Слово 16. О чистой молитве

Just as all the power of the laws and commandments that God has given to people, according to the word of the fathers, has its limit in purity of heart, so all kinds and types of prayer that people pray to God have their limit in pure prayer. For sighs, genuflections, heartfelt petitions, the sweetest cries, and all types of prayer, as I said, have a limit of pure prayer and only have the opportunity to reach out to it. And from the purity of prayer to the inner, as soon as the thought has crossed this limit, it will no longer have prayer, movement, crying, power, freedom, petition, lust, or pleasure in anything hoped for in this life or in the next century. And therefore, after pure prayer, there is no other prayer. To this limit only, every prayerful movement and all types of prayer bring the mind to the power of freedom. That is why there is feat in prayer. And beyond this limit there will be amazement, and not prayer; because all prayer ceases, but a certain contemplation sets in, and the mind does not pray through prayer. Any prayer of any kind performed is performed through movements; but as soon as the mind enters into spiritual movements, there is no prayer there. Prayer is another thing, and contemplation in prayer is another, although prayer and contemplation borrow their origin from each other. Prayer is sowing, and contemplation is the gathering of handles [sheaves], in which the reaper is amazed by the unspeakable vision of how such beautiful grains suddenly grew from the small and bare grains he had sown. And in his own doing 105 he remains without any movement; because every prayer performed is a supplication that contains either petition, or thanksgiving, or praise. Consider more carefully whether one of these types of prayer, or asking for something, happens when the mind crosses its limit and enters this area? I ask about this the one who knows the truth. But not everyone has this prudence, but only those who became spectators and servants of this matter or studied from such fathers, and from their lips learned the truth, and spent their lives in these and similar studies. Just as out of many thousands there is hardly one who has fulfilled the commandments and everything legal with a small flaw and has achieved spiritual purity, so out of a thousand is there only one who has been vouchsafed, with great caution, to achieve pure prayer, to break this limit and receive this sacrament; because many could not be worthy of pure prayer; very rare ones were honored; and the one who has achieved that sacrament, which is already behind this prayer, barely, by the grace of God, remains from generation to generation. Prayer is supplication and care for something and a desire for something, such as: deliverance from present or future temptations, or the desire for the inheritance of the fathers; Prayer is how a person obtains help from God. Prayer movements are limited to these movements. And the purity and impurity of prayer depend on the following: as soon as the mind is preparing to make one of the movements we have said, some extraneous thought or concern about something is mixed in with it, then this prayer is not called pure; because he did not bring his mind from clean animals to the altar of the Lord, that is, to the heart - this spiritual altar of God. And if someone mentioned this, which the fathers called spiritual prayer, and, not understanding the power of the fathers’ sayings, said: “This prayer is within the limits of spiritual prayer,” then I think, to be more precise in understanding this concept, it would be blasphemy if any creature said that spiritual prayer is in any way worshiped. For bowing prayer is lower than spiritual. All spiritual prayer is free from movement. And if hardly anyone prays with pure prayer, then what can we say about spiritual prayer? It was the custom of the holy fathers to give the name prayer to all good movements and spiritual deeds. And not only the fathers, but also everyone who is enlightened by vision, usually credits every wonderful work almost at the same time as prayer. It is clear that prayer is another matter, and deeds are another. Sometimes this so-called spiritual prayer is called the path in one place, knowledge in another, and mental vision in another place. Do you see how the fathers change the names of spiritual objects? For the accuracy of naming is established for objects here, but for objects of the future century there is no genuine and true name, but there is one simple knowledge about them, which is higher than any name and any compound principle, image, color, outline and all invented names. Therefore, when the knowledge of the soul rises from the visible world, then the fathers use whatever names they want to designate this knowledge, since no one knows the exact names for it. But in order to confirm spiritual thoughts on this knowledge, they use names and parables, according to the saying of Saint Dionysius, who says that for the sake of feelings we use parables, syllables, decent names and sayings. When, by the action of the Spirit, the soul is moved towards the Divine, then both feelings and their activity are superfluous for us, just as the powers of the spiritual soul are superfluous, when, by incomprehensible unity, it becomes similar to the Divine and in its movements is illuminated by a ray of higher light. So, believe, brother, that the mind has the ability to distinguish its movements only to the limit of pure prayer. How quickly he reaches there, and does not return back, or abandons prayer - prayer then becomes like a mediator between mental and spiritual prayer. And when the mind is in motion, then it is in the soul realm; but as soon as he enters this area, prayer stops. For the saints in the age to come, when their minds are absorbed in the Spirit, do not pray in prayer, but are raised with amazement in the glory that rejoices them. This happens to us too. As soon as the mind is worthy of feeling the future bliss, it will forget both itself and everything here, and will no longer have any movement in itself towards anything. Therefore, someone dares to say with confidence that free will guides and sets in motion through the senses every virtue performed and every order of prayer, whether in the body or in thought, and even the mind itself - this king of passions. When the control and supervision of the Spirit dominates the mind - this steward of feelings and thoughts, then freedom is taken away from nature, and the mind is guided, but does not guide. And where will prayer then be, when nature is unable to have power over itself, but is guided by another force, it does not know where, and cannot make movements of thought in what it would like, but is mastered at that hour by the power that has captivated it, and does not feel where it is being guided? Then a person will have no desire; even, according to the testimony of Scripture, he does not know whether he is in the body or outside the body (see 2 Cor. 12:2). And will there be prayer in someone who is so captivated and unaware of himself? Therefore, let no one speak blasphemy and let no one dare to assert that one can pray spiritual prayer. Those who pray with arrogance, are ignorant of knowledge, and falsely talk about themselves, as if they pray spiritual prayer whenever they want, indulge in such insolence. But those who are humble and understand the matter agree to learn from the fathers and know the limits of nature and do not allow themselves to indulge in such daring thoughts. Question. Why is this unspoken grace, if it is not prayer, given the name prayer? Answer. The reason for this, as we affirm, is that this grace is given to the worthy during prayer and has its beginning in prayer, since, according to the testimony of the fathers, except at such times, there is no place for the visitation of this glorious grace. The name prayer is given to it because from prayer the mind is guided to this bliss, and because prayer is the cause of it; at other times it does not take place, as the patristic writings show. For we know that many saints, as it is related in their lives, stood in prayer and were enraptured in their minds. But if anyone asks: why do these great and indescribable gifts occur at just this time, then we answer: because at this time, more than at any other time, a person is gathered into himself and is prepared to listen to God, desires and expects mercy from Him. In short, this is the time of standing at the royal gates to beg the king; and it is fitting that the request of the one who begs and calls at this time be fulfilled. For is there any other time at which a person would be so prepared and watch himself so much, except the time when he begins to pray? Or, perhaps, it is more decent to receive something like that while he is sleeping, or working, or when his mind is indignant? For the saints, although they do not have idle time, because they are busy with spiritual things every hour, nevertheless there are times with them when they are not ready for prayer. For they often engage in either thinking about something encountered in life, or looking at creatures, or in other things that are truly useful. But during prayer, the contemplation of the mind is directed towards the One God and directs all its movements towards Him, offering prayers to Him from the heart, with zeal and unceasing fervor. And therefore, at this time, when the soul has one and only care, it is fitting for Divine favor to flow. And so we see that when the priest gets ready, stands in prayer, propitiating God, praying and gathering his mind together, then the Holy Spirit descends on the bread and wine offered on the altar. And an angel appeared to Zechariah while he was praying and announced the birth of John. And Peter, when he was praying in the upper room during the sixth hour, a vision appeared, guiding him to the calling of the pagans by the shroud that came down from heaven and the animals imprisoned in it. And an angel appeared to Cornelius while he was praying and told him what was written about him. And God also spoke to Joshua the son of Nun when he bowed down on his face in prayer. And from the purification that was above the ark, from where the priest was taught in visions about everything that he should have known from God, at the same time when the bishop, once a year, at the terrible time of prayer, at the gathering of all the tribes of the children of Israel, standing in prayer in the outer tabernacle, entered the Holy of Holies and cast himself on his face - he heard God’s words in a terrible and unutterable vision. Oh, how terrible is this sacrament, which was served by this bishop! But such are all the visions that appeared to the saint during prayer. For what other time is so holy and in its holiness so fitting for the reception of gifts, as the time of prayer, during which a person converses with God? At this time, in which prayers and supplications before God, and conversation with Him are performed, a person, with effort from everywhere, gathers together all his movements and thoughts and is immersed in thought in the One God, and his heart is filled with God; and therefore he understands the incomprehensible. For the Holy Spirit, according to each person’s strength, acts in him, and acts by borrowing substance from the very thing for which one prays; so that by attentiveness the prayer is deprived of movement, and the mind is amazed and absorbed in amazement, and forgets about the desire of its own petition, and its movements are immersed in deep ecstasy, and it is not in this world. And then there will be no difference between soul and body, no remembrance of anything, as the divine and great Gregory said: “Prayer is purity of mind, which alone, in the amazement of a person, is given from the light of the Holy Trinity.” Do you see how prayer is given to those who are amazed by the understanding of what is born from it in the mind, according to what I said at the beginning of this scripture and in many other places? And yet, the same Gregory says: “Purity of mind is the soaring of the mental. She is likened to a heavenly flower; during prayer, the light of the Holy Trinity shines in her.” Question. When will anyone be worthy of all this grace? Answer. It is said: during prayer. When the mind puts off the old man and puts on the new, grace-filled man, then it will see its purity, like the flower of heaven, which the elders of the children of Israel called the place of God (see Ex. 24:10), when God appeared to them on the mountain. Therefore, as I said, this gift and this grace should not be called spiritual prayer, but the product of pure prayer, sent down by the Holy Spirit. Then the mind is there - above prayer, and with the acquisition of something better, prayer is abandoned. And then the mind does not pray with prayer, but is in admiration, at the contemplation of the incomprehensible - that which is beyond the boundaries of the mortal world, and falls silent in the ignorance of everything here. This is the ignorance about which it is said that it is higher than knowledge. About this ignorance it is said: blessed is he who has comprehended ignorance, inseparable from prayer, which may we also be worthy of, by the grace of the Only Begotten Son of God. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages! Amen. In the ancient and Slavic translations, instead of the words “in one’s doing,” it reads “in one’s vision.” You might be interested in: