Daily Devotional: December 24th

Daily Prayer IX

Ceaseless gratitude to thee, O blessed gods divine,

For the bounties bestowed, and those in future twine.

Jove, the fount of highest blessings, we extol,

In thankfulness, let our grateful voices roll.

May the welfare of my kind not escape my sight,

In my capacity, strive for the common light.

Aid willingly for the greater good we share,

Knowing that such endeavors make my fortune fair.

Let not my actions be the source of woe,

But, to the best of my ability, let goodness flow.

Becoming akin to your celestial grace,

In virtuous deeds, may I find a blessed place.

Daily Meditation

“Many who commit the basest actions often exercise the best discourse.”

—Democrates

Sentence 20

Those who speak well are not always as virtuous as they seem. We have to judge a person by their actions and not just their words, no matter how eloquently they speak. Many vicious people have a particular talent for speaking and rhetoric. Words have the power to enrapture us and change our thoughts and motivations, so be sure those you listen to are as virtuous in action as their word.

Monthly Ascesis: Repentance

"Repentance is the beginning of philosophy"

—Hierocles

“Repentance is often seen as a particularly Christian idea, but philosophers were quite fond of reminding people to repent. Pythagoras, in particular, suggests two ways that we can begin to repent and take a better inventory of who we are. The word ‘repent’ is related to the Latin word for regret. The idea is that we should look over our actions and judge them if they are unworthy. However, the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means the transformation of the mind. Platonic repentance is about creating an inner change that leads us back to a life of holiness in harmony with the divine.

Pythagoras says we should “do nothing shameful, neither in the presence of others nor privately; Thus, above all things, sit as a judge over [ourself].” This suggests we should watch our actions, and when we do something wrong or shameful, we should repent, that is, regret that action. If we never do this or shun it as a practice, we effectively say we have no reason to regret our actions. However, regretting an action is recognizing an area where we fell short of our ideals. If we never regret or repent, we make any spiritual or ethical growth impossible. This is why Hierocles, commenting on Pythagoras, says, “repentance is the beginning of philosophy.””

Excerpt from Ascesis: The Handbook of Platonic Practice

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