About mental or internal prayer

The work of the blessed elder schemamonk and archimandrite Paisius of Velichkovsky, abbot of Nyametsky and other monasteries in Moldova and the founder of the Russian Ilyinsky monastery on Athos Contents Preface by Elder Paisius Preface by Elder Paisius Rumor has reached me last that some of the monastic rank 1 dare to blaspheme the Divine, ever-memorable and God-created Jesus prayer, sacredly performed with the mind in the heart, building such their tongue-in-cheek on the sand of superstition without any evidence. I dare say the enemy is arming them with their tongues, so that with their tongues, as their weapon, they can discredit this most immaculate and Divine work and with the blindness of their minds they can darken this mental sun. Therefore, having mourned such wickedness of these who err from the womb and speak lies (Psal. 57:4) and fearing that one of those who are not established in their minds, hearing such fables of theirs, would not fall into a ditch of blasphemy similar to them, and mortally sin before God by blaspheming the teaching of many of our God-bearing fathers, who testify and teach about this Divine prayer out of the enlightenment of Divine grace, and, moreover, no longer tolerating hearing blasphemous speeches for this most immaculate work, and in addition, convinced by the request of the zealots of this soul-saving work, I decided, although this exceeds my weak mind and weak strength, calling for the help of my sweetest Jesus, without Whom no one can do anything, to refute the falsely named mind of the empty-minded and to confirm the God-chosen flock about the name of Christ of the brethren gathered in our monastery, to write a little something about the Divine mental prayer with extracts from the teachings of the holy fathers, for firm, unshakable and undoubted confirmation of it. Being dust and ashes, I bow the mental knees of my heart before the unapproachable majesty of Your Divine glory, and I pray to You, my all-sweet Jesus, the Only Begotten Son and the Word of God, the radiance of glory and the image of the Father’s hypostasis! Enlighten my darkened mind and thoughts and grant Your grace to my accursed soul, so that this work of mine may serve for the glory of Your most holy name and for the benefit of those who want, through the intelligent and sacred practice of prayer, to intelligently cleave to You, our God, and You, the priceless bead, to constantly carry in their souls in their hearts and for the correction of those who, in their extreme ignorance, dared to blaspheme this Divine work! During the time of Elder Paisius, a certain superstitious philosopher-monk who lived in the Moshensky Mountains in Moldova appeared as a particular detractor of mental prayer. This “Scroll” was written against him in particular, as Elder Paisius called his article. You might be interested in: