Беседа 14. Того же мар Исаака. Главы о молитве и ее внешних формах. (spuria [подложное слово]) 595

1. Briefly, the themes of this word are: That it is impossible for us, erroneous opinions, 596 to refuse bodily labors and reverent external forms that correspond to prayer, even if we had reached the pinnacle of our spiritual ascent. 597 I mean a certain amount of standing in worship, outward bodily bowing, and so on. 2. And about what great evils psalmody saves us from. 598 And that when from time to time we are rewarded with the gift of purity of prayer and the rational insight contained in it, which is spiritual insight, we should consider this to be the fulfillment of the service and the entire order of rules. 3. And about those who neglect respectful external forms, fear and reverence, which should be shown in prayer: 599 to what calamities these are subjected to being abandoned by God. 600 And also about other topics. 4. There are four types of changes in any existing activity, for all persons, no matter what the measure. 601 There is a change in activity due to commendable wise prudence and with a godly consciousness, but it also happens due to distorted understanding, relaxation and insane consciousness; 602 it happens under the pressure of coercive reasons and inevitable circumstances; Finally, it happens under the influence of divine mercy. 5. This also refers to the most wonderful monastic residence. 603 Any change that occurs to a person in this way of life can be recognized by him as one of the four types I mentioned: it is either from the wisdom of God’s love, when a person’s consciousness is directed towards a pious goal; or from a distorted consciousness and relaxation that takes over a person when he replaces the praiseworthy way of life in which he excelled with a more insignificant service. It also happens that, thanks to divine action, a person experiences such strong spiritual pleasure in God that he, by grace, changes, and the usual practice of virtues is renewed into something higher in rank. 604 And, thanks to the delightful taste and the acquisition of sublime knowledge, his former mode of service is rejected when he sees something more delightful and honorable than what he had previously labored at. And from time to time the thought is filled with his prayerful movements 605 and goes inward from external sensory service, 606 as is typical of all ascetics. 607 This happens in accordance with the degree, time and strength of asceticism. But it also happens from a strong attack or from attacks of illness and malaise. 6. We, too, my brothers, with any change that is seen in our way of life, must immediately hasten to see the reason for it and where that changed custom and that new way came from, which is not similar to the usual way of the monks and their general rule. And thanks to this, either our joy will increase, or we will be embarrassed, and rightly so, when we act inappropriately. 608 And thus at all times we will strive consciously, 609 rising above that understanding that looks bodily at the external side of thoughts, 610 at words and actions; and immediately, at the very beginning, we will become wise as to whose offspring these are. 7. A bad sign is the appearance of the following: when a person leaves the prescribed liturgical hours 611 without good reason. But if prayer forced a man to neglect these hours, or if the strength of its duration and great contrition 612 forced him to stop them, or the delay due to the enjoyment of it prompted him to neglect the hour of service, then this man made an excellent deal 613 thanks to the change, an enviable commodity that fell into his hands. And its boundaries passed through beautiful places, as it is written. 614 - provided that it was not because of a frivolous state of mind 615 and a contemptuous attitude that he neglected the hour of service, but that, on the contrary, the sweetness of prayer and the enjoyment of it forcibly subordinated him to divine love, which is the completeness of 616 our service, which is not subject to or subject to rule. And if such things constantly happen to a person that are a sign of gifts and a great door to pure prayer, 617 he immediately rises to the level of the perfect, especially if he is accompanied by a reverent outward appearance and deep fear is manifested during prayer. 8. But if someone, without acquiring the secondary, leaves the primary, then it is clear that he is deceived by demons and that because of them he can completely fall away from his salvation; 618 from now on it begins to imperceptibly slide down. 9 . We should also know that it is inappropriate for beginners to strive for such discoveries, 619 even if they have succeeded in learning, 620 as well as for those who, without strict sobriety and conscious silence 621, want to see these in themselves. 622 10. There is no concentration of mind and purity of prayer without great sobriety in words and deeds, as well as preservation of feelings. And knowledge, which is from grace, cannot appear except if one has acquired great prudence in silence. 11. In accordance with the honor that a person renders to God in the hour of prayer, both with body and mind, the gates of help are opened for him, leading to the purification of thoughts 623 and illumination in prayer. 12. Thanks to hidden providence, great grace from above is awarded to that person who shows a reverent and respectful position during prayer, stretching out his hands to the sky, in a modest pose, or falling with his face to the ground. Whoever constantly decorates his prayer with these external forms is immediately and easily rewarded with the action of the Holy Spirit, for the Lord is great in his eyes, and he shows reverence in the sacrifices made in those hours allotted for him by the law of freedom. 13. You must know, my brethren, that in all our ministry God greatly desires outward forms, concrete veneration, and visible ways—not for His own sake, but for our sake. He Himself receives no benefit from such things and loses nothing when they are neglected; but they are due to the weakness of our nature. If they were not required, He Himself would not have taken on these external forms and positions during His earthly life, 624 thus speaking to us in the Holy Scriptures. He Himself cannot be dishonored by anything, for honor belongs to Him by His nature. But we have a disrespectful attitude towards Him because of habitual carelessness 625 and insolent, disrespectful behavior. And we fall from grace of our own free will, for we ourselves fall away. We are also subjected to incessant attacks and constant seduction by demons, just as we acquire a natural inclination towards convenience and vice. 626 14. For many have neglected all this in their thoughts and imagined that one prayer of the heart was enough for God; as if when they lie on their backs or sit in a disrespectful position, then, they say, only internal memory is enough. They did not take care to decorate the outer side of their service with prolonged standing, corresponding to their bodily strength, or respectful concentration of feelings. Kneeling to the ground, they are not like those approaching fire and do not assume a reverent position, either internally or externally, and do not honor the Lord, honoring Him with all their members and with reverence on their face. For they did not take into account the strength of their enemy, which is why they fell into delusion and succumbed to its actions, 627 not realizing that they are still mortal and are moved by their soul, which is to be stumbled, and that they have not yet reached a spiritual state, and that the resurrection has not yet occurred and they have not yet acquired steadfastness. 628 While the body is alive, while nature needs work and every minute exercise in something new, they wanted to spend their lives in a spiritual state and separate themselves from what necessarily happens every day in the world of passions. Imagining themselves to be wise, they committed shameful deeds 629 in that a sign of pride and contempt for God appeared in them. And because of prayer, which is the source of all life, they found destruction, because they considered it possible to show disdain for that All-Honorable One, Who cannot be despised and Who is honored by every creature. 630 15. We do not force the sick or infirm to obey the law, nor do we say that a person should be subjected to something beyond his ability. For everything that is necessary with fear and trembling, 631 even if it is done outside the ordinary law, is for God as a chosen offering. 632 And not only does He not condemn the one who does this, but He accepts insignificant and insignificant things done of good will for His sake on an equal basis with great and perfect deeds. And even if they are reprehensible, they are accepted with compassion, and their perpetrators are forgiven - without any condemnation - by God, who knows everything, to whom everything is known before it happens, and who knew about the needs of our nature before He created us. For God is good and merciful: it is not His custom to judge the weaknesses of nature and deeds, out of necessity, even if they are reprehensible; however, He condemns when we neglect the good deeds that we could have done. He does not condemn the inclination of nature to anything, even to great and voluntary sin, but He condemns an action and rewards justice if He knows that this will be followed by contrition, suffering of the mind and at least a small step 633 towards correction, even if the same things can be repeated tens of thousands of times. 16. Especially if a person does not completely surrender himself to destruction, but suffering takes possession of him when he sees his enslaved position, 634 leading him to nowhere, 635 and when he despises himself, inclines towards correction and grieves over his misdeeds and mistakes, 636 not only is he not rejected by the all-perfect Will - let it not be! - but without a doubt he is very close to pardon. 637 17. Having said all this, we nevertheless condemn those who pervert the order of 638 prayer according to their own will, those whose insane mind pretends to be perfect, and with the help of their false knowledge they take root 639 in unauthorized actions. 640 18. For in prayer the heart acquires greater boldness than in service. However, complete neglect of the latter causes pride, and because of pride, a person falls away from God. You see, the very fact that a person forces himself to obey the law, although by his way of life he is freeborn, humbles his soul, and does not give the demon of pride the opportunity to instill in him any evil thoughts. Constantly thinking of himself as insignificant and incapable of freedom, he humbles and humiliates the pride of thought. There is no better 642 bridle than this to put in the mouth of the mind that exalts itself. 19. For this reason, the Holy Fathers, not only in the service, but also in prayer - although they were incessantly, being filled with the Spirit and not even stopping prayer for a moment - observed what was prescribed to be done: at certain hours they established quantities, with external positions of the body and bows, in accordance with the purpose of the law that they established for themselves. 20. It was not for nothing that these people took upon themselves one hundred, others fifty or sixty, and so on 643 - people who themselves completely became the altar of prayer. Why were certain quantities needed when they did not stop praying at all? 21. about a hundred of Evagrius, about sixty - of blessed Macarius, about fifty - of Moses Murin, an Indian, 644 about three hundred - of Paul, a great hermit, and about other similar things. 645 22. The reason why these blessed Fathers sought to keep the law, like slaves, was out of fear of pride. laboring the flesh with certain bows 646 with worship 647 before the Cross. And those established and specific prayer rules that were written about in connection with these were not, as seducers say, only prayers of the heart: this is what people with a Messalian consciousness say - those who say that bows are not necessary. 23. You can’t say that about the Holy Fathers! Reproaches to others, censure and condemnation are not our task here, and it is not our custom. We, of course, do not look down on those who do this, 648 however, when the question is and the question is about the truth, 649 until the lie is first openly condemned, it is impossible to establish yourself in the truth, to put it into practice 650 with an accurate vision of the mind 651 and to beware of its opposite. 652 And even those who walk the straight path walk along it much more confidently if the road leading to the side is clearly indicated. 24. But truly the Fathers had these bows, through which the soul was especially humbled. To perform them, they reverently rose from their seats, unless they were physically infirm; with great reverence and great humility of mind and body they fell on their faces before the Cross. These were performed in addition to those that took place in the heart. However, whenever they got up, they made many bows, as much as time and bodily strength allowed them; they kissed the Cross five or perhaps ten times, bowing and kissing after each prayer. 653 such actions, could suddenly find a pearl, 654 which in one single one would contain all the others. And it happened that he stood on his feet or on his knees, and the thought admired his prayerful amazement - not subject to the will of flesh and blood, as well as spiritual movements. Or he was in one of those states of purity of prayer, which we will explain later. 25. In this way they performed these large numbers of prayers - as I said, and not as it seems to many others who say that they got up every time for each individual prayer, for pitiful flesh is not capable of such quantities, getting up every time for each individual prayer. They could never perform such a number if they had to 655 get up from their place a hundred, or sixty, or fifty times a day - not to mention three hundred or more, as was the custom of some saints. Otherwise, there would have been no opportunity left for reading and other necessary matters, 656 and it would have been impossible to prolong the prayer, 657 if it happened that by grace the gift of tears was given in his prayer, or enlightened movements came from his prayer, as often happened to those who were awarded one of these types of grace at such moments. On the contrary, he would be filled with haste in his service and vanity in all his service. 26. If anyone does not believe this, let him try for himself whether it is possible for a person in the world to get up from his place fifty times a day - not to mention a hundred or two hundred - so that he remains undisturbed within himself and so that his prayer is peaceful, and so that he also performs his service and the prescribed readings, 658 which constitute a significant part of the prayer - and without disturbance; could he do this for a week, let alone all the days of his life? 27. It happens that partial gifts are acquired during prayer, such as an abundance of tears, or pleasure in the words of prayer, spreading in the heart like honey in a honeycomb; or the effervescence of thanksgiving, which, thanks to joyful humility, silences the tongue; or a sudden arousal of hope in his prayer; or some kind of insight into the economy, born from prayer or from the memory of the previous reading. This usually appears and remains for many hours when lying prostrate on the face in one of those changes that are the gift of the purity of prayer and the enjoyment of it. Sometimes when a person is standing, or when he is on his knees. Such things are considered to be the purity of prayer, and not the admiration of the mind. The latter is a comprehensive gift and the totality of all states that are available to perfect men. 659 These happen not only to men who succeed 660 during other hours of prayer, but also to those who pray. These are natural, corresponding to diligence and vigilance; on the contrary, 661 is supernatural. 28. Such as illumination of thoughts, 662 accurate understanding of verses and the like, are a rope for the mind of saints in the hour of prayer and service: for with their help the mind is kept from empty wandering 663 and draws closer to God. For without them there is no other laudable means for the mind to free itself from external thoughts and gather itself within itself in service and in prayer—unless, of course, those who teach that we should abandon divine meditation 664 and the exact investigation of the meaning of 665 verses, and who allow their minds to wander in fancy, as if they had access to something greater than what is possible for the laity. 29. But many lack and few find that which requires silence, great sobriety and purity of mind, that which causes illumination of thoughts in the hour of prayer thanks to aspiration towards the divine mysteries. 666 The imagination of the mind and the voluntary combination of thought 667 with some image or fantasy is something that is achievable even for a layman: this does not require purity, silence, or desert living. Why, then, the difficulty of seclusion, withdrawal from the world and illumination of thoughts during the hour of prayer? Is it really in vain that we strive and labor aimlessly if a layman living in the world and having a wife and children 668 can do all this whenever he wants? Is our hope no further than this? 30. A true vision of Jesus Christ our Lord, to comprehend the power of His economy towards us and to become intoxicated with love for Him through insights into the many wonderful things that are associated with. 31. The service of psalms is a law that enslaves the soul to the humility characteristic of subordinates. 669 32. In this law there is freedom, and in freedom there is law. Some are tested and overcome by the law, others by freedom from it. 33. In freedom, as they say, a person achieves greater success than in obeying the law. However, many erroneous paths very often follow from freedom; many types of fall are hidden in it. But with the law no one goes astray: those who keep themselves in the bridle of it can fall if they first of all left it and neglected it. Therefore, the ancient saints, who completed their path without straying from it, subordinated themselves to the law. Many, however, leaving legal limits, added to their activities 670 what is beyond the law, but their additional work, which is outside the law, did not prevent them from falling into the hands of demons. No one will be able to dispute this, for, like the rays of the sun, the stories of these have shone for our learning. 671 34. There is the law of freedom, and there is the law of slaves. The slave law is when they say: “I read so many psalms at each service and such and such a number of them at each prayer.” is under the yoke all his days, without change: he cannot change anything, since he is bound by the need in prayer and service to follow in detail what he has established for himself, that is, strictly observe the date and time. All this is completely alien to the entire path of true knowledge, for it does not take into account 672 neither the actions, nor the weakness of nature, nor the need for constant struggle. 673 In the first, grace is given in such a way that a person is delayed of his own free will; in the second, nature turns out to be too weak to fulfill the rule due to attacks that help to subdue pride. 35. The law of freedom is in the unchanging performance of the seven services that the Holy Church established for our chaste image 674 through the Fathers gathered by the Holy Spirit at the Ecumenical Council. 675 And we, hermits, cannot think that we should not obey the Church, its leaders and their laws. It is for this reason that we observe the limit of seven liturgical hours, as the Church has established for us, her children. , however, neither that at each service I must perform such and such a certain number of psalms, nor that a person establishes for each day certain numbers of prayers between these services during the night and day, or a time limit for each of these prayers, or a certain order of words. But as much as grace gives him strength, he lingers on each prayer, and prays as much as necessary, and uses the prayer he wants. And while he prays, he becomes more and more collected and undistracted, 676 especially due to pleasure of this kind. And in accordance with the strength of nature and the wisdom that the Lord gives him, he measures his request. 36. If a person says about the prayer that our Savior said, that we should repeat it alone in all our prayers, using the same words and keeping the same order of words, but not their meaning, 677 such a person has misunderstood the purpose for which this prayer was pronounced by our Savior; and he never approached the way of thinking 678 of the Blessed Interpreter. 679 For our Lord did not teach us a specific sequence of words here, but He included in this prayer the teaching on what we should focus our minds on throughout our earthly life. 680 And the meaning of what He established was precisely this, and not a certain sequence of words repeated with the lips. 37. So, whenever we imagine this prayer in our minds as something to strive for, we must pray following its meaning and in accordance with it we must direct the movements of our own prayer, asking for the Kingdom and righteousness, or, sometimes, deliverance from temptations; from time to time about the needs of our nature, that is, about food for this day and about other things, in accordance with the purpose that He indicated in telling us what we should pray for. So, we must pray with meaning, and in accordance and agreement with it we must correct our lives when we pray with the prayer that the Lord taught us. 38. Those who are enlightened and understand the meaning understand the tradition that we received from our Lord in the form of prayer in this way, and not as a sequence and order of words. And our Lord, of course, was not concerned with the sequence of words when He taught the doctrine of the words of prayer and instructed the disciples regarding its meaning. 681 On the contrary, He instructed us not to mix into prayer, as the pagans do, certain things that are contrary to His commandments. 39. For this is a childish way of thinking 682 - when they delve into the sequence of words and are preoccupied with it, instead of setting the goal for their minds to mean and from it finding prayers, petitions and beautiful thoughts useful for the way of life of the new age. Changing the external form of the words does not change anything in the prayer that our Lord conveyed, 683 if only we pray based on its meaning and our mind follows it. 40. My concern is that the one who loves instruction is preserved from all harm, since he is concerned to discover the true meaning of the Scriptures, and does not stumble over anything and consider what is useful to be harmful, and that he does not perceive anything only based on its external form. 41. When you hear about certain hermits what history says about them - how one or another was damaged by unceasing prayer, 684 again, some of them were seduced by demons because they neglected the psalms or did nothing else except unceasing prayer, and many of them were subsequently damaged or were ridiculed by ghosts, and the like - do not be upset by what outwardly hear, without internally understanding, and do not fall into doubt about those who correct all our damage. 42. Neither the constancy of prayer gives rise to error, nor the omission of psalms, if there is a good reason for this. We consider the cause of error not to be prayer, the source of life, nor the work involved in it, but the fact that some people abandoned respectful external positions and bowed to their own laws and special customs, which they established for themselves of their own free will; and the fact that they completely deprived themselves of the Holy Mysteries, neglecting them and despising them; and that they also light the divine Scriptures and have ceased to examine the words of the Fathers and their instructions on the methods of fighting demons; and that they abandoned various forms of humility, bowing, prolonged lying on the ground, a suffering heart and a humble 685 appearance corresponding to prayer, a modest posture, humbly folded hands, 686 or outstretched to heaven, reverent feelings in prayer. And they are overcome by various forms of pride, because of which they mix insults against God into prayer. Forgetting the sublimity of the divine Nature and the frailty of their own nature, they accompany prayer with arrogant external postures. Despite all this, the words of their prayers are no different from the psalms. 43. For most prayers consist of words selected from the psalms, which contain the moods and feelings of 687 prayerful sorrow, or thanksgiving, praise, and so on. So sometimes, when a person stretches out his face, 688 or when his fingers and gaze are raised to the sky, suffering is mixed in, and the person repeats them slowly. Sometimes the suffering and pain of his heart become the reason for the awakening of deeply felt 689 words of prayer, or joy breaks out in response to something, prompting him to replace prayer with praise due to the pleasure of his mind. to other prayerful movements that the Holy Spirit awakens in the saints and whose words contain unspeakable mysteries and insights. And although the external form of prayer, the purpose of insight is in the explanation of mysteries and perfect knowledge, which, together with wisdom from the Spirit, the saints receive in... 690 44. In accordance with the direction and purpose of his consciousness, 691 a person either approaches God or falls away from the truth; and not according to the outward signs 692 of what is being done or neglected. For behold, many of the ancient Fathers - I’m talking about some of the great hermits - did not even know the psalms, and yet their prayers ascended to God like fire thanks to the wonderful deeds 693 and the humble consciousness that they possessed. Their words drove away demons like flies that fly away from us. But many used prayer to excuse their laziness and pride: without receiving the good part, 694 they lost even that which they had. And although they did not hold anything in their hands, they imagined that they had achieved perfection. 695 Others, only because of their upbringing and their education, imagined that this would be enough for them to gain knowledge of the truth: relying on their secular culture 696 and ordinary reading, they fell away from the truth and did not humble themselves in order to stand up. 45. For if prayer is performed in various external forms, it is the fulfillment not only of psalmody, but also of all virtues. Lest we take 697 this statement as anything ordinary, let us examine and study the truth by accurate investigation. 46. Tell me, my brother, is there such a person who for almost three nights and three days 698 lies on his face before the Cross, like some of the Fathers; or who has received the gift of tears during the service - something that most well-meaning brethren experience - which flow in such abundance that this brother is not able to complete the service, even if he strives to do so? But he leaves the service because of abundant crying and is like a man who has awakened from deep sleep, and his whole body, so to speak, becomes a source of crying because of the sighing of the heart, from the grace that is in him. And he is watered with tears, or his tongue becomes silent from some joy, and because of wondrous insights, his tears flow and wash his face, when his soul is delighted and filled with indescribable hope. 47. So, my brother, do you consider this abandonment of the service, this wonderful change and other things that happen to hermits in prayer and during the service as idleness? After all, it’s not permissible to talk about all these things! But those of which I have spoken relate to holy psalmody when it is absorbed in pure prayer: 699 they do not refer to the perverted state of mind of the 700 Messalians or to slackness and laziness. Such service should be considered perfect work, for in it we come closer to those aids that come from grace. 48. May God deign us to partake of His grace at all times, so that we may come closer to amazement with Him through a sense of His greatness in our services and prayers. And may He give us the wisdom of His mysteries, so that we may be separated from the world and dissolved in His love, 701 through the prayer of our Fathers, who walked this path, pleased Him and served Him well. Amen. Sire. eskima (external form) is a tracing paper from the Greek. schema (image, form, appearance). In this context, the term means certain body positions, as well as external signs of worship (sign of the cross, bows, etc.) that should accompany prayer. Lit. "with empty opinions." Var. "with an idle mind." Lit. “even if we had risen to heights in our way of life.” Here and further in this conversation, the opponents of Rev. Isaac are Messalians. Sire. metabqanuta d-men alaha corresponds to the Greek. egkataleipsis tou theou (forsakenness). On God-forsakenness, see note. 18 to Conversation 1. Lit. “In four forms there is every change in every existing activity (or “every existing action”) in relation to all persons of all measures.” Lit. "and the insane intention of relaxation." Sire. dubbara thira d-ihidaye - “to the delightful lifestyle of hermits (monks, monks).” A literal translation of this phrase is difficult. Lit. "the movements of his interviews." Lit. "becomes internal." Or “according to the well-known custom of all ascetics.” Or “we will be conscious of our asceticism (idáta d-dubbaran).” Lit. “on the external aspects (types, methods) of thoughts.” Lit. "debt from times of service." Var. "and grievous suffering." Or “made a huge acquisition (Sir. tegurta - commerce, trade).” Wed. 1 Timothy 6:6. Or “totality”, “top”. Lit. "the great door of purity of prayer." Lit. “It is inappropriate for beginners to seek such discoveries.” Var. “well trained in dogma”, i.e. have theological education. Lit. "and the knowledge of silence." Lit. "in His economy." Lit. "careless habits". Var. “we acquire a nature that loves convenience and easily inclines towards evil.” Lit. “fell into the hands of the work of lies.” Or “immutability” (la metahlpanuta). Lit. "Whom we honor among the creatures." Lit. “with fear and trembling and from the necessity of the cause.” The meaning of the last expression is unclear to us, so we translated it freely. Sire. qurbana (offering, sacrifice). In the Syriac tradition, this term also denotes the Eucharistic service (Divine Liturgy). Lit. "the compulsion of one's enslavement." Var. "from which there is no exit." Here in S. Brock's edition the phrase ends and a new paragraph begins. We relate the next eighteen words to the previous phrase, and therefore slightly shift the paragraph number. Sire. teksa is a translation from the Greek. taxis (order, rank, structure). Or “to act independently”, i.e. perform various prayer actions that are not characteristic of church tradition. Lit. "hang before him." Here and below we are talking about short prayers accompanied by bows. So it is in the text. In fact, Moses Murin was an Ethiopian. Rev. Isaac, in his information about the listed ascetics, was based on the “Sayings of the Desert Fathers” (Apophthegmata patrum), which he knew in the Syriac translation. Sire. segdot' means “worship,” “bow,” and in general any outward expression of worship. Rev. here. Isaac uses the Greek term metanoia, which means "repentance" (lit. "change of mind"); in Byzantine ascetic and liturgical monuments it also meant “bow.” This is how it reads in Paris syr.298. According to the Bodleian manuscript syr.e.7, “we certainly despise those who do this.” Lit. “When we prepare to speak and convey the truth.” Lit. “with a precise mind of vision”: this is how it reads in Paris syr.298. According to the Bodleian manuscript syr.e.7, "with the exact mind of love." According to the manuscript Paris syr.298, “to teach the opposite.” Var. “counting every bow and every kiss as one prayer.” Sire. marganita is a translation from the Greek margaritis (pearl, margarite). Lit. “if a person wanted.” Lit. “find delay in prayer.” Lit. “and the rite of reading” (w-teksa d-qeryana). Lit. "the totality of all actions that are carried out in relation to perfect husbands". Var. “illumination of insights” (nahhiruta d-sukkale). Or “an empty mind is kept from being distracted.” Var. "divine thought" Sire. d-zaw'e (here: “meanings”). Var. “as a result of excitement during the divine sacraments”, i.e. Eucharist. Lit. “and that a person combines thoughts of his own free will.” Lit. "mixed with the world and associated with wife and children." Lit. "the humility of submission." Var. "for your success." Lit. “for we managed.” Var. “for it does not bring to memory.” Lit. "forcing frequent battles." The Council of Nicea in 325 was called the “Ecumenical Council” in the proper sense in the East Syrian Church. Isaac refers to the apocryphal 54th Rule of this Council, which prescribes seven services per day Lit. “He’s gathering himself out of distraction.” Lit. “but not in the order of their meaning.” This refers to the 11th Catechetical Discourse of Theodore of Mopsuestia, dedicated to the prayer “Our Father”. Lit. “in all this local behavior (existence).” Lit. “placed the understanding of it in the disciples.” Lit. "in the tradition of the Lord's Prayer." Lit. “from the constancy of prayer” (amminuta da-slota). Or “hands folded like a slave’s.” Lit. “insights and goals.” Var. "when a person falls on his face." Var. "full of suffering." Lit. “they receive them mixed with them (i.e., prayer movements).” Var. "according to the manner and purpose of its intention." Lit. “that stand in perfection.” Or “worldly education” (marduta d-holmo). Lit. "three nights and three days, more or less." Lit. "purity of prayer." Or “to mingle with His love.” You might be interested in: