#deser tfathers

[grandpasessions]

In contrast to the oracular apothegmata [sayings], we have what is known as the logismoi. According to Hierotheos Vlachos, the latter means images with thoughts. He claims that when these directors of the desert spoke of the logosmoi, they did not mean simple discursive thoughts. They were less discursive manifestations and instead had more to do with images and their mirage-like representation.

Hence, the logosmoi can be understood as the tendency to become trapped in meaning. It is to be locked in a certain way of seeing things that causes suffering. Thus, the logismoi beleaguered the desert fathers during their isolation in the wilderness.

The continuous chain of compulsive thought distracted them from their desire. On the other hand, the apothegmatha were aphoristic words designed to break the obsession with certainty and meaning that arose through the logismoi. ‘Give us a word Father’ was the formula used to introduce the apophthegmata or sayings of these pre-modern spiritual directors.

The Direction of Desire Mark Gerard Murphy

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