Namiętności i walka z nimi według Marka Eremity

Writing in his works about passions, Mark the Ascetic had behind hima long-term tradition of ascetic thought. However, an inquisitiveness leadsthe Master of asceticism to original statements on this subject. In forgettinggood thoughts, in recklessness and unawareness (ῥᾳθυμία, λήθη, ἄγνοια)he sees the origin of many passions. The common root of passion is thehuman tendency to seek pleasure (ἡδυπαθεία). Mark the Ascetic finds inthe theologal life, which determined by faith, hope and love, and which isinitiated by baptism, the basis of moral innocence of man. In the absence ofthis life, he sees the cause of the development of evil. He points to concretemeasures to fight passions. The forgetting should be contrasted with thememory of good works, the negligence with the sincere readiness to fight,and the unawareness with the enlightened cognition. The author emphasizesthe role of meditation, especially of God’s favours and Christ’s abasement,in the fight against faults. As a theologian of the Holy Spirit, he reflects onHis role in asceticism.