Глава 5. Преподобного Нила подвижника Синайского. Слово о молитве

You promptly restored me, lying in a burning fever (the speech is applied to the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law by the touch of the Savior’s hand) of unclean passions, with the touch of your God-loving letter, and my mind, ailing with the most shameful ailments, encouraged me with consolation, blissfully imitating the great Mentor and Teacher. And it’s not surprising. It has always been your lot to seek the glorious and significant, like the blessed Jacob. Why, having worked well for Rachel and received Leah, you also look for your beloved, just like the one who completed seven years (of work) for her (Gen. 29:20–28). But I don’t mind admitting that after working all night, I didn’t catch anything; but, according to your word, having plunged into the deep, he brought out many fish, I do not think that they were great, but a hundred and fifty-three (John 21:11). – And I send them to you in the treasury of love: and thus I fulfill your command, having composed an equal number of chapters (on prayer). I am amazed at you, and I am very pleased with your wonderful will, that you desired (not anything else), but chapters on prayer; and at the same time he not only wished that they should be written in ink on the charter by hand, but that they should be planted in the mind, with love and kindness. since “all are one against the other,” according to the word of the wise Sirach (Sir 42:25), then accept them not only by the letter, but also by the spirit. Dividing the word on prayer into one hundred and fifty-three chapters, we send you the gospel rent... Do not scold the heads for poverty, as one who can “be filled and run short” (Phil. 4:12). Yes, do not scold, remembering that the Lord did not reject even two mites from the widow, but accepted them more favorably than the rich contributions of many others. But more than that, knowing how to maintain goodwill and love towards your sincere brothers, pray for the infirm, so that he becomes healthy, and, taking up his bed, begins to walk, by the grace of Christ. Amen. 1) If someone wanted to prepare fragrant incense, then he must, according to the law, add in an even part “pure frankincense, cassia, onych and stacti” (Ex. 30:34). This is the quadruple of virtues. When they are all fully present in the soul and in equal strength, then the mind will not be betrayed (treasonably, of course, by some internal traitor). 2) The soul, having been purified by the fullness of virtues (that which becomes full of virtues), puts the mind in a state of serenity, making it capable of accepting the dispensation that is required (in prayer). 3) Prayer is a conversation of the mind to God. What kind of structure does the mind need so that it can steadily ascend to its Master and talk with Him, without any intermediary? (Slavic: I exist in the middle of nothing - maybe it’s better). 4) If Moses, when he tried to approach the burning bush on the ground, was forbidden to do so until he removed the “boots from his feet” (Ex. 3:5), then how can you not put away every passionate thought from yourself when you want to see the One who is above every feeling and thought, and to be an interlocutor with Him? 5) First of all, pray for the granting of tears to you, so that by crying you can soften the hardness that exists in your soul and, having confessed to yourself “the iniquity of the Lord” (Ps. 31:5), receive from him the remission of sins. 6) Use tears as a tool to receive every request. For the Master rejoices greatly over you when you pray with tears. 7) When during your prayer you shed fountains of tears, do not in any way become exalted in yourself, as if you were higher than others. This help was attracted to you by your prayer, so that you would more willingly and sincerely confess your sins and with tears appease the Lord. Do not turn the means against passions into passion, so as not to further anger the One who gave you this grace (i.e., tears). 8) Many of those who shed tears for sins, forgetting the purpose of the tears, became enraged and turned aside (from the right path; we are not talking about madness, but about extreme pride). 9) Stand with difficulty and pray gracefully (prudently, or well-disposed), tearing away the attacks of worldly cares and all thoughts; for they disturb and disturb you in order to upset your tone (good mood). 10) When the demons see that someone has zeal and zeal to pray as he should, then (not during prayer) they put into him thoughts about something that seems to be necessary (and leave), and a little later they again awaken the memory of that, moving the mind to seek that (if the question is for a solution, if the thing is for acquisition): and he, not finding what he is looking for (a solution to a question, or a method of acquiring a thing), is annoyed and grieves. Then, when he begins to pray (this zealous zealot of prayer), they remind him of what he was thinking about and what he was seeking, so that the mind, moving again to recognition (of what had not been decided before), would make the prayer (of the one praying) fruitless. 11) Strive to train your mind during prayer for the deaf and dumb, and you will be able to pray (as you should). 12) When temptation encounters you, or someone’s contradiction irritates you, so that you are either moved to anger against the one who has opposed everything to you, or even to utter some inappropriate word: then remember about prayer, and about the judgment during it (over you in your conscience before the face of God), and immediately the disorderly movement in you will be tamed. 13) Whatever you do to take revenge on your brother who has lied to you, it will all be a temptation to you (will embarrass you) during prayer. 14) Prayer is the growth of meekness and freedom from anger. 15) Prayer is a manifestation (outflow, outburst) of joy and thanksgiving. 16) Prayer is a cure for sadness and despondency. 17) “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21), and having taken up the cross, deny yourself (Matthew 16:24), so that you can pray without distraction. 18) If you want to pray a prayer of praise, deny yourself every hour, and while enduring extreme bitterness, philosophize about prayer. 19) If you philosophize about prayer, no matter what sorrow you have to endure; then you will find the fruit of this during prayer. 20) If you want to pray as you should, not the sorrow of the soul (the sorrows of this age); otherwise your course (or your labor) is in vain. 21) “Leave... your gift,” says the Lord, “before the altar, and go first to humble yourself with your brother” (Matthew 5:24), - and then, having come, you will begin to pray without embarrassment; for rancor brings darkness to the sovereign mind of the one praying and surrounds his prayers with darkness. 22) Those who collect sorrows (of this age) and vindictive thoughts in themselves, and keep prayer (in this state), are like those who draw water and pour it into a leaky barrel. 23) If you are patient, you will always pray with joy. 24) When you pray as you should, you may encounter some deeds for which it seems righteous to you to be angry with your neighbor. But there is no anger against a neighbor who is righteous. And if you look, you will find that you can arrange things well without anger. Therefore, try your best not to be moved to anger. 25) Be careful that, while thinking of healing another, you yourself do not remain unhealed and do not stop your prayer. 26) By curbing your anger (at your neighbor), you will find mercy for yourself, you will show yourself to be prudent, and you will be among those who truly pray. 27) He who arms himself against anger will never be defeated by lust: for it gives food to anger, but this one disturbs the intellectual eye and upsets the state of prayer. 28) When praying, do not limit yourself to external prayer positions alone, but bring your mind into the feeling of spiritual prayer, with great fear. 29) Sometimes, as soon as you stand up for prayer, you immediately begin to pray well; and sometimes, even after working a lot, you don’t get what you want, so that you seek it even more diligently, and having received it, have a prayer that is completely correct, safe from theft. 30) When an Angel approaches us, all the demons that are chilling us immediately leave; the mind is then in great consolation and prays sensibly. And sometimes, during the period of ordinary warfare, the mind beats and struggles, and is not allowed to arise (to good thoughts and well-being). This is because he was previously characterized by various passions. However, if he searches more, he will find it, and if he is not too lazy to push, he will open up to him. 31) Do not pray, let it be done according to your desires; for they do not agree with the will of God in everything. But it is better to pray as taught, saying: “Thy will be done on me” (Matthew 6:10). And in every matter, ask Him, His will be done: for He always desires what is good and beneficial for your soul, but you do not always seek it. 32) Many times, while praying, I asked that what seemed good for me be done, and I insisted on the request, foolishly forcing the will of God, and not leaving it to God to better arrange what He knows is beneficial for me. But having received (what he asked for), he was then in great sorrow, and precisely because he did not ask - may it be better according to the will of God; for things turned out to be different for me than I thought. 33) What is good besides God? Let us hand over to Him everything that concerns us, and it will be good for us: for of course the Good One is also the Giver of good gifts. 34) Do not grieve without immediately receiving from God what you ask for. He wants to bring you greater benefit, forcing you to stand before Him in prayer most patiently. For what is higher than to extend a conversation to God, and to be embraced by being with Him. 35) Undistracted prayer is the highest skill of the mind (the height of rational activity of the mind). 36) Prayer is the ascension of the mind to God. 37) If you strongly desire to succeed in prayer (if real prayer is desired for you); renounce everything, and you will inherit everything. 38) Pray, firstly, to be cleansed from passions, secondly, to get rid of ignorance and oblivion, and thirdly, to be delivered from all temptation and abandonment. 39) Seek in your prayer only truth and the Kingdom, that is, virtue and knowledge, and everything else will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). 40) It is righteous to pray not only for one’s own purification, but also for the purification of every fellow tribesman, in imitation of the Angelic image (of prayer). 41) See whether you truly stand before God in your prayer, or whether you are overcome by the desire for human praise and try to catch it, covering (this bad intention) with a plausible prayer position. 42) Whether you pray with the brethren or alone, strive to stand in prayer not just to fulfill the usual rule, but to pray with feeling. 43) This prayer in feeling is attention (to God and the words of prayers) with reverence, contrition and pain of the soul while confessing sins with implicit sighs. 44) If your mind still wanders during prayer, then he is not praying like a monk, but he is also a layman decorating the outer tabernacle. 45) When you pray, preserve your memory with all your might, so that it does not offer you its own; and strive in every possible way towards a reasonable stand (with the consciousness of who and why you stand). During prayer, the mind is usually very occupied by memory (things, faces, events come to mind and attract the attention of the mind). 46) During prayer, memory brings to mind either the imagination of old things, or new worries, or the face of someone who insulted you. 47) The demon is very envious of a person praying and in every possible way manages to deviate him from his intention: therefore, he does not cease to arouse through memory thoughts about various things and through the flesh to set in motion all passions, just to somehow interfere with his beautiful procession (i.e., prayerful work) and transmigration to God (ascending with attention). 48) When the all-evil demon, with all his tricks, does not have time to prevent the prayer of the zealous one; then he relaxes (his attacks) a little, but then, when he finishes the prayer, he takes revenge on him. For either by inflaming it with anger, it destroys that wonderful mood that is acquired through prayer, or by irritating some wordless sweetness (the urge for sensual pleasures), it mocks the mind. 49) Having prayed as you should, expect what you should not, and stand courageously guarding your fruit. This is what you were assigned to do from the very beginning, that is, to “work and keep” (Gen. 2:15). Therefore, having done (having performed the prayer as it should), do not leave unprotected what you have acquired through labor. Otherwise there will be no benefit to you from prayer. 50) All the constant warfare between us and unclean demons occurs because of nothing else but because of spiritual prayer; for it is very antagonistic to them and not bearable, but it is salutary and favorable to us. 51) Why do demons want to arouse in us (by their influence) gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, rancor and other passions? So that the mind, having grown dumb from them, cannot pray as it should: for the passions of our dumb part, having taken strength, do not allow the mind to act verbally (as is required of the rational). 52) We go through virtues because they are required by nature; We submit to nature for the sake of the Word-God who created it. This word usually appears (is imprinted in our consciousness) in a state of prayer (dark paragraph). 53) The state of prayer is a dispassionate state of mind that, with extreme love, delights the wise mind to mental heights. 54) He who wants to truly pray must not only control anger and lust, but also be alien to all passionate thoughts. 55) He who loves God always converses with Him as if with the Father, turning away from every passionate thought. 56) Not everyone who has had a moment of dispassion already prays truly; for such a one can still be busy with simple ideas (of things without passionate movements) and be entertained by their stories (maybe pictures of them and their various combinations) - and are far from God. (There are no passionate movements, but the mind dreams). 57) But even when the mind does not stagnate in simple thoughts about things, it does not mean that it has already reached the place of prayer: for it can be occupied with (philosophical) speculation about these things and delve deeper into their causal relationships. Although all these are abstractions, yet since they are speculations about things, they impress their images on the mind, and lead it far from God. (The passions are not in motion, but the mind philosophizes and does not pray. The state of scientists). 58) Even if the mind is higher than speculation about material nature, it does not yet follow that it has already seen the real place of God: for it can be occupied with the knowledge of mental creatures (the Angelic world), and be full of them (be full of various thoughts about them). 59) If you want to pray (as you should), then you need God, who gives prayer to the one who prays. Call upon Him in prayer, saying: “Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:9, 10), that is, the Holy Spirit and Thy Only Begotten Son. For this is what the Lord himself taught, saying that one must bow to the Father “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). 60) He who prays in spirit and truth does not borrow thoughts from creatures to magnify the Creator, but from Him Himself draws contemplations to glorify Him. 61) If you are a theologian, you will pray truly; and if you truly pray, then you are a theologian. 62) When your mind, flaming with desire for God, little by little, as if renounces the flesh, and turns away from all thoughts emanating from sensory impressions or from memory, being at the same time full of reverence and joy, then conclude that it has approached the limits of prayer. 63) The Holy Spirit, compassionate for our weakness, visits us even when we are still unclean; and if only our mind finds him sincerely praying, it comes upon him and disperses the entire crowd of thoughts or ideas surrounding him (makes it disappear), and arouses in him a love for spiritual prayer. 64) Others, through influence on the body, introduce thoughts, or concepts and speculations into the mind; but the Lord acts in the opposite way. By nourishing the mind itself, He imparts to it the knowledge of whatever He pleases: and through the mind He also tames the incontinence of the body. 65) He is worthy of all censure who, while loving true prayer, is angry or holds a grudge: for he is like someone who wants to see keenly, and yet blurs his eyes. 66) If you want to pray as you should, do not do anything contrary (hostile) to prayer, so that God, coming closer, will come to you. 67) When you pray, do not give the deity any form, and do not allow any image to be imprinted on your mind, but immaterially approach the Immaterial, and you will enter into communication with Him. 68) Beware of the enemy’s snares: for it happens that when you pray purely and serenely, some strange and alien image suddenly appears to you. The enemies do this in order to lead you into conceit, instilling the idea that a deity (appeared to you) is here; and further so that you think that like this, which suddenly appeared to you, the deity is quantitative (occupies space, is extended, has parts). But the Divine has neither quantity nor image. 69) When the envious demon does not have time to set the memory in motion, then he acts on the blood and juices, in order through them to bring into the mind the imagination of something alien and fill it with images. And he, having the habit of spinning in thoughts, conveniently gets carried away by that, and, striving to contemplate the Immaterial and Formless, is deceived, accepting smoke instead of light. 70) Stand on your guard, and keep your mind (free) from thoughts during prayer, in order to fulfill your request, while remaining in inner silence. Then “He who has compassion for the ignorant” (Heb. 5:2) will visit you too, and you will receive the glorious gift of prayer. 71) It is impossible for you to pray purely if you are entangled in material affairs, and are worried by incessant worries: for prayer is (requires) the putting aside of thoughts. 72) A bound person cannot run, and a mind enslaved to any passion cannot see the place of spiritual prayer; he barks and rushes about with passionate thoughts, and cannot settle unshakably on one thing. 73) When the mind finally begins to pray purely and dispassionately, then demons attack it no longer from the neck, but from the gums: they imagine the appearance of the glory of God, and some vision pleasing to the senses, so that it seems to him that he has already completely achieved the goal of prayer. This is, as one knowledgeable man Evagrius said in the book: γνωςιχος. -(The philological explanation of this is omitted), it happens from the passion of vanity. 74) I think that the demon propels the passion of vanity into thought (dreaming), and at the same time presents some kind of ghostly vision, which the mind frivolously takes for the appearance of the Divine (Periphrase - dark). Since he is not disturbed by impure carnal passions, but he is purely ahead (in prayer), then he does not think that there was any enemy action here, and he is convinced that this is definitely a Divine phenomenon, whereas it came from a demon. 75) The Angel of God, having appeared, in one word stops the enemy’s action in us, and sets the mind to act without being deceived. 76) What is said in the Apocalypse about the Angel bringing incense, “may he give to the prayers of the saints” (Apoc. 8:3), I think, points to this grace acting through the Angel, which imparts (the ability to truly pray; so that the mind finally stands in prayer) without confusion of thoughts, despondency and cowardice. 77) Vials with incense are the “prayers of the saints,” which were offered by the “twenty-four elders” (Apoc. 5:8). By phial we must mean fellowship with God, or perfect and spiritual love, in which prayer is acted in spirit and truth. 78) When you think that during your prayer there is no need for you to cry about your sins, then look how far you are from God, being obliged to always abide in Him, and you will shed the warmest tears. 79) Truly so, having realized your measure (poverty and insignificance), you will weep sweetly, condemning yourself like Isaiah, as being unclean and having “unclean lips,” and living among such a people (unclean and caring thoughts), you dare to stand before the Lord of hosts (Is. 6:5). 80) If you pray truly, you will receive complete confirmation in many ways, and the Angels will gather to you, as they did to Daniel, and enlighten you with knowledge of the reasons why things happen. 81) Know that St. Angels encourage us to pray, stand with us, rejoicing and praying together for us. And so, if we do not entertain and accept contrary thoughts, then we extremely anger them; for then, since they struggle so much for us, we do not want to beg God for ourselves, but, neglecting our service and leaving them, God and the Master, we conduct a conversation with unclean demons. 82) Pray peacefully and serenely, sing intelligently and harmoniously, and you will be like a chick of an eagle rising to the heights. 83) Psalmody lulls passions and tames the urges of bodily intemperance; and prayer tunes the mind to its characteristic mental activity. 84) Prayer is an activity befitting the dignity of the mind, or its best and true use. 85) Psalmody is an image of manifold wisdom; and prayer is the beginning of immaterial and varied knowledge. 86) Knowledge is a wonderful thing; for it promotes prayer, awakening the mental power of the mind to the contemplation of Divine knowledge. 87) If you have not yet received the gift of prayer or psalmody, then ask persistently, and you will receive. 88) “The verbs (Lord) and the parable for them, as it should be ... to pray and not to be cold [si]” (Luke 18:1). Therefore, do not grieve or be discouraged that you have not yet received; for later you will receive it. – The Lord also added this to the parable: “Even though I do not fear God, neither do I put man to shame: but this woman does my labors, I will take revenge on her” (Luke 18:4, 5). So “God... will take vengeance... on those who cry out to Him day and night... quickly” (Luke 18:7, 8). Be in good spirits, remaining in holy prayer with diligent patience. 89) Do not wish that what concerns you should be as it seems to you (better), but as God pleases; and you will be serene and grateful in your prayer. 90) Even though you were apparently already with God, beware of the demon of fornication; for he is very seductive and cunning, and tries in every possible way to overcome the vigilance and sobriety of the mind in order to distract him from God, even when he stands before Him with reverence and fear. 91) If you care about prayer, then get ready for demonic attacks: for they will come at you like wild beasts, and they will embitter your whole body (they will ulcerate). 92) Get ready, like an experienced fighter - not to hesitate, even if you suddenly saw a ghost, not to be embarrassed, even if a sword was turned on you, or a flame was directed at your face, not to lose heart (not to be timid), even if an ugly and bloody face (face) presented itself to you. Stand then, making a good confession, and look boldly upon your enemies. 93) He who endures sad things will also be rewarded with joyful things; and whoever endures what is unpleasant will not be deprived of a share in what is pleasant. 94) Be careful that the wicked demons do not deceive you with any vision. If something like this happens, then, remaining collected within yourself, turn to prayer and ask God, so that if this is from Him (for admonition), He Himself will enlighten you, and if not, then to quickly drive the charmer away from you. And be bold: for the dogs will not stand when you come to God with warm prayer, but immediately, invisibly and invisibly beaten by God’s power, they will scatter far from you. 95) You should also know the following cunning of demons. Sometimes they divide themselves into groups. Some come with temptation. And when you seek help, others enter in angelic forms and drive away the first ones, so that you will be deceived by the opinion that they are real angels and fall into the conceit that you are worthy of it. 96) Try to be as humble and courageous as possible, and the enemy’s attack on the demons will not touch your soul and their scourge will not come close to your body. “The Lord has commanded you with his angel, keep you” (Ps. 90:11); and they will invisibly repel any enemy action from you. 97) Although he who tries to maintain a pure prayer will hear noise, trampling, screams, and blows, he will not lose heart and betray him, saying to God: “I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 22:4), and the like. 98) During such temptations, turn to prayer, and pray a prayer of few words, but intensely. 99) If demons threaten you, that they will suddenly appear in the air to amaze you and steal your mind, do not be afraid of them, and do not worry at all about their threat. It is they who frighten you, torturing you, whether you put them in something, or have already completely despised them. 100) If you appear before God Almighty, the Creator and Provider of all things in prayer, then why do you stand before Him so unreasonably that, having abandoned His insurmountable fear, you are afraid of flies and mosquitoes? Or do you not hear what (the Prophet) says: “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God” (Deut. 10:20); and again: “Everyone fears Him, and trembles at the presence of His power,” and so on (2 Chronicles 36:23, Manas prayer). 101) Just as bread serves as food for the body, and virtue for the soul, so spiritual prayer is food for the mind. 102) Pray not like a Pharisee, but like a publican in a sacred place of prayer, so that you too may be justified by the Lord. 103) Strive not to curse anyone in your prayer, so as not to destroy what you are building, making your prayer disgusting (before God). 104) Let the debtor teach you with “darkness of talents” that if you do not leave (the debt) to your debtor, then you yourself will not receive the leave (of your debt); for it is said: “Give Him over to the tormentors” (Matthew 18:24, 34). 105) Put aside your bodily needs during your prayer (to God), so that the bite of a flea, mosquito or fly does not deprive you of the greatest gain brought by prayer. 106) It has come down to us that one saint, when he stood for prayer, was so opposed by the evil one that as soon as he raised his hands, this one, transformed into a lion, raised his front legs up and, plunging his claws into the sides of the ascetic, did not retreat until he lowered his hands. But he never lowered them until he had finished his usual prayers. 107) The same, as we know, was the one who was silent in the ditch, John the Little, or better to say, the greatest monk, who remained motionless in communion with God, when a demon in the form of a dragon wrapped itself around him, gnawed his flesh and vomited it in his face. 108) You have, of course, read the lives of the Tavennisiot monks, where it is said that when Abba Theodore spoke a word to the brethren, two vipers crawled up to his feet, and he, not the least embarrassed, bent his feet as if with an arch, and letting the vipers under them, continued the word to the end; and then he showed them to his brothers, telling the story. 109) We also read about another spiritual brother, that when he was praying, a viper crawled up and touched his foot; but he did not lower his hands before he had completed the usual prayer. And this one did not suffer any harm, having loved God more than himself. 110) So that your eye (the eye of the mind-consciousness) does not drag here and there during prayer, renounce your body and soul and live with your mind (spirit). 111) Demons appeared to another certain saint, a strong man of prayer, who was silent in the desert, and for two weeks they played with him like a ball, throwing him up and catching him on the matting; however, they could not at all reduce his mind from fiery prayer. 112) To another still God-loving monk, when he was doing mental prayer while walking in the desert, two angels appeared and went with him, having him in the middle. But he did not turn his attention to them for a minute, so as not to suffer damage to the best; for I remembered the saying of the Apostle, who says: “neither angels nor principalities, nor power... will be able to separate us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:38, 39). 113) Through prayer a monk becomes equal to the angels, desiring to see “the face of the Father who is in heaven.” 114) Do not desire or seek at all to see any face or image during prayer. 115) Do not want to sensually see Angels or the Power, or Christ, lest you go crazy, mistaking a wolf for a shepherd and worshiping hostile demons. 116) The beginning of the deception of the mind is vanity, by which the mind is driven, attempting to describe the deity in some image or form. 117) I will say what I said to beginners: blessed is the mind that during prayer remains completely sightless. 118) Blessed is the mind that, praying without distraction, receives greater and greater love for God. 119) Blessed is the mind that during prayer is immaterial and non-covetous. 120) Blessed is the mind that, during prayer, maintains complete detachment from the sensory. 121) Blessed is the monk who considers every person as a god after God. 122) Blessed is the monk who looks at the salvation and prosperity of everyone with joy, as if it were his own. 123) Blessed is the monk who considers himself the rabble of all. 124) A monk is one who, having separated from everyone, is in agreement with everyone. 125) A monk is one who considers himself to be one with everyone (that he is one with them), because in everyone he thinks to see himself completely. 126) He prays who always bears fruit in every first thought of his to God (turns every deed and undertaking to the glory of God and asks God for a blessing for this). 127) Avoid all lies and all oaths (assurance with an oath), like a monk who strongly desires to pray (success in prayer); otherwise, it is in vain to take on an appearance that is unusual for you (a monk or a praying person). 128) If you want to pray in the spirit, do not perceive anything carnal, and you will not have a cloud spreading darkness before you while you pray. 129) Entrust your bodily needs to God, and it will be obvious that you also entrust your spiritual ones to Him. 130) If you are worthy to receive the promises, you will reign. So, looking at these, shouldn’t you endure real poverty with pleasure? 131) Do not fight off poverty and sorrow (of life) - these wings of easy prayer. 132) Let bodily virtues be your guarantee and guide to spiritual ones, and spiritual virtues to spiritual ones, and these to immaterial and essential knowledge. 133) If, while praying against a thought, you notice that it quickly and easily subsides, then consider why this happened, so as not to fall into an ambush and, having been deceived, not to become a traitor to yourself. 134) It happens that sometimes demons, having placed some thoughts in you, themselves urge you against them, or to contradict them - and immediately run away (and with thoughts); so that you fall into delusion, imagining that you have already begun to conquer thoughts and frighten demons. 135) If you pray against any passion, or any demon that is plaguing you, remember the words of the Psalmist: “My enemies will marry, and I will suffer, and will not return, until they die: I will offend them, and they will not be able to stand, they will fall under my feet,” and so on (Ps. 17:38, 39). But say this in good time, arming yourself against opponents with humility. 136) Do not think of acquiring virtue without first fighting for it to the point of bleeding. According to the Divine Apostle, one must stand against sin until death, striving to remain blameless (Heb. 12:4). 137) It happens that having benefited one, you will suffer harm from another (through the machinations of the enemy), so that when you encounter a lie, you say something inappropriate, or do something inappropriate, and thus squander what you collected for good. That is the goal of the crafty demons. Therefore, you need to pay attention to yourself wisely. 138) Accept the demonic attacks on you (courageously), taking care of how to get rid of enslavement to them. 139) At night, the crafty demons themselves try to confuse the spiritual teacher; and during the day - through people, surrounding him with (unpleasant) accidents, slander and dangers. 140) Do not refuse (tolerate) these clothiers. Let them beat, trample, stretch, hold in the heat; but through this your clothes become beautiful. 141) Until you have completely renounced passions and your mind still reveals resistance to virtue and truth, until then you will not find fragrant incense in your bosom. 142) Do you want to pray (as you should)? When you move away from here, always have residence in heaven, not only in words, but through angelic activity and the most divine knowledge. 143) If only when there are difficulties in your activities (when you fail in good things, when you are in danger of falling into sin, when you actually make mistakes), you remember the Judge, how terrible and unwashed he is: then you have not yet learned to “work for the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling” (Ps. 2:11). Know that with spiritual joys and consolations (satisfaction), it is even more necessary to serve Him with fear and reverence. 144) The one who truly knows the matter is the one who does not leave the sorrowful memory of his sins and the righteous torment for them in eternal fire - before perfect repentance. 145) Possessed by sins that anger God and shamelessly daring to reach out to the knowledge of divine things, or to approach (sneak through and squeeze through) immaterial prayer - let him accept the Apostolic prohibition. It is not safe for such a person to pray with his head naked and uncovered. Such a soul, in the words of the Apostle, “must have the power to have the angel of those who come at the head” (1 Cor. 11:10), clothed with shame and appropriate humility. 146) Just as it will do no good (but harm) to a sick eye person if at noon, in the strongest light, he begins to look intensely at the sun, so a passionate and unclean mind will not benefit from tension or adapting oneself to terrible and supernatural prayer in spirit and truth; on the contrary, he will incite the Divinity to indignation at himself. 147) If the one who comes to the altar with a gift is not accepted by the One who lacks nothing and is impartial, until he is reconciled with his neighbor who mourns him (Matthew 5:23); then look at what kind of self-protection and what prudence is needed in order to offer incense favorable to God on the mental altar. 148) Do not be a lover of words, nor a lover of glory; otherwise, it will be obvious that what sinners do is not on your back, but on your face (Ps. 129:3). And you will be a laughing stock for them during prayer, drawn and seduced from them into placeless thoughts. 149) Attention that seeks prayer will find prayer. After attention, nothing better follows, but prayer, about which we must take every care. 150) Just as sight is better than all senses, so prayer is more divine than all virtues. 151) The praise of prayer is not just quantity, but quality. This is shown by those who entered “the church to pray” (Luke 18:10), and the following word: “But when you pray, you do not say too much,” and so on (Matthew 6:7). 152) While you pay attention to the pleasure of the body and are busy with what is pleasant for this canopy of yours, until then (know that) you have not yet seen the place of prayer, but its blessed path is still far from you. 153) When you stand in prayer, you will be above any other joy; then (know that) you have truly found prayer. The original title of this collection: “Patristic instructions on prayer and sobriety or attention in the heart to God.” To the author's text of the collection (from St. Basil the Great to St. Barsanuphius and John inclusive), the publishers added quotes about prayer from the letters of St. himself. Feofan. You might be interested in: