Sadness

One

Evagrius says there are two kinds of sadness: a good kind, Penthos and a bad kind, Lupe. First, Penthos is a good sadness.  This is the word Jesus uses when He says, “Blessed are those who mourn…”. The greek word for mourn is penthos.  This sadness is good and it is used in reference to mourning our sins, the sadness which comes from realizing we have done wrong.  We thank God for this sadness because it is the very thing which leads us back to Him.  We have penthos because we have broken our relationship. So, remember that next time you do something wrong, or the next time your friend or family member falls into sin: Blessed are those who mourn (penthos), for they shall be comforted.

Two

There is a form of sadness that is detrimental to us. This form of sadness is called Lupe. Evagrius says this bad form of sadness is caused by one or more of these 3 things:

1.     Loss of the pleasure of some sensual good

2.     Anger at a perceived hurt or offense

3.     Demonic Activity

This negative form of sadness is dangerous because we start to take a certain pleasure in it. It comes in those moments where we wallow in self-pity. For example, when we are sad about some sin, but then we start to take pleasure in the sadness. You aren’t just sad about the sin anymore, you are now “The worst sinner ever and I’ll always be this way”. This is dangerous because as a human, God has made you for Beatitude, for heaven, for happiness.  If you dwell in this negative sadness too long, you will seek the pleasure of vice, of instant gratification.  This then causes more sadness, then the need for more pleasure. This is the cycle of addiction which we and our loved ones can all go through. Eventually this cycle leads to the vice of acedia, which is a hatred for the spiritual goods.

Three

Evagrius prescribes two things as a cure for Lupe, this bad form of sadness:

1.     Community: This takes the form of Friends, A Spiritual Director, and Your Parish. This prescription is surprising because the desert fathers, in all other temptations, would tell monks to stay put in their own cell.  This is one of the few times they directed to go out and seek community, to build friendships. This is a cure for sadness.

2.     Prayer, especially with scripture, and even more, with the psalms. For Example, Psalm 25:16 says, “Turn to me, and be gracious to me; for I am lonely and afflicted.” Or Psalm 42:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?

So, to heal the passion of sadness, we must seek and nurture community and we must pray with the scriptures, especially the psalms.

Four

Let us look to the words of the saints. St John Chrysostom writes:

“Great is the influence of sadness: it is a spiritual illness that demands much strength so as to resist it with courage and reject what is bad (lupe) in it after taking what is good (penthos), since it does have its usefulness. Indeed, when we sin, only sadness (penthos) is good and useful; but it lacks usefulness when it is caused by human calamities.”

Five

But it is St Barsanuphius who sums it up best:

“One must in no way be saddened for anything in this world, but only for sin”

Let us rightfully mourn our sin, but not give into sadness.