О молитве Иисусовой

Division III. About practicing the Jesus Prayer Student. Explain the correct way to practice the Jesus Prayer. Elder. The correct exercise of the Jesus Prayer follows naturally from the correct concepts about God, about the all-holy name of the Lord Jesus and about man’s relationship to God. God is an unlimitedly great, all-perfect being, the Creator and Recreator of men, the sovereign Ruler over men, over Angels, over demons, over all creation, visible and invisible. This concept of God teaches us that we must stand before God in prayer in the deepest reverence, in the greatest fear and trembling, directing all our attention to Him, concentrating in attention all the powers of the mind, heart, soul, rejecting absent-mindedness and daydreaming as a violation of attention and reverence, as a violation of the correctness in standing before God, the correctness urgently required by the greatness of God (John 4:23-24; Matthew 22:37 ; Mark 12:29–30 ; Luke 10:27 ). Isaac of Syria said beautifully: “When you fall before God in prayer, in your thoughts be like an ant, like earthly reptiles, like a worm, like a babbling child. Do not say anything reasonable before Him; draw closer to God with an infantile way of thinking” 228. Those who have acquired true prayer feel an indescribable poverty of spirit when they stand before God, praising Him, confessing to Him, presenting their petitions to Him. They feel as if they have been destroyed, as if they do not exist. It's natural! when the one praying abundantly senses the presence of God, the presence of Life Itself, the immense and incomprehensible Life, then his own life seems to him to be the smallest drop, compared to a boundless ocean. The righteous, long-suffering Job came to such a state, having achieved the highest spiritual success. He felt himself “melted away” (Job 42:6), just as snow melts and disappears when the rays of the scorching sun fall on it. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ is Divine; the power and action of this name are Divine; they are omnipotent and saving; they are above our concept, inaccessible to it. With faith, hope, zeal, combined with great reverence and fear, we will accomplish the great work of God, given by God: we will exercise ourselves in prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “The constant invocation of the name of God,” says the Great Barsanuphius, “is a healing that kills not only passions, but also their very action. Just as a doctor applies medicines or plasters to the wound of a sufferer, and they act, and the patient does not even know how this is done: so, in the same way, the name of God, when invoked, kills all passions, although we do not know how this is done” 229. Our usual state, the state of all humanity, is a state of fall, delusion, and destruction. Conscious and, to the extent of consciousness, sensing this state, we will prayerfully cry out from it, cry out in contrition of spirit, cry out with weeping and lamentations, cry out for mercy. Let us renounce all spiritual pleasure, all high states of prayer, as unworthy of them and incapable of them. There is no way to sing “the song of the Lord in foreign lands” - in a heart possessed by passions. If we hear an invitation to sing it, then let us know for certain that this invitation is made by “those who have captivated us.” “On the rivers of Babylon” one can and should only cry. (Ps.136:1, 3–4) This is the general instruction for practicing the Jesus Prayer, extracted from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers, from very few conversations with true prayer books. From private instructions, mainly for beginners, I consider it useful to mention the following: Saint John Climacus advises to enclose the mind in the words of prayer, and, no matter how many times it withdraws from the words, to introduce it again 230. This mechanism is especially useful and especially convenient. When the mind is thus attentive, then the heart will enter into sympathy with the mind with tenderness - prayer will be performed jointly with the mind and heart. The words of the prayer should be pronounced very slowly, even drawn out, so that the mind has the opportunity to be enclosed in words. Comforting and instructing communal monks engaged in monastic obediences, encouraging them to be diligent and thorough in their prayerful feat, Climacus says: “from monks engaged in obediences, God does not require prayer that is completely pure from entertainment. Do not be discouraged, being robbed by absent-mindedness! be complacent, and constantly force your mind to return to yourself. Perfect freedom from distraction is the property of the Angels” 231. “Enslaved to passions! Let us pray to the Lord constantly, relentlessly, because all those who are dispassionate have passed” through such prayer “to a state of dispassion from a state of passion. If you tirelessly train your mind so that it does not go anywhere” from the words of the prayer: “then it will be with you during your meal. If you allow him to wander around unchecked, then he will never be able to stay with you. The great worker of great and perfect prayer said: “I would like to speak five words with my mind rather than ten thousand words with my tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). “Such prayer” - the grace-filled prayer of the mind in the heart, alien to soaring - “is not characteristic of infants, and therefore we, like infants, caring about the quality of prayer” - about attention through the conclusion of the mind in words - “we will pray a lot. Quantity is the cause of quality. The Lord gives pure prayer to those who pray lazily, a lot and constantly with their own prayer, which is defiled by distraction” 232. New monks need a long time to learn prayer. It is impossible, soon after entering a monastery or after entering into a feat, to achieve this supreme virtue. Both time and gradualness in asceticism are needed for the ascetic to mature for prayer in all respects. Just as flower and fruit grow on a stem or tree, which themselves must first be sown and grow, so prayer grows on other virtues, otherwise it cannot appear as on them. It will not be long before the monk comes to terms with his mind; He will not soon accustom his mind to remain in the words of prayer, as if in prison and seclusion. Distracted by the predilections, impressions, memories, cares that have become his own, the mind of the novice constantly breaks the bonds that save him, leaves the narrow path, is carried away onto the wide one: he loves to wander freely in the heavenly realm, in the land of seduction, with spirits cast down from heaven - to wander without a goal, recklessly, harmful to himself. Passions - these moral ailments of a person - serve as the main reason for entertainment during prayer. According to the weakening of passions, entertainment decreases. Passions are curbed and mortified little by little by true obedience and the self-sacrifice and humility that flow from true obedience. Obedience, self-sacrifice and humility are the virtues on which success in prayer is based. The sterility available to man is bestowed by God in due time on such an ascetic of prayer who, by constancy and diligence in asceticism, proves the sincerity of his desire to acquire prayer. Hieromonk Dorotheos 233, our compatriot, a great teacher of spiritual feats, who in this dignity approaches Saint Isaac of Syria, advises those learning the Jesus Prayer to first pronounce it publicly. He says that vocal prayer automatically turns into mental prayer 234. “From vowel prayer,” says the holy monk, “mental prayer flows, and from mental prayer comes heartfelt prayer. The Jesus Prayer should not be said in a loud voice, but quietly, aloud to oneself” 235. When there is a special effect of absent-mindedness, sadness, despondency, laziness, it is very useful to perform the Jesus Prayer publicly: in response to the vocal Jesus Prayer, the soul is little by little awakened from the heavy moral sleep into which sadness and despondency usually plunge it. It is very useful to perform the Jesus Prayer publicly when there is an intensified invasion of thoughts and dreams of carnal lust and anger, when their action makes the blood heat up and boil, peace and silence are taken away from the heart, when the mind wavers, weakens, as if overthrown and bound by a multitude of indecent thoughts and dreams: the aerial princes of malice, whose presence is not revealed by bodily eyes, but is recognized soul, according to the effect they have on it, having heard the terrible name of the Lord Jesus for them, they will become bewildered and confused, they will be afraid, and will not hesitate to retreat from the soul. The method proposed by the holy monk is very simple and convenient. It must be combined with the mechanism of St. John Climacus, that is, say the Jesus Prayer publicly, out loud to yourself alone, slowly, and enclosing the mind in the words of the prayer; the confinement of the mind in the words of prayer is bequeathed by the monk himself 236. The mechanism of St. John Climacus must also be observed in the manner set forth by St. Nilus of Sora in the 2nd Word of his Tradition or the Rule of Scete. The Monk Nile borrowed his method from the Greek Fathers, Simeon the New Theologian and Gregory the Sinaite, and simplified it somewhat. St. Nile says: “What these saints said about holding the breath, that is, not breathing often, and experience will soon teach that this is very useful for collecting the mind.” Some, not understanding this mechanism, attach excessive importance to it, hold their breath excessively and thereby damage the lungs, at the same time harming the soul by assimilating the concept of wrong. All heated and overly tense actions serve as an obstacle to success in prayer, which develops only in the bosom of a peaceful, quiet, reverent mood in the soul and body. “Everything immoderate comes from demons,” said Pimen the Great 237. For someone beginning to learn the Jesus Prayer, the daily cell rule of a certain number of prostrations and bows to the ground, according to strength, will greatly help in learning it. Bows are made slowly, with a feeling of repentance, and with each bow the Jesus Prayer is said. An example of this prayer can be seen in the “Sermon on Faith” by St. Simeon the New Theologian 238. Describing the daily evening prayer feat of the blessed young man George, Saint Simeon says: “He thought about what lay before the Lord Himself, and fell at His most pure feet; he prayed to the Lord with tears that the Lord would have mercy on him. Praying, he stood motionless, like a certain pillar, not allowing himself any movement either with his legs or any other part of his body, not allowing his eyes to turn curiously to the sides: he stood with great fear and trembling, not allowing himself to drowsiness, despondency and laziness. The number of bows for the first time can be limited to twelve. Depending on one's strength and the convenience provided by circumstances, this number can constantly increase. When multiplying the number of bows, we must strictly observe that the quality of the prayer feat is preserved, so that we do not get carried away to a fruitless, harmful quantity, due to carnal fervor. From bowing, the body warms up and becomes somewhat tired: this state of the body promotes attention and tenderness. Let us beware, let us beware, so that this state does not turn into carnal fervor, alien to spiritual sensations, developing a sense of fallen nature. A quantity that is so beneficial when the mood and purpose are right can be very harmful when it leads to carnal heat. The passion of the flesh is known by its fruits; by these it differs from spiritual warmth. The fruits of carnal heat are conceit, arrogance, arrogance, exaltation, otherwise pride in its various forms, to which charm is conveniently grafted. The fruits of spiritual warmth are repentance, humility, crying, tears. The rule with bows is most conveniently performed when going to bed: at this time, after the end of the day's cares, you can perform the rule longer and more concentrated. But both in the morning and during the day, it is useful, especially for young people, to make a moderate number of bows - 12 bows and up to 20. These bows support the mood of prayer and the crucifixion of the flesh, maintaining and strengthening zeal for the feat of prayer. The advice I have offered is, I believe, sufficient for a beginner who wants to learn the Jesus Prayer: “Prayer,” said the Monk Meletius the Confessor, “does not require a teacher, but diligence, but diligence and special zeal, and God is its teacher.” The Holy Fathers, having written many works on prayer in order to provide the practitioner with the correct concept of it and the correct guidance for practicing it, offer and encourage one to enter into the very feat in order to obtain essential knowledge, without which the teaching in words, although extracted from experience, is dead, dark, incomprehensible, as in need of explanation and revival by experience. On the contrary: one who is carefully engaged in prayer and has already succeeded in it, should often turn to the writings of the Holy Fathers on prayer, trust and guide himself by them, remembering that the great Paul, although he had the testimony of the Spirit with his gospel that exceeded all testimonies, went to Jerusalem and offered the gospel preached to them among the pagans to the Apostles who were there for consideration - “lest I flow in vain, or tekokh" (Gal.2:2), he says. Student . What books of the Holy Fathers should be read by those who want to practice the Jesus Prayer under the guidance of God-inspired teaching? Elder. This depends on the type of life that the ascetic of prayer leads. Consider the works of Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos on silence and prayer, and you will see that it was written for monks living in seclusion or leading a hermit life, similar to the life of the monks of the Egyptian Skete, in which each elder lived in a separate cell, having one, two and no more than three disciples. Those who lead this kind of life are called silent by the Holy Fathers 240. The silent man disposes of himself and his time at his own discretion or according to custom borrowed from his mentors, and monks who are in the hostel are obliged to participate in public worship and engage in monastic obediences, having neither the right nor the opportunity to dispose of themselves and their time willfully; Moreover, only those who have succeeded in monastic life, who have previously learned it in a hostel, who have been granted the grace of the overshadowing, are allowed to remain silent: and therefore the books of the Holy Fathers, written for those who are silent, are in no way suitable for novices and, in general, for monks working in communal monasteries. What has been said about the book of the Xanthopoulos must also be said about the books of Gregory the Sinaite, Isaac of Syria, Nil of Sorsky, and the holy monk Dorotheus. A person engaged in prayer, while engaged in monastic obediences, can familiarize himself with these books, but not for guidance, but solely for knowledge, being careful that they do not lead him untimely into solitude and seclusion or to an unusual feat. Often both happen to the greatest harm of those deceived by reckless jealousy. Children and youths, when, out of their foolishness and frivolity, they attempt to lift a weight that exceeds their strength, they strain themselves, often completely destroying themselves: those who have not matured in spiritual age are exposed to great disasters from spiritual achievements that do not correspond to their structure, and often fall into incorrigible disorder. The writings of Saints Hesychius, Philotheus and Theoliptus, placed in the second part of the Philokalia, are very useful for cenobitic and solitary monks. The prefaces of Schemamonk Vasily are especially useful: they set forth the teaching about the prayer of repentance, a teaching that is so useful and so necessary for our time. There are many edifying instructions about prayer in the book of Barsanuphius the Great; It should be noted that in the first half of it there are answers to the silent ones, and in the second, from the 220th answer, to the monks who labored in the hostel. Student . What does the place of the heart mean, about which Saints Simeon, the New Theologian, Nicephorus the Monastic and other Fathers speak? Elder. It is the verbal force or spirit of man present in the upper part of the heart, opposite the left nipple, just as the mind is present in the brain. When praying, it is necessary for the spirit to unite with the mind and say a prayer together with it, and the mind acts in words pronounced with one thought or with the participation of the voice, and the spirit acts with a feeling of tenderness or crying. Union is granted in due time by Divine grace, and for the beginner it is enough if the spirit sympathizes and cooperates with the mind. If you maintain attention with your mind, your spirit will certainly feel tenderness. “Spirit” is usually called “heart,” just as the word “head” is used instead of the word “mind.” Pray with attention, in contrition of spirit, helping yourself with the above-mentioned mechanisms: in this case, an experienced knowledge of the place of the heart will spontaneously open. It is satisfactorily explained in the prefaces of Schemamonk Vasily. Student . It seemed to me that you reluctantly answered my question about the place of the heart, and, by sending me to the prefaces of Schemamonk Vasily, thereby avoided presenting your own concepts and views. I beg you, for my benefit and that of others, speak frankly to my question. Elder. Your question brought sorrow to my heart. Many people asked me this question, and it was often an expression that expressed a state of self-delusion, a state of mental damage. It is difficult to correct the mental damage caused by improper exercise in spiritual achievements - for the most part it remains incorrigible. It remains incorrigible either because of the pride of those damaged, or because the damage is complete. The poison of lies is terrible: it persists in those who accepted it arbitrarily; it leaves a deadly effect in those who, having realized it, did not reject it and did not cast it out of themselves with decisive self-sacrifice. The guardians of 241 castles in the air, seeing their building rising to the skies, admire and admire this seductive spectacle: they do not like the reminder of the Gospel commandment, which proclaims that every “man who builds a church must dig up, and deepen, and lay the foundation on stones” (Luke 6:48). The stone is Christ. Christ stands before the eyes of our minds in the Gospel: He stands before the eyes of our minds by His behavior; stands before the eyes of the mind with His teaching; before the eyes of the mind with His commandments; His humility stands before the eyes of the mind, because of which He “became obedient unto death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8). He takes upon himself the hard work of digging the earth and goes deep into it, who, contrary to the desire of the heart, descends into humility, who, rejecting his will and his reason, tries to study with accuracy the commandments of Christ and the tradition of the Orthodox Church, and follow them with accuracy; he lays strong stones as a foundation, who, first and above all other exploits, takes care to correct and direct his morality in accordance with the behavior, teaching and testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no place for true prayer in a heart that is not well-ordered and not attuned to the commandments of the Gospel. On the contrary, delusion is planted in each of us by fall: “due to this state of self-delusion, which is an integral part of each of us, it is usually the mind,” says St. Gregory of Sinaite, “especially in frivolous people, it is premature to strive to assimilate high states of prayer, thereby the small dispensation given by God is lost, and the doer is struck dead to all that is good. And therefore, one must carefully examine oneself, so as not to seek prematurely what comes in due time, and so as not to reject what is put into one’s hands, heading towards the search for something else. It is common for the mind to imagine in dreams high states of prayer that it has not yet achieved, and to “pervert” them in its dream or in its opinion. It is very dangerous so that such a worker does not lose what is given to him, so that he does not suffer mental damage and madness from the effects of delusion” 242. Delusion, to a greater or lesser extent, is a necessary logical consequence of an incorrect feat of prayer. Monastic life is the science of sciences, Divine science. This applies to all monastic deeds, especially prayer. Each science has its own beginning, there is its own gradualism in teaching knowledge, there are its own final exercises: so in the teaching of prayer there is its own order, its own system. Careful adherence to order or, what is the same thing, a system serves in every science as a guarantee of thorough success in it: so correct exercise in prayer serves as a guarantee of success in it - that success with which it pleases God to reward the ascetic. Rejection of the system in the study of science serves as a source of false concepts, a source of knowledge, which is worse than ignorance, being incorrect, negative knowledge: this is also the consequence of disordered exercise in prayer. The inevitable, natural consequence of such an exercise is delight. Self-imposed monasticism is not monasticism. This is lovely! This is a caricature, a distortion of monasticism! This is a mockery of monasticism! This is self-deception! This is acting, very capable of attracting the attention and praise of the world, but rejected by God, alien to the fruits of the Holy Spirit, abundant in fruits coming from Satan. Many, having felt the disposition and zeal for spiritual feat, begin this feat recklessly and frivolously. They indulge in it with all their jealousy and heat, with all their recklessness, not realizing that this jealousy and heat is the most bloody and carnal; that they are full of impurity and impurity, not understanding that when studying the science of the sciences - prayer - the most faithful guidance is needed, the greatest prudence and caution are needed. Alas! The right ways of God are hidden from us; They are hidden from us because of the blindness produced and maintained in us by the fall. We elect as leaders mainly those mentors whom the world has proclaimed as saints, and who are either in the depths of delusion or in the depths of ignorance. Books written by heterodox ascetics who were in the most terrible demonic delusion, in communion with demons, are elected as leaders. The writings of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church are chosen as leaders, who set forth the sublime prayerful feat of successful monks, a feat inaccessible to the understanding of beginners, not only to follow it - and the fruit of the spiritual feat is monstrously mental disorder and death. “Sow the wheat and eat the thorns” (Jer. 12:13), says the Holy Spirit with pain to people who pervert good into evil by misusing good. A sad, truly sad spectacle! In the most sublime work of the mind, in the work that leads one who walks along the established steps to God, through wrong action he acquires darkness and corruption of the mind, mental damage, insanity, enslavement to demons, and destruction. Such a sight, a sight that often presented itself to my eyes, became the cause of sorrow for my heart at your question. I wouldn’t like to hear it from you or any of the other newcomers. “It is not good for you,” said the Fathers, “to know what follows before you have acquired experimental knowledge of what preceded it” 243. Such curiosity is a sign of idleness and an arrogant mind 244 . I pointed out the prefaces of Schemamonk Vasily as the work of a true practitioner of prayer, especially useful for modern times. This work instructs in an infallible understanding of the Father’s writings on the feat of prayer, writings compiled for successful monks, mainly for the silent. To fulfill your desire, I will repeat, in other words, what I have already said. The exercise of the Jesus Prayer has two main divisions or periods, ending with pure prayer, which is crowned with dispassion or Christian perfection in those ascetics to whom God is pleased to give it. Saint Isaac of Syria says: “Not many have been worthy of pure prayer, but a few: those who have reached the sacrament that takes place after it and have crossed to the other side (of the Jordan) are hardly found one from generation to generation, by the “grace and favor” of God” 245 . In the first period, the person praying is allowed to pray with his own effort; The grace of God undoubtedly assists the one who prays with good intentions, but it does not reveal its presence. At this time, the passions hidden in the heart come into motion and elevate the worker of prayer to a martyrdom, in which conquests and victories constantly replace each other 246, in which the free will of man and his weakness are expressed with clarity 247. In the second period, the grace of God palpably manifests its presence and action, connecting the mind with the heart, making it possible to pray without steam or, what is the same, without entertainment, with heartfelt crying and warmth; at the same time, sinful thoughts lose their violent power over the mind. The Holy Fathers point to these two states. Of these, the Venerable Nilus of Sora, referring to the Venerable Gregory of Sinaite, says: “When the action of prayer comes, then it keeps the mind to itself, amuses it and frees it from soaring” 248. For those who have not acquired the action of grace, the monk recognizes keeping the mind from distraction and attentive prayer as the most difficult, difficult, and inconvenient feat 249 . To achieve the second state, it is necessary to go through the first, it is necessary to demonstrate and prove the validity of one’s will, and “bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). The first state of the worshiper can be likened to naked trees during winter; the second - to the same trees, covered with leaves and flowers from the action of the warmth of spring. Trees accumulate the power to produce leaves and flowers during winter, when their state has the entire image of a passive state, a state under the region of death. Let us not allow ourselves to tempt the Lord! Let us not allow ourselves to approach Him frivolously, with fearlessness, with double-mindedness, with a mood of doubtful inquisitiveness, for which entry into the Promised Land is forbidden (Heb. 3:8-11, 18-19). Let us approach as lost, as those in essential need of salvation, which is given by God for true repentance. The soul and purpose of prayer in both states should be repentance. For repentance brought with one’s own effort, God grants, in due time, grace-filled repentance - and the “Holy Spirit”, having indwelled a person, “intercedes” for him with “groanings that cannot be uttered”: He “intercedes for the saints” in accordance with the will of God, which He alone knows (Rom. 8:26-27). From this it is clear that for a beginner, the search for a place in the heart, that is, the search to discover in oneself the untimely and prematurely manifest action of grace, is the most erroneous undertaking, perverting the order, the system of science. Such an undertaking is a proud, crazy undertaking! The use of the mechanisms proposed by the Holy Fathers for successful monks, for the silent ones, is just as inconsistent with the novice use. When practicing prayer, beginners should maintain only the most reverent attention, one confinement of the mind in the words of the prayer, pronouncing the words very slowly so that the mind has time to be enclosed in them, and breathing quietly but freely. Some thought that in the very production of breathing there was something especially important, and, not realizing that unhurried and quiet breathing was commanded by the Fathers to keep the mind from being distracted, they began to hold their breath excessively and thereby upset their bodily health, which contributes so much to the feat of prayer. “Hold back,” says St. Gregory of Sinaite, “and your breathing, that is, the movement of the mind, closing your lips slightly when performing prayer, and not the breathing of your nostrils, that is, sensual, as the ignorant do, so as not to damage yourself by inhaling” 250. Not only in the process of breathing, but also in all movements of the body, one should observe calmness, quietness and modesty. All this greatly helps to keep the mind from wandering. A mind that prays attentively will certainly attract the heart into compassion for itself, into a feeling of repentance. There is the greatest difference between the heart's sympathy with the mind and the union of the mind with the heart or the convergence of the mind in the heart. Saint John Climacus recognizes significant success in prayer when the mind remains in its words 251. This great mentor of monks asserts that the prayer of one who prays constantly and fervently, while concluding the mind in the words of prayer, out of a feeling of repentance and crying, will certainly be overshadowed by Divine grace 252. When prayer is overshadowed by Divine grace, then not only will the place of the heart open, but the whole soul will be drawn to God by an incomprehensible spiritual power, taking the body with it. The prayer of those who succeed in it is pronounced from the whole being. The whole person is made, as it were, through the mouth alone. Not only the “heart” of a renewed person, not only the “soul,” but also the “flesh” is filled with spiritual consolation and delight, joy in the “living God” (Ps. 83:3), in God, who acts tangibly and powerfully by His grace. “All the bones” of the true man of prayer “say: Lord, Lord, who is like Thee? deliver the poor from the hand of those who strengthen him, and the poor and the wretched from those who plunder his prayer and hope: from thoughts and sensations arising from fallen nature and excited by demons (Ps. 34:10). All Christians should strive to succeed in the prayer of repentance; The Holy Fathers invite all Christians to practice the prayer of repentance and to excel in it. On the contrary, they strictly prohibit the premature effort to ascend with the mind into the sanctuary of the heart for grace-filled prayer, when this prayer has not yet been given by God. Prohibition is associated with a terrible threat. “Smart prayer,” says St. Nil of Sorsky, repeating the words of St. Gregory of Sinaite, “is higher than all works, and the head of virtues is like the love of God. He who shamelessly and boldly wants to enter God and have a pure conversation with Him, who needs to acquire Him within himself, is conveniently killed by demons” 253. I beg, I beg you to pay all due attention to the formidable prohibition of the Fathers. I know that some well-intentioned people, who actually fall into fornication and are unable, due to unfortunate habit, to refrain from falling, attempt to exercise heartfelt prayer. Could there be anything more reckless, more ignorant, more daring than this undertaking? The prayer of repentance is given to everyone without exception, given both to those possessed by passions and to those subject to violent falls. They have every right to cry out to the Lord for salvation; but entry into the heart for sacred prayer is forbidden for them: it is granted exclusively to the mysterious bishop, consecrated legally by Divine grace. Understand, understand that it is only the finger of God that opens this entrance; it opens when a person not only ceases from active sin, but also receives from the right hand of God the strength to resist passionate thoughts, not to get carried away and not to enjoy them. Little by little, purity of heart is built: God appears to purity “gradually” and “spiritually.” Gradually! Because passions do not diminish and virtues increase not suddenly, both require considerable time. Here is my behest to you: do not look for a place of heart. Do not try in vain to explain to yourself what the place of the heart means: this can be satisfactorily explained by experience alone. If God wants to give you knowledge, He will give it in due time, and He will give it in a way that natural man cannot even imagine. Engage yourself exclusively and with all care in the prayer of repentance; try to bring repentance through prayer: you will be convinced of the success of the feat when you feel poverty of spirit, tenderness, and crying within yourself. I wish such success in prayer for myself and you. Achieving supernatural states of grace has always been rare. Pimen the Great, a monk of the Egyptian Skete, famous for the high success of its monks, who lived in the 5th century, in which monasticism especially flourished, used to say: “Many among us talk about perfection, but only one or two have actually achieved perfection” 254. Saint John Climacus, an ascetic writer of the 6th century, testifies that in his time the vessels of Divine grace were greatly diminished in comparison with previous times; the saint sees the reason for this in a change in the spirit in human society, which had lost simplicity and become infected with wickedness 255. Saint Gregory of Sinai, a writer of the 14th century, decided to say that in his time there are no men of grace at all, they have become so rare; Sinait points out the reason for this in the extraordinary development of vices that resulted from increased temptations 256 . Moreover, in our time, the practitioner of prayer must observe the greatest caution. We have no divinely inspired mentors! chastity, simplicity, evangelical love disappeared from the face of the earth. Temptations and vices have multiplied to infinity! The world is engulfed in depravity! Criminal love in various forms dominates human society like a sovereign tyrant! It is enough, it is enough if we are deemed worthy to offer to God the only work that is essential for our salvation—repentance. Student . Is life in a monastery convenient for learning the Jesus Prayer, in the midst of a more or less numerous brotherhood and rumors, inevitable in a crowded environment? Isn’t it more convenient for this to live in silence? Elder. Life in a monastery, especially in a communal monastery, contributes to the novice’s successful and lasting training in prayer, if only he lives correctly. Those who live correctly in the community are constantly presented with opportunities for obedience and humility, and these virtues, more than all others, prepare and attune the soul to true prayer. “Obedience comes humility,” said the Fathers 257. Humility is born from obedience and is maintained by obedience, just as the burning of a lamp is maintained by adding oil. By humility the “peace of God” is introduced into the soul (Phil. 4:7). The world of God is the spiritual place of God (Ps. 75:3), spiritual heaven; Those who enter this heaven are made equal to the angels and, like the Angels, constantly sing in their hearts a spiritual song to God (Eph. 5:19), that is, they offer pure, holy prayer, which in those who succeed is like a song and a song of songs. For this reason, obedience, which provides the priceless treasure of humility, is unanimously recognized by the Fathers 258 as the fundamental monastic virtue, as the door that legally and correctly leads into mental and heartfelt prayer, or, what is the same, into true sacred silence. Saint Simeon, the New Theologian, speaks of attentive prayer: “As I think, this benefit comes to us from obedience. Obedience shown to the spiritual father makes everyone careless. By what temporary thing can one be defeated or enslaved? What sorrow and what care can such a person have?” 259. Cares and passions, constantly diverting thoughts to themselves, serve as a reason for entertainment during prayer; pride is the cause of heart bitterness; anger and resentment, based on pride, are the cause of heart confusion. Obedience serves as the initial cause that destroys absent-mindedness, from which prayer becomes fruitless; it serves as the cause of humility, humility destroys bitterness, in which prayer is dead; drives away confusion, in which prayer is indecent, anoints the heart with tenderness, from which prayer comes to life, takes wing, flies to God. Consequently, obedience not only acts against absent-mindedness, but also protects the heart from bitterness and confusion, keeps it constantly meek, good, constantly capable of tenderness, constantly ready to pour out itself before God in prayer and crying, so much sincere that in all fairness they can be called both the “confession” 260 of the soul before God and the spiritual “appearance” of God to the soul 261 . If a monk behaves in the monastery like a wanderer, not making acquaintances outside and inside the monastery, not visiting fraternal cells and not accepting brethren into his cell, not introducing any excesses into his cell, not fulfilling his wishes, working in monastic obedience with humility and conscientiousness, often resorting to confession of sins, obeying the abbot and other monastic authorities without complaint, in simplicity of heart, then, without a doubt, he will succeed in the Jesus Prayer, that is, he will receive the gift of practicing it carefully and shedding tears of repentance during it. “I saw,” says Saint John of the Climacus, “those who succeeded in obedience and were not, as far as possible, neglectful of the memory of God 262, acting with the mind, how they, suddenly rising to prayer, soon overcame their mind and poured out tears in streams: this happened to them because they were prepared by the venerable obedience” 263. Saint Simeon, the New Theologian, Saint Nikita Stiphatus and many other Fathers learned the Jesus Prayer and practiced it in monasteries located in the capital of the Eastern Empire, in the vast and populous Constantinople. His Holiness Patriarch Photius learned it already in the rank of patriarch during numerous other occupations connected with this rank. His Holiness Patriarch Kallistos trained as a cook in the Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos on Mount Athos 264. The monks Dorotheos 265 and Dosifei 266 studied it in the hostel of St. Seridas, the first being obedient to the head of the hospital, the second being a servant in it. In the hostel of Alexandria, which is described by Saint John Climacus, all the brethren practiced mental prayer 267. This saint, like Barsanuphius the Great, commands those who are struggling with fornication to pray especially intensely in the name of the Lord Jesus 268. The blessed elder, Seraphim of Sarov, testified, guided by his own experience, that the Jesus Prayer is a scourge against the flesh and carnal lusts 269. The flame of these lusts fades from its action. When it acts in a person, then, from its action, carnal lusts lose freedom in their action. Thus, a beast of prey, chained, while retaining the ability to kill and devour people and animals, loses the ability to act according to its ability. Saints Simeon and Andrew, holy fools for Christ's sake, were in the most special prayer success, having been elevated to it by their complete selflessness and deepest humility. Nothing provides such free access to God as decisive self-sacrifice, trampling on one’s pride, one’s self. The abundant effect of the heartfelt prayer of Saint Andrew is described by his co-secretary, Nicephorus, priest of the great church of royal Constantinople. This action, by its very nature, is worthy of being noticed. “He,” says Nikephoros, “received such a gift of prayer in the secret church of his heart that the whisper of his lips rang far away. Just as a cauldron of water, set in motion by immeasurable boiling, emits steam, so steam also came out of his mouth from the action of the Holy Spirit. Some of those who saw him said that a demon lived in him, and that is why steam came out of him; others said: no! His heart, tormented by a hostile spirit, produces such a breath. Neither one nor the other opinion was fair: this phenomenon reflected unceasing, God-pleasing prayer, and those unfamiliar with spiritual feats formed a concept about the great Andrei similar to that which was once formed when the gift of knowledge of foreign languages ​​​​was suddenly revealed" 270. It is obvious that the saint of God produced prayer from his entire being, combining mental and heartfelt prayer with vocalization. When Saint Andrew was raptured into paradise, then, as he told the priest, the abundant grace of God filling paradise produced in him that spiritual effect that is usually produced by mental prayer in those who have succeeded: it brought his mind and heart into union, and the person comes into a state of spiritual ecstasy and some self-forgetfulness 271 . This rapture and self-forgetfulness together is a feeling of new life. Saint Simeon told his companion, Deacon John, that in the midst of the most powerful temptations his mind remains entirely directed towards God - and the temptations remain without their usual effect 272 . In those who have been granted grace-filled overshadowing, the soul is constantly lifted up from the midst of sinful and vain thoughts and sensations by mental prayer, as if by a mysterious invisible hand, and grief is lifted up: the action of sin and the world remains powerless and fruitless 273 . During the days of my new beginning, a certain elder, in a sincere conversation, told me: “In worldly life, due to the simplicity of past times and the pious direction that prevailed then, I learned about the Jesus Prayer, practiced it, and at times felt an extraordinary change in myself and consolation. Having entered the monastery, I continued to study it, guided by reading the books of the Fathers and the instructions of some monks who seemed to have an idea about it. I also saw among them a low chair, mentioned by the Monk Gregory of Sinaite, made similar to those chairs that were used in Moldova. At the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one, smart work flourished in various monasteries in Moldova, especially in the Neametsky monastery. At first I was in obedience to the refectory; While practicing obedience, he also practiced prayer, combining it with humble thoughts that assisted it, according to the instructions of the Fathers 274. One day I placed a dish of food on the last table at which the novices were sitting, and in my thoughts I said: accept from me, servants of God, this wretched service. Suddenly such consolation flowed into my chest that I even staggered; The consolation continued for many days, about a month. Another time I happened to go into the prosphora room; I don’t know why, out of some impulse, I bowed very low to the brothers who were working in the prosphora, and suddenly prayer had such an impact on me that I hastened to go to my cell and lay down on the bed due to the weakness produced throughout my body by the prayerful action.”275 The description of the death of St. Demetrius of Rostov says that he was found deceased in prayer. A few hours before his death, his favorite singer visited him; bidding farewell to the singer, the saint bowed to him almost to the ground. Humility and prayer flowed from one mood of the heart. The monastic community, as I have already said, serves as the greatest aid for teaching the Jesus Prayer in its first stages, providing the beginner with constant opportunities for humility. Every monk can easily test himself and soon see the effect of obedience and humility in response to prayer. Daily confession of your thoughts to your spiritual father or elder, renunciation of activities according to your own mind and will, will begin in a short time to act against absent-mindedness, destroy it, and keep the mind in the words of prayer. Humility before the elder and before all the brethren will immediately begin to bring tenderness to the heart and keep it tender. On the contrary, from acting according to your own will and according to your own mind, self-care will immediately appear; various considerations, assumptions, fears, dreams will appear to the mind, destroying attentive prayer. Abandoning humility in order to preserve one’s dignity in relation to one’s neighbor will take away tenderness from the heart, harden the heart, kill prayer, depriving it of its essential properties, attention and tenderness. Every act against humility is an attacker and destroyer of prayer. Let prayer be based on obedience and humility! These virtues are the only solid foundation for the feat of prayer. Silence is useful for those who have succeeded, who have understood the inner struggle, who have become strengthened in evangelical morality by a thorough habit of it, who have rejected attachments 276: all this must first be acquired in the community. For those who have entered into silence without prior, satisfactory training in a monastery, silence brings the greatest harm: it deprives them of success, intensifies passions 277, and is the cause of arrogance 278, self-delusion and demonic delusion 279. “Silence destroys the inexperienced”—those who have not experienced the secrets of monastic life—280, said Saint John Climacus. “Rare people are capable of true silence,” notes the same saint, “those who have acquired Divine consolation to encourage their work and Divine assistance to help them in their battles.” 281 Student . You said before that one who is not cleansed of passions is not capable of tasting Divine grace, and now you mentioned the grace-filled consolation of prayer in a layman and a new novice. There seems to me a contradiction here. Elder. Taught by the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers, we believe and confess that Divine grace acts both before and now in the Orthodox Church, despite the fact that it finds few vessels worthy of it. She overshadows those ascetics of God whom she is pleased to overshadow. Those who claim that it is now impossible for a Christian to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit contradict the Holy Scriptures and cause the greatest harm to their souls, as St. Macarius the Great beautifully argues about this 282 . They, not assuming any particularly high goal in Christianity, not knowing about it, do not try, do not even think at all about achieving it; being content with the external fulfillment of certain virtues, they deprive themselves of Christian perfection. What’s worse is that, being satisfied with their condition and recognizing themselves, because of their outward behavior, as having ascended to the heights of spiritual life, they not only cannot have humility, spiritual poverty and heartfelt contrition, but also fall into conceit, into exaltation, into self-delusion, into delusion, and no longer care at all about true success. On the contrary, those who believe in the existence of Christian perfection strive towards it with all diligence and engage in unremitting struggle to achieve it. The concept of Christian perfection protects them from pride: in bewilderment and crying they stand in prayer before the imprisoned entrance to this spiritual chamber. Introduced by the Gospel into correct self-view, they humbly and humbly think about themselves: they recognize themselves as indecent slaves, who have not fulfilled the purpose acquired and destined by the Redeemer for the people He redeemed 283 . Rejection of living according to the commandments of the Gospel and according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers - living without permission, based on one’s own thinking, even if it is very active or very plausible - has the most harmful influence on the correct understanding of Christianity, even on the dogmatic Faith (1 Tim. 1:19). This is proven with all clarity by the nature of those absurd errors and that depravity into which all the apostates, all the heretics and schismatics have plunged. At the same time, again based on the Divine Scripture and on the writings of the Fathers, we affirm that the mind and heart, not cleansed of passions by repentance, are not capable of becoming partakers of Divine grace - we affirm that those who compose for themselves gracious visions and gracious sensations, flattering themselves with them and deceiving themselves, fall into self-delusion and demonic delusion. While we undoubtedly believe in the existence of grace-filled action, we must just as undoubtedly believe in the unworthiness and inability of man, in his passionate state, to accept God’s grace. Because of this strong conviction, let us immerse ourselves entirely, disinterestedly, in the work of repentance, betraying and surrendering ourselves completely to the will and goodness of God. “There is no unrighteousness with God,” instructs the Monk Macarius the Great, “God will not leave unfulfilled what He allowed Himself to do when we fulfill what we are obliged to do” 284. A monk should not doubt about receiving the gift of Divine grace, says Saint Isaac of Syria, just as a son has no doubt about receiving an inheritance from his father. The inheritance belongs to the son according to the law of nature. At the same time, Saint Isaac calls the request in prayer for the sending of a clear action of grace an undertaking deserving of censure, a request inspired by pride and exaltation; he recognizes the desire and search for grace as an incorrect mood of the soul, rejected by the Church of God, a mental illness. He recognizes those who have internalized such a desire as having internalized pride and fall, that is, self-delusion and demonic delusion. Although the very goal of monasticism is the renewal of the person who has accepted monasticism by the Holy Spirit, Saint Isaac proposes to go towards this goal through repentance and humility, to acquire lamentation for oneself and the prayer of the publican, to reveal sinfulness in ourselves so much that our conscience testifies to us that we are indecent slaves and are in need of mercy. “God’s,” says the saint, “comes by itself, while we do not even think about it. She does! But if the place is clean and not defiled” 285. As for the mentioned novice, it is clear from the most cited cases with him that he did not at all expect such a prayerful action that suddenly opened up in him, he did not even understand that it existed. This is the structure of God’s providence, the comprehension of which is inaccessible to us. The same Saint Isaac says: “The order (order) of special consideration (providence, judgment of God) differs from the general human order. You follow the general order, and the path along which all people have passed, according to the succession, ascend to the height of the spiritual pier (tower)” 286. Student . I happened to learn that some elders, who were very successful in the Jesus Prayer, directly taught mental prayer, even heartfelt prayer, to newcomers. Elder. I know this. Such particular cases should not be taken as a general rule, or, based on them, neglect the tradition of the Church, that is, the teaching of the Holy Fathers, which the Church has accepted as general guidance. The successful elders you mentioned were led to deviate from the general rule either because they noticed the special ability of beginners to exercise in mental prayer, or because of their own inability to be satisfactory leaders of others, despite their success in prayer. And the last thing happens! In the Egyptian Skete, a certain novice monk asked for guidance on one of the cases of monastic asceticism from Abba Ivistion, an elder of a very exalted life. Having received the instruction, the novice found it necessary to believe the instruction in consultation with the Monk Pimen the Great. The Great eliminated the instruction of Abba Ivistion, as too lofty, unbearable for the novice and passionate, taught the monk a more convenient and accessible method, uttering the following saying worthy of attention: “Abba Ivistion and his work in heaven, with the Angels: it was hidden from him that we are with you on earth and in the passions” 287 . The Monk Gregory of Sinai very correctly notes that those who are successful in prayer teach others to pray in accordance with how they themselves have achieved success in it 288. From experience, I could be convinced that those who received grace-filled prayer, according to the special vision of God, quickly and not in a common way, hasten, according to what happened to them, to communicate to the novices such information about prayer, which the novices cannot understand correctly, are understood by them incorrectly, and damage them. On the contrary, those who have received the gift of prayer after a long struggle with passions, while purifying themselves through repentance and while developing morality through the commandments of the Gospel, teach prayer with great prudence, gradualism, and correctness. The monks of the Moldavian Nyametsky monastery told me that their famous elder, Archimandrite Paisius Velichkovsky, who received heartfelt prayer of grace according to the special provision of God, and not in a general manner, for this very reason did not trust himself to teach it to the brethren: he entrusted this teaching to other elders who had acquired the gift of prayer in a general manner. Saint Macarius the Great says that due to the ineffable goodness of God, the condescending weakness of man, there are souls who have become partakers of Divine grace, filled with heavenly consolation and enjoying the action of the Holy Spirit in them - at the same time, due to a lack of active experience, they are, as it were, in childhood, in a state that is very unsatisfactory in relation to the state that is required and achieved by true asceticism 289. I had to see such an old child, overshadowed abundantly by Divine grace. A lady of blossoming years and health, a great name, and a completely secular life met him, and, having received respect for the old man, she did him some favors. The elder, moved by a feeling of gratitude, wanting to reward material service with great spiritual edification and not realizing that this lady first of all needed to give up reading novels and living according to novels, taught her the exercise of the Jesus Prayer, mental and heartfelt, with the help of those mechanisms that are offered by the Holy Fathers for the silent and described in the 1st and 2nd parts of the Philokalia. The lady listened to the holy elder, found herself in a most difficult situation and could have damaged herself completely if others had not guessed that the elder child had given her some incongruous instruction, did not extract a confession from her and did not deviate her from following the instruction. A certain monk who was close to him used to say to the elder mentioned here: “Father! your mental structure is like a two-story house, the upper floor of which is perfectly finished, but the lower one is in rough shape, which makes access to the upper floor very difficult.” In monasteries, the saying “holy, but not skilled” is used about such successful elders, and caution is observed in conferences with them, in conferences that can sometimes be very useful. Caution lies in not trusting hastily and frivolously to the instructions of such elders, in order to verify their instructions with the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers 290, as well as by talking with other successful and well-intentioned monks, if it is possible to find them. Blessed is the beginner who finds a trustworthy adviser in our time! “Know,” exclaims St. Simeon, the New Theologian, “that in our times many false teachers and deceivers have appeared!” 291 Such was the position of Christianity and monasticism eight centuries before us. What can we say about the current situation? almost what St. Ephraim of Syria said about the position of those who will seek the living word of God in the last times. “They will,” prophesies the Reverend, “go through the earth from east to west and from north to south, looking for such a word, and they will not find it” 292. Just as tall houses and long streets appear to the weary eyes of those lost in the steppes, which causes the lost to be drawn into an even greater, inextricable delusion: so those who seek the living word of God in the present moral desert are presented with a multitude of magnificent ghosts of the word and teaching of God, erected from the spiritual mind, from insufficient and false knowledge of the letter, from the mood of the spirits of the outcasts, the rulers of the world. These ghosts, flatteringly appearing as a spiritual Eden, abundant in food, light, life, distract the soul with their deceptive appearance from true food, from true light, from true life, lead the unfortunate soul into impenetrable darkness, exhaust with hunger, poison with lies, kill with eternal death. The Monk Cassian the Roman narrates that in the contemporary Egyptian monasteries, in which monasticism especially flourished and the traditions of the spirit-bearing Fathers were observed with special care and accuracy, they did not allow a monk who had not studied monasticism correctly, in obedience, to take on the duties of a mentor and abbot, even if this monk had a very exalted life, even adorned with the gifts of grace. The Egyptian Fathers recognized the gift of leading the brethren to salvation as the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit. One who has not been taught the science of monasticism correctly, they argued, cannot teach it correctly 293. Some were caught up in Divine grace from the land of passions and transferred to the land of dispassion - thereby being delivered from the hard work and disasters experienced by everyone sailing through the stormy, vast, deep sea that separates country from country. They can tell in detail and correctly about the land of dispassion, but they cannot give a proper account of the voyage across the sea, about that voyage that they have not experienced. The great mentor of monastics, Saint Isaac of Syria, having explained that others, according to the special provision of God, soon receive Divine grace and sanctification, decided to add that, in his opinion, anyone who did not educate himself by fulfilling the commandments and did not walk along the path along which the Apostles walked, “is not worthy to be called a saint” 294. “Whoever has overcome the passions through the fulfillment of the commandments and laborious living in good deeds, let him know that he has acquired the health of his soul legally” 295. “The order of the tradition is this: patience, with self-force, fights against passions in order to acquire purity. If passions are defeated, then the soul acquires purity. True purity gives the mind boldness during prayer." 296 In his letter to the Monk Simeon the Wonderworker, Saint Isaac says: “You write that purity of heart was conceived in you and that the memory of God” - the mental prayer of Jesus - “was greatly inflamed in your heart, warming and kindling it. If it is true, then it is great; but I wouldn’t want you to write this to me: because there is no order here” 297. “If you want your heart to be the receptacle of the sacraments of the new age, then first enrich yourself with physical exploits, fasting, vigilance, service to the brethren, obedience, patience, laying down your thoughts and the like. Bind your mind to the reading and study of the Scriptures; depict the commandments before your eyes, and repay your debt to the passions, conquering and conquering; get used to unceasing prayer and supplication, and by constant practice in them, purge from your heart every image and every likeness with which sin imprinted you in your previous life” 298. “You know that evil arose in us through the transgression of the commandments: from this it is clear that health is restored by fulfilling the commandments. Without doing the commandments, we should not even desire the purification of the soul or hope to receive it, when we do not walk along the path that leads to the purification of the soul. Do not say that God can, even without making commandments, by grace grant purification of the soul: this is God’s destiny, and the Church forbids asking for such a miracle to happen to us. The Jews, returning from Babylon to Jerusalem, walked along the usual route and for a certain period of time; Having completed the journey, they reached their holy city and saw the miracles of the Lord. But the prophet Ezekiel was supernaturally delighted with the spiritual action, placed in Jerusalem, and by Divine revelation became a spectator of the future renewal. In the image of this, it is also done regarding the purity of the soul. Some enter the purity of the soul along the path laid out for everyone, the legal path: by keeping the commandments in a difficult life, shedding their blood. Others are granted purity by the gift of grace. What’s amazing is that it is not allowed to ask for the grace given to us through prayer, abandoning active living according to the commandments” 299. “For the weak, who needs to be nourished by the milk of the commandments, it is beneficial to live with many, so that he may learn and be curbed, so that he may be smothered by many temptations, fall and rise, and gain the health of his soul. There is no baby who has not been fed with milk, and no one can be a true monk who has not been brought up with the milk of the commandments, fulfilling them with effort, overcoming passions, and thus becoming worthy of purity” 300. You can teach both beginners and young people mental and heartfelt prayer if they are capable and prepared for it. Such individuals were very rare in former times, preceding the time of general corruption of morals. I witnessed that the elder, who had acquired grace-filled prayer and spiritual reasoning, gave advice on mental and heartfelt prayer to a certain novice who had retained his virginity, who had been prepared from childhood to accept the mysterious teaching about prayer by studying Christianity and monasticism, and who had already felt the effect of prayer within himself. The elder explained the excitement of the prayerful action in the young man by his virginity. Both young people and people of mature years are subject to a completely different rule, who, before entering the monastery, spent an absent-minded life, with meager, superficial concepts of Christianity, who acquired various addictions, especially corrupting chastity with fornication. The sin of fornication has the property that it unites two bodies, albeit illegally, into one body (1 Cor. 6:16): for this reason, although it is forgiven immediately after repentance and confession of it, with the indispensable condition that the repentant leaves it; but the cleansing and sobering of the body and soul from prodigal sin requires a long time, so that the connection and unity established between the bodies, implanted in the heart, infecting the soul, wears out and is destroyed. To destroy the unfortunate assimilation, the Church allows those who have fallen into fornication and adultery very significant periods of repentance, after which it allows them to partake of the all-holy Body and Blood of Christ. In the same way, for everyone who has led an absent-minded life, for those marked by various addictions, especially for those who have fallen into the abyss of fornication, for those who have acquired the habit of them, time and time are needed to be cleansed by repentance, to erase from oneself the impressions of the world and temptations, to be sobered up from sin, to form morality with the commandments of the Gospel, and thus make oneself capable of grace, mind and heart. prayer. “Let everyone discuss his soul,” says the Monk Macarius the Great, “examining and examining carefully what it feels attached to, and if he sees that the heart is in disagreement with the laws of God, then let him try with all his might to protect both body and soul from corruption, rejecting communication with unclean thoughts, if he wants to bring the soul into cohabitation and the faces of pure virgins, according to this vow” - with baptism and upon entering into monasticism - “because the indwelling and walk of God is promised by God only in souls that are completely pure and established in right love” 301. “A farmer who is diligent in his arable land first renews it and pulls out the tares from it, then sows it with seeds: so the one who expects God to sow his soul with seeds of grace, first, must cleanse the spiritual field so that the seed, which the Holy Spirit will subsequently cast into this field, bears perfect and numerous fruit. If this is not done first of all, and if a person does not cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, then he will remain flesh and blood, and far removed from life in God” 302. “Whoever forces himself exclusively and with all his might to pray, but does not work to acquire humility, love, meekness and the whole host of other virtues, does not introduce them into himself by force, can only achieve the point that “sometimes,” at his request, Divine grace touches him, because God, by His natural goodness, lovingly grants those who ask what they want. If the one who has received it does not accustom himself to the other virtues we have mentioned and does not acquire skill in them, then he either loses the grace he received, or, having ascended, falls into pride, or, remaining at the lower level to which he ascended, no longer succeeds or grows. The throne and rest, so to speak, for the Holy Spirit are humility, love, meekness and, consequently, all the holy commandments of Christ. So, whoever would like to achieve perfection by accumulating and collecting in himself all the virtues equally and without exception, by carefully multiplying them, first of all, let him force himself, as we have already said, and constantly overcoming a stubborn heart, let him strive to present it as submissive and pleasing to God. He who first used such violence against himself, and who returned everything that is in the soul of the one opposing God, as if a tamed wild beast, into obedience to the commandments of God, into obedience to the direction of the true, holy teaching, who thus well-ordered his soul, if he prays to God and asks God that God would grant success to his undertakings, then he will receive all that he asks for, the most loving God will provide everything is in abundance for him, so that the gift of prayer in him will increase and flourish, being delighted by the Holy Spirit” 303. “However, know that through much labor and the sweat of your brow you will receive your lost treasure: because the effortless receipt of a good is inconsistent with your benefit. You lost what you obtained without difficulty, and handed over your inheritance to the enemy." 304 Student . When I pray, my mind presents itself with many dreams and thoughts that do not allow me to pray purely: could delusion or some other harm for me arise from this. Elder. It is natural for many thoughts and dreams to arise from a fallen nature. It is even characteristic of prayer to reveal in fallen nature the hidden signs of its fall and the impressions produced by arbitrary sins 305. Also, the devil, knowing what a great good prayer is, tries during it to disturb the ascetic with sinful, vain thoughts and dreams, in order to turn him away from prayer or make prayer fruitless 306. From the midst of sinful thoughts, dreams and sensations, from the midst of this enslavement and our plinth-making, we will cry out all the more loudly and in prayer to the Lord, like the Israelites, “who groaned... from their deeds and cried out. And they went up, says the Scripture, to God because of their works. And God heard their groaning” (Ex. 2:23–24). The general rule in the fight against sinful endeavors is to reject sin at its very appearance, to kill the mysterious Babylonians while they are babies (Ps. 137:9). “He who fights intelligently,” said the Monk Nil of Sora, “reflects the mother of the evil mental host, that is, the first touch of evil thoughts on his mind. He who reflected this first touch at once reflected the entire host of evil thoughts that followed.”307 If sin, due to previous enslavement to it and skill in it, rapes us, then even then we should not be discouraged and fall into relaxation and despair; one must heal invisible victories with repentance, and remain in the feat with firmness, courage, and constancy. Sinful and vain thoughts, dreams and sensations can then undoubtedly harm us when we do not fight them, when we enjoy them and implant them in ourselves. From arbitrary association with sin and from arbitrary communication with rejected spirits, passions are born and strengthened, and charm can inconspicuously creep into the soul. When we resist sinful thoughts, dreams and sensations, then the very struggle with them will bring us success and enrich us with an active mind. A certain elder, who had succeeded in mental prayer, asked another monk who was also engaged in it: “Who taught you prayer?” The monk answered: “Demons.” The elder smiled and said: “What a temptation you uttered for those who do not know the matter! however, tell me, how did the demons teach you to pray?” The monk answered: “I was allowed a heavy and prolonged battle from fierce thoughts, dreams and sensations that gave me no rest day or night. I was exhausted and incredibly thin from the severity of this unnatural state. Oppressed by the onslaught of spirits, I resorted to the Jesus Prayer. The abuse reached such a degree that ghosts began to flicker in the air before my eyes sensually. I constantly felt that my throat was tied as if by a rope. Then, under the influence of the battle itself, I began to feel that prayer was intensifying and hope was being renewed in my heart. When the fighting, becoming lighter and lighter, finally subsided completely, prayer suddenly appeared in my heart by itself.” Let us pray constantly, patiently, persistently. God, in due time, will give grace-filled, pure prayer to those who pray without laziness and constantly with their impure prayer, who do not give up cowardly in their efforts to pray when prayer does not yield to them for a long time. We see an example of the success of the persistent Jesus Prayer in the Gospel. When the Lord was leaving Jericho, accompanied by disciples and a crowd of people, then the blind Bartimaeus, who was sitting along the way and begging for alms, learning that the Lord was passing by, began to shout: “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me.” He was forbidden to shout, but he shouted all the more. The consequence of the incessant scream was the healing of the blind man by the Lord (Mark 10:46–52). So we too will cry out, despite the sinful thoughts, dreams and sensations that arise from our fallen nature and are brought by the devil to hinder our prayerful cry, and we will undoubtedly receive mercy. Student . What are the true fruits of the Jesus Prayer, by which a novice could know that he is praying correctly? Elder. The initial fruits of prayer are attention and tenderness. These fruits appear above all others from any correctly performed prayer, mainly from the Jesus Prayer, the exercise of which is higher than psalmody and other prayers 308. From attention comes tenderness, and from tenderness attention deepens. They intensify, giving birth to each other; they add depth to prayer, gradually reviving the heart; they give her purity, eliminating distraction and daydreaming. Both true prayer and attention and tenderness are gifts of God. Just as we prove our desire to acquire prayer by forcing ourselves to do it, so we prove our desire to acquire attention and tenderness by forcing ourselves to do it. Further, the fruit of prayer is a gradually expanding vision of one’s sins and one’s sinfulness, which is why tenderness intensifies and turns into crying. Crying is the name for abundant tenderness, combined with the pain of a contrite and humble heart, acting from the depths of the heart and enveloping the soul. Then there are sensations of the presence of God, a living memory of death, fear of judgment and condemnation. All these fruits of prayer are accompanied by crying, and, in due time, are overshadowed by a subtle, holy spiritual feeling of the fear of God. The fear of God cannot be compared to any feeling of a carnal, even spiritual, person. The fear of God is a completely new feeling. The fear of God is the action of the Holy Spirit. From experiencing this wonderful action, passions begin to melt away - the mind and heart begin to be attracted to the continuous exercise of prayer. With some success comes a feeling of silence, humility, love for God and neighbors without distinguishing good from evil, patience with sorrows, as God’s permission and healing, which our sinfulness necessarily needs. Love for God and neighbors, which gradually appears out of the fear of God, is completely spiritual, inexplicably holy, subtle, humble, distinguished by an infinite difference from human love in its ordinary state, cannot be compared with any love moving in fallen nature, no matter how correct and sacred this natural love may be. The natural law operating in time is approved; but the eternal law, the spiritual law, is as much higher than it as the Holy Spirit of God is higher than the human spirit. I stop talking about further fruits and consequences of praying in the most holy name of the Lord Jesus: may blessed experience teach them to me and others. These consequences and fruits are described in detail in the Philokalia, this excellent, God-inspired guide to teaching mental prayer for successful monks who are able to enter the haven of sacred silence and dispassion. Recognizing both myself and you as beginners in spiritual achievement, I primarily have in mind, when presenting the correct concepts about the exercise of the Jesus Prayer, the need of beginners, the need of the majority. “Acquire crying,” said the Fathers, “and it will teach you everything” 309. Let us weep and weep constantly before God: God cannot come except by the good will of God - and it comes in a spiritual character, in a new character, in a character about which we cannot form any concept for ourselves in our carnal, spiritual, old, passionate state 310 The opinion about oneself that is implanted in the person who does it through the correct Jesus Prayer is worthy of special note. Hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov achieved the greatest success in it. One day the abbot sent a monk to him, whom he blessed to begin living in the desert, so that Father Seraphim would instruct this monk in living in the desert as long as he himself knew this difficult way of monastic life. Father Seraphim, receiving the monk very cordially, answered: “I myself don’t know anything.” At the same time, he repeated to the monk the words of the Savior about humility (Matthew 11:29) and their explanation by Saint John of the Climacus through the action of the heartfelt Jesus Prayer 311. They told me the following about a certain prayer worker. He was invited by the monastery's benefactors to the provincial town. While visiting them, the monk constantly found it difficult to find what to say to them. One day he visited a very pious lover of Christ. This one asked the monk: “Why are there no people who are going crazy now?” - “How not? - answered the monk, “there are many of them.” - “Where are they?” - objected the lover of Christ. The monk answered: “First of all, here I am.” “Come on! what are you saying! - the owner exclaimed, looking at the monk with a wild smile, which expressed both bewilderment and horror. "Rest assured..". – the monk wanted to continue. - “Completeness, completeness!” - the owner interrupted, and began talking with others about something else, but the monk fell silent. “The word of the cross and self-denial are foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:18) for those who do not understand their actions and power. Who, who does not know prayerful crying and the mysteries that it reveals, will understand the words that come from the depths of crying? He who has achieved self-perception through spiritual achievement sees himself bound by passions, sees rejected spirits acting in himself and by himself. The brother asked Pimen the Great: “How should a silent person live?” The Great One answered: “I see myself like a man mired in a swamp up to his neck, with a burden on his neck, and I cry out to God: have mercy on me.” 312 This saint, taught by crying the deepest, incomprehensible humility, used to say to the brethren who lived with him: “Believe me: where they throw the devil, there they will throw me too.” Let us conclude our conversation about the Jesus Prayer with the memory of the perfect monk, Pimen the Great. Student . My heart yearns to hear: say something else. Elder. It is very useful for those who practice prayer to have in their cells icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, of quite significant size. From time to time you can turn to icons when praying, as if to the Lord and the Mother of God who are present here themselves. The feeling of God's presence in the cell can become commonplace. With such a constant feeling, we will remain in the cell with the fear of God, as if constantly under the gaze of God. Exactly: we are always in the presence of God, because He is omnipresent; we are always under the gaze of God, because He sees everything and everywhere. Glory to the all-merciful Lord, who sees our sinfulness and sins, who patiently awaits our repentance, who has given us not only permission, but also the commandment to beg Him for mercy. Let us take advantage of God’s indescribable mercy towards us! Let us accept it with the greatest reverence, with the greatest gratitude! Let us cultivate it for our salvation with the greatest zeal, with the greatest care! Grace is given by God in all abundance; but to accept it or reject it, to accept it wholeheartedly or with double-mindedness, is left to the discretion of each person. "Child! from your youth choose punishment, and even to your gray hairs you gain wisdom. As you plow and sow, approach it, and wait for its good fruits: you will labor little in its work, and soon you will eat its fruits” (Sir. 6:18-20). “In this morning shall thy seed be, and at evening let not thy hand leave” (Eccl. 11:6) 314. “Confess the Lord and call on His name... Seek the Lord and be strong, seek His face without fail” (Ps. 105:1, 4). With these words, Holy Scripture teaches us that the feat of serving God, the feat of prayer, must be performed with all our hearts, constantly and continuously. External and internal sorrows, which must certainly be encountered in the field of this feat, must be overcome with faith, courage, humility, patience and long-suffering, healing deviations and distractions with repentance. Both abandonment of the prayer feat and gaps in it are extremely dangerous. It is better not to begin this feat than, having started, to leave it. The soul of an ascetic who abandoned the exercise he had undertaken in the Jesus Prayer can be likened to land that has been cultivated and fertilized, but subsequently abandoned: on such land, tares grow with extraordinary force, take deep roots, and become particularly plump. In a soul that has renounced the blissful union with prayer, abandoned prayer and abandoned by prayer, passions invade in a stormy stream and flood it. Passions acquire special power over such a soul, special firmness and strength, and are imprinted with bitterness and deadness of the heart, with unbelief. Demons driven out by prayer return to the soul; enraged by the previous expulsion, they return with greater fury and in greater numbers. “The last to a man is more bitter than the first” (Matthew 12:45), according to the definition of the Gospel: the state of one subject to the dominion of passions and demons after being delivered from them through true prayer is incomparably more miserable than the state of one who did not attempt to throw off the yoke of sin, who did not take the sword of prayer out of its sheath. The harm from intervals or from periodic abandonment of the prayer feat is similar to the harm that comes from complete abandonment; The longer the interval, the more significant this harm is. During the “sleep” of the ascetics, that is, during their neglect of prayer, “the enemy comes,” invisible to the eyes of the senses, unnoticed by the ascetics who have indulged in passion and distraction, “sows tares among the wheat” (Matthew 13:25). The sower of tares is very experienced, cunning, full of malice: it is easy for him to sow the most malignant tares, insignificant in appearance and at the beginning, but subsequently enveloping and confusing with numerous offspring the whole soul. “Whatever is not with Me,” said the Savior, “is on Me: and whatever gathers with Me, scatters it away” (Luke 11:23). Prayer does not entrust itself to double-minded, fickle workers; “It is obstinate to go unpunished, and the fool will not abide in it: just as the stone of temptation will be strong against it, and it will not be slow to turn it away. Hear, child, and accept my will, and do not reject my advice: and bring your nose into her chains and your neck into her necklace. Place your frame and wear it, and do not disdain its bonds. Approach her with all your soul and keep her ways with all your strength. Search and seek, and she will be known, and we will take care of her, and do not abandon her. In the end you will find peace, and it will turn into joy for you. And they will put her in the rest of the fortress and her money for the robe of glory" (Sir. 6:21-22, 24-30). Amen. Ladder. Word 28, ch. 21. Information about the author of the Flower Garden, the holy monk Dorotheos, is placed in the 1st volume of “Ascetic Experiences” in the article “Visit to the Valaam Monastery.” Flower garden of the holy monk Dorotheus. Lectures 30 and 32. Patericon of Skitsky. Memorable Tales, ch. CXXIX. Selected Classes. Publication of Optina Pustyn, 1848 Ladder. Word 1, ch. 26. Chapter CXVIII. Philokalia, part 1. St. Mark the Ascetic On the Spiritual Law, Ch. 84. 1 Corinthians 8:1. According to the explanation of Rev. Mark of the Ascetic, in the same 84th chapter. Word 16. Here the word “favor” is added to accurately express the Writer’s thoughts. Saint Isaac of Syria. Word LV. Saint Isaac of Syria. Word 61, very wonderful. Oh the delights. Philokalia, part 1. Ladder. Sermon XXVIII, ch. 19. Ladder. Sermon XXVIII, ch. 17, 21, 27, 28. Chapter 118. Philokalia, part 1. Reverend Cassian. Interview 2; Ladder. Word 4, ch. 106. Saints Callistus and Ignatius Xanothopoulos on silence and prayer, chapters 14 and 15. Philokalia, part 2. About the third way of attention and prayer. Philokalia, part 1. Ps.103:1; Ps.104; Ps.105; Ps.106; Ps.110. The Fathers call the unceasing Jesus Prayer the Memory of God and Teaching. There is a special article about the teaching or memory of God in the 2nd part of “Ascetic Experiences”. Preface by Schemamonk Vasily. Barsanuphius the Great answer 268. The Life of St. Dosifei at the beginning of the Teachings of St. Abba Dorotheus. Ladder. Word 4, chapter 17. Ladder. Word 15, ch. 55. – Answers 252 and 255. From a handwritten instruction to Archimandrite Nikon. Acts II, 13. The Great Chetya-Minea of ​​Metropolitan Macarius. Life of St. Simeon. Chetii-Minei, July 21 days. Saint Isaac of Syria. Word 43. Humble thoughts that promote prayer are described in the 1st Word of St. Simeon the New Theologian. Saints Isaac of Syria, Isaiah the Hermit and other Fathers talk a lot about them. Saint Isaac of Syria mentions the exhaustion produced by grace-filled consolation in Homily 44. Quote from the life of St. Savva, sanctified in the Word of Nicephorus the Monastic. Philokalia, part 2. Venerable Cassian the Roman on the spirit of anger. Book VIII of the Civil Regulations. Answers 311 and 313 of St. Barsanuphius the Great and John. Patericon of the Pechersk Lives of Saints Isaac and Nikita. Ladder. Word 27, ch. 55. Ladder. Word 4, ch. 120. Word 3, ch. 12, 13 and 14. Borrowed from the above chapters 12, 13 and 14 of the 3rd Word of St. Macarius the Great; also see 2nd Homily of St. Nilus of Sora, page 100 according to the edition of the Holy Synod, 1852. Patericon of Skete and Memorable Tales. About Pimen the Great, ch. 62. From 15 chapters, chapter 5. Philokalia, part 1. Venerable Simeon the New Theologian, ch. 33. Philokalia, part 1. Word 106 according to the Slavic text. Book 11 about the rules of night prayers and psalms, ch. III. Selected from various places in the 55th Word. Patrologiae Graecae Tomus XXXIV, Macarii Aegirtii liber de libertate mentis cap. 5 and 6. Patrologiae Graecae Tomus XXXIV, Macarii Aegiptii liber de libertate mentis, cap. 19. Liber de patientia et discretione, cap. 19. Saints Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos, ch. 49. Philokalia, part 2. Venerable Nilus of Sorsky. Word 3. Venerable Nilus of Sorsky, Homily 11. Patericon of Skitsky. Sayings of Theodore of Jenat. Also St. Simeon the New Theologian. Saint Isaac of Syria. Word 55. Instructions of Father Seraphim, 1844 edition. According to the explanation of St. Gregory of Sinaite. You might be interested in: