical Rites” by Gabriel Katray. Isaac speaks of the recitative singing of marmyāṯā several times 9 and he also knows a term for a large group of psalms, namely hullālā () 10 . This term corresponds to the Byzantine word καθίσματα, and in both systems the Psalter consists of 20 such groups. Psalmody, in the sense of continuous recitative reading of the Psalter, figured especially in the rite of night worship (ঠঠঢ়, lēlyā), where (as we know from Gabriel Katraya) 11 no less than nine hullālē 12 (i.e., almost half of the entire Psalter) are specifically mentioned. In the monastic tradition, the entire Psalter was read throughout the day, and psalmody for hermits could also be part of the all-night vigil on Sunday night. Although the East Syriac titles of the psalms reflect the historical method of exegesis of Theodore of Mopsuestia as preserved in some parts of his Commentary, Dadisho, in his commentary on the Asceticon of Abba Isaiah, has a passage that is very significant for Isaac, and also very important in general: “The Blessed Theodore the Interpreter says about the psalms of David that when holy people prayerfully repeat them as they should, they drive out demons from our presence and bring the holy angels and the Lord of angels, our Lord Christ, closer to us. It is clear that he is talking about the purpose of the psalms, and he is not drawing on [his] historical interpretation or the interpretation that is given in the commentary of people like Basil and John [Chrysostom], for this is only suitable for students of theology ( ᐐ ͣ̈ ͟ ͘ ͠ ͝ ͐ , ʔeskolāyē ) and for the laity. “As it should be” - this is what he calls the spiritual interpretation of the psalms, which occurs during the [liturgical] reading of the psalms by hermits and saints” 13. Psalmody and prayer in the works of Isaac After this introduction, I move on to what Isaac says about the connection between prayer and psalmody. There are six Discourses in which he makes several important points - three in Part 1 (Discourses 53, 65 and 80) and three in Part 3 (Discourses 41, 21 and 22). The recently published Part 3 does not contain any material on this topic. In Discourse 65 from Part 1, Isaac states that “psalmody is the root of the [monastic] way of life” 14 . By the way, it is worth noting that in the following sentence there is an interesting difference between the original Syriac and the Greek translation: in the original Syriac, Isaac remarks that even when poetry is “read abstractly, it is more useful than bodily labor,” clearly meaning that simply the labor of repeating words is more valuable than other types of bodily labor. The Greek translator, apparently not understanding this, changes the sentence as follows: “physical labor is more useful than poetry with distraction” 15. The nature of psalmody at various stages of monastic life How psalmody is performed depends on the stage of monastic life in which the monk 16 is: in the initial stage, the emphasis is on the external aspects of work “with much prayer” combined with “pressure on the body through intense fasting” (Isaac is referring to the image of pressing grapes). At the middle stage, external aspects go “inward” with a more selective approach, which is helped by “reading and especially kneeling.” In the third stage, the emphasis is on “meditation and prayer of the heart.” Although psalmody, combined with reading and kneeling, continues at this stage, “more important is constant meditation on [God’s] economy and secret prayer.” The number of psalms sung at this stage becomes less important, and for those who have reached it, “a short reading of Scripture and a [short] service of psalms is sufficient. Such [people] do not work much on this, because the very moment when they begin psalms or prayer, they are captivated by other [types] that surpass all local knowledge" 17 . It is important to understand that almost everything that Isaac says about psalmody and its connection with prayer is addressed to hermits and hermits as people who have reached this third stage, at which, as he says, “we need to think about how our hearts can approach God in service and prayer” 18 . About the beginning of the psalmody service In Conversation 80 from Part 1, Isaac gives some practical advice on how to get started. He says: “When you wish to attend the service of vigil, then, with the assistance of God, do as I tell you. Kneel your knees as usual and stand up, and do not immediately begin your service, but when you have prayed first, and have completed the prayer, and have marked your heart and members with the life-giving sign of the cross, stand silently for some time until your feelings calm down and your thoughts are calmed. After this, lift your inner gaze to the Lord and with sadness beg Him to strengthen your weakness, so that your poetry and the thoughts of your heart may become pleasing to His holy will. And say it silently in the prayer of your heart." 19 Next, Isaac quotes the words of the proposed prayer, asking God - due to his deep awareness of human frailty - for help in protecting against the whirling of thoughts and the pressure of passions. It is worth noting that this prayer in the Greek translation is much shorter, and the concluding paragraph is missing altogether. Thus, only in the Syriac original it follows: “With these thoughts, your heart will immediately open with grace, and you will shed tears at the beginning of your prayer. Your thoughts will become clear when you remember the Lord, and your soul will receive peace. [Then] in composure and clarity of spirit, begin your service without any confusion and continue it until completion with [a feeling of] joy” 20. Dangers along the way: impatience and fatigue But due to our weakness, two things can go wrong: we may feel the desire to rush to the end of the psalmody, or we may be overcome by a feeling of fatigue. In the first case, Isaac gives this advice: “If, when you are performing a service, a thought speaks in you and begins to whisper to you: “Hurry a little, for you have a lot to do; You’ll be free sooner,” don’t join in with this thought. And if this bothers you more, then immediately go back one glory, or as much as you want, and repeat each verse containing a type of prayer many times with meditation. And if a thought again confuses or oppresses you, leave the poetry, kneel down in prayer and say: “I do not want to calculate words, but to reach abodes; for in every path that you do not lead me, I will quickly go.” If, when you are in vigil, prolonged standing overcomes you with its long duration, and you become exhausted from powerlessness, and a thought says to you, or rather, a wicked one says in a thought, as in a serpent: “Finish, because you cannot stand,” then answer it: “No; but I’ll just sit in kathisma, and it’s better than sleep. And if my tongue is silent and does not pronounce a psalm, but my mind learns with God in prayer and in conversation with Him, then wakefulness is more useful than any sleep” 21. In Discourse 80 from Part 1, from which I have already given a number of quotations, Isaac states that “we should conduct our service with a feeling of complete freedom or liberation.” Rather than “spoil the taste of our service,” it is better for us to feel free and even skip “one or two hullālē” 22 (two hullālē are equal to one tenth of the Psalter). However, the Greek translation reduces this to δόξα, which corresponds to the Syriac marmīṯā, a group of only three or four psalms 23 . What Isaac means when he speaks of “freedom” in this context becomes clear from Part 2: "31. The service of psalms is a law that enslaves the soul to the humility characteristic of subordinates. 32. In this law there is freedom and in freedom there is law. Some are tested and overcome by the law, others by freedom from it. 33. In freedom, as they say, a person achieves greater success than in obeying the law. However, many erroneous paths very often follow from freedom; many types of fall are hidden in it. But with the law, no one goes astray: those who keep themselves in the bridle of it can fall if they first of all abandoned it and neglected it” 24. “There is the law of freedom, and there is the law of slaves. The slave law is when they say: “I read so many psalms at each service and such and such a number of them at each prayer.” [Such a person] is under the yoke all his days, without change: he cannot change anything, since he is bound by the need in prayer and service to follow in detail what he has established for himself, that is, to strictly observe the number [of psalms] and the time [spent in reading]. All this is completely alien to the entire path of true knowledge, for it does not take into account either [divine actions], or the weakness of nature, or the need for constant struggle. In the first [case], grace is given in such a way that a person lingers [in prayer] of his own free will; in the second [case], the nature turns out to be too weak to fulfill the rule due to [demonic] attacks, which help to pacify pride” 25. Thus, rejecting the "slave law" as missing the whole point of monastic life, Isaac goes on to write what he means by the "law of freedom": “The law of freedom [consists] in the unchanging performance of the seven services that the Holy Church established for our chaste image through the Fathers, gathered by the Holy Spirit at the Ecumenical Council” 26. Having emphasized the need for hermits and hermits to follow the institutions of the Church, Isaac continues: “[This does not mean], however, that at each service I should sing a certain number of psalms, nor that a person should establish for each day certain numbers of prayers [to be said] between these services during the night and day, or a time limit for each of these prayers, or a certain order of words. But as much as grace gives him strength, he lingers on each prayer, and prays as much as necessary, and uses the prayer that he wants” 27. Isaac's main idea is that for all monks, and especially hermits and hermits, the obligatory element of their monastic life is worship, and not the number of psalms pronounced during its performance. Some practical tips In Discourse 53 from Part 1, Isaac offers some advice to his hermit brothers. He starts with a question: “Do you want to enjoy poetry during your service and accept the feeling of the words of the Spirit spoken by you? Put completely aside the number of verses, do not take into account the knowledge of the measure in the verses, say them like a prayer, leave the usual reading and understand what I am saying to you and what is said on the basis of experience, as if in the book of one of the men guided by God: let your mind deepen in the study of the words of the Spirit until your soul is awakened by wonder at the economy to their great understandings and through this is moved to praise or useful sorrow. And if there is anything in prayer, internalize it for yourself” 28. Different ways to depart night services Several times Isaac gives examples of various methods of celebrating lēlyā and the all-night vigil used by experienced hermits. One could spend the night in psalmody, the second in kneeling, accompanied by prayers and sighs, 29 the third could briefly indulge in psalmody, and then spend the rest of the night singing hymns and other poetic compositions. In exceptional cases, a hermit could read one marmīṯā and then fall into a deep and prolonged state of frenzy 30. To summarize, Isaac explains how successful hermits spend, without noticing it, the long hours of the all-night vigil in various ways, while “their souls rejoice and rejoice, forgetting about the garment of the flesh, woven from the passions in which it is clothed. And because of the delight and rejoicing of their hearts, they do not fall asleep. For they imagine that they have left the body and are already in the state that will be after the resurrection. And from their great joy they from time to time stop singing psalms and fall on their faces because of the strong joy arising in their souls...” 31 . Properly understood, for Isaac, psalmody and prayer are not two separate elements of monastic life. The first should not be considered an end in itself and separated from prayer. But psalmody and prayer have one common highest goal and purpose, namely “to bring us closer to God,” and accordingly they should be considered as interconnected and complementary: prayer should shed light on psalmody, and psalmody should evoke deep prayer and serve as a “springboard” for it. Thus, Isaac himself speaks in one place about “holy psalmody, when it is absorbed in pure prayer” 32. Dysinger L. Psalmody and Prayer in the writings of Evagrius Ponticus. Oxford, 2005. P. 196. The numbering of the homilies of the 1st part of the works of Isaac the Syrian is given according to the edition: Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa / Ed. P. Badjan. P., 1909. The numbering of the homily of the 2nd part is given according to my edition: Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian). The "Second Part", Chapters IV–XLI // CSCO. Scr. Syri 224 (text) and 225 (translation) / Ed. S. P. Brock. Louvain, 1995. Rus. lane The 1st part is given according to the publication: Like the saints of our father Abba Isaac the Syrian, Ascetic Words / Ed. S.I. Sobolevsky. Sergiev Posad, 1911. Rus. lane The 2nd part is given according to the edition: Isaac the Syrian, St. About divine secrets and spiritual life / Transl. with sire., preface, afterword, note. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev). Ed. 7th, rev. and additional St. Petersburg, 2013. – Note. ed. On the liturgical use of the Psalter in the Church of the East, see Mateos J. Lelya-Sapra: Essai d’interpretation des Matines chaldéennes. Roma, 1959. p. 28–32, 364–374. See Dadisho'. Commentarium in Asceticon Abbae Isaiah, XIII 5 // Draguet R. Commentaire du Livre d’Abba Isaie par Dadisho Qatraya (VIIe s.). (CSCO, 326; Scr. Syri, 144). Louvain, 1972, pp. 182–185. See I 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 549. Manuscript Add. 17, 110 from the National Library of Great Britain. Ed. and lane see Bloemendaal W. The Headings of the Psalms in the East Syrian Church. Leiden, i960. For the term qānōnē, see Mateos J. Lelya-Sapra... P. 315–363; the table of marmyāṯā and hullālē is located there: P. 448–449 See I 53; I 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. RUR 389,547 See Gabriel Qatraya. Explanation of the Liturgical Services // British Library. Or. 3336, f. 92v. Plural form h. from hullālā. – Approx. ed. Dadisho'. Commentarium in Asceticon Abbae Isaiah, XI 17 // Draguet R. Commentaire... P. 155–156. See I 65 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 447. Λόγος 54 // Pirard M. Ἀββά Ἰσαὰκ Σύρου Λόγοι Ἀσκητικοί. Κριτική ἔκδοσι Μάρκελλος Πιράρ. Ἰερά Μονή Ἰβήρων, Ἅγιον Ὄρος, 2012. Σ. 679. I 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 546. (in Russian translation Slovo 52). 1 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 547–548. See Λόγος 66 // Pirard Μ. Ἀββά Ἰσαὰκ Σύρου Λόγοι Ἀσκητικοί. Ρ. 774. II 14.35. This refers to the 54th Rule of the Council of Nicaea in 325. I 53 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 382; in Greek ed. Λόγος 44 // Pirard M. Ἀββά Ἰσαὰκ Σύρου Λόγοι Ἀσκητικοί. Ρ. 624; in Russian lane Word 30. See I 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 548. See I 53 // I 80 // Mar Isaacus Niniυita. De perfectione religiosa. P. 388–389. I 80 // Ibid. P. 549–550.