Part 6
prayer may be effective. For unless we forgive those who have injured us, God will
not forgive our sins. Pass on now to the seventh chapter, and you will find in the
seventh to the twelfth verses how to succeed in prayer, to be bold in hope—ask,
seek, knock. These strong expressions depict frequency in prayer and the urgency of
practicing it, so that prayer shall not only accompany all actions but even come
before them in time. This constitutes the principal property of prayer. You will see an
example of this in the fourteenth chapter of St. Mark and the thirty-second to the
fortieth verses, where Jesus Christ Himself repeats the same words of prayer
frequently. St. Luke, chapter eleven, verses five to fourteen, gives a similar example
of repeated prayer in the parable of the friend at midnight and the repeated request
of the importunate widow (Luke 18:1-8), illustrating the command of Jesus Christ that
we should pray always, at all times and in every place, and not grow discouraged—
that is to say, not get lazy. After this detailed teaching we have shown to us in the
Gospel of St. John the essential teaching about the secret interior prayer of the heart.
In the first place we are shown it in the profound story of the conversation of Jesus
Christ with the woman of Samaria, in which is revealed the interior worship of God 'in
spirit and in truth' which God desires and which is unceasing true prayer, like living
water flowing into eternal life Q°hn 4:5-25). Farther on, in the fifteenth chapter, verses
four to eight, there is pictured for us still more decidedly the power and the might and
the necessity of inward prayer—that is to say, of the presence of the spirit in Christ in
unceasing remembrance of God. Finally, read verses twenty-three to twenty-five in
the sixteenth chapter of the same evangelist. See what a mystery is revealed here.
You notice that prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, or what is known as the Jesus
prayer—that is to say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me'—when frequently
repeated, has the greatest power and very easily opens the heart and blesses it. This
is to be noticed very clearly in the case of the apostles, who had been for a whole
year disciples of Jesus Christ, and had already been taught the Lord's Prayer by
Him—that is to say, 'Our Father' (and it is through them that we know it). Yet at the
end of His earthly life Jesus Christ revealed to them the mystery that was still lacking
in their prayers. So that their prayer might make a definite step forward He said to
them, 'Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever
ye shall ask the Father in My name He will give it you.' And so it happened in their
109
case. For, ever after this time, when the Apostles learned to offer prayers in the name
of Jesus Christ, how many wonderful works they performed and what abundant light
was shed upon them. Now, do you see the chain, the fullness of teaching about
prayer deposited with such wisdom in the holy gospel? And if you go on after this to
the reading of the Apostolic Epistles, in them also you can find the same successive
teaching about prayer.
"To continue the notes I have already given you I will show you several places
which illustrate the properties of prayer. Thus, in the Acts of the Apostles the practice
of it is described—that is to say, the diligent and constant exercise of prayer by the
first Christians, who were enlightened by their faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:31). The
fruits of prayer are told to us, or the results of being constantly in prayer—that is to
say, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His gifts upon those who pray. You will see
something similar to this in the sixteenth chapter, verses twenty-five and twenty-six.
Then follow it up in order in the apostolic Epistles and you will see (1) how necessary
prayer is in all circumstances (James 5:13-16); (2) how the Holy Spirit helps us to
pray Qude 20-21 and Rom. 8:26); (3) how we ought all to pray in the spirit (Eph.
6:18); (4) how necessary calm and inward peace are to prayer (Phil. 4:6, 7); (5) how
necessary it is to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17); (6) and finally we notice that
one ought to pray not only for oneself but also for all men (1 Tim. 2:1-5). Thus, by
spending a long time with great care in drawing out the meaning we can find many
more revelations still of secret knowledge hidden in the Word of God, which escape
one if one reads it but rarely or hurriedly.
"Do you notice, after what I have now shown you, with what wisdom and how
systematically the New Testament reveals the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ on
this matter, which we have been tracing? In what a wonderful sequence it is put in all
four evangelists? It is like this. In St. Matthew we see the approach, the introduction
to prayer, the actual form of prayer, conditions of it, and so on. Go farther. In St. Mark
we find examples. In St. Luke, parables. In St. John, the secret exercise of inward
prayer, although this is also found in all four evangelists, either briefly or at length. In
the Acts the practice of prayer and the results of prayer are pictured for us; in the
apostolic Epistles, and in the Apocalypse itself, are many properties inseparably
110:
connected with the act of prayer. And there you have the reason that I am content
with the Gospels alone as my teacher in all the ways of salvation."
All the while he was showing me this and teaching me I marked in the Gospels (in
my Bible) all the places which he pointed out to me. It seemed to me most
remarkable and instructive, and I thanked him very much.
Then we went on for another five days in silence. My fellow-pilgrim's feet began to
hurt him very much, no doubt because he was not used to continuous walking. So he
hired a cart with a pair of horses and took me with him. And so we have come into
your neighborhood and have stayed here for three days, so that when we have had
some rest we can set off straight away to Anzersky, where he is so anxious to go.
The Starets. This friend of yours is splendid. Judging from his piety he must be
very well instructed. I should like to see him.
The Pilgrim. We are stopping in the same place. Let me bring him to you
tomorrow. It is late now. Good-bye. As I promised when I saw you yesterday, I have
asked my revered fellow-pilgrim, who solaced my pilgrim way with spiritual
conversation and whom you wanted to see, to come here with me.
The Starets. It will be very nice both for me and, I hope, also for these revered
visitors of mine, to see you both and to have the advantage of hearing your
experiences. I have with me here a venerable skhimnik, and here a devout priest.
And so, where two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ, there
He promises to be Himself. And now, here are five of us in His name, and so no
doubt He will vouchsafe to bless us all the more bountifully. The story which your
fellow-pilgrim told me yesterday, dear brother, about your burning attachment to the
holy gospel, is most notable and instructive. It would be interesting to know in what
way this great and blessed secret was revealed to you.
The Professor. The all-loving God, who desires that all men should be saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth, revealed it to me of His great loving-kindness in a
marvelous way, without any human intervention. For five years I was a professor and
I led a gloomy dissipated sort of life, captivated by the vain philosophy of the world,
and not according to Christ. Perhaps I should have perished altogether had I not
been upheld to some extent by the fact that I lived with my very devout mother
111
and my sister, who was a serious-minded young woman. One day, when I was taking
a walk along the public boulevard, I met and made the acquaintance of an excellent
young man who told me he was a Frenchman, a student who had not long ago
arrived from Paris and was looking for a post as tutor. His high degree of culture
delighted me very much, and he being a stranger in this country I asked him to my
home and we became friends. In the course of two months he frequently came to see
me. Sometimes we went for walks together and amused ourselves and went together
into company which I leave you to suppose was very immoral. At length he came to
me one day with an invitation to a place of that sort; and in order to persuade me
more quickly he began to praise the particular liveliness and pleasantness of the
company to which he was inviting me. After he had been speaking about it for a short
while, suddenly he began to ask me to come with him out of my study where we were
sitting and to sit in the drawing room. This seemed to me very odd. So I said that I
had never before noticed any reluctance on his part to be in my study, and what, I
asked, was the cause of it now? And I added that the drawing room was next door to
the room where my mother and sister were, and for us to carry on this sort of
conversation there would be unseemly. He pressed his point on various pretexts, and
finally came out quite openly with this: "Among those books on your shelves there
you have a copy of the Gospels. I have such a reverence for that book that in its
presence I find a difficulty in talking about our disreputable affairs. Please take it
away from here; then we can talk freely." In my frivolous way I smiled at his words.
Taking the Gospels from the shelf I said, "You ought to have told me that long ago,"
and handed it to him, saying, "Well, take it yourself and put it down somewhere in the
room." No sooner had I touched him with the Gospels than at that instant he trembled
and disappeared. This dumbfounded me to such an extent that I fell senseless to the
floor with fright. Hearing the noise, my household came running in to me, and for a
full half hour they were unable to bring me to my senses. In the end, when I came to
myself again, I was frightened and shaky and I felt thoroughly upset, and my hands
and my feet were absolutely numb so that I could not move them. When the doctor
was called in he diagnosed paralyis as the result of some great shock or fright. I was
laid up for a whole year after this, and with the most careful medical attention from
many doctors I did not get the smallest alleviation, so that as a result of my illness it
112
looked as though I should have to resign my position. My mother, who was growing
old, died during this period, and my sister was preparing to take the veil, and all this
increased my illness all the more. I had but one consolation during this time of
sickness, and that was reading the gospel, which from the beginning of my illness
never left my hands. It was a sort of pledge of the marvelous thing that had
happened to me. One day an unknown recluse came to see me. He was making a
collection for his monastery. He spoke to me very persuasively and told me that I
should not rely only upon medicines, which without the help of God were unable to
bring me relief, and that I should pray to God and pray diligently about this very thing,
for prayer is the most powerful means of healing all sicknesses both bodily and
spiritual.
"How can I pray in such a position as this, when I have not the strength to make
any sort of reverence, nor can I lift my hands to cross myself?" I answered in my
bewilderment. To this he said, "Well, at any rate, pray somehow." But farther he did
not go, nor actually explain to me how to pray. When my visitor left me I seemed
almost involuntarily to start thinking about prayer and about its power and its effects,
calling to mind the instruction I had had in religious knowledge long ago when I was
still a student. This occupied me very happily and renewed in my mind my knowledge
of religious matters, and it warmed my heart. At the same time I began to feel a
certain relief in my attack of illness. Since the book of the Gospels was continually
with me, such was my faith in it as the result of the miracle; and as I remembered
also that the whole discourse upon prayer which I had heard in lectures was based
upon the gospel text, I considered that the best thing would be to make a study of
prayer and Christian devotion solely upon the teaching of the gospel. Working out its
meaning, I drew upon it as from an abundant spring, and found a complete system of
the life of salvation and of true interior prayer. I reverently marked all the passages on
this subject, and from that time I have been trying zealously to learn this divine
teaching, and with all my might, though not without difficulty, to put it into practice.
While I was occupied in this way, my health gradually improved, and in the end, as
you see, I recovered completely. As I was still living alone I decided in thankfulness
to God for His fatherly kindness, which had given me recovery of health and
enlightenment of mind, to follow the example of my sister and the prompting of my
113
own heart, and to dedicate myself to the solitary life, so that unhindered I might
receive and make my own those sweet words of eternal life given me in the Word of
God. So here I am at the present time, stealing off to the solitary skeet in the
Solovetsky monastery in the White Sea, which is called Anzersky, about which I have
heard on good authority that it is a most suitable place for the contemplative life.
Further, I will tell you this. The holy gospel gives me much consolation in this journey
of mine, and sheds abundant light upon my untutored mind, and warms my chilly
heart. Yet the fact is that in spite of all I frankly acknowledge my weakness, and I
freely admit that the conditions of fulfilling the work of devotion and attaining
salvation, the requirement of thoroughgoing self-denial, of extraordinary spiritual
achievements, and of most profound humility which the gospel enjoins, frighten me
by their very magnitude and in view of the weak and damaged state of my heart. So
that I stand now between despair and hope. I don't know what will happen to me in
the future.
The Skhimnik. With such an evident token of a special and miraculous mercy of
God, and in view of your education, it would be unpardonable not only to give way to
depression, but even to admit into your soul a shadow of doubt about God's
protection and help. Do you know what the God-enlightened Chrysostom says about
this? "No one should be depressed," he teaches, "and give the false impression that
the precepts of the gospel are impossible or impracticable. God who has predestined
the salvation of man has, of course, not laid commandments upon him with the
intention of making him an offender because of their impracticability. No, but so that
by their holiness and the necessity of them for a virtuous life they may be a blessing
to us, as in this life so in eternity." Of course the regular unswerving fulfillment of
God's commandments is extraordinarily difficult for our fallen nature and, therefore,
salvation is not easily attained, but that same Word of God which lays down the
commandments offers also the means not only for their ready fulfillment, but also
comfort in the fulfilling of them. If this is hidden at first sight behind a veil of mystery,
then that, of course, is in order to make us betake ourselves the more to humility, and
to bring us more easily into union with God by indicating direct recourse to Him in
114:
prayer and petition for His fatherly help. It is there that the secret of salvation lies, and
not in reliance upon one's own efforts.
The Pilgrim. How I should like, weak and feeble as I am, to get to know that
secret, so that I might to some extent, at least, put my slothful life right, for the glory
of God and my own salvation.
The Skhimnik. The secret is known to you, dear brother, from your book The
Philokalia. It lies in that unceasing prayer of which you have made so resolute a
study and in which you have so zealously occupied yourself and found comfort.
The Pilgrim. I fall at your feet, reverend Father. For the love of God let me hear
something for my good from your lips about this saving mystery and about holy
prayer, which I long to hear about more than anything else, and about which I love
reading to get strength and comfort for my very sinful soul.
The Skhimnik. I cannot satisfy your wish with my own thoughts on this exalted
subject, because I have had but very little experience of it myself. But I have some
very clearly written notes by a spiritual writer precisely on this subject. If the rest of
those who are talking with us would like it, I will get it at once and with your
permission I can read it to you all. All. Do be so kind, reverend Father. Do not keep
such saving knowledge from us.
The Skhimnik.The Secret of Salvation, Revealed by Unceasing Prayer. How is one
saved? This godly question naturally arises in the mind of every Christian who
realizes the injured and enfeebled nature of man, and what is left of its original urge
toward truth and righteousness. Everyone who has even some degree of faith in
immortality and recompense in the life to come is involuntarily faced by the thought,
"How am I to be saved?" when he turns his eyes toward heaven. When he tries to
find a.solution to this problem, he inquires of the wise and learned. Then under their
guidance he reads edifying books by spiritual writers on this subject, and sets himself
unswervingly to follow out the truths and the rules he has heard and read. In all these
instructions he finds constantly put before him as necessary conditions of salvation a
devout life and heroic struggles with himself which are to issue in decisive denial of
self. This is to lead him on to the performance of good works, to the constant
fulfillment of God's laws, and thus witness to the unshakableness and firmness of his
115:
faith. Further, they preach to him that all these conditions of salvation must
necessarily be fulfilled with the deepest humility and in combination with one another.
For as all good works depend one upon another, so they should support one another,
complete and encourage one another, just as the rays of the sun only reveal their
strength and kindle a flame when they are focused through a glass on to one point.
Otherwise, "He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much."
In addition to this, to implant in him the strongest conviction of the necessity of this
complex and unified virtue, he hears the highest praise bestowed upon the beauty of
virtue, he listens to censure of the baseness and misery of vice. All this is imprinted
upon his mind by truthful promises either of majestic rewards and happiness or of
tormenting punishment and misery in the life to come. Such is the special character
of preaching in modern times. Guided in this way, one who ardently wishes for
salvation sets off in all joy to carry out what he has learned and to apply to
experience all he has heard and read. But alas! even at the first step he finds it
impossible to achieve his purpose. He foresees and even finds out by trial that his
damaged and enfeebled nature will have the upper hand of the convictions of his
mind, that his free will is bound, that his propensities are perverted, that his spiritual
strength is but weakness. He naturally goes on to the thought: Is there not to be
found some kind of means which will enable him to fulfill that which the law of God
requires of him, which Christian devotion demands, and which all those who have
found salvation and holiness have carried out? As the result of this and in order to
reconcile in himself the demands of reason and conscience with the inadequacy of
his strength to fulfill them, he applies once more to the preachers of salvation with the
question: How am I to be saved? How is this inability to carry out the conditions of
salvation to be justified; and are those who have preached all this that he has learned
themselves strong enough to carry it out unswervingly?
Ask God. Pray to God. Pray for His help.
"So would it not have been more fruitful," the inquirer concludes, "if I had, to begin
with and always in every circumstance, made a study of prayer as the power to fulfill
all that Christian devotion demands and by which salvation is attained?" And so he
goes on to the study of prayer: he reads, he meditates, he studies the teaching of
116:
those who have written on that subject. Truly he finds in them many luminous
thoughts, much deep knowledge, and words of great power. One reasons beautifully
about the necessity of prayer; another writes of its power, its beneficial effect—of
prayer as a duty, or of the fact that it calls for zeal, attention, warmth of heart, purity
of mind, reconciliation with one's enemies, humility, contrition, and the rest of the
necessary conditions of prayer. But what is prayer in itself? How does one actually
pray? A precise answer which can be understood by everybody to these questions,
primary and most urgent as they are, is very rarely to be found, and so the ardent
inquirer about prayer is again left before a veil of mystery. As a result of his general
reading there is rooted in his memory an aspect of prayer which, although devout, is
only external, and he arrives at the conclusion that prayer is going to church, crossing
oneself, bowing, kneeling, and reading psalms, kanons, and acathists.29 Generally
speaking, this is the view of prayer taken by those who do not know the writings of
the holy Fathers about inward prayer and contemplative action. At length, the seeker
comes across the book called Philokalia, in which twenty-five holy Fathers set forth in
an understandable way the scientific knowledge of the truth and of the essence of
prayer of the heart. This begins to draw aside the veil from before the secret of
salvation and of prayer. He sees that truly to pray means to direct the thought and the
memory, without relaxing, to the recollection of God, to walk in His divine presence,
to awaken oneself to His love by thinking about Him, and to link the name of God with
one's breathing and the beating of one's heart. He is guided in all this by the
invocation with the lips of the most holy name of Jesus Christ, or by saying the Jesus
prayer at all times and in all places and during every occupation, unceasingly. These
luminous truths, by enlightening the mind of the seeker and by opening up before him
the way to the study and achievement of prayer, help him to go on at once to put
these wise teachings into practice. Nevertheless, when he makes his attempts he is
still not free from difficulty until an experienced teacher shows him (from the same
book) the whole truth—that is to say, that it is prayer which is incessant which is the
only effective means for perfecting interior prayer and for the saving of the soul. It is
frequency of prayer that is the basis, that holds together the whole system of saving
activity. As Simeon the new theologian says, "He who prays without ceasing unites
117:
all good in this one thing." So in order to set forth the truth of this revelation in all its
fullness, the teacher develops it in the following way:
For the salvation of the soul, first of all true faith is necessary. Holy Scripture says,
"Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 6:6). He who has not faith will be
judged. But from the same holy Scriptures one can see that man cannot himself bring
to birth in him faith even as a grain of mustard seed; that faith does not come from
us, since it is the gift of God; that faith is a spiritual gift. It is given by the Holy Spirit.
That being so, what is to be done? How is one to reconcile man's need of faith with
the impossibility of producing it from the human side? The way to do this is revealed
in the same holy Scriptures: "Ask, and it shall be given you." The Apostles could not
of themselves arouse the perfection of faith within them, but they prayed to Jesus
Christ, "Lord, increase our faith." There you have an example of obtaining faith. It
shows that faith is attained by prayer. For the salvation of the soul, besides true faith,
good works are also required, for "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead." For man is
judged by his works and not by faith alone. "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments: Do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false
witness; honor thy father and mother; love thy neighbor as thyself." And all these
commandments are required to be kept together. "For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" Games 2:10). So the
Apostle James teaches. And the Apostle Paul, describing human weakness, says:
"By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified" (Rom. 3:20). "For we know
that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin... . For to will is present with
me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.... But the evil which I would not,
that I do. . . . With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin" (Rom. 7). How are the required works of the law of God to be fulfilled when man
is without strength and has no power to keep the commandments? He has no
possibility of doing this until he asks for it, until he prays about it. "Ye have not
because ye ask not" (James 4:2) the Apostle says is the cause. And Jesus Christ
Himself says: "Without Me ye can do nothing." And on the subject of doing it with
Him, He gives this teaching: "Abide in Me and I in you. He that abideth in Me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." But to be in Him means continually to feel
His presence, continually to pray in His name. "If ye shall ask Me anything in My
118:
name, that will I do." Thus the possibility of doing good works is reached by prayer
itself. An example of this is seen in the Apostle Paul himself: Three times he prayed
for victory over temptation, bowing the knee before God the Father, that He would
give him strength in the inner man, and was at last bidden above all things to pray,
and to pray continually about everything.
From what has been said above, it follows that the whole salvation of man
depends upon prayer and, therefore, it is primary and necessary, for by it faith is
quickened and through it all good works are performed. In a word, with prayer
everything goes forward successfully; without it, no act of Christian piety can be
done. Thus, the condition that it should be offered unceasingly and always belongs
exclusively to prayer. For the other Christian virtues, each of them has its own time.
But in the case of prayer, uninterrupted, continuous action is commanded. Pray
without ceasing. It is right and fitting to pray always, to pray everywhere. True prayer
has its conditions. It should be offered with a pure mind and heart, with burning zeal,
with close attention, with fear and reverence, and with the deepest humility. But what
conscientious person would not admit that he is far from fulfilling those conditions,
that he offers his prayer more from necessity, more by constraint upon himself than
by inclination, enjoyment, and love of it? About this, too, holy Scripture says that it is
not in the power of man to keep his mind steadfast, to cleanse it from unseemly
thoughts, for the "thoughts of man are evil from his youth," and that God alone gives
us another heart and a new spirit, for "both to will and to do are of God." The Apostle
Paul himself says: "My spirit [that is, my voice] prayeth, but my understanding is
unfruitful" (1 Cor. 14:14). "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom.
8:26), the same writer asserts. From this it follows that we in ourselves are unable to
offer true prayer. We cannot in our prayers display its essential properties.
Such being the powerlessness of every human being, what remains possible for
the salvation of the soul from the side of human will and strength? Man cannot
acquire faith without prayer; the same applies to good works. And finally, even to
pray purely is not within his power. What, then, is left for him to do? What scope
remains for the exercise of his freedom and his strength, so that he may not perish
but be saved?
119
Every action has its quality, and this quality God has reserved to His own will and
gift. In order that the dependence of man upon God, the will of God, may be shown
the more clearly, and that he may be plunged more deeply into humility, God has
assigned to the will and strength of man only the quantity of prayer. He has
commanded unceasing prayer, always to pray, at all times and in every place. By this
the secret method of achieving true prayer, and at the same time faith, and the
fulfillment of God's commandments, and salvation, are revealed. Thus, it is quantity
which is assigned to man, as his share; frequency of prayer is his own, and within the
«province of his will. This is exactly what the Fathers of the church teach. St.
Macarius the Great says truly to pray is the gift of grace. Isikhi says that frequency
of prayer becomes a habit and turns into second nature, and without frequent calling
upon the name of Jesus Christ it is impossible to cleanse the heart. The venerable
Callistus and Ignatius counsel frequent, continuous prayer in the name of Jesus
Christ before all ascetic exercises and good works, because frequency brings even
the imperfect prayer to perfection. Blessed Diadokh asserts that if a man calls upon
the name of God as often as possible, then he will not fall into sin. What experience
and wisdom there are here, and how near to the heart these practical instructions of
the Fathers are. In their experience and simplicity they throw much light upon the
means of bringing the soul to perfection. What a sharp contrast with the moral
instructions of the theoretical reason! Reason argues thus: Do such and such good
actions, arm yourself with courage, use the strength of your will, persuade yourself by
considering the happy results of virtue— for example, cleanse the mind and the heart
from worldly dreams, fill their place with instructive meditations; do good and you will
be respected and be at peace; live in the way that your reason and conscience
require. But alas! with all its strength, all that does not attain its purpose without
frequent prayer, without summoning the help of God.
Now let us go on to some further teaching of the Fathers, and we shall see what
they say, for example, about purifying the soul. St. John of the ladder writes: "When
the spirit is darkened by unclean thoughts, put the enemy to flight by the name of
Jesus repeated frequently. A more powerful and effective weapon than this you will
not find, in heaven or on earth." St. Gregory the Sinaite teaches thus: "Know this, that
no one can control his mind by himself, and, therefore, at a time of unclean thoughts
120:
call upon the name of Jesus Christ often and at frequent intervals, and the thoughts
will quieten down." How simple and easy a method! Yet it is tested by experience.
What a contrast with the counsel of the theoretical reason, which presumptuously
strives to attain purity by its own efforts.
Noting these instructions based upon the experience of the holy Fathers we pass
on to the real conclusion: that the principal, the only, and a very easy method of
reaching the goal of salvation and spiritual perfection is the frequency and the
uninterruptedness of prayer, however feeble it may be. Christian soul, if you do not
find within yourself the power to worship God in spirit and in truth, if your heart still
feels no warmth and sweet satisfaction in mental and interior prayer, then bring to the
sacrifice of prayer what you can, what lies within the scope of your will, what is within
your power. Let the humble instrument of your lips first of all grow familiar with
frequent persistent prayerful invocation. Let them call upon the mighty name of Jesus
Christ often and without interruption. This is not a great labor and is within the power
of everyone. This, too, is what the precept of the holy Apostle enjoins: "By Him,
therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 8:15).
Frequency of prayer certainly forms a habit and becomes second nature. It brings
the mind and the heart into a proper state from time to time. Suppose a man
continually fulfills this one commandment of God about ceaseless prayer, then in that
one thing he would have fulfilled all; for if he uninterruptedly, at all times, and in all
circumstances, offers the prayer, calling in secret upon the most holy name of Jesus
(although at first he may do so without spiritual ardor and zeal and even forcing
himself), then he will have no time for vain conversation, for judging his neighbors, for
useless waste of time in sinful pleasures of the senses. Every evil thought of his
would meet opposition to its growth. Every sinful act he contemplated would not
come to fruition so readily as with an empty mind. Much talking and vain talking
would be checked or entirely done away with, and every fault at once cleansed from
the soul by the gracious power of so frequently calling upon the divine name. The
frequent exercise of prayer would often recall the soul from sinful action and summon
it to what is the essential exercise of its skill, to union with God. Now do you see how
important and necessary quantity is in prayer? Frequency in prayer is the one
121
method of attaining pure and true prayer. It is the very best and most effective
preparation for prayer, and the surest way of reaching the goal of prayer, and
salvation.
To convince yourself finally about the necessity and fruitfulness of frequent
prayer, note (1) that every impulse and every thought of prayer is the work of the
Holy Spirit and the voice of your guardian angel; (2) that the name of Jesus Christ
invoked in prayer contains in itself self-existent and self-acting salutary power, and,
therefore, (3) do not be disturbed by the imperfection or dryness of your prayer, and
await with patience the fruit of frequently calling upon the divine name. Do not listen
to the inexperienced, thoughtless insinuation of the vain world that lukewarm
invocation, even if it be importunate, is useless repetition. No; the power of the divine
name and the frequent calling upon it will reveal its fruit in its season. A certain
spiritual writer has spoken very beautifully about this. "I know," he says, "that to many
so-called spiritual and wise philosophers, who search everywhere for sham
greatness and practices that are noble in the eyes of reason and pride, the simple,
vocal, but frequent exercise of prayer appears of little significance, as a lowly
occupation, even a mere trifle. But, unhappy ones, they deceive themselves, and
they forget the teaching of Jesus Christ: 'Except ye be converted and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 18:3). They work out
for themselves a sort of science of prayer, on the unstable foundations of the natural
reason. Do we require much learning or thought or knowledge to say with a pure
heart, 'Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me'? Does not our divine teacher Himself
praise such frequent prayer? Have not wonderful answers been received and
wonderful works done by this same brief but frequent prayer? Ah, Christian soul,
pluck up your courage and do not silence the unbroken invocations of your prayer,
although it may be that this cry of yours comes from a heart which is still at war with
itself and half filled by the world. Never mind! Only go on with it and don't let it be
silenced and don't be disturbed. It will itself purify itself by repetition. Never let your
memory lose hold of this: 'Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world' (1
John 4:4). 'God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things,' says the Apostle."
»> And so, after all these convincing arguments that frequent prayer, so powerful in
all human weakness, is certainly attainable by man and lies fully within his own will,
122
make up your mind to try, even if only for a single day at first. Maintain a watch over
yourself and make the frequency of your prayer such that far more time is occupied in
the twenty-four hours with the prayerful calling upon the name of Jesus Christ than
with other matters. And this triumph of prayer over worldly affairs will in time certainly
show you that this day has not been lost, but has been secured for salvation; that in
the scales of the divine judgment frequent prayer outweighs your weaknesses and
evil- doing and blots out the sins of that day in the memorial book of conscience; that
it sets your feet upon the ladder of righteousness and gives you hope of sanctification
in the life to come.30
The Pilgrim. With all my heart I thank you, holy Father. With that reading of yours
you have given pleasure to my sinful soul. For the love of God, be so kind as to allow
me to copy out for myself what you have read. I can do it in an hour or two.
Everything you read was so beautiful and comforting and is so understandable and
clear to my stupid mind, like The Philokalia, in which the holy Fathers treat the same
subject. Here, for instance, John Karpathisky in the fourth part of The Philokalia also
says that if you have not the strength for self-control and ascetic achievements, then
know that God is willing to save you by prayer. But how beautifully and
understandably all that is drawn out in your notebook. I thank God first of all, and
then you, that I have been allowed to hear it.
The Professor. I also listened with great attention and pleasure to your reading,
reverend Father. All-arguments, when they rest upon strict logic, are a delight to me.
But at the same time it seems to me that they make the possibility of continual prayer
in a high degree dependent on circumstances which are favorable to it and upon
entirely quiet solitude. For I agree that frequent and ceaseless prayer is a powerful
and unique means of obtaining the help of divine grace in all acts of devotion for the
sanctifying of the soul, and that it is within the power of man. But this method can be
used only when man avails himself of the possibility of solitude and quiet. In getting
away from business and worries and distractions he can pray frequently or even
continually. He then has to contend only with sloth or with the tedium of his own
thoughts. But if he is bound by duties and by constant business, if he necessarily
finds himself in a noisy company of people, and has an earnest desire to pray often,
123
he cannot carry out this desire because of the inevitable distractions. Consequently
the one method of frequent prayer, since it is dependent upon favorable
circumstances, cannot be used by everybody, nor belong to all.
The Skhimnik. It is no use drawing a conclusion of that kind. Not to mention the
fact that the heart which has been taught interior prayer can always pray and call
upon the name of God unhindered during any occupation, whether of the body or of
the mind, and in any noise (those who know this know it from experience, and those
who do not know it must be taught by gradual training), one can confidently say that
no outward distraction can interrupt prayer in one who wishes to pray, for the secret
thought of man does not depend upon any link with external environment and is
entirely free in itself. It can at all times be perceived and directed toward prayer; even
the very tongue can secretly without outward sound express prayer in the presence
of many people and during external occupations. Besides, our business is surely not
so important and our conversation so interesting that it is impossible during them to
find a way at times of frequently calling upon the name of Jesus Christ, even if the
mind has not yet been trained to continuous prayer. Although, of course, solitude and
escape from distracting things does constitute the chief condition for attentive and
continuous prayer, still we ought to feel ourselves to blame for the rarity of our prayer,
because the amount and frequency is under the control of everybody, both the
healthy and the sick. It does lie within the scope of his will. Instances which prove this
are to be found in those who, although burdened by obligations, distracting duties,
cares, worries, and work, have not only always called upon the divine name of Jesus
Christ, but even in this way learned and attained the ceaseless inward prayer of the
heart. Thus the patriarch Photius, who was called to the patriarchal dignity from
among the ranks of the senators, while governing the vast diocese of Constantinople,
persevered continually in the invocation of the name of God, and thus attained even
the self-acting prayer of the heart. Thus Callistus on the holy Mount Athos learned
ceaseless prayer while carrying on his busy life as a cook. So the simple-hearted
Lazarus, burdened with continual work for the brotherhood, uninterruptedly, in the
midst of all his noisy occupations, repeated the Jesus prayer and was at peace. And
many others similarly have practiced the continuous invocation of the name of God.
124:
If it were an impossible thing to pray midst distracting business or in the society of
other people, then, of course, it would not have been bidden us. St. John
Chrysostom, in his teaching about prayer, speaks as follows: "No one should give the
answer that it is impossible for a man occupied with worldly cares, and who is unable
to go to church, to pray always. Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you
can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer. And so it is fitting to pray
at your trade, on a journey, standing at the counter, or sitting at your handicraft.
Everywhere and in every place it is possible to pray, and, indeed, if a man diligently
turns his attention upon himself, then everywhere he will find convenient
circumstances for prayer, if only he is convinced of the fact that prayer should
constitute his chief occupation and come before every other duty. And in that case he
would, of course, order his affairs with greater decision; in necessary conversation
with other people he would maintain brevity, a tendency to silence, and a
disinclination for useless words; he would not be unduly anxious about worrying
things. And in all these ways he would find more time for quiet prayer. In such an
order of life all his actions, by the power of the invocation of the name of God, would
be signalized by success, and finally he would train himself to the uninterrupted
prayerful invocation of the name of Jesus Christ. He would come to know from
experience that frequency of prayer, this sole means of salvation, is a possibility for
the will of man, that it is possible to pray at all times, in all circumstances, and in
every place, and easily to rise from frequent vocal prayer to prayer of the mind and
from that to prayer of the heart, which opens up the kingdom of God within us.
The Professor. I agree that during mechanical occupations it is possible and even
easy to pray frequently, even continuously; for mechanical bodily work does not
require profound exercise of the mind or great consideration, and, therefore, while it
is going on my mind can be immersed in continuous prayer and my lips follow in the
same way. But if I have to be occupied with something exclusively intellectual, as, for
instance, attentive reading, or thinking out some deep matter, or literary composition,
how can I pray with my mind and my lips in such a case? And since prayer is above
all things an action of the mind, how, at one and the same time, can I give one and
the same mind different sorts of things to do?
125:
The Skhimnik. The solution of your problem is not at all difficult, if we take into
consideration that people who pray continuously are divided into three classes. First,
the beginners; secondly, those who have made some progress; and thirdly, the fully
trained. Now, the beginners are frequently capable of experiencing at times an
impulse of the mind and heart toward God and of repeating short prayers with the
lips, even while engaged in mental work. Those who have made some progress and
reached a certain stability of mind are able to occupy themselves with meditation or
writing in the uninterrupted presence of God as the basis of prayer. The following
example will illustrate this. Imagine that a severe and exacting monarch ordered you
to compose a treatise on some abstruse subject in his presence, at the steps of his
throne. Although you might be absolutely occupied by your work, the presence of the
king who has power over you and who holds your life in his hands would still not
allow you to forget for a single moment that you are thinking, considering, and writing,
not in solitude, but in a place which demands of you particular reverence, respect,
and decorum. This lively feeling of the nearness of the king very clearly expresses
the possibility of being occupied in ceaseless inward prayer even during intellectual
work. So far as the others are concerned, those who by long custom or by the mercy
of God have progressed from prayer of the mind and reached prayer of the heart,
they do not break off their continuous prayer during profound mental exercises, nor
even during sleep itself. As the All Wise has told us, "I sleep, but my heart waketh"
(Cant. 5:2). Many, that is, who have achieved this mechanism of the heart acquire
such an aptitude for calling upon the divine name that it will of itself arouse itself to
prayer, incline the mind and the whole spirit to a flood of ceaseless prayer in
whatever condition the one who prays finds himself, and however abstract and
intellectual his occupation at the time.
The Priest. Allow me, reverend Father, to say what is in my mind. Let me have a
turn and say a word or two. It was admirably put in the article you read that the one
means of salvation and of reaching perfection is frequency of prayer, of whatever
sort. Now, I do not very easily understand that, and it appears to me like this. What
would be the use if I pray and invoke the name of God continually with my tongue
only and pay no attention to, and do not understand, what I am saying? That would
be nothing but vain repetition. The result of it will only be that the tongue will go
126:
chattering on, and the mind, hindered in its meditations by this, will have its activity
impaired. God does not ask for words, but for an attentive mind and a pure heart.
Would it not be better to offer a prayer, be it only a short one, even rarely may be, or
only at stated times, but with attention, with zeal and warmth of heart, and with due
understanding? Otherwise, although you may say the prayer day and night, yet you
have not got purity of mind, you are not performing a work of devotion, not achieving
anything for your salvation. You are relying upon nothing but outward chatter, and
you get tired and bored, and in the end the result is that your faith in prayer is
completely chilled and you throw over altogether this fruitless proceeding. Further,
the uselessness of prayer with the lips only can be seen from what is revealed to us
in holy Scripture, as, for instance, "This people draweth nigh unto Me with their
mouth and honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matt. 15:8).
"Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven"
(Matt. 7:21). "I had rather speak five words with my understanding . . . than ten
thousand words in an unknown tongue" (1 Cor. 14:19). All this shows the
fruitlessness of outward inattentive prayer with the mouth.
The Skhimnik. There might be something in your point of view if with the advice to
pray with the mouth there were not added the need for it to be continuous, if prayer in
the name of Jesus Christ did not possess self- acting power and did not win for itself
attention and zeal as a result of continuity in the exercise. But as the matter now in
question is frequency, length of time, and uninter- ruptedness of prayer (although it
may be carried on at first inattentively or with dryness), then, on account of this very
fact, the conclusions that you mistakenly draw come to nothing. Let us look into the
matter a little more closely. One spiritual writer, after arguing the very great value and
fruitfulness of frequent prayer expressed in one form of words, says finally, "Many so-
called enlightened people regard this frequent offering of one and the same prayer as
useless and even trifling, calling it mechanical and a thoughtless occupation of simple
people. But unfortunately they do not know the secret which is revealed as a result of
this mechanical exercise; they do not know how this frequent service of the lips
imperceptibly becomes a genuine appeal of the heart, sinks down into the inward life,
becomes a delight, becomes, as it were, natural to the soul, bringing it light and
nourishment and leading it on to union with God." It seems to me that these
127:
censorious people are like those little children who were being taught the alphabet
and how to read. When they got tired of it they cried out, "Would it not be a hundred
times better to go fishing, like father, than to spend the whole day in ceaselessly
repeating a, b, c, or scrawling on a sheet of paper with a pen?" The value of being
able to read and the enlightenment which it brings, which they could have only as a
result of this wearisome learning the letters by heart, was a hidden secret to them. In
the same way the simple and frequent calling upon the name of God is a hidden
secret to those people who are not persuaded of its results and its very great value.
They, estimating the act of faith by the strength of their own inexperienced and
shortsighted reason, forget, in so doing, that man has two natures, in direct influence
one upon another, that man is made of body and soul. Why, for example, when you
desire to purify your soul, do you first of all deal with your body, make it fast, deprive
it of nourishment and stimulating food? It is, of course, in order that it may not hinder,
or, to put it better, so that it may be the means of promoting purity of soul and
enlightenment of mind, so that the continual feeling of bodily hunger may remind you
of your resolution to seek for inward perfection and the things pleasing to God, which
you so easily forget. And you find by experience that through the outward fast of your
body you achieve the inward refining of your mind, the peace of your heart, an
instrument for the taming of your passions, and a reminder of spiritual effort. And
thus, by means of outward and material things, you receive inward and spiritual profit
and help. You must understand the same thing about frequent prayer with the lips,
which by its long duration draws out the inward prayer of the heart and promotes
union of the mind with God. It is vain to imagine that the tongue, wearied by this
frequency and barren lack of understanding, will be obliged to give up entirely this
outward effort of prayer as useless. No; experience here shows us exactly the
opposite. Those who have practiced ceaseless prayer assure us that what happens
is this: One who has made up his mind to call without ceasing upon the name of
Jesus Christ or, what is the same thing, to say the Jesus prayer continuously, at first,
of course, finds difficulty and has to struggle against sloth. But the longer and the
harder he works at it, the more he grows familiar with the task imperceptibly, so that
in the end the lips and the tongue acquire such capacity for moving themselves that
even without any effort on his part they themselves act irresistibly and say the prayer
128:
voicelessly. At the same time the mechanism of the throat muscles is so trained that
in praying he begins to feel that the saying of the prayer is a perpetual and essential
property of himself, and even feels every time he stops as though something were
missing in him. And so it results from this that his mind in its turn begins to yield, to
listen to this- involuntary action of the lips, and is aroused by it to attention which in
the end becomes a source of delight to the heart, and true prayer.
There you see the true and beneficent effect of continuous or frequent vocal
prayer, exactly the opposite of what people who have neither tried nor understood it
suppose. Concerning those passages in holy Scripture which you brought forward in
support of your objection, these are to be explained, if we make a proper examination
of them. Hypocritical worship of God with the mouth, ostentation about it, or insincere
praise in the cry, "Lord, Lord," Jesus Christ exposed for this reason, that the faith of
the proud Pharisees was a matter of the mouth only, and in no degree did their
conscience justify their faith, nor did they acknowledge it in their heart. It was to them
that these things were said, and they do not refer to saying prayers, about which
Jesus Christ gave direct, explicit, and definite instructions. "Men ought always to pray
and not to faint." Similarly, when the Apostle Paul says he prefers five words spoken
with the understanding to a multitude of words without thought or in an unknown
tongue in the church, he is speaking about teaching in general, not about prayer in
particular, on which subject he firmly says, "I will therefore that men pray everywhere"
(1 Tim. 2:8), and his is the general precept, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).
Do you now see how fruitful frequent prayer is, for all its simplicity, and what serious
consideration the proper understanding of holy Scripture requires?
The Pilgrim. Truly it is so, reverend Father. I have seen many who quite simply,
without the light of any education whatever and not even knowing what attention is,
offer the prayer of Jesus with their mouths unceasingly. I have known them reach a
stage when their lips and tongue could not be restrained from saying the prayer. It
brought them such happiness and enlightenment, and changed them from weak and
negligent people into podvizhniki and champions of virtue.31
The Skhimnik. Prayer brings a man to a new birth, as it were. Its power is so great
that nothing, no degree of suffering will stand against it. If you like, by way of saying
good-bye, brothers, I will read you a short but interesting article which I have with me.
129
All. We shall listen with the greatest pleasure.
The Skhimnik.
On the Power of Prayer
Prayer is so powerful, so mighty, that "pray, and do what you like." Prayer will
guide you to right and just action. In order to please God nothing more is needed
than love. "Love, and do what you will," says the blessed Augustine,32 "for he who
truly loves cannot wish to do anything which is not pleasing to the one he loves."
Since prayer is the outpouring and the activity of love, then one can truly say of it
similarly, "Nothing more is needed for salvation than continuous prayer." "Pray, and
do what you will," and you will reach the goal of prayer. You will gain enlightenment
by it.
To draw out our understanding of this matter in more detail, let us take some
examples:
(1) ' 'Pray, and think what you will." Your thoughts will be purified by prayer. Prayer
will give you enlightenment of mind; it will remove and drive away all ill-judged
thoughts. This is asserted by St. Gregory the Sinaite. If you wish to drive away
thoughts and purify the mind, his counsel is "drive them away by prayer." For nothing
can control thoughts as prayer can. St. John of the ladder also says about this,
"Overcome the foes in your mind by the name of Jesus. You will find no other
weapon than this."
(2) "Pray, and do what you will." Your acts will be pleasing to God and useful and
salutary to yourself. Frequent prayer, whatever it may be about, does not remain
fruitless, because in it is the power of grace, "for whosoever shall call on the name of
the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). For example, a man who had prayed without
success and without devotion was granted through this prayer clearness of
understanding and a call to repentance. A pleasure-loving girl prayed on her return
home, and the prayer showed her the way to the virgin life and obedience to the
teaching of Jesus Christ.
(3) "Pray, and do not labor much to conquer your passions by your own strength."
Prayer will destroy them in you. "For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the
world" (1 John 4:4), says holy Scripture. And St. John Karpathisky teaches that if you
have not the gift of self-control, do not be cast down, but know that God requires of
130:
you diligence in prayer and the prayer will save you. The starets about whom we are
told in the Otechnik33 that, when he fell into sin, did not give way to depression, but
betook himself to prayer and by it recovered his balance, is a case in point.
(4) "Pray, and fear nothing." Fear no misfortunes, fear no disasters. Prayer will
protect you and ward them off. Remember St. Peter, who had little faith and was
sinking; St. Paul, who prayed in prison; the monk who was delivered by prayer from
the onset of temptation; the girl who was saved from the evil purpose of a soldier as
the result of prayer; and similar cases, which illustrate the power, the might, the
universality of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.
(5) Pray somehow or other, only pray always and be disturbed by nothing. Be gay
in spirit and peaceful. Prayer will arrange everything and teach you. Remember what
the saints—John Chrysostom and Mark the podvizhnik—say about the power of
prayer. The first declares that prayer, even though it be offered by us who are full of
sin, yet cleanses us at once. The latter says, "To pray somehow is within our power,
but to pray purely is the gift of grace." So offer to God what it is within your power to
offer. Bring to Him at first just quantity (which is within your power), and God will pour
upon you strength in your weakness. "Prayer, dry and distracted maybe, but
continuous, will establish a habit and become second nature and turn itself into
prayer that is pure, luminous, flaming, and worthy."
(6) It is to be noted, finally, that if the time of your vigilance in prayer is prolonged,
then naturally no time will be left not only for doing sinful actions but even for thinking
of them.
Now, do you see what profound thoughts are focused in that wise saying, "Love,
and do what you will"; "Pray, and do what you will"? How comforting and consoling is
all this for the sinner overwhelmed by his weaknesses, groaning under the burden of
his warring passions.
Prayer—there you have the whole of what is given to us as the universal means
of salvation and of the growth of the soul into perfection. Just that. But when prayer is
named, a condition is added. Pray without ceasing is the command of God's Word.
Consequently, prayer shows its most effective power and fruit when it is offered
often, ceaselessly; for frequency of prayer undoubtedly belongs to our will, just as
purity, zeal, and perfection in prayer are the gifts of grace.
131
And so we will pray as often as we can; we will consecrate our whole life to
prayer, even if it be subject to distractions to begin with. Frequent practice of it will
teach us attentiveness. Quantity will certainly lead on to quality. "If you want to learn
to do anything whatever well you must do it as often as possible," said an
experienced spiritual writer.
The Professor. Truly prayer is a great matter, and ardent frequency of it is the key
to open the treasury of its grace. But how often I find a conflict in myself between
ardor and sloth. How glad I should be to find the way to gain the victory and to
convince myself and arouse myself to continuous application to prayer.
The Skhimnik. Many spiritual writers offer a number of ways based upon sound
reasoning for stimulating diligence in prayer. For example, (1) they advise you to
steep your mind in thoughts of the necessity, the excellence, and the fruitfulness of
prayer for saving the soul; (2) make yourself firmly convinced that God absolutely
requires prayer of us and that His Word everywhere commands it; (3) always
remember that if you are slothful and careless about prayer you can make no
progress in acts of devotion nor in attaining peace and salvation and, therefore, will
inevitably suffer both punishment on earth and torment in the life to come; and (4)
enhearten your resolution by the example of the saints who all attained holiness and
salvation by the way of continuous prayer.
Although all these methods have their value and arise from genuine
understanding, yet the pleasure-loving soul which is sick with listlessness, even when
it has accepted and used them, rarely sees the fruit of them, for this reason: these
medicines are bitter to its impaired sense of taste and too weak for its deeply injured
nature. For what Christian is there who does not know that he ought to pray often
and diligently, that God requires it of him, that we are punished for sloth in prayer,
that all the saints have ardently and constantly prayed? Nevertheless, how rarely
does all this knowledge show good results. Every observer of himself sees that he
justifies but little, and but rarely, these promptings of reason and conscience, and
through infrequent remembrance of them lives all the while in the same bad and
slothful way. And so, in their experience and godly wisdom, the holy Fathers,
knowing the weakness of will and the exaggerated love of pleasure in the heart of
man, take a special line about it, and in this respect put jam with the powder and
132
smear the edge of the medicine cup with honey. They show the easiest and most
effective means of doing away with sloth and indifference in prayer, in the hope, with
God's help, of attaining by prayer perfection and the sweet expectation of love for
God.
They advise you to meditate as often as possible about the state of your soul and
to read attentively what the Fathers have written on the subject. They give
encouraging assurance that these enjoyable inward feelings may be readily and
easily attained in prayer, and say how much they are to be desired. Heartfelt delight,
a flood of inward warmth and light, ineffable enthusiasm, joy, lightness of heart,
profound peace, and the very essence of blessedness and happy content are all
results of prayer in the heart. By steeping itself in such reflections as these, the weak
cold soul is kindled and strengthened, it is encouraged by ardor for prayer and is, as
it were, enticed to put the practice of prayer to the test. As St. Isaac the Syrian says,
"Joy is an enticement to the soul, joy which is the outcome of hope blossoming in the
heart, and meditation upon its hope is the well-being of the heart."
The same writer continues: "At the outset of this activity and right to the end there
is presupposed some sort of method and hope for its completion, and this both
arouses the mind to lay a foundation for the task and from the vision of its goal the
mind borrows consolation during the labor of reaching it." In the same way St. Isikhi,
after describing the hindrance that sloth is to prayer and clearing away
misconceptions about the renewal of ardor for it, finally says outright, "If we are not
ready to desire the silence of the heart for any other reason, then let it be for the
delightful feeling of it in the soul and for the gladness that it brings." It follows from
this that this Father gives the enjoyable feeling of gladness as an incitement to
assiduity in prayer, and in the same way Macarius the Great teaches that our spiritual
efforts (prayer) should be carried out with the purpose and in the hope of producing
fruit—that is, enjoyment in our hearts. Clear instances of the potency of this method
are to be seen in very many passages of The Philokalia, which contains detailed
descriptions of the delights of prayer. One who is struggling with the infirmity of sloth
or dryness in prayer ought to read them over as often as possible, considering
himself, however, unworthy of these enjoyments and ever reproaching himself for
negligence in prayer.
133
The Priest. Will not such meditation lead the inexperienced person to spiritual
voluptuousness, as the theologians call that tendency of the soul which is greedy of
excessive consolation and sweetness of grace, and is not content to fulfill the work of
devotion from a sense of obligation and duty without dreaming about reward?
The