79. Беседа из слов святаго Апостола Павла о молитве духом и умом 447

I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also. (1 Cor. 14:15). Prayer is a matter of such importance in spiritual life that if anyone wanted to resolve the perplexity of whether he is on the path to the perfection of spiritual life, then he should note whether he has any success in prayer. For if we take into consideration the word of the Lord: “Everything you ask in prayer as a believer, receive it” (Matthew 21:22); then, of necessity, we must conclude that whoever knows how to ask with faith in prayer everything necessary for the perfection of spiritual life, accepts all this, and therefore, without a doubt, moves towards the perfection of spiritual life, and finally achieves it 448. Judging by the great importance of prayer for spiritual life, we must be very careful 449 about the best and most reliable way to perform prayer. Let's be careful. Here the Apostle, saying how best he himself would like to pray, through this gives us the most reliable instruction on how it is better for us to pray. “I will pray,” he says, “with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also.” In the Apostle’s saying, firstly, two external types of prayer are presented: “I will pray, I will sing,” verbal prayer and sung prayer. About these types of prayer, it is enough to briefly note how faithfully the Holy Church follows the example and institution of the Apostolic, since even now in Divine services it uses alternately reading and singing, verbal prayer and sung prayer; and how generally applicable and generally useful this institution should be considered, not only for those who are ignorant and led by sensory impressions, but also for people who think sublimely, since the God-wise Apostle, along with all the people of believers, wants not only to pray in spirit and mind, but also to sing from the abundance of a God-loving heart and tender feeling! Secondly, in the saying of the Apostle two special ways of prayer are presented: prayer with the spirit and prayer with the mind. “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind.” In order to understand these highest images of prayer, one must understand what the words mean: spirit and mind in the Apostolic language. When we hear the Apostle saying that “those who are in the flesh are carnal, and those who are in the Spirit are spiritual” (Rom. 8:5): then we understand that the spirit is something higher in man, opposite to the flesh or sensuality. When the same Apostle also says: “I myself work with my mind the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:25): from this we see that the mind is something higher in man, opposite to the “flesh.” Therefore, it seems that the spirit and the mind are almost one, just as the Apostle truly unites them when he expounds the truth, or the essence of Christian teaching, which consists in being “renewed by the spirit of the mind.” If we can note here any difference between “mind and spirit”: is it that “spirit” appears in the “mind” itself as something more sublime, more internal, opening in the mind, just as the soul opens in the feelings. But just as in the Apostle’s sayings about prayer the activity of the mind is presented in some contrast to the activity of the spirit 450, as for example: “my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful”: then there must be no small, and very tangible difference between them. In order to reveal this difference, let us read the words of the Apostle somewhat more fully: “Even if I pray with my tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What else is there? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also” (1 Cor. 14:14-15). Now we see that the expression: “I will pray with the spirit” has been put in place of the previously used expression: “I pray with the tongue.” Consequently, “prayer in the spirit” is one with “prayer with the tongue”; and in order to understand prayer in the spirit, one must have an understanding of prayer with the tongue. In order not to bore you any longer with heavy, sophisticated words, we hasten to tell you what the matter is. When the Apostles, after the Ascension of the Lord, “all endured with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14); and on the tenth day, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit had given them to speak” (Acts 2:4); and thus the gift of speaking in other unlearned tongues was revealed as a very brilliant fruit of prayer, and as a very solemn sign of the descending and active Holy Spirit: from that time on, the prayer and zeal of the believers took a special direction and desire to achieve this gift, how useful in those times for the spread of Christian teaching, as pleasant for those who possess it, as obviously reassuring in the presence of the grace of God. Inasmuch as this desire of the believers corresponded to the intention of grace to spread Christianity: then grace generously condescended to this desire, and thus in church meetings it often happened that the spirit of those praying was delighted with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God descended on the spirit of those praying and, like an unstoppable stream, poured out through their lips with prayers, chants, hymns, prophecies in different languages. The abundance of this gift was so great that sometimes those embraced by the Spirit said prayers and sang Divine songs in languages ​​that most of those present, or even none of them, understood at all. In this case, the Apostle said: “If I pray with my tongue,” that is, with an unknown tongue, revealed only by the gift of the Holy Spirit, “my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful”; - a mind without fruit because others do not understand it, and therefore the word of prayer sown by its tongue does not bear the fruit of similar prayer in others. After this, I hope, it is somewhat clear that “prayer in the spirit” is a state of prayer in which a person, exclaimed by faith and love, by the very top of his being, so to speak, by his highest ability and power, by which he is, as it were, identified with the Divine, strives and delights in the Spirit of God, accepts the influx of the Spirit of God, surrenders to this influx, so that then it is not so much the man himself He prays as long as the “Spirit” of the Holy One “breathes” in him, breathing “wherever he wills” (John 3:8), - the “Spirit Himself” the Holy One “intercedes” for him with “groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26), or with verbs that often exceed the understanding of a sensual person. Distinguished from this state 452 by the Apostle, “prayer with the mind” is such an image of prayer when the mind of the one praying, although it rises to God with reverent thoughts, with pious desires, with holy feelings of tenderness or joy, but does not indulge in the attraction of spiritual delight unlimitedly, but controls his thoughts, desires, feelings in such a way that in this case spiritual forces act in the ordinary, characteristic of them, order, and therefore prayer requests and praises are spoken in a way that is generally intelligible, which is why those who hear can be encouraged to participate in prayer. Both of these forms of prayer are approved and proposed for use by the Holy Apostle when he says to the Corinthians: “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the mind.” That is: I do not want and do not advise you to use one of these forms of prayer exclusively; But I recognize that it is best to sometimes pray with the spirit, and sometimes to pray with the mind, alternately, as circumstances require, - pray with the spirit for yourself and for God, - pray with the mind for God, and for yourself, and for the edification of your neighbors. It is impossible to pass by without special notice, and even without surprise, that the Apostle offers prayer in the spirit, which is a gift of the Spirit of God, along with prayer with the mind, which is a free work of the human spirit. How? Do we really have the same power to use prayer with the spirit as we do with the mind? Have you thought about this, Holy Mentor? – Without a doubt, brethren, the Holy Spirit in Saint Paul does not err in the instructions given to us. It can be seen that we truly have the power to pray in the spirit, as soon as we truly and completely surrender to the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of prayer; - apparently they are powerful, because, like this, by the wondrous condescension of the Spirit of God to us, the Prophets are also powerful in the use of the prophetic spirit, as the same Apostle clearly testifies to this: “and the souls of prophecy obey the Prophet” (1 Cor. 14:32). But we should be even more surprised that the Apostle tries not to strengthen and spread grace-filled prayer in the spirit, but in some way to limit and retain it in its pursuit. He complains about the excessive use of prayer by the spirit. With some indignation against prayer in the spirit, he says: “My spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” He seems to prefer prayer with the mind and primarily encourages it: “in church,” he says, “I want to speak five words with my mind, but I use others rather than ten words with my tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). What does this mean? – That the grace of the Holy Spirit in the primacy of the Church overflowed like the sea; that then it was necessary not to encourage many believers to pray, not to be attracted to matters of the spirit, but to temper their boundless zeal so that, while immersed in the spirit, they would not forget the ordinary duties of the external community of humanity and Christianity. If from this spiritual spectacle of the primacy of the Church we turn to its present state and to ourselves: then should we not come to a different kind of surprise, or perhaps to fear and horror, from the sad difference between the present and the past? How many of us are so immersed in the prayer of the spirit that we need to pull them out of the sea of ​​the spirit onto the shore of the mind? How many, if any, have experienced the prayer of the spirit? How many people quite understand it when it is spoken about? They will say, why are you telling us about this prayer, which is so unusual and so little understood? - Let anyone complain about this; and this is precisely why I am talking about this sublime prayer, because in our time it is so unusual, and so little is understood about it. It is necessary for this age to know that in it such gifts of grace have become extraordinary, which were once very common; that his wise men became incomprehensible to such descriptions of grace-filled actions that were understandable to the common people who listened to the Apostle Paul or read his Epistles. How quickly does this late and dark age know this: I immediately tell him what the Angel of the Church of Ephesus was commanded to say even earlier: “Remember where you slept from, and repent, and first do the works” (Rev. 2:5). Truly, brethren, we have fallen deeply from pious zeal, from the spiritual advancement of leading Christians, when not only the wonderful prayer of the spirit has become impoverished, but often the prayer of the mind is inattentive, the prayer of the heart is cold, the prayer of the lips is not animated by the prayer of the mind and heart. Let us repent and be jealous of the first deeds of the first Christians; let us force ourselves to “endure in prayer and supplication,” that is, to remain in it as much as possible, constantly and unremittingly; Let us guard our minds and feelings with attention in order to drive away from our prayer vain thoughts, passionate desires, and sensual entertaining impressions and memories, just as in ancient times Patriarch Abraham drove away birds of prey from his prey; let us approach God not only with our lips, but especially with our hearts; let us pray and sing with our minds, according to our zeal, and let us pray and sing finally with our spirit, according to the gift of the Holy Spirit; to Him be glory with the Father and the Son forever. Amen. According to Jew. collection: Word on the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius, spoken in the Lavra on July 5, 1829. According to Jew. collection further follows: Would you like to add to the evidence of this reasoning the evidence of a close example? We point you to this man of prayer, in whom the streams of the highest life, which filled his soul to excess, watered his dead flesh, so that his coffin, raised from the ground, was likened to the heavenly chariot of the prophet, sending from itself strength and grace. Ask him how he achieved such perfection? How did you delight in so much grace? How did you rise to such fame? Can wisdom, acquired through many teachings, help? His life answers this, that he did not seek this wisdom at all, did not enter any abode of this wisdom, did not collect for himself any writings of learned wisdom. Is it the guidance of mentors? – It’s true that in his childhood he had an extraordinary mentor, who, as a young man who had not yet learned to read and who did not understand, in an instant taught him to read the Church prayer book; but that was the end of his entire instruction. After an unprecedentedly short educational career, Bartholomew grew up without a leader, Sergius lived in the desert without a mentor. Is it through strenuous feats? - Yes, his exploits were strong, but as according to the Apostle: even if someone strives, he will not be married, unless he struggles legally; then strenuous exploits cannot be taken as the fundamental principle of success, but require another higher principle that would give the exploits a legitimate direction leading to success and a crown. What could this beginning be in the life of Sergius? There is nothing else to be seen than the prayer of faith. Constant exercise in prayer taught him the true art of prayer, through this he became capable of receiving everything asked for in prayer; Thus, through prayer, he acquired strength and strength to perform exploits, and wisdom to manage them, and delighted the kingdom of heaven and its gifts in such abundance that even to this day he distributes from his abundance, and promotes the exploits of others, and successfully leads the prayers of others. According to Jew. collection: we can't be too caring... According to Jew. collection: mind is opposed to spirit... According to Jew. collection: the human spirit, exalted by faith and love, in the very center of its being, or in the highest power and ability by which it is, so to speak, determined... According to Jew. collection: the opposite of this state..... You might be interested in: