Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Holy Fools

Terry Nelson reflects upon the Russian tradition of the Holy Fool.
According to Christian ascetic tradition, “foolishness” included consistent rejection of worldly cares and imitating Christ, who endured mockery and humiliation from the crowd - who even declared he must be insane. More deeply, the spiritual meaning of “foolishness” stems from the early ages of Christianity and was associated with the penitent’s rejection of ordinary social conventions that consisted of prevarication, hypocrisy, brutality and thirst for power, riches, and honor.

The hermit, St. Anthony the Great said the following concerning the end times: “There will come a time, when people will behave like madmen, and if they encounter any one who does not behave as they do, they will condemn him and say: “You are mad” - because he is not like them.”

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2 comments:

wendybirde said...

I just love this tradition : ) Catherine Doherty goes into this a lot too, it ties in with holy poverty.

Hope you are well, and that your week will be peaceful : ) Wendy

Terry Nelson said...

Thank you Elena - see - I have an excuse for how I am... I could only hope!