Bridling the passions
“Apt silence bridles anger, moderation in food bridles mindless desire, the single-phrased Jesus prayer bridles unruly thought….The spiritual aspirant must restrain his sense through frugality and his intellect through the single phrased Jesus prayer. Having in this way detached himself from the passions, he will find himself caught up to the Lord during prayer.” ~ Ilias the Presbyter , as quoted in The Philokalia. How quietly true is this teaching from this monk of the Eastern tradition. I very much appreciate his use of the term “unbridled” when he is teaching about the passions. For indeed I believe that is what Jesus meant when He preached “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." The word for meek in the Greek is "praus"--(pra-ooce) which means mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness. It is sometimes translated "blessed are the gentle". Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings wi