Unceasing Prayer

John Kotsonis
Thesis: Unceasing prayer, as defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of the
Church, expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature, is an extremely significant aid and a
very efficient accelerator for our personal spiritual growth. As it develops, it engenders a direct,
clear and constant relationship with God, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for our
theosis.
This work focuses on the unceasing, continuous prayer, especially the Jesus Prayer, or Prayer
Of The Heart - its origin, evolution, approach and results. The text mirrors the structure of the
Thesis statement.
I. Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of
the Church, expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature
Prayer is our attempt to speak with God and establish a personal connection with Him. As
Orthodox Christians, we know that we are expected to maintain a powerful, direct and personal
relationship with God through prayer and receive the divine grace that flows from it. The union
that follows is the ultimate gift from God and our birthright. In the words of St John Climacus:
Prayer is by nature a dialog and a union of man and God. Its effect is to hold the world together.
It achieves a reconciliation with God. (R14 p274).
Ever since the Fall, humans have tried to keep their connection with God alive and functioning
through prayer (1). However, an integrated prayer in Gods name could not be offered until His
Incarnation (including His Crucifixion and Resurrection) was complete. After that point, the
faithful can rely on His promise that He will make sure our legitimate, and properly placed,
requests are fulfilled (2). Christ has pledged that He will act on our behalf, that He will be our
personal Intercessor (3,4) which is something the prophets of the Old Testament never had. Our
prayers are now blessed by the value of Christs human experience, including His sacrifice and
victory over death and He has promised to respond to our requests made in His Name. We also
know that prayer was a big part of Jesus life and that He prayed very frequently, as we read
throughout the New Testament. For example, the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 17, contains a
deeply moving prayer that Jesus offered to His Father. This long prayer was tailored to the
circumstances He was facing at the time, but it can also be seen as a grand template of a multi-
faceted divine invocation that addresses many of the general issues and principles of His mission
as a human (5).
In the following several paragraphs, the first part of the Thesis statement above is addressed, ie,
(a) Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament and supported by the Fathers.
Christ taught us to pray with faith, sincerity, and humility in our hearts. Having faith is perhaps
the most fundamental Christian quality, because without it we cannot communicate with God,
please Him or get anything back from Him. Words may be flowing, but they are empty because
our deeper mind and heart are fighting and belittling this activity (6). As logic is a good yardstick
for our endeavors in this (created) universe, faith in God is our guide towards (and in) His
uncreated sphere of existence. We must have faith in His love, His power, and His infinite
wisdom (7,8,9.) A common expression, paraphrasing Christ Himself, is All things are possible
to those who believe. Jesus stressed the value and power of prayer in faith as an integral part of
His overall teaching (10,11,12,13,14). In addition, our prayer should be sincere (15), and not like
that offered by many Pharisees who did not pray from the heart (16) and whose lives were not
lived in accord with their prayers (17). This is an absolute requirement for successful prayer that
He will respond to, because God must be approached in spirit and in truth (18). As we know
from the Old Testament, many of the Psalms demonstrate the urgency that the faithful feel when
approaching God (19). This deep desire and sense of urgency is also shown in the parable of the
persistent friend (20) and in the desperate pleadings of the Syro-Phoenician woman on behalf of
her sick daughter (21). Last, we should be humble in praying (22), like any servant would be
when asking for a great favor of a powerful master (23). Sincere humility is expected (24,25)
from all Christians, and the difference between true, humble prayer vs. just bragging about our
hypothetical goodness is aptly demonstrated in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
(Lk 18: 9-14). Jesus abhorred pride and arrogance because He is simple (26) and meek Himself.
Humility (27) is the companion virtue of repentance and obedience (28), but is also very
synergistic with a host of other key virtues (29, 30, 31).
Christ taught us to pray in obedience, repentance, and forgiveness for all, especially our enemies.
Being obedient to His will is a very important sine qua non for good prayer (32, 33) as we
must all gradually move our lives in the direction of our petitions (34). In this way we honor God
as our Lord (35, 36, 37). Towards this goal, Christ urged us not to pray with arrogance but to
first focus on keeping His Fathers commandments (38). Of course, Jesus personal example
throughout His ministry on Earth, especially His deeply moving prayers towards the end of the
Last Supper (Jn 17) and in the garden of Gethsemane (39) during the night of his betrayal and
arrest, can serve as excellent guidelines here. With obedience comes repentance, which is
another key requirement to successful prayer, as explained clearly in the parable of the prodigal
son (40). Because sin separates us from God, if we want to get closer to Him, we must turn back,
repent (41, 42). This is shown in both the Old and New Testaments (43, 44, 45). Connected with
repentance is confession (46, 47, 48) for our prayers to be heard and answered (49). Christ was
very clear that if we want forgiveness from God (50), He expects us, as a prerequisite, to forgive
others who may have hurt us (51); a requirement that is also clearly stated in the Lords prayer.
In giving us this prayer, He wanted us to understand His fundamental rule and spiritual law: if
we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. Following His example in forgiving those who hurt
us is the apex of our obligation to Him. As we forgive, we are truly His disciples (52, 53, 54, 55,
56), and many of Christs parables center on this important point (57). On His Sermon on the
Mount, Christ repeated that theme several times (58). We are really like Him when we let go of
negative feelings, and even forget, about other people abusing us. Forgiveness is the precursor to
detachment, which is absolutely necessary for clear, effective prayer. Furthermore, the
combination of forgiveness and detachment from passions (apatheia) grows into love for all,
even for our enemies, which is the one virtue without which all others are valueless and useless
(59). In agreement with these points, several Fathers taught that humble, prayerful obedience
(60) is the mother of all virtue, as will be discussed later on.
Christ taught us to pray in privacy, with fasting, and untiring persistence. In teaching the need of
privacy in our praying, He told us not to pray at the street corners for others to see and admire us,
but in our own room with the door closed (61); and He also gave us several examples of Himself
praying in solitude (62). Fasting is another very useful practice, which enhances and confirms
our lack of blind dependence on, even freedom from, our passions and the physical world in
general. Christ often emphasized prayer augmented by fasting (63, 64, 65) because their
combination is truly powerful, as mentioned in many passages of both the Old Testament (66,
67) and the New Testament (68, 69, 70, 71, 72). Following this line of thinking, prayer added to
fasting and obedience is even more powerful (73) because these virtues reinforce each other; and
so on. He also taught us to pray with persistence (74), like in the parable of the friend asking for
bread at midnight (cf note #20) and also in the parable of the unjust judge (75). In the same way
that Jacob did, we must pray until our prayer is answered (76), because, as we persist, the Holy
Spirit gradually teaches us how to remove impediments (eg, pride, impatience, lack of faith) to
true connection with God. For this reason, we need to stay the course (77) and He is happy to see
us do that (78, 79). Job, Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah, Bartimaeus and the Canaanite woman
are excellent examples here. However, our prayers are not answered because of what we do
[although, avoiding sin (80, 81) empowers them (82)] but because, seeing our effort, He extends
His grace and accepts them, when He chooses. The need for persistence is also embedded in the
Lords prayer (give us this day our daily bread indicating that this prayer should be
repeated at least once per day.)
Last, Christ taught us to pray in alignment with the Divine Will because when our human actions
are in tune with His plans, all requests are granted (83). We must desire only the Divine Will and
not our own (84), both in asking for something good for our soul and in receiving what God
decides to give in return. We should be moved to prayer because God desires us to pray and not
because we have things that we need Him to provide. In this way, our main intent (in both our
mind and heart) should be to unite our will with the will of Christ, obey Him in everything, and
in no way attempt to bend His will towards our own. Our petitions must be for the glory of God
(85), or else they are weak; selfish or evil desires must be shunned. We must have His mind (86)
and act in accord with His will and in harmony with His commands (87). As we live in
communion with Him, our will is His will, which is the will of the Father (88), and our prayers
are offered to the entire Holy Trinity (89). One of the best ways to align our prayers with the
Divine Will, is to use Jesus name in them (90, 91, 92, 93, 94) like the Apostles who knew the
power of using Jesus name in prayer (95, 96, 97). In using His Name, we show our frame of
mind and we dont just use a form of rote speech (98). We show that we, on our own, have no
right to ask for anything from the Father, but that the Son authorized our request. In addition, we
must pray in the Holy Spirit (99, 100) [as elaborated in section IIIa] because in this way He is
praying within (and through) us, establishing the conditions for the Holy Grace to be extended to
us (101). The Holy Spirit empowers and blesses true prayer that emanates from our spiritual
essence, our heart, asking that we be accepted back in the place which God has already prepared
for us. In this way, the Holy Spirit makes us sensitive to our weakness and sinful tendencies, and
encourages the transformation (in repentance and humility) that strengthens our bond with God
even further. As our mind clears up, our human, rebellious thoughts atrophy, slow down and
stop. Then, our unceasing supplication to Christ rests in our heart, fully aligned with the Holy
Spirit, and our Father in Heaven hears our silent prayer and makes Himself known to us (102).
The Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart, is comprised of the following statement: Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. This is a form of non-iconic (103) prayer (104)
(ie, no visual representations (105) are allowed in our mind) which is easy to use unceasingly. It
is also an authentically apophatic means to deification (106), in that it allows us to go beyond
any preconceived (107), limiting notions about God (108) and helps us focus on an extraordinary
goal: a direct, permanent and personal union with Him. Through it we dont try to understand,
but just accept Him, in His infinite strength, wisdom and variety.
The first two parts of the prayer combine our Orthodox Christian faith of the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, and of the Holy Trinity (109) in that they acknowledge the Father and the
Son within the power of the Holy Spirit [in addressing Jesus as Lord (110).] This is the praise
part of the prayer. The words have mercy on me a sinner complete the picture in terms of our
relationship with God, adding the surrender and petition part, which is meant to invoke Gods
Holy Grace and to energize the prayer, turn it from neutral or passive to active. Prayer
of the Heart really means cultivating the purity of our spiritual center or heart (111), a process
that involves an unconditional surrender to His will, in all circumstances. Therefore, this short
prayer integrates praise and penance very efficiently, as it acknowledges the greatness of God
and asks for help, forgiveness and the extension of His holy Grace to us ie, it addresses every
key aspect of our life in faith. Whats more, it is highly practical in that it is designed to be
repeated mentally, or even within our silent mind after it sinks into our heart, allowing us to
carry out our various tasks and accommodating our need to interact with others and earn our
daily bread.
The practice of praying continuously has extensive support in our Scriptures, (eg, 112, 113, 114,
115, 116, 117) , with St Paul as a major contributor: when he spoke of prayer, he most often used
words conveying the meaning of constant, always and continuously. For him, prayer was
as natural and as essential as breathing. Now, in order to appreciate how the phrase Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner took root, here are some references (118, 119,
120) of the many that are sprinkled throughout the Scriptures. We should always pray, as St Paul
instructs us: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. (Col 4:2). In
this way, God is inclined to listen to us, recognize our effort and dedication, and grant what we
ask for. Actually, it was Jesus Himself Who taught us how to do this, in the parable of the widow
who would not give up until she received her just request: Then He spoke a parable to them,
that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, (Lk 18:1). Given this, when we pray for
something and think that God is slow in responding, we should continue to pray, trusting that He
is listening. However, His response may be unexpected, as we often ask for things that are not
good for us, while, other times, our prayer can only be heard when we have overcome spiritual
impediments that we didnt know were there. And yet, His giving us only gifts that are good for
us and His helping us cleanse ourselves spiritually, are excellent rewards and blessings in return
for our prayer. By keeping our prayer active past these two phases (that tend to be close to the
start of our journey to Him) we stand a very good chance of overcoming all obstacles and
eventually uniting with Him. Therefore, it is right for us to believe that prayer never goes
unheard, and that we should always keep praying as best we can. We should also remember that
the Church establishes all objective conditions for our theosis; the Prayer of the Heart helps us
create the corresponding subjective conditions. In this way, the human-divine co-operation
(synergia) functions in full force - the ultimate result being our accepting the Holy Spirit and
entering into union with God.
(b) The Prayer of The Heart has been expanded, explained and commented on by a number of
the Fathers (121) of the Church and other significant Orthodox writers.
Following the early days of the Church, a tradition of pure prayer was established around the
fourth century and continued to our days. Some of the Fathers shaped it in their own way, but the
fundamental concept of unceasing prayer focused on the Name of Jesus Christ has persisted
through the centuries in the context of our Orthodox mysticism. St John Climacus expertly
summarized (R3 p239) the whole process: The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming
thoughts as soon as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we
say or think. The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord (122, 123). True prayer is never
merely mental but emerges from the center of our being, our heart, a process which, if we are
submissive to God, is constantly renewed and augmented by the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, we
return to our heart and open its door to the presence of God, Who is the source of our being, and
meet Him there by constantly calling out to Jesus, with faith and love. True prayer is not just a
good religious pastime, but an open and humble attitude to faith, reverence, awe, trust, hope
(124) and joy. These virtues fill our deeper self and tell us that we are in the presence of Christ,
our God, Whom we get to know in unknowing and see in unseeing, by faith at first, and
direct, mystical experience later.
There have been several short prayers taught by the Fathers of the Church. For example. St
Cassian wrote that the most popular prayer in Egypt of his time was the first verse of Psalm 70:
Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord! On the other hand, St
Joanniky repeated the following prayer, which is still part of our holy services: The Father is
my hope, the Son is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my protection, Holy Trinity glory to You.
Another form of a popular short prayer was: Being a man I have sinned; but thou, being God
the Compassionate, have mercy on me. Starting from the first years of Christianity and
gradually gaining momentum and widespread acceptance, the following prayer has become the
most commonly used by a great number of spiritual seekers: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner. Indications of its use can be found from the fourth century on, with
St Ephraim the Syrian, St John Chrysostom, St Isaac the Syrian, St Hesychius of Jerusalem, Sts
Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and St John Climacus. Later on it spread out widely and became
very well known, especially with the influence of respected Orthodox writers, like St Gregory
Palamas, and prestigious Orthodox books, like the Philokalia, whose message reaches a broad
audience to this date.
In reality there are as many ways of praying as there are people, given that true prayer is a
connection of two persons, God and myself. This connection is always expressed in a unique and
personal way. But, while many short prayers are very helpful, the Jesus Prayer is considered to
be the most effective because, in the context of acknowledging the Holy Trinity and admitting
our sins, it unites us with the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the gateway to our Union with God, the
ultimate aim and fundamental hope of our prayer: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me. (Jn 14:6). Therefore, when we practice it correctly with
all our heart, we have behind us the full force of Christs Incarnation, in which our salvation
rests. Here is a short passage on the Jesus Prayer from the renowned Orthodox book The Way
of a Pilgrim, R8 p163 (but remember that most Fathers suggest extreme caution in using our
imagination): The constant inner prayer of Jesus is an unbroken, perpetual calling upon the
Divine Name of Jesus with the lips, the mind and the heart, while picturing His lasting presence
in ones imagination and imploring His grace wherever one is, in whatever one does, even while
one sleeps. This prayer consists of the following words: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!
Those who use this prayer constantly are so greatly comforted that they are moved to say it at all
times, for they can no longer live without it. And the prayer will keep on ringing in their hearts
of its own accord
According to the instructions given to us by St Gregory of Sinai (R2 p275, R3 p74, 84), this is
how to pray: Sitting in your cell, remain patiently in prayer, according to the precept of the
Apostle Paul (125). Collect your mind into your heart and send out thence your mental cry to our
Lord Jesus, calling for His help and saying: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me until you
are tired. When tired, transfer your mind to the second half and say: Jesus, Son of God, have
mercy upon me! Having many times repeated this appeal, pass once more to the first half. But
you should not alternate these appeals too often through laziness; for just as plants do not take
root if transplanted too frequently, neither do the movements of prayer in the heart if the words
are changed frequently. Compel yourself by any means to do this work, for the kingdom of
heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Mt 11:12) as the Lord said showing
that this attainment demands severe labor and spiritual struggle. When you notice thoughts
arising and accosting you, do not look at them, even if they are not bad; but keeping the mind
firmly in the heart, call to Lord Jesus and you will soon sweep away the thoughts and drive out
their instigators the demons invisibly scorching and flogging them with the divine Name.
Thus teaches St John Climacus, saying: With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no
surer weapon against them, either on earth or in heaven. These instructions sound simple, but
St Gregory of Sinai has a clear warning (R14 p281) for those who may think that learning to pray
is like anything else we learned before: You cannot discover from the teachings of others the
beauty of prayer. Prayer has its own special teacher in God, He Who teaches man knowledge.
(Ps 94:10) He grants the prayer of him who prays. And He blesses the years of the just. (126)
St Gregory of Sinai has given us a lot of guidance on this topic. For example, (R13 p69) he
spoke of the effort involved in prayer, with words similar to those above: No bodily or spiritual
activity without pain or toil ever brings fruit to him who practices it, because the kingdom of
heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Mt 11:12). Here, theologians agree,
the word pain means remorse and contrition of spirit. For those who are weak physically,
weeping and mourning for our sinfulness take the place of physical effort. For people with
stronger bodies, it takes physical discipline for the heart to acquire the peace needed for prayer:
to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. (1 Cor 9:22). He also stated (R13
p71) that the mind of those who are experienced in prayer must concentrate on the heart (127),
If your heart has opened. This should be done with great fear of God, because the union of the
mind and heart (which precedes our union with God) is granted by divine grace, at Gods
discretion: The great gift of prayer is usually preceded by some special sufferings and upheavals
of the soul, which lead our spirit to realize the extent of our poverty and nothingness (as St Isaac
the Syrian wrote.) To be worthy of this gift of Grace we need faithful humility and purity, shown
by the rejection of every sinful thought at their first appearance. It is to the faithful, pure and
humble that the gifts of the Spirit are given. (cf Lk 16:10-12).
To learn how to pray effectively means to let go of hardness and torpor of the heart and
grossness of the mind, traits due to spiritual arrogance and deeply rooted (perhaps subconscious)
rejection of Gods will. Sometimes we dont feel like praying - a trap set by the devil in the form
of mental sloth and fear of spiritual scrutiny. Therefore, we should force ourselves to pray over
and above the hesitation of our mind and resistance of our body, as stated before (in quoting Mt
11:12). This means that we will not be able to obtain salvation without persistence. If we see
such difficulties in our praying, we should pray even harder, perhaps go back a level or two and
start all over with the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ aloud, or with fasting, vigils and
prostrations. As warm, heartfelt prayer returns, we should use this opportunity to remember our
commitment to repentance, charity, spiritual humility and obedience to our spiritual father. And
when the demons see our resolve and method of dealing with such problems, they tend to leave
us alone from fear that the net result of their attacks might be additional good credit for us in
heaven (128).
When we are ready to sit in prayer and ask God for a gift, we need to prepare ourselves with firm
faith (129), against all traces of unbelief and doubt (130). No one should ever expect to obtain
from God anything that was asked with a doubting heart, as He Himself said: "And all things,
whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (Mt 21:22) and if you have faith as a
mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there,' and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible for you. (Mt 17:20). However, to those who doubt, He will not grant
their requests. Sometimes we are insensitive to the words used in prayer, because of unbelief
(131) due to pride and lack of remorse for our sinful condition (132). So, the more warmth,
forgiveness, and contrition we feel in prayer, the better we are praying. During prayer, our
attitude should be intentional, deliberate and extreme humility, because this is how we repulse
the demons. Because of our hidden pride, we often think: this sin is not one of mine, because I
am good. Only humility can get us out of that trap, especially with the help of a spiritual
director. And always remember that, when practicing the Prayer of the Heart, we do not seek
understanding or signs or visions or information of any kind, but are purely engaged in sacred
invocation and supplication of our God. Pure prayer is neither some sort of abstract nor of
analytical thinking but a direct and personal encounter with our Creator.
The essence of the unceasing Prayer of the Heart is the search for a valid, personal vision of God,
granted to our whole being, not to the intellect alone. St Gregory Palamas worked long and hard
at the doctrinal foundation of the fact that it is only the entire person that can receive grace, not
any part (ie, soul, or mind, or body) acting alone. Therefore, he warns against corporeal visions
(corporeal only!) or mental ones (mental only!). Both are demonic temptations that undermine
the unity of our whole being, the unity that Christ came to re-invigorate by giving us
immortality. Our body, mind or soul cannot receive the grace of Christ (that was put on us during
Baptism) alone, but only in working together can they help us reach the goal of unceasing prayer,
which is to obtain a true vision of God. This is discussed further in section Iia.
The Jesus Prayer follows closely our Scriptural model of our relationship with God, and is
effective because it is centered on the Son of God Incarnate. This purely Orthodox tradition
survived and prospered for almost two millennia, not because it was somehow imposed on the
people, but because it is faithful to the substance of our faith. Therefore, we can see it as a direct
outcome of the essence of our spiritual lineage. Yes, it does ask us to expend considerable effort,
like many of the Fathers who went through extraordinary struggles to kindle the correct spirit of
prayer. However, when it matures, it becomes self-sustaining, sinks into our heart, and develops
into a strong and immediate link between us and God. Across that link, Gods divine grace flows
to those that are ready, effecting the merging of the individual with Gods divine energies, a
process called deification or divinization or theosis.
Many Fathers have written extensively about the meaning and significance of the Prayer of the
Heart (133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146). The essence of
their message is that, although we cannot force our mind to slow down and become idle, what we
can do is simplify and unify its activity by introducing, and focusing on, the Jesus Prayer (147).
In the beginning, other thoughts will persist, but with the help of the prayer we can gradually
detach ourselves from them and let them go: gently, repeatedly, just let them go. In their place,
slowly at first but more assertively as time passes, the single, commanding and utterly satisfying
thought of Lord Jesus emerges and takes over our mental workings (148), with all the spiritual
happiness and fulfillment that that entails (149). Then, we dont rely any more on any of our own
weak efforts, but accept with gratitude and relief the helping protection of the all-powerful
Divine Name and the abundant Holy Grace that is generously offered to us.
To close this segment, let me quote our greatest mystical teacher, St Gregory Palamas, R8 p164,
who said: Not only should we ourselves in accordance with Gods will pray unceasingly in the
name of Jesus Christ, but we are bound to reveal it and teach it to others, to everyone in general,
religious and secular, learned and simple, men, women and children, and to inspire them all with
zeal for prayer without ceasing.
II. Unceasing prayer is an extremely significant aid and a very efficient
accelerator for our personal spiritual growth.
In his many letters, St Theophan the Recluse spoke of three levels in this process of spiritual
growth: (a) the prayer begins as an external action in which the words are spoken repeatedly and,
to the extent possible, our attention is focused on that recitation; (b) gradually, the prayer is
established deep in the mind which prays without distraction, in parallel with other thoughts that
are devoted to everyday tasks; (c) eventually, and with Gods blessing, the prayer is lived,
silently, through the entirety of our spiritual essence, our heart. Words may be spoken or thought
or felt, but they are not necessary, as the prayer is no more what we do but who we are. Like the
Prodigal Son, we have returned to the Father. Such wholehearted dedication to prayer is a gift of
the Holy Spirit (150). St Theophan also wrote that growth in prayer has no end. Even beyond
the point where the prayer is established in our heart and it is silent and automatic, the process of
divinization that follows is endless, as lack of spiritual growth means the end of life. From an
Orthodox, apophatic perspective, as God is beyond limits and finite attributes, so is endless
growth in the process of merging with Him, facilitated by Prayer of the Heart. We believe that
this process of continuous growth in the presence of the Lord will never end, even beyond His
Second Coming.
Following St Theophans scheme (cf note 122), we will first address how unceasing prayer
guides our spiritual progress at the early stages, and then how its help compounds and accelerates
as we advance. The third stage, which leads us to the experience of spiritual visions and the
Divine Light, and then on to close communion with God that culminates in theosis, will be
discussed in the next section of this work.
(a) The Prayer Of The Heart is an extremely significant aid for our personal spiritual growth.
Actually, prayer is considered the primary virtue, because, from it, all others emerge and find
strength. For example, here is a passage written by St Gregory of Sinai, R2 p259: The energy of
the Holy Spirit which we have already mystically received in baptism, is realized in two ways.
First through arduous and protracted practice of the commandments Secondly, it is
manifested to those under spiritual guidance through the continuous invocation of the Lord Jesus,
repeated with conscious awareness, that is, through mindfulness of God. In the first way, it is
revealed more slowly, in the second more rapidly, if one diligently and persistently learns how to
dig the ground and locate the gold Let our aim be to make the energy of prayer alone active in
our hearts, for it brings warmth and joy to the intellect, and sets the heart alight with an ineffable
love for God and man. This saint spoke frequently of the primacy of prayer among virtues (151,
152). Along the same lines, St Macarius of Egypt taught (R19 p216) that prayer, being the
mother of all virtues, should be thought of as first, before all the others: Let the prayer be
preferred and zealously pursued and chosen by you before the rest of the Commandments. At
the same time, he believed that prayer cannot stand alone, because it is the head of all habits,
but it is dead without the rest of the members of virtue. There are five key virtues, he said: first
prayer, then temperance, alms, poverty, patience. His teaching was that all the virtues are
necessary aspirations for a good Christian life, and are all intertwined with, and based on, prayer,
in a strongly synergistic relationship. In agreement, St Gregory Palamas, drawing from, and
extending, the teachings of other Fathers (eg, St Isaac the Syrian, et al) spoke of two approaches
to theosis (R4 p409). They are (a) the cultivation of virtues (eg, through strict adherence to Gods
commandments, good works and a sacramental life) and (b) unceasing Prayer of the Heart. The
former purifies and prepares us for Union with God, and as such is of extreme importance to all
spiritual seekers. However, it is the latter that actually provides the context for this sacred
process to be completed a fact that he and other Fathers make abundantly clear. At the same
time, they all agree that a life of true prayer is always founded on a virtuous Christian life within
the Church (153), as discussed later in this section. Also, they remind us that all we can do is
supplicate God, ie, ask that He grant us union with Him, if He chooses to, and that we cannot
achieve this lofty state on our own. That being said, the supremacy of unceasing prayer from
among all virtues is well established in the teachings of many other mystical Fathers as well [eg,
St Gregory of Nyssa (154), St Hesychius of Jerusalem (155), Sts Callistus and Ignatius (156), St
Mark the Monk (157), St Nil Sorsky (158), St Barsanuphius (159), St Maximus the Confessor
(160), Evagrius of Pontus (161), and others (162, 163)].
According to Sts Callistus and Ignatius, R3 p268, the Fathers call the mode of life that is based
on the Prayer of the Heart by many names, eg, the sane way, praiseworthy doing and true
contemplation, most spacious prayer, sobriety of mind, mental doing, activity of the life to come,
angelic life, heavenly life, divine conduct, the land of the living, mysterious vision, most
complete spiritual feast, paradise created by God, heaven, kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God,
the darkness beyond light, secret life in Christ, vision of God, the most supranatural deification,
and many other similar names. And (R3 p201) St John Climacus wrote: In quality, prayer is
communion (synousia, merging into one being) and union of man with God. In action, it is what
the world stands by, reconciliation with God, the mother of tears and again their daughter,
propitiation for sin, a bridge over temptations, a wall against sorrows, the cessation of warfare,
the doing of angels, the food for all incorporeal spirits, the future bliss, a doing without end or
limit, the source of virtues, the seeker and finder of gifts, invisible achievement, food of the soul,
light of the mind, the sword cutting off despair, the evidence of hope, the loosing of the bonds of
sorrow, the riches of monks, the treasure of hesychasts, the gradual decrease of anger to naught,
the mirror of achievement, the measure of a mans degree, the evidence of spiritual state, the
foreteller of the future, the sign of glorification. For a man who truly prays, prayer is the torture
chamber, the court of justice, and the throne of the Lord even before the throne of the future.
Prayer is the estrangement from the world both visible and invisible.
It is important to remember that no real progress in prayer can be accomplished without progress
and improvement in our Christian life (164). Not only is it important that all our evil behaviors
be stopped and sins be confessed, but also it is imperative that our good works (eg, charity,
humility, obedience) be multiplied to the extent possible. In this way, the burden on our soul is
lessened and our faithful disposition is improved. Of course, all care must be taken that our love
for God, coupled with our zeal for salvation and theosis, be kept burning, in all things great or
small. In this spirit, we should always come to prayer bringing deeds that correspond favorably
to our petition, and constantly work hard to become worthy to receive the grace and virtue that
our heart desires (165). Prayer becomes most effective when it is accompanied by an attitude of
self-compulsion, as we exert all of our efforts towards what we ask for. The correct spiritual
order is a healthy alternation between asking for a spiritual gift in prayer and trying to acquire it
through our own meager efforts. Then God blesses us and multiplies the results of our work. If
we pray for some spiritual virtue and at the same time neglect any attempt at getting it on our
own, then God does not have anything good to bless and guide to fruition. Following this
misguided approach, we tempt God rather than pray to Him, which is a grave sin. Speaking on
this from a positive perspective, the Scriptures say: The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much. (James 5:16). St Maximus the Confessor tells us that what makes the request
most effective is when someone asks a saint to pray for them, and at the same time they pray for
it themselves, in addition to really trying to do everything they can to obtain the result of the
request through their own natural efforts. And according to St Ignatius Brianchaninov, R13 p98,
an essential pre-condition of the Jesus Prayer is to keep His commandments (166). Abide in My
love (Jn 15:9) He said to His disciples, meaning to remember Him always, in union with Him in
spirit. True prayer without keeping Gods commandments is dead: If you keep My
commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and
abide in His love. (Jn 15:10). In other words, if we obey Him, we are able to pray all the time
(167). And the other way around: being united with Him in spirit through prayer, we long for
Him with our whole being and naturally act as He expects us to. As we get to know (through
unceasing prayer) the virtues of Jesus, and how sweet it feels to be close to Him, we direct all of
our actions (168) by faith and respect for His commandments (169).
We, Christians, are never isolated, but we are members of a sacred family whose central method
of safeguarding its cohesion, marshaling its strength, and bringing salvation to the world, at the
personal and the group level, is to praise and supplicate God, with both words and deeds. We
know that we are sinners, but we also know that God is eager to have us back, and where theres
sin theres redemption too, which is the promise that our prayer reminds us of. For us, prayer is
not a way to find God, but a way of taking refuge in Him, Whom we have found, because He
came after us to remind us that He loves us and wants us to be saved. In this context, unceasing
Prayer was never thought as pulling us away from the Church, but, instead, as being instrumental
in binding us to it permanently. This is due to the fact that the people who pray to their God and
Savior, by invoking His divine name constantly, can only find Him in their hearts to the extent
that they are faithfully connected to His Church by both, the Sacraments (eg, Baptism,
Confession, Holy Eucharist) and good works. The Jesus Prayer, as the Fathers developed it, is
the fullest realization of a truly Orthodox Christian life, both personal and communal, and never
a replacement for the latter. In this way, it provides a lasting solution to the question of how to
balance individual spiritual discipline and devotion, with good works and well rounded, active
participation in the Christian community.
It is important to understand that our effectiveness in praying with warm spiritual desire is
proportional to our willingness and ability to marshal perfect attention in our mind (170). If we
fail to watch our mind carefully, we cannot be close to Jesus, especially if we try to approach
Him through effortful reasoning that strains, but does not purify, our thinking process. Perfect
spiritual attention, devoid of low-level desires (171) and pre-conceived notions of what should be
or could be, coupled with warm Prayer of the Heart (172), fills the mind with spiritual light. On
the other hand, being without sobriety and without constant invocation of Jesus, makes the mind
dark. This can be verified through direct experience on our part, especially under the direction of
a spiritually accomplished Elder (which is discussed later in this section). As the Fathers taught,
clear, solid attention of the mind is a necessary condition for successful Prayer of the Heart,
because it allows us to perceive God revealing Himself to us (173). With attention, our mind
stands firm and does not wander, because stray thoughts are cut off. In this way, we enjoy
uninterrupted remembrance of God, which becomes the fountain of our faith, hope and love.
Then we can see that the kingdom of heaven is within us; and as we see that, we are encouraged
to strive even harder to keep the door open. Everything external is then seen as unworthy of our
notice and utterly undesirable.
The way that attention is helping our prayer is to watch for approaching passionate thoughts
(174), or, as spiritual progress is made, any type of involuntary thought, and, eventually, any
thought that is not from the Holy Spirit. When such spiritual enemies are sighted, the attentions
function is to silently alert the heart to not attach itself to that thought, if not repulse it with
sacred zeal and exclusive focus on prayer. As this is done, the heart, in one and the same spiritual
movement, ascends to God in prayer, calling for His help. The Holy Spirit intervenes,
strengthening our hearts focus on the Lord, and the battle subsides (175). As the demons see that
[undesirable to them] outcome, they learn to avoid bothering us in prayer, for fear that our
benefit be greater than if they just stayed away (176). The only risk is that they may come back
in through a different door, perhaps a pernicious sense of false pride that our prayer is
magnificent. As will be discussed below, our Elder then has to help us regain a measure of
humility and proper perspective on the spiritual lay of the land of prayer and our relationship
with the Divine. We should always remember that God wants one thing from us: that we purify
our hearts (177) by means of attention not to allow sinful thoughts (178), but stay focused on
Him and fill ourselves with prayer (179) in an undivided effort throughout our life. Therefore,
prayer should be combined with attention like our soul is linked to our body. First comes
attention enlivening the mind, and when the enemies attack it with sinful thoughts, Prayer of the
Heart (180) faces them and destroys the opposition (181), because attention alone cannot do it
all. On this continuous battle (attentive prayer against sinful thoughts) depends the life and death
of our soul (182). By using attention to keep our prayer pure, we make spiritual progress (183).
Conversely, lack of attention leaves our prayer unprotected, which then gets weakened,
corrupted and extinguished from our hearts.
The Fathers are unanimous that, through unceasing prayer, our mind is guided to become
disciplined, focused and silent. For example, Isaiah the Hermit says: Restrain the unrestrainable
mind, scattered and dispersed as it is by the power of the enemy, who, through our negligence,
has once again, since Baptism, returned to our slothful soul, along with other more evil spirits; as
the Lord said: The last state of that man is worse than the first (Mt 12:45). Also, St John
Climacus advises: Let the memory of Jesus combine with your breath then you will know the
profit of silence. And, to show what happens after our mind-chatter yields to an ever stronger
prayer and devotion to God (184), Apostle Paul asserts that it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me. (Gal 2:20). To help us silence our mind, the Jesus Prayer allows us to weaken and
eliminate passionate thoughts (185, 186), while, at the same time, demonstrate our devotion to
God through persistence at uniting with Him. If we are eager to reach spiritual perfection, we
will distance ourselves from evil deeds, passionate thoughts and unclean imagination (187), as in
Gal 5:16: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Even more, we will
ultimately withdraw from all involuntary thought. The mind is not strong enough to subdue
passionate imagination by itself, because the demons are expert at deceiving it and they
introduce impure thoughts (188) from mental angles that are unexpected to all but the most
experienced among us (eg, memory, senses, false logic, etc). However, the faithful invocation of
Jesus will expel them if we persist at it. According to St Gregory of Sinai, the origin and cause of
the ever-flowing thoughts in our mind is that we have lost the single and simple memory of God.
What we must do is bring our mind back to its original simplicity. Our disobedience to God did
not only discontinue our simple memory of good, but also corrupted our souls power and
diminished its natural disposition and desire for virtue. The original simple, good, memory can
be re-established by uninterrupted remembrance of God, effected by unceasing Prayer of the
Heart. In this way, our mind and body are imbued with the Holy Spirit. When thoughts appear
uninvited, we should call to our Lord Jesus often and patiently, and they will flee the warmth
(189, 190) of the heart produced by prayer (191). Actually, as stated before, St John Climacus
instructs us to flog our foes (evil thoughts) with the name of Jesus, for our God is fire devouring
evil.
A key task to be accomplished is to diminish and tame the passions, eg, by using attention to
guard our heart from evil desires while our prayer purifies and sanctifies it (192). As our heart
becomes indifferent to sin, passions are subdued and our whole being begins to long for God and
union with Him. To achieve that, we improve and increase our prayer, which strengthens our
mind, and so forth. As a simple example of how to tame the passions externally, the Fathers
teach that those who practice Prayer of the Heart should not eat a lot, because when the stomach
is heavy the mind is clouded and the purity and firmness of our prayer diminishes. Similarly for a
lot of sleep, many earthly interests and possessions, etc. Fighting the passions internally is an
even greater battle (193), true spiritual warfare (194), during which the demons attack our soul
but are repelled by our warm and attentive prayer and the grace that comes to us for our
dedication and effort. By the name of Jesus and our love for Him, the Fathers tell us, passions are
dissolved like wax in a flame. Yet, demons try to re-enter the mind, and then the heart, eg,
through thoughts or senses. But, if our attention is focused and sharp, and our prayer calm and
warm, the evil spirits have no power to disturb us, and they go away. This of course happens to
the very best, most perfect in the Prayer of the Heart (195), those who have renounced all
temptations of this world (196) and whose attention remains always intact.
To summarize the above, in the same way that we cannot survive without food and water, our
soul cannot please God in being free of inner sin without constant guarding of the mind and
purification of the heart (197, 198) through unceasing prayer (199, 200, 201). Regardless of how
much we fear future punishment, we cannot reach God by just trying to refrain from committing
sins, which is the negative approach, without true sobriety (202) and constant remembrance of
Christ (203), which is the positive, spiritually assertive way. The Fathers teach us that in order to
win the war of our mind, heart and soul, and chase our spiritual enemies away, we need constant
supplication to Christ, with humility and untiring persistence (204). Not doing that would be like
going to battle unprotected by armor and weapons (205), or attempting to swim across the sea
fully clothed and carrying a heavy load, or trying to live without air, water and food.
Turning our attention now to what can help us, our isolation from God (brought about by
prideful disobedience) can be cured through continuous prayer to Him, assisted by our humble
submission to the spiritual guidance of an experienced Elder (206, 207). Those who strive to
attain pure prayer in silence, must seek the guidance of those who are familiar with it (208). The
reason is that as we make progress towards the gifts of the Spirit, eg, humility, Satan looks for
opportunities to undermine our efforts and bring us back under his control. Our spiritual father
can help us see whats happening and face these challenges in a safe way; he can guide us
through the difficulties of cleansing our heart and remaining steadfast in prayer. From his
independent viewpoint, he can detect any demonic threats to our efforts, perhaps pride disguised
as piety due to an early success. He can help us avoid self-conceit; then we can experience prayer
free of prelest (ie, misguided beliefs, planee) which is fire that scorches passions and brings joy
(209) and quiet to the heart. Without guidance, we cannot discern between demonic suggestions
and authentic instructions from above. To follow the correct path and reach our goal we need the
help of someone who knows how to get us there. To that end, his suggestions should be followed
without question, especially when he warns us against practices or experiences which are
detrimental to our progress. His job is not to teach us a secret method of prayer, but to help us
resist demonic attacks, stay humble and focused on our spiritual objective, and recognize the true
grace of God when He rewards our efforts. Even Saint Paul sought the guidance of his fellow
Apostles on several occasions lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain (Gal 2:2).
Whats more, we have the words of Christ Himself as He gives us a glimpse into the inner
workings of the Holy Trinity, related to following directions, each Divine Person trusting the
others in all humility: For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will
of Him who sent Me (Jn 6:38); and also However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He
will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (Jn 16:13).
St Gregory Palamas warned us to be very careful when coming across flashy spiritual
experiences, in the sense that some early success (eg, an occasional fleeting experience of the
Divine) may delude us to believe that we are already accomplished saints (210). In this way, we
risk missing the forest for the trees and falling victims to pride, thereby losing our way towards
the correct next steps that will lead us to theosis. In St Gregorys words, our conceit will open
wide the doors to him who is ever trying to seduce us. The correct action is to never feel proud
or over-confident, but stay the course of pure prayer with the help of a trusted Elder (211). Then,
God will help us see our imperfections, which will enhance our humility and contrition and help
us control our sinful tendencies. This can be done with repentance and confession, good works,
sacramental life, attention and continuous prayer. The result will be even more pure prayer,
leading to more stable openness of heart and back to the same sacred cycle (contrition,
repentance, attention, better prayer, openness of heart) again. When our impurities are mostly
cleared, we are able to accept the Holy Spirit working in our heart (212, 213), praying for us, and
guiding us to theosis (214).
St Gregory Palamas also insists that the Jesus Prayer is not an easy and mechanical way of
obtaining grace: Any one who considers as abominable the beginning of prayer that prayer
accompanied by tears and repentance which comes from grief truly felt in fasting and vigilance,
and the care with which novices are taught to lift up their divided minds, in uniform and
harmonious prayer, the man who scorns all that, should be consistent enough also to scorn the
end pursued in prayer(R7 p 145). Such comments show that he considered the Prayer of the
Heart to be a systematic and demanding spiritual discipline that helps the person collect their
mind by attention and purify it, under expert supervision, through repentance and humility, in
order to advance towards their end objective, theosis. Prayer cannot cause our deification
through some sort of blind mechanical repetition of a prayer-like formula, because it is based on
a personal (215, 216) interaction between us and God, where we consciously appeal for His
mercy and help. As He listens and takes pity on us, He helps us reach Him. In this way, prayer
represents our best means to pull ourselves towards Him (217), like someone in a small boat
pulls desperately on a rope tied to a lighthouse on the shore, trying his best to save himself from
the storm. Each tug on the rope is not a casual exercise, but a conscious effort to reach safety.
(Mechanization of prayer is discussed further in section IIIa.)
(b) Unceasing prayer is a very efficient accelerator for our personal spiritual growth, because it
acts quickly to reaffirm our identity in God. Without care for dogmatic particulars, we seek a
direct existential grasp of the link between us and God, a personal pathway that was put in place
by Him at the beginning of this world so that we can find our way back to Him. This link can be
reclaimed only in deep silence (218), after we have been purified enough to be able to hear the
spiritual whispers that the Holy Spirit utters in our heart; which is a key aspect of our
relationship with God and very important for the process of unceasing prayer. The help of the
Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout this work and is discussed later in this section, and even
more in section IIIa. Under His guidance, we open up to experiencing Gods will directly,
determined to accept it in humility and obey His every command (219). This kind of intimate
communication is way beyond the usual petitions of external prayer that weve been taught since
childhood.
Through prayer we re-discover Gods image planted deep inside us (R19 p219). Each time we
pray, He unveils His presence (220) a little better and more clearly (221). At the end, passionate
thoughts are removed, unable to withstand the power of Gods image which is being illuminated
through prayer (222). In this way, we advance towards His likeness (223), until He takes
possession of our whole being - the communion we all aspire to. When the process is ready to
complete, visions of the Divine Light usually take place, as elaborated in section IIIb. At the end,
we are lifted into union with Him, like the Holy Trinity is One: That they may be one just as
We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. (Jn 17: 22-23).
In other words, our goal is a permanent state of Prayer of the Heart, where we become what God
intended us to be, by re-establishing our natural relationship with Him, which is our birthright.
According to Bishop Kallistos Ware, R11 p99, while praying, we return from multiple thoughts
to a single thought, God, a process that leads us to our goal, ie, union with Him (cf footnotes
#148, #267, #278 and St Gregory Palamas quote on top of page 36). This is not easy, because
thoughts fly constantly through our mind, like flies buzzing all around us, as St Theophan the
Recluse said. This instability of our mind and inability to be here and now is one of the most
drastic consequences of the Fall, because thats when humans lost (or abandoned) direct, single-
minded focus on God - which is when fear of death entered our lives. In order to overcome this
fundamental impediment, the first way is to confront our undisciplined streams of thought and
expel them, one by one, by sheer force of will. This is practically impossible because the only
tool or weapon we have to operate inside our mind is thought itself, which may replace the
thoughts we dont want but will ultimately refuse to die on its own accord, keeping the busy,
thinking mind vulnerable to the attacks of the demons (224). Such a negative strategy is very
exhausting and doomed to failure, because, thinking to ourselves stop thinking is about as
feasible as telling ourselves stop breathing: it just cant be done. In the end, we cannot
eliminate darkness from a room by using another type of darkness to overcome it. Eventually, we
all come to the simple realization that, for darkness to disappear, the light has to be turned on.
And any thought that is not focused on, and derived from, God, is an instrument of darkness in
some way. The positive method to eliminate darkness is to introduce light, especially the Source
of Light, where we avoid direct confrontation of thought-against-thought and look elsewhere,
towards a dominant, luminous presence that can keep the mind focused because of its
immeasurable sweetness and clarity: God Himself. The latter is a spiritual strategy that can
succeed, where the former, because of its futility, fails. This is the approach recommended by the
Fathers, eg, Sts Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, R29 p130: Do not contradict the thoughts
suggested by your enemies, for that is exactly what they want and they will not desist. But turn to
the Lord for help against them, laying before Him your own helplessness; for He is able to expel
them and to reduce them to nothing. The Jesus Prayer is the supreme way to combat this
buzzing-thought morass that captivates and pollutes our minds, by helping us focus directly and
exclusively on God.
When spiritual purification, with the help of the heart prayer, is practiced, together with watching
and guarding the mind, all passions and evil thoughts are uprooted (225) and replaced by
contrition, mourning, tears, knowledge of ourselves and our sins, memory of death, true humility
and obedience. As our mind becomes firmly established in the heart, with pure, unwavering
attention and the prayer of Jesus (226), it becomes impenetrable to suggestions from the devil
(227). In this way, we are led more and more to longing for God. And as we persist in prayer,
with strong desire and focus, a whole host of new virtues spring from our heart and become
manifest (228), eg, charity, joy (229), hope, silence, peace and endless love for God (230, 231),
our fellow human beings and everything around us (232). In addition, all of our petitions to the
Lord are answered in the name of Jesus Christ (233). Here, the Fathers suggest that those who
have attained perfect Prayer of the Heart and enlightenment should remain in the silence of the
Holy Spirit, because they are now united with God and they should not tear their minds and
hearts away from Him for any reason (eg, a monk leaving the monastery to help his relatives.)
The Holy Spirit will help those in need, in His own time and in His own way.
We should accept the fact that grace and mercy, although always available to those who
approach Him with humility and devotion, are only given to us from God, Who, in His love for
us, renews them from moment to moment at His discretion. Therefore, the grace that comes to us
through Prayer of the Heart is a gift and not the automatic result of some accomplishment.
Although the perfect unceasing Prayer of the Heart, and corresponding deep level of connection
with God, is offered only to the most advanced, even they cant take it for granted. Instead, they
have to desire it, ask for it, keep it, honor it and live up to it every moment of their lives (234).
Given that pride is a great threat to spiritual seekers, true Prayer of the Heart is always
accompanied by the deepest sense of humility, repentance, and obedience to His will. The
Fathers say that our own efforts in prayer can take us only up to a certain point, even counting
the good works that our prayer inspires us to do. Beyond that, only the grace of God can help us
advance if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. Throughout this process, our greatest
danger is any form of self-contentment that may raise its head, especially as we see some
spiritual progress or external confirmation, like a specific prayer getting answered. Here again,
the guidance of an experienced Elder is key.
This process of theosis is the same as the process of inviting and accepting the Holy Spirit to
establish Himself inside our heart, our spiritual essence (235). In that sense, while speaking with
Motovilov, St Seraphim of Sarov said: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a
sinner Let all your attention and training be on this. Walking, sitting, doing and standing in
church before the divine service, coming in and going out, keep this unceasingly on your lips and
in your heart. In calling in this manner on the name of God, you will find peace, attain to purity
of spirit and body, and the Holy Spirit, the origin of all good things, will dwell in you, and He
will guide you to holiness, to all piety and purity. Also, St Gregory Palamas wrote (236) that
when the person who is experienced in achieving and maintaining communion with God frees
his soul from every attachment and unites his peaceful (thought-free) mind with unceasing
prayer, he rises by mystical ascension to heaven and surveys all created things from above,
through stillness and silence: He unites his nous with unceasing prayer to God. Through this,
he is rapt within himself, and finds a new and mysterious way to rise to the heavens: what one
could call the impenetrable darkness of the original silence. With joy indescribable, he remains
mysteriously enraptured in spirit, in veritable rest and in silence, full of sweetness; and he flies
over all created things. In that same passage he also wrote: It is of this that the Fathers speak
when they say, The end of prayer is to be snatched away to God. This is why the great
Dionysius says that, through prayer, the mind gradually abandons all relation with created things,
first with all things good and bad, then with neutral things capable of conformity to either good
or ill, according to the intentions of the person using them And, Purity of the passionate
part of the soul effectively liberates the mind from all things through impassibility, and unites it
through prayer to the grace of the Spirit; and through this grace the mind comes to enjoy the
divine effulgence, and acquires an angelic and God-like form. The role that the Holy Spirit
plays in our unceasing prayer is a very significant aspect of the whole process, as was mentioned
above, and is presented in more detail in section IIIa.
Here again are some more of St Gregorys words (R4 p409) about the process just discussed,
from a slightly different perspective: When a man abides in this collected state of mind and in
this soaring to God, then, curbing his volatile thoughts by intense effort of self constraint, he
mentally approaches God, meets with the ineffable tastes of the life to come, and knows by
spiritual apprehension how good is the Lord, as the Singer of Psalms says, Taste and see that the
Lord is good. (Ps 33:8). In order to achieve that threefold (guarding, being guarded and praying
at the same time) but still totally unified, simple state, which is a prerequisite for uniting with the
One God, it takes dedication, faith and persistence. Understandably, only the most experienced
aspirants are able to maintain this transcendent state for long without being distracted by the
indescribable waves of heavenly bliss that pour out of their heart and tend to re-ground them on
the physical realm through good (but multiple) thoughts that emerge automatically. This re-
grounding process is somewhat reminiscent of Saint Peters experience of losing faith (ie, a
totally confident, single focus on the Divine) after only a few seconds of walking on water
towards Jesus, and sinking back down until He reached out and pulled him up to safety (Mt 14:
24-31). Working on any other virtue is almost trivial and easily accomplished as compared with
reaching and maintaining securely this transcendent state of union. For this reason, St Gregory
and other Fathers insist that those who do not focus on the virtue of prayer, miss their chance to
receive the best spiritual gifts available to humans (237). On the other hand, those who work
patiently with the Prayer of the Heart are given the greatest access to the Divine (238) and are
granted angelic, supernatural powers, eg, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not faint. (Is 40:31).
To summarize the above, in paraphrasing St Theophans (and other Fathers) classification, we
all begin with fear of God, faithful commitment to His commandments, and strong desire to
detach ourselves from all external things, either good or bad. We grow by trusting Christ and
abiding in prayer, as pure and undistracted as we can make it, cleaving to Him to the extent of
our abilities (239) and aligning our will to His. We enter into perfection through unceasing
Prayer of the Heart, and when it becomes securely established, warm and natural, our
involuntary thoughts become clean, tame and slow, until they disappear altogether. Then, by
grace, our mind remains still (240), full of God (241), serene, bright and clear (242). At that
point, the divine silence fires up our love for God in our heart, where we find perfect peace,
??????, fulfillment, ecstasy, wonder, rapture, pure ??????, and, ultimately, union with Him,
the destination and focus of all of our desires and spiritual movements. As shown in R40 p75,
according to St Isaac the Syrian, this is the condition of the future age where the saints will not
pray in prayers, but their minds will be overflowed with the Holy Spirit, and with wonderment
they will reside in the ever-spreading glory of God.
III. As Unceasing Prayer develops, it engenders a direct, clear and constant
relationship with God, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for our
theosis.
Many Fathers have written extensively about the extraordinary role prayer plays in deification.
For example, Sts John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, Gregory Palamas, and Gregory of Sinai
stressed the primacy of prayer among all virtues (243), and how indispensable it is to achieving
theosis. Others, eg, Sts Symeon the New Theologian, Macarius of Egypt, Gregory Palamas, and
Seraphim of Sarov, spoke of the fact that those who have excelled in unceasing prayer are
inundated by uncreated light, the same light that is mentioned in the Gospel passage on the
Transfiguration. These points are discussed in the following few paragraphs.
(a) The Prayer of the Heart engenders a direct, clear and constant relationship with God.
It is a great privilege for humanity that those who wish to cleanse their heart and soul, for their
personal salvation and the glory of God, can get help directly from Him (244). Unceasing Prayer
of the Heart is a wonderful gift that brings with it all of Gods blessings (245), as it purifies us
and guides us closer to God, helping us unite with Him. It leads us away from lust for things of
this world, and focuses our mind to think nothing but Him (246) at which point we are firmly
grounded on memory of God alone (247). The more we become dead to the flesh and to the
trappings of this world through prayer, the more we become alive, free, spiritually aware, and
helpful in the workings of the Spirit (248). At the physical and psychological levels, we
experience well being, emotional balance, appreciation of nature, love for others and for God. At
the mental level comes sharper attention, absence of passionate thoughts, and, eventually,
silence. At the spiritual level comes humility, repentance, mourning, tears, and a clear
conscience. As a result, a newfound love for our Lord emerges and engulfs us whole. This pure,
but human, love brings to us Divine Love (249) which fills us with deep devotion to God, makes
our mind spiritually wise and opens us up to the mysteries of this world and of the heavens, as St
Theoleptus of Philadelphia said (R3, p398): For God, the Word, invoked by Name in the
praying heart, takes out discursive reason like a rib, and gives knowledge. Putting right order in
its place, He bestows virtue, creates light-giving love, and brings it to the mind withdrawn into
ecstasy, asleep and at rest from every earthly lust. Love for God helps detach the mind from
anything sinful (250), as it incites us to divine wisdom, and urges us to demonstrate our innate
disposition towards virtue (251).
In other words, according to the Fathers (252), the beginning of spiritual perfection is purity of
mind (absence of involuntary thoughts; start of silence) combined with attention (253) and
detachment, all based on strict adherence to Gods commandments and a sacramental life within
the Church. These virtues are driven by relentless effort to pray diligently (254), culminating in
unceasing prayer, which sets the heart in motion (255) and produces in it warmth - like a furnace
(256) a condition that eliminates passions, expels demons, and purifies the whole human being
(257, 258, 259, 260, 261). A deep spiritual desire for Christ arises that brings about repentance,
thankfulness, faith, hope and love, which further cleanse and enrich our body and soul (262, 263,
264). As our heart becomes free from passionate fantasies (265), it begins to manifest divine
thoughts, continuous remembrance of God (266), stillness and innocent, spontaneous prayer
(267), subtly introduced (268) and maintained by the Holy Spirit (269). As discussed later in this
section, He is then the one praying in us: And because you are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! (Gal 4:6). Endless peace and
spiritual stillness follow, and from these comes, by divine grace, bright illumination beyond all
understanding pulling us towards union with God, ecstasy (270) and dwelling in Him (271). This
is the new, sacred relationship with God (272) that we are all encouraged to pursue (273).
Although this relationship is just a preamble of a future glorious state, it is constant (ie, stable)
and direct (ie, immediate), unless we ourselves decide to abandon it. Its onset means that we are
now clearly invited to live in Heaven (after this life) where we will be seeing God face to face
and enjoying Him, forever.
Saint Gregory Palamas speaks (R4 p409) of our union with God, the Holy Trinity in this way:
When the single mind is threefold, while yet remaining single, it is united with the Divine
Threefold Oneness, closes the door to all prelest, sin and error and becomes above flesh, above
the world and above the prince of this world. Having thus escaped their snares, it remains wholly
enclosed in itself and in God, tasting the spiritual joy (274) which flows from within. By the
expression single mind is threefold while yet remaining single he is referring to the process by
which our mind focuses within, becomes purified through prayer and transcends itself. In other
words, through prayer, our mind stops resisting the divine impulses and becomes able to receive
the message of the Holy Spirit and rise to God (eg, St Isaacs Q&A, next page). The first part, ie,
the mind returning and focusing on itself with extreme attention, is done so that our mental
processes quiet down and be guarded against thought-attacks by the demons. The second part, ie,
the mind accepting the silent impulses of the Holy Spirit and rising to God in perfect happiness,
which means achieving the level of ?????? and going beyond it towards a direct, utterly
enjoyable connection with God, is facilitated through very gentle, almost silent Prayer of the
Heart. This is the process of going above all our familiar experiences, either outside or inside the
mind, and receiving union with God, with all the wonderful spiritual feelings that that entails (cf
note #326), aided by our continuous prayer which is being offered in the context of our total
acceptance of the Divine response.
In order to attain pure Prayer of the Heart, we must first pass through the stage of purification of
the intellect, as St Gregory Palamas wrote (R7 p141): Illumination appears to the pure
intelligence to the extent that it is liberated from all concepts and becomes formless. And All
vision having a form to the intelligence, that is to say, to act on the passionate part which is the
imagination comes from a ruse of the enemy (275). Many have attained pure prayer, and
helped others do the same (276) (also see St Gregorys quote at the end of section I of this
paper), through purity of heart (277), by eliminating passionate thoughts. Here, St Gregory
Palamas shows his closeness to the ascetic tradition of St John Climacus. As evidenced
repeatedly throughout this work, the central pillar of St Gregorys teachings, the acquisition of
grace in Jesus Christ, focuses on the monological, uninterrupted prayer (278)
??????????????????????, ???????????). This prayer is a memory of God, a conscious, positive,
personal, continuous supplication addressed to God: We supplicate with this continual
supplication St Gregory wrote, not to convince God, for He acts always spontaneously, not to
draw Him to us, for He is everywhere, but to lift ourselves up towards Him. In other passages,
St Gregory mentions that continuous prayer is a thanksgiving, always a communion with a
personal God (279). This responsible and active concept of unceasing prayer shows that
Orthodox spirituality does not advocate any mechanization of prayer, as was also discussed in
section IIa.
Those of us who practice the Prayer of the Heart diligently for some time reach the point where
the individual words disappear and merge into the faint, prayerful impulses of the Holy Spirit,
which can now be clearly perceived because of the spiritual silence that awakens within us.
Through prayer we learn to descend into our own nothingness, and, by calling out to Him, to also
experience His protective hand pulling us back to His side, over and over again - a rhythm that is
similar to continuous alternations between life and death. This can be seen as a kind of healing
dialog between us and God, which gradually convinces our ego-driven deeper self to trust Him,
open our heart, and let go of any last bit of resistance keeping us apart from the Holy Spirit. In
this way, we enter the new realm that opens wide for us, the kingdom of God. According to St
Ignatius Brianchaninov, R13 p61, when we consciously accept Gods grace, our prayer becomes
truly spiritual, superceding the more common bodily prayer which is driven by our own efforts.
And St John Climacus taught that the onset of authentic spiritual prayer is marked by abundant
weeping, and, as we enter our heart, palpable joy and thankfulness.
Along these lines, for St Isaac the Syrian (280), the advanced Prayer of the Heart is not so much
our prayer (as if we were acting on our own) as it is the Holy Spirit praying within us: The
disciple: what is the culmination of all the labors of asceticism, which a person, on reaching,
recognizes as the summit of his course? The teacher: This happens when he is counted worthy of
continual prayer. When he has reached this point, he has attained the end at which all the virtues
aim, and henceforth he possesses a dwelling-place in the Spirit. If a person has not received in all
certainty the gift of the Comforter, it is not possible for him to accomplish unceasing prayer in
quiet. When the Spirit makes its dwelling-place in someone, he does not cease to pray, because
the Spirit will constantly pray in him. Then, neither when he sleeps not when he is awake, will
prayer be cut off from his soul; but when he eats and when he drinks, when he lies down or when
he does any work, even when he is immersed in sleep, the perfumes of prayer will breathe in his
heart spontaneously. From this point onwards he will not possess prayer at limited times, but
always; and when he has outward rest, even then prayer is ministered to him secretly. For as a
man clad in Christ has said, the silence of the serene is prayer, for their very thoughts are divine
impulses. The motions of the pure mind are quiet voices, secretly chanting psalms to Him who is
invisible. This point is repeated often in this paper.
True Prayer of the Heart (281) involves the entirety of our body (282), mind, soul and spirit, and
focuses on the spiritual center of our being, what we call the heart. This is what links us to
God, the seat of our conscience, the place where the Divine dwells in us. According to St
Gregory Palamas, (R20 p7), unceasing prayer is based on the center of our spiritual essence
(283): Heart is The innermost body within the body The shrine of the intelligence The
chief intellectual organ of the body It is the ruling organ, that which gives to our human
personhood purpose and meaning It is the throne of grace. Therefore, those who are advanced
in this kind of prayer, in accepting His grace, experience the Holy Spirit praying for them from
inside their heart. As mentioned before, the Fathers insist that it is the whole human being that is
saved and not just the soul, as some heresies and other religions postulate. For example, St
Gregory Palamas, R7 p143, understood the difference between our Gospel and Platonic
philosophy, in that our body is not the cause of evil: This body united to us has been joined to
us by God as our collaborator, or rather put under our dominion; we must therefore suppress it, if
it revolts, and accept it, if it behaves as it should. In essence, he believed that thoughts which
are associated with pleasure of the body are bodily in nature and are pulling our mind and
attention lower, into the physical and sensual realm. However, thoughts that come from our soul
when it is full of spiritual joy are spiritual in nature and do not get corrupted even if they act on
the body. Instead, they uplift us towards the spiritual realm: That which is born of the Spirit is
spirit (Jn 3:6-8). To recapitulate this important point, how the body, mind and soul work
together towards theosis, St Gregory Palamas wrote (R7 p144) that Following the Fathers, one
can easily purify the mind, but it easily relapses from purity. True prayer cleanses the whole of
soul and body in tandem, creating a condition where our mind can remain pure for long periods
of time, which makes us receptive of deifying grace.
(b) In the context of successful unceasing prayer, this relationship with God is a necessary and
sufficient condition for our theosis. According to the Fathers, deification is not an abstract
concept, promised far in the future or limited to some very few fortunate ones, but it is a
concrete, mystical experience, whose initial phases are available to all Christians during their
lifetime on earth. Theosis is granted to us by the Holy Spirit and takes place through Gods own
power. Although several Fathers discuss its various aspects in their writings, they all consider it
essentially indescribable, even unutterable. In essence, theosis can be identified only by those
who have been blessed with it. (St Gregory Palamas, R23 p127). As discussed before, this
ultimate human experience is linked by many of the Fathers with the successful practice of
unceasing Prayer of the Heart, through which we establish a live communion with the Holy
Trinity. In its advanced stages, unceasing prayer leads to a state of fulfillment in Gods presence,
characterized by a purified (ie, devoid of passionate thoughts) mind, which is, for the most part,
silent (284), experiencing perfect joy, abundant love for God (285) and all creatures (286), and a
spontaneous vision of uncreated light. This light is a manifestation of Gods energies, emerging
out of His essence [which remains forever unapproachable to us (287).] When this Divine Light
is granted to a saint, it serves as a concrete pledge of the life to come, which will be an eternal
coexistence with God (288). Therefore, theosis opens us to the ultimate, and most fulfilling,
knowledge of God (289) that we can have in this life (290).
St Gregory Palamas calls prayer the divinizing virtue, meaning that it is the most we can do to
prepare ourselves for deification (291), if and when God decides to grant us this gift of gifts. Sin
causes us to forget God and distance ourselves from Him; while prayer helps us remember our
divine heritage and draw near Him (292), through spiritual desire, word and deed. Unceasing, or
perpetual, prayer, when it is achieved, can be seen as Gods presence in man, in the sense of an
aptitude disposing him to receive God, and as bringing about the indwelling through incessant
petition. (St Gregory Palamas, R23 p88). Through perpetual prayer, we purify our intellect
(293, 294) and integrate it with our heart, abandon all passionate thoughts (295) and open
ourselves to Gods grace. This is the nature of prayer: it raises man from earth to heaven and,
surpassing every celestial name, eminence, and dignity, it presents him to God (296) Who is
above all things. (St Gregory Palamas, R23 p89). In this way, Prayer of the Heart is our best
method and most practical tool to enter into a real communion with God (297), and it is enabled
to operate at full force when He blesses our perseverance and heartfelt desire, and grants us the
gift of continuous prayer (298). Therefore, true prayer is not just a human endeavor, but a living
example of human-divine collaboration or ?????????, where the Holy Spirit hears our
supplication, sees our resolve, and consents to pray for us, within us (299).
After our heart has been cleansed (300, 301) and passionate thoughts have been removed, we are
open to Gods grace through continuous prayer. At this point our past has been purified through
repentance and forgiveness, our present is sharply focused on the Lord, and our future is joyfully
anticipated with faith and hope in Him. Therefore, we are finally ready to accept the workings of
the Holy Spirit in us, like Prophets of the New Testament (R43 p111), and receive His uncreated
impulses as they act beyond, or, across, time. This is a crucial level in our spiritual development,
because here our own efforts reach a plateau, beyond which there is nothing more we can do but
keep praying, more and more deeply as time goes on. At this point of our relationship with God,
two things usually happen: first, our own, purified, thinking quiets down to a silent prayerful
intention and the Holy Spirit takes over our prayer (302); and second, we feel the onset of a
powerful mystical experience that leads us to theosis (303). This experience is characterized by a
sense of warmth of heart (304) and rapidly increasing (often exploding) love for God (305, 306);
and also by vision of the Divine Light (307, 308), accompanied by great joy (309) and spiritual
knowledge of Gods mysteries (310, 311).
Gods uncreated light is the symbol of the grace that is being poured upon us as a gift from the
Holy Spirit (312), and the main theme of our experience at this stage (313). It is a symbol that is
familiar to us from the Scriptures. For example, divine light appeared several times in the Old
Testament, as it guided the Israelites away from Egypt, illumined Moses face after he came
down from Mount Sinai, and accompanied Prophet Elijah up to Heaven; also, King David
addresses the Lord in this way (Ps 36:9): For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we
see light. In the New Testament, God is called Light which is foreign to all darkness: And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (Jn 1:5). Also, Jesus said
about Himself: I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but
have the light of life in Jn 8:12. Later He said something similar to His Apostles You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Mt 5: 14-16). And:
"While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. (Jn 12:36).
Light emanated from St Stephens face during his martyrdom; and light stopped and rehabilitated
St Paul on his way to Damascus. Later, St Paul wrote in 2 Cor 4:6: For it is the God who
commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. A few centuries after that, the Creed
called Christ Light of Light; true God of true God Many other examples of the significance
of light exist in our Scriptures and Holy Tradition (314). Correspondingly, similar expressions
and paradigms have been incorporated in our hymnography (315), iconography (316) and overall
language about salvation, which, as St Gregory Palamas wrote, is mans reassumption of his
vestment of light, which he put off in disobeying God.
Pure prayer leads us to this enlightened state of ultimate receptivity of Gods will and grace,
characterized by the vision of His uncreated light (317), the same one that Sts Peter, James and
John witnessed up on Mount Tabor (318) (Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-10). According to the Fathers, the
Prayer of the Heart leads us to the vision of light in two ways: At the intellectual level, working
hard to purify our mind, we experience the created light of our humanity that becomes brighter
as sinful thoughts are abandoned and unceasing prayer takes its hold. After prolonged and
successful practice of the Jesus Prayer, a second vision of Light emerges (319), that of the
uncreated light that was perceived by the Apostles on Mount Tabor, during Christs
Transfiguration. This Divine Light is Gods energy and grace (320) and illumines the Way for all
humans (321), until, one day, after we have made the requisite effort ourselves through prayer
and accepted His will fully, it enlightens us, ie, it permanently envelops us and dwells in us.
While His divine essence remains forever unapproachable to us (322), His energy, which is God
Himself, manifests as uncreated light and allows Him to unite with us (323), giving us a small
taste of the fullness of our union in the age to come (324). This is the same Light that will shine
upon Christs Second Coming (325), in which the saints among us are allowed, by grace, to
participate even during their life on earth (326), here and now (327).
The fact is that most thoughts enter the heart through the imagination of something sensory, with
the result of diminishing the spiritual clarity of our mental processes (328). Therefore, Gods
uncreated light, whose perception depends on total spiritual purity and receptivity, begins to be
experienced mainly when our mind is freed from thoughts and contains no pre-arranged
representation of any size, shape or form (329) - which means no anticipation whatsoever - but
only pure acceptance of the divine impulses (330). In other words, sacred illumination manifests
in a mind which is already purified, when all thought-based expectancy has been eliminated and
we remain in a state of innocent, newborn-infant-like, openness, as Jesus explained Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (Jn 3:3).
From a subjective point of view, praying unceasingly means that the words are thought, or
listened to, all day and night, automatically. In essence, praying consists of focusing our silent
(from other thoughts) mind on our heart, and then standing there in the presence of God (331)
with as much warmth and love as we can muster, with spiritual desire, contrition and true
humility. This new relationship with God is what we all aspire to.
In other words, St Gregory Palamas and the other Fathers of the Church teach us that there is a
direct and personal communion between the Holy Trinity and us, which is attainable by all, and
which will be in its fullest expression at the Second Coming and beyond. This union is preceded
by a relationship with God (in this life) which is dominated by unceasing Prayer of the Heart
made constant by grace (pulling us closer and closer to God) and is firmly grounded on
impeccable Christian living and absence of passionate thought. As our acceptance of the Holy
Spirit takes hold deeper and deeper (332), our relationship with God is characterized by silence
and spiritual vision of His uncreated light (333), with all the corresponding re-creative and
deifying results (334). This uncreated light, being Gods energy and, therefore, God, is the
divinizing means of the Holy Spirit, the divine grace with which He blesses us. No one can reach
theosis without going through this series of experiences (335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341)
while, the believer who follows this path to successful fruition, meets, with Gods permission,
the requirements for deification (342, 343, 344, 345). Impeccable Christian living, crowned by
faithful, warm, and, ultimately, silent, continuous Prayer of the Heart, is our contribution to this
process (346) which the Holy Spirit takes over and completes for us.
St Gregory Palamas makes it clear that, although the Divine Light is everywhere, we can only
see it if and when the Holy Spirit makes us able to. When we are ready, God empowers our spirit
and physical eyes to perceive His Divine Light - and this experience can be relatively subtle, or
absolutely clear, or even totally transcendent, depending on our degree of purification. This is
what happened to Sts Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor: the three Apostles were suddenly
made capable of seeing Christ the way He always is, in His all-luminous, uncreated glory. At
that time special dispensation had to be granted to them to be able to see Christs light. However,
baptized Christians who participate in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist are already empowered
to enjoy this privilege when they are prepared through prayer and willing to accept the Holy
Spirit (347). What we need in order to perceive Gods uncreated light, and divine visions, is
purification of our intellectual vision (which is then based on our dispassionate intellect) and an
illumination from God. This illumination is the spiritual equivalent of normal light and is given
to those who succeed in unceasing prayer, a gift that enables us to see in ecstasy through the
Holy Spirit (348). Ecstasy here is not an intellectual, incorporeal phenomenon, but the
transcendence of our normal capabilities reached through our intellects purification (which
generates abundant love for God in us) and enlivened by grace through divine illumination (349)
(an expression of the infinite love that God has for us.) Therefore, according to St Gregory
Palamas, the ecstasy we experience is always coupled with a reciprocal ecstasy experienced by
God at the same time, just as physical action is always matched by a similar reaction.
Through this repetitive process, which marks our close relationship with God at this stage,
powered by unceasing Prayer of the Heart, our intellect is gradually deified and passes on the
divine gift to the body, so that our whole being enters theosis. Our unceasing prayer becomes
silent, carried out by the Holy Spirit on our behalf, and gradually evolves into a mystical
communion with God, effected through grace and allowing us to have direct and personal
knowledge of His uncreated energies. The more we accept our deification [a process infinite in
duration and scope, in this life and the next (350)] the more complete becomes our knowledge of
God. And as stated before, a faithful life within the Church, continuous prayer, and the mystical
vision of Divine Light, prepare us, through grace, for union with God (351). Once this sacred
process is established, we can say that we start to understand, or at least appreciate, Theology.
Many Fathers taught that unceasing prayer leads to deification. In addition to St Gregory
Palamas, examples here include St Symeon the New Theologian (352, 353, 354) and St Macarius
of Egypt (355, 356, 357). Another Father, St Seraphim of Sarov, a well known adherent of the
Jesus Prayer (358), had been granted the gift of Uncreated Light, which, for him, was externally
visible (witnessed on several occasions), enlightening his face and body. Here (R8 p161) is the
famous Conversation with Motovilov where St Seraphim expounds our Orthodox mysticism of
light, as taught by St Symeon the New Theologian and St Gregory Palamas: We are both
together, son, in the Spirit of God! I cannot look, father, because lightning flames from your
eyes. Your face is brighter than the sun and my eyes ache in pain! Fear not my son; you
too have become as bright as I. You too are now in the fullness of Gods Spirit; otherwise you
would not be able to look on me as I am. Come son, why do you not look me in the eyes? Just
look and fear not! The Lord is with us! After these words, I looked at his face and there came
over me an even greater reverential awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling
brilliance of its midday rays, the face of the man who talks with you. You see the movement of
his lips and the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel someone grasp your
shoulders; yet you do not see the hands, you do not even see yourself or his figure, but only a
blinding light spreading several yards around and throwing a sparkling radiance across the snow
blanket on the glade and into the snowflakes which besprinkled the great Elder and me.
In summary, all of us Christians are called to become God-like (359), a process in which prayer
plays a dominant role. To that end, we need to keep Christ very close to us (360), always obey
Him (361), and work to unite with Him (362). In return, Christ enlightens us with His glory,
filling our whole being with the Holy Spirit, through Whom we learn to pray (363) calling God
Father. In this way, a strong link is established between us and the Holy Trinity, through which
we pray and also listen to His words that He makes audible to those with a pure heart. This is
especially important as we cleanse our mind and make it still (364, 365), or as we approach death
and no other action is possible (366). In both cases, our silent prayer becomes the sacred bond, a
powerful spiritual connection, between us and God. The Fathers insist that those who desire
perfection should descend into the center of their being, their hearts (367), and constantly (368)
pray (369), purely and with no distraction, without imagining that something spectacular should
happen, listening only to the words of the prayer and going deeply into them: Lord Jesus Christ,
son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. In this way, the mind is gradually illumined in the
heart, as St Diadochus of Photice says: Those who constantly keep this holy and glorious name
mentally in the depths of the heart are able, in the end, to see the light of their mind. The Jesus
Prayer, or Prayer Of The Heart, is the best spiritual method we have to actualize this connection.
It is a simple, but extremely powerful practice, rooted deeply in our scriptures, commented on
and expanded broadly in our Holy Tradition. It starts by being a focal point of our life in faith,
and gradually becomes the means to approach God by subordinating our actions and thoughts to
His will. The ensuing close relationship with the Holy Trinity becomes the divine bridge across
which theosis is granted. St Nicephorus of Mount Athos calls it the art of arts and science of
sciences, since it provides us with knowledge infused directly by the Presence of God. All other
sciences give us just human knowledge. Therefore, unceasing prayer is the highest school of real
Theology.
In lieu of an epilogue, I will close with a moving story of Abba Joseph of Panephysis, from the
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, as quoted in R20 p15: A monk came to see Abba Joseph and
said to him, Abba, I try my best. I say a few prayers each day, I make prostrations, I keep the
fasts, I try not to lose my temper with my brothers. What more can I do? And Abba Joseph rose
to his feet, and he lifted his hands to heaven, and his hands became like ten blazing torches of
fire. And he said to the monk, If you will, you can become all fire. So may each of us, through
the Divine mercy, become a living flame of prayer. Amen.
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/view/kotsonis-unceasing-prayer
Unceasing PrayerBibilography and Notes
John Kotsonis
R1. The New Testament
R2. The Philokalia, Volumes I, II, III, IV, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos
Ware
R3. Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, translated by E. Kaldoubovsky and
G.E.H. Palmer
R4. Early Fathers from the Philokalia, translated by E. Kaldoubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer
R5. St Gregory Palamas: The Triads, translated by Nicholas Gendle
R6. Treatise on the Spiritual Life, by St Gregory Palamas
R7. A Study of Gregory Palamas, by Fr John Meyendorff
R8. St Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality, by Fr John Meyendorff
R9. Unseen Warfare, by L. Scupoli, edited by St Nicodemus the Hagiorite and, later, by St
Theophan the Recluse
R10. Prayer in the Unseen Warfare, by Jack Sparks
R11. The Inner Kingdom, by Bishop Kallistus Ware
R12. On Prayer, by St Theophan the Recluse
R13. On the Prayer of Jesus, by St Ignatius Brianchaninov
R14. The Ladder Of Divine Ascent, by St John Climacus
R15. The Life of Moses, by St Gregory Nyssa
R16. In the Light of Christ: St Symeon The New Theologian, by Archbishop Basil Krivocheine
R17. The Way of a Pilgrim, translated by R.M. French; The Way of a Pilgrim Annotated &
Explained, translated. by G. Pokrovsky
R18. The Art of Prayer An Orthodox Anthology, by Igumen Chariton of Valamo
R19. The Macarian Homilies and Symeon the New Theologian, by A Hatzopoulos
R20. Merton on Hesychasm - The Prayer of the Heart, edited by Bernadette Dieker and Jonathan
Montaldo
R21. On Prayer, by St John Of Kronstadt
R22. The Jesus Prayer, by Fr David Hester
R23. The Deification of Man, by G.I. Mantzaridis
R24. The Vision of God, by Vladimir Lossky
R25. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, by Vladimir Lossky
R26. In the Image and Likeness of God, by Vladimir Lossky
R27. Byzantine Theology, by Fr John Meyendorff
R28. Themes from the Philokalia, Volumes 1 and 2, by Fr Ioannikios
R29. Letters from the Desert, by Barsanuphios and John
R30. A Method of Prayer for Modern Times, by Bishop Eugraph Kovalevsky
R31. The Way of the Ascetics, by Tito Colliander
R32. The Experience of God, Volumes I and II, by Fr Dumitru Staniloae
R33. Prayer and Holiness, by Fr Dumitru Staniloae
R34. How Are We Saved? by Bishop Kallistus Ware
R35. The Praktikos Chapters on Prayer, by Evagrius Ponticus
R36. The Syriac Fathers on Prayer, by Sebastian Brock
R37. Orthodox Prayer Life, by Matthew The Poor
R38. Beginning to Pray, by Archbishop Anthony Bloom
R39. Inner Way: Toward a Rebirth of Eastern Christian Spiritual Direction, by Fr Joseph Allen
R40. Partakers of Divine Nature, by Fr. Christoforos Stavropoulos
R41. The New Testament Introduction: Mark And Paul, by Fr Paul Tarazi
R42. St Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite, by Metropolitan Ierotheos Vlachos
R43. A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain, by Metropolitan Ierotheos Vlachos
R44. The Burning Bush, by Fr Lev Gillet
R45. On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus, by Fr Lev Gillet
R46. Treatise on Prayer, by St Symeon of Thessalonike
R47. The Place of the Heart, by Elisabeth Behr-Sigel
R48. Philokalia The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality, by Fr Anthony Coniaris
R49. The Heart of Salvation, by Esther Williams
R50. The Heart: An Orthodox Christian Spiritual Guide, by Fr Spyridon Logothetis
R51. On Heresies: Saint John of Damascus, Writings, translated by F.H. Chase
Notes
1. For example, the Psalms are, essentially, a vast prayer offered to God from, almost, as many
angles as there are human experiences.
2. Jn 16: 23 Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give
you.
3. Jn 14: 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever,
4. Hebrews 7: 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God
through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.
5. The New Testament mentions frequently that Jesus prayed, eg, Mt 14:32 And when He had
sent the multitudes away, He went up on a mountain by Himself to pray Also, Hebrews 5:7
in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplicationsetc.
6. R14 p271 St John Climacus: Faith is the wing of prayer, and without it my prayer will return
to my bosom.
7. Mk 11: 22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to
you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them,
and you will have them.
8. Hebrews 11: 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
9. James 1: 6,7 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of
the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything
from the Lord;
10. Mt 8: 13 Then Jesus said to the Centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it
be done for you.'' And his servant was healed that same hour.
Mt 9: 28-30 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said
to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He
touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you. And their eyes were
opened.
12. Mk 5: 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the
synagogue, Do not be afraid; only believe.
13. Mk 9: 23 Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who
believes.
14. Lk 8: 48 And He said to her, Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go
in peace.
15. R21 p37 St John of Kronstadt: The attributes of prayer must be love of God, sincerity and
simplicity.
16. eg, Mt 6: 5, 15 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to
pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward But if you do not forgive men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
17. eg, Mt 15: 7-9 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw
near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in
vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
18. Jn 4: 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
19. eg, Ps 4: 1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me when I
was in distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
20. Lk 11: 5-13 And He said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at
midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on
his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, Do
not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give
to you'? "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet
because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you, ask,
and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For
everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If
a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a
fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
21. Mk 7: 24-30 And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be
hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she
came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept
asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, Let the children be
filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. And she
answered and said to Him, Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the
children's crumbs. Then He said to her, For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of
your daughter. And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her
daughter lying on the bed.
22. R14 p276 St John Climacus: Prayer brings one sort of joy to those living in community, and
another to those praying in stillness. Elation is sometimes characteristic of the former, but
humility is always to be found in the latter.
23. R14 p276 St John Climacus: However pure you may be, do not be forward in your dealings
with God. Approach Him rather in humility, and you will be given still more boldness. And even
if you have climbed the whole ladder of virtues, pray still for the forgiveness of sins. Heed Pauls
cry regarding sinners of whom I am chief. (1 Tim 1:15)
24. eg, 2 Chronicles 7: 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves,
and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin and heal their land.
25. eg, 2 Chronicles 34: 27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before
God when you heard His words and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your
clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, says the Lord.
26. R21 p52 St John of Kronstadt: When you pray, keep to the rule that it is better to say five
words from the depth of your heart than ten thousand words with your tongue only.
27. R3 p327 St Philotheus of Sinai: If we sincerely wish to guard our mind in the Lord, we have
need of great humility, first in relation to God, and, second, in relation to men.
28. R3 p88 St Gregory of Sinai: Obedience for the sake of humility is capable of all virtue.
29. R3 p83 St Gregory of Sinai: In keeping silence, there are three virtues we should practice
strictly and verify each hour whether we constantly abide in them, lest we be robbed by
forgetfulness, and move outside them. They are: abstinence, not talking, and self-belittlement, ie,
humility. They support and protect one another; prayer is born of them and grows without
ceasing.
30. R3 p282 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: He who struggles inwardly must practice at every
moment these four (doings): humility, extreme attention, resistance to thoughts, and prayer.
31. R3 p324 St Philotheus of Sinai: Where there is humility, remembrance of God with sobriety
and attention, and frequent prayer directed against enemies, there is the place of God, or the
heaven of the heart where the hosts of demons fear to enter, since it is the dwelling-place of
God.
32. eg, Deut 11: 13-15 And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commandments which I
command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all
your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter
rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in
your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.
33. Rom 6: 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
34. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: Christ will stretch out His helping hand and we shall
find the solution building complete the oft praised house of spiritual architecture, that is,
Divine silence, on the firm and immovable foundation of blessed obedience.
35. Rom 6: 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?
36. Jn 14: 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
37. 1 John 3: 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His
commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
38. Mt 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
39. Mt 26: 36-46
40. Lk 15: 18-21 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like
one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no
longer worthy to be called your son.'
41. R14 p276 St John Climacus: Oil and salt are the condiments of food; chastity and tears give
flight to prayer.
42. R39 p15 St Isaac the Syrian: Why do you increase your bonds? Take hold of your life
before your light grows dark, and seeking help you do not find it. This life has been given to you
for repentance; do not waste it in vain pursuits.
43. eg, 1 Kings 8: 33-34 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they
have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and
make supplication to You in this temple, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people
Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
44. eg, Jer 36: 7 It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and
everyone will turn from his evil way
45. eg, Acts 8: 21-22 for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this
your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
46. eg, Nehemiah 1: 4-7 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and
mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said: "I pray,
Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with
those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your
eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and
night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which
we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very
corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances
which You commanded Your servant Moses.
47. eg, Daniel 9: 4-11 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, O
Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him,
and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have
done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither
have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our
princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but
to us shame of face, as it is this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all
Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of
the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face,
to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our
God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed
the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the
prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your
voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been
poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.
48. Lk 18: 13-14 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be abased,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
49. James 5: 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may
be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
50. R14 p275 St John Climacus: When you set out to appear before the Lord, let the garment of
your soul be woven throughout with the thread of wrongs no longer remembered. Otherwise,
prayer will be useless to you.
51. Mt 6: 14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
52. Mt 5: 23-24 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your
brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
53. Mt 5: 44-46 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to
those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may
be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have
you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
54. Mt 6: 14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
55. Mt 18: 21-22 Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to
seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
56. Mk 11: 22-26 Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those
things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And
whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father
in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your
Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
57. eg, the parable of the ungrateful servant in Mt 18: 23-35
58. eg, Lk 6: 20-49; as, for example, in the verse Lk 6:28: "bless those who curse you, and pray
for those who spitefully use you.
59. 1 Cor 13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have
become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not
behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they
will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we
prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done
away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then
face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide
faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
60. R14 p195 St John Climacus: The truly obedient monk often becomes suddenly radiant and
exultant during his prayers.
61. Mt 6: 5-6 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and
when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you openly.
62. eg, Lk 6: 12 Now it came to passthat He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued
all night in prayer to God.
63. Mt 9:15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from
them, and then they will fast.
64. Mt 17: 20-21 for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say
to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for
you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
65. Mk 9: 28-29 His disciples asked Him privately, Why could we not cast him out? So He
said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.
66. Ps 35: 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself
with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
67. Nehemiah 1: 4 I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and
praying before the God of heaven.
68. Lk 3: 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from
the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
69. Acts 10: 30 And Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the
ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
70. Acts 13: 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
71. Acts 14: 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
72. 1 Cor 7: 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you
because of your lack of self-control.
73. R3 p40 St Gregory of Sinai: Those who struggle, regain their original state by keeping two
commandments obedience and fasting; for all evil entered into the generation of mortals
through practices opposed to them. Moreover, those who keep the commandments through
obedience ascend to God more quickly, and those who keep them trough fasting more slowly.
Besides, obedience is more suitable for beginners, and fasting for those on the way, who possess
courage and vision of mind. But in fulfilling the commandments it is given to very few always to
obey God undeceived, and even for the most valiant this achievement is very difficult.
74. R14 p280 St John Climacus: Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience. For
so it goes that Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it
will be opened. (Mt 7:8)
75. Lk 18: 2-8 There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now
there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary.' And
he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear God nor
regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming
she weary me. Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge
His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that
He will avenge them speedily...
76. Acts 12: 5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for
him by the church.
77. eg, Eph 6: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful
to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
78. R14 p281 St John Climacus: Hold onto the staff of prayer and you will not fall. And even a
fall will not be fatal, since prayer is a devout coercion of God. (cf Lk 18:5)
79. eg, Lk 11: 5-13, quoted in a footnote #20
80. eg, Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
81. eg, Mt 5: 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
82. 1 Thess 5: 16-23 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit... Test all things; hold fast what
is good. Abstain from every evil may the God of peace sanctify you and may your
whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
83. I John 5: 14,15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
84. R14 p271 St John Climacus: In my prayer, I will offer up my will, and from God I will draw
assurance.
85. Mt 6: 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is
the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
86. Philippians 2: 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
87. Acts 19: 13-16 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We adjure you by the Jesus
whom Paul preaches. Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? Then
the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against
them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
88. eg, Jn 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will
be My disciples.
89. Mt 28:19 in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
90. Jn 14: 13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
91. Jn 15: 7,16 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
92. Jn 16: 23-24 Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will
give you... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
93. Acts 3: 6 Then Peter said, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
94. Eph 5: 20 Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ
95. Rom 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich to all who call upon Him.
96. 1 Cor 1:2 with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord
97. 2 Cor 12: 8-9 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart
from me. And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
98. Acts 3: 16: And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you
see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in
the presence of you all.
99. Eph 6: 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to
this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
100. Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Spirit,
101. Rom 8: 9,26,27 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His Likewise the
Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He
who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for
the saints according to the will of God.
102. Ps 46: 10-11 Be still, and know that I am God; The Lord of hosts is with us; God is
our refuge.
103. R5 p 57 St Gregory Palamas: The essence of God transcends the fact of being inaccessible
to the senses, since God is not only above all created things but is even beyond Godhead. The
excellence of Him Who surpasses all things is not only beyond affirmation, but also beyond all
negation; it exceeds all excellence that is attainable by the mind.
104. R20 p14 St Gregory of Nyssa: The bridegroom is present but is not seen.
105. R20 p14 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: Pray without images, shapes or forms, with an
intellect, a nous and a soul that are entirely pure. Always keep your intellect free from color,
form, shape and configuration, and from any quality or quantity.
106. R32, Vol II, p44, Fr Dumitru Staniloae: By creating human beings, God has committed
Himself to lead them to deification.
107. R3 p245 St Nilus: Blessed is he who has comprehended (Gods) incomprehensibility,
inseparable from prayer.
108. R14 p143 St John Climacus: Enlightenment is something indescribable, an activity that is
unknowingly perceived and invisibly seen.
109. R32, Vol I, Forward, Fr Dumitru Staniloae: The Trinity alone assumes our existence as
persons Salvation and deification are nothing other than the extension to conscious creatures
of the relations that obtain between the divine persons.
110. 1 Cor 12:3 No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.
111. Ps 51 10: Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
112. 1 Thes 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
113. Eph 6:18 With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that
end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones.
114. 1 Tim 2:8 It is my wish then that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands,
without anger or argument.
115. Rom 12:12 be constant in prayer
116. 1 Thes 2:13 We constantly thank God for you.
117. 1 Tim 1:2 Always I remember you in my prayers.
118. Mt 9:27 The two blind men: Have mercy on us Son of David.
119. Lk 17:13 The ten lepers: Jesus Master have mercy on us.
120. Lk 18:13 The tax collector: Have mercy on me, a sinner.
121. There has been some controversy about the precise authorship of writings by several well
known Fathers of the Church, eg, St Dionysius, St Hesychius of Jerusalem, St Nilus, St Isaac the
Syrian, St Macarius of Egypt, et al. In this work, this issue has not been addressed and quotes are
attributed to the exact name referenced in the source document, eg, The Philokalia.
122. Bishop Ierotheos in R42 p60: St Dionysios the Aeropagite says in his writings that
according to the holy Fathers the spiritual life has three stages: purification, illumination and
perfection. We find this in the teachings of all the holy Fathers of the Church.
123. R16 p80: Per St Symeon the New Theologian, the aims of prayer are humility, compunction
and enlightenment in the Holy Spirit.
124. R21 p37 St John of Kronstadt: Prayer breathes hope, and a prayer without hope is a sinful
prayer.
125. eg, Rom 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
and Col 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.
126. There are several sets of similar instructions throughout our patristic literature, eg, by St
Symeon the New Theologian, (R8 p164), St Gregory of Sinai, (R13 p67, p68), St Nicephorus the
Hesychast, (R8 p56), Sts Callistus and Ignatius, (R3 p192), and others.
127. R50 p17: The heart is mans feelings (affect). The heart is mans volition (will). The heart
is mans mind (cognition). These three elements are together in one unbreakable unity. We
find the same meaning in the Scriptures and in the writings of the Fathers.
128. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: When the devil sees a soul protected by virtues, he dare not
come near it, fearing the strength and power given to it by prayer.
129. R3 p169 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: The beginning of every action pleasing to God is
calling with faith on the life-saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as He Himself said: Without
me you can do nothing (Jn 15:5) together with the peace and love which accompany this
calling.
130. R3 p65 St Gregory of Sinai: Grace is not merely faith, but also active prayer. For the latter
shows in practice true faith, made living by Jesus, for it comes from the Spirit through love.
131. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: When during prayer your heart is overwhelmed with
despondency and melancholy, be sure that these proceed from the Devil, endeavoring by every
means to hinder you in your prayer. Be firm, take courage, and by the remembrance of God drive
away this deadly feeling.
132. R21 p52 St John of Kronstadt: When you observe that your heart is cold and prays
unwillingly, stop praying and warm your heart by representing vividly to yourself your own
wickedness, your spiritual poverty, misery and blindness, or the great benefits which God
bestows every moment upon you and all mankind, especially upon Christians; and then pray
slowly and feverishly.
133. R3 p238, St Basil the Great: Right prayer is that which actively implants the memory of
God in the soul. The dwelling of God in the heart means to have God planted firmly in oneself
by memory, when this memory is never interrupted by worldly cares, and the mind is not
troubled by accidental passionate impulses. A lover of God flees all things and goes to God. St
Basil also spoke of combining our prayer with mental and spiritual actions such as glorifying and
thanking God, confessing our sins, and asking that He bless our efforts to be saved.
134. R3 p196 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: Go to sleep and sleep with the prayer of Jesus.
135. R3 p299 St Gregory the Theologian: Let His most sweet name be joined to your breath;
and then you will know the profit of silence.
136. R8 p132 St Gregory Palamas: At every hour invoke Him, Him Who is the object of our
meditations, so that our mind may always be absorbed in Him and our attention concentrated
each day on Him invoke the name of God with your lips and also with desire and with thought
so that the only saving remedy may be applied to all by which we have sinned, for there is no
other name by which we are saved, as stated in Acts 4:12: Nor is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
137. R3 p193 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: A monk should always live with the name of Lord
Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. And:
Do not estrange your heart from God, but abide in Him and always guard your heart by
remembering our lord Jesus Christ, until the name of the Lord becomes rooted in the heart and is
ceases to think of anything else. May Christ be glorified in you.
138. R3 p193 St John Climacus: May the memory of Jesus combine with your breathing; then
will you understand the use of silence.
139. R3 p193 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: If you truly wish to cover thoughts with shame, to
keep silence as you should and to be sober in your heart without effort, let the Jesus Prayer
cleave to your breath and in a few days you will see it in practice.
140. R3 p195 St Nilus: Attention seeking prayer will find prayer; for what most naturally
follows upon attention is prayer, and it is upon prayer that our greatest efforts should be
directed.
141. R3 p197 St Nilus: He who always brings all his first thoughts like ripe fruit to God makes
his prayer heard.
142. In Letter 15, St Theophan The Recluse, instructs us that we have nothing more important
than prayer to do, as it reflects our faith and accompanies and energizes our good works in the
name of God. But we need to stand with reverence before God, with the mind in the heart, and
strive toward Him with longing. When we choose to live according to St Pauls instructions and
example, everything we think, feel, say and do, our entire life, small and big plans and pursuits,
and even common gestures, all motivation for and results from our activities, are meant to be an
offering to God. The unceasing prayer holds us fast onto His Presence (1 Cor 10:30 Whatever
you do, do it for the glory of God.) Praying unceasingly should not mean that we sidestep
everything else and try to lead an exclusively contemplative lifestyle, but that we strive to live in
such a way that we are constantly in the live presence of God while we do whatever we have to
do on this Earth.
143. St Theophan the Recluse also quotes (in his 19th discourse) St Macarius of Egypt to have
said: One must force oneself to pray, even if one has no spiritual prayer in such a case, God,
seeing that a man earnestly is striving, pushing himself against the will of his heart (that is his
thoughts,) He grants him true prayer. By that, St Macarius meant the undistracted, collected,
deep prayer that occurs when the mind stands unswervingly before God. In that exalted state, the
mind discovers such peace and sweetness that it wishes to remain in the prayer forever, desiring
nothing more. St Macarius also believed that the goal of prayer is not the disincarnation of the
mind, but a transfiguration of the entire person soul and body through the presence of the
incarnate God, accessible to the conscious certitude of the heart.
144. According to St Dorotheus, R13 p51, we should be careful not to just pay lip service to
prayer but pray with sincerity and warmth while guarding our heart and soul. The Prayer of the
Heart needs gentle concentration and focus: Do you wish to learn to pray with the mind and
heart? I will teach you. At first you should make the prayer of Jesus with your voice, that is, with
your lips, tongue and speech, aloud by yourself. When the lips, tongue and senses are satisfied
with prayer pronounced vocally, then vocal prayer stops and it begins to be said in a whisper.
After this, one should contemplate with the mind, and always regard and attend diligently to the
feeling in the throat. The mental Prayer of the Heart constantly begins to rise automatically by
the nod (of God ie, by the action of divine grace) begins to be carried about and act at all
times, during every kind of work, in every place.
145. R4 p412, St Philotheus of Sinai: Let no one think, my brother Christians, that it is the duty
only of priests and monks to pray without ceasing, and not of laymen. No, no; it is the duty of all
of us Christians to remain always in prayer. In the same vein, R11 p81, St Macarius of Egypt
wrote: Christians ought at all times to preserve the remembrance of God in order that they
may show love to the Lord not only when they go into the place of prayer, but that also when
they are working, talking, or eating, they may preserve the remembrance of God, and a sense of
love and yearning towards Him.
146. R21 p27 St John of Kronstadt: Prayer is a golden link connecting the Christian man, the
wanderer and stranger upon the earth, with the spiritual world of which he is a member, and,
above all, with God, the source of life. The soul came forth from God, and to God may it even
ascend through prayer.
147. R14 p52 St Diadochus of Photice: The human intellect cannot rest inactive; if it is to be
prevented from dispersing itself among a multiplicity of sensory objects, it must be provided
with some inner task to satisfy its need for activity. For the complete fulfillment of its purpose
we should give it nothing but the prayer Lord Jesus... Let it continually concentrate on these
words within its inner shrine with such intensity that it is not turned aside to any mental images.
148. R3 p193 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: When we have accustomed our mind to enter within
while inhaling, we shall have learnt in practice that at the moment when the mind is about to
descend within, it forthwith rejects every thought and becomes single and naked, freed from all
memory but that of calling on our Lord Jesus Christ. Conversely, when it comes out and turns
towards the external, it immediately becomes distracted by varied memories.
149. R3 p192 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: For the kingdom of God is within us, and for a man
who has seen it within, and having found it through pure prayer, has experienced it, everything
outside loses its attraction and value. It is no longer unpleasant and worrisome for him to be
within. Just as a man who has been away from home, when he returns is beside himself with joy
at seeing again his children and wife, so the mind, after being dispersed, when it reunites with the
soul, is filled with unspeakable sweetness and joy.
150. Gal 4:6 God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit that cries Abba,
Father!
151. R3 p88 St Gregory of Sinai: Works are many but they are individual; Prayer of the Heart is
great and all-embracing, as the source of virtues, because every good is acquired thereby. St
Maximus the Confessor says: Nothing is more terrible than the thought of death, and nothing
more glorious than remembrance of God showing the supremacy of this doing. But in our times
some people do not even want to hear about the existence of grace, because through their
insensibility and ignorance they are blind and of little faith.
152. R9 p220 St Gregory of Sinai: Grace abides in us from the time of our holy baptism; but
through our inattention, vanity and the wrong life we lead, it is stifled or buried. When a man
resolves to lead a righteous life and is zealous for salvation, the fruit of his whole labor is,
therefore, the restoration in force of this gift of grace. It comes to pass in a two-fold manner:
first, this gift becomes revealed through many labors in following the commandments; in so far
as a man succeeds in following the commandments, this gift becomes more radiant and brilliant.
Secondly, it manifests and reveals itself through constant invocation of the Lord Jesus in prayer.
The first method is powerful, but the second is more so, so that even the first method gains
power through it. Thus, if we sincerely wish to open the seed of grace concealed in us, let us
hasten to train ourselves in this latter exercise of the heart, and let us have only this work of
prayer in our heart, without forms, without images, till it warms our heart and makes it burn with
ineffable love of the Lord.
153. R19 p215: In all these passages the primacy of prayer is accepted, but this never means
that other virtues are dismissed as superfluous; prayer, as the fruit, is assigned pride of place on
the tree, but it is integrally joined to the branches which produce it.
154. R19 p215 St Gregory of Nyssa: We must cleave as much as possible to prayer; indeed it is
like a leader of the chorus of virtues through which we ask God for the rest of the virtues. He
who cleaves to prayer participates in and is united with it by mystical sanctity and spiritual action
and ineffable disposition. For having here received the Spirit as his guide and ally he is kindled
with love for the Lord and he is ardent in desire, never feeling satiety (????s) of prayer; he
always burns (??????????s) with the love of good and then waters (?????) the soul with zeal.
155. R3 p283 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: He who has no prayer free from thoughts has no
weapon for battle. By prayer I mean the prayer which is constantly active in the innermost secret
places of the soul, so that the enemy in his secret onslaughts is invisibly flogged and scorched by
calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
156. R3 p212 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: If you wish while yet in your body to serve God as an
incorporeal being, attain to constant secret Prayer of the Heart and your soul will become angelic
even before death.
157. R19 p215 St Mark the Monk: Prayer is called a virtue, but in reality it is the mother of
virtues: for it gives birth to them through union with Christ.
158. R13 p66 St Nil Sorsky: There are many virtuous actions, but they are all particular. But the
Prayer of the Heart is the source of all blessings.
159. R3 p227 St Barsanuphius: If inner doing with God does not help a man, his external efforts
are in vain. For inner doing with a contrite heart brings purity; purity brings true silence of the
heart; this silence brings humility; humility prepares man to be the abode of God. By the power
of God dwelling in a man, all demons and passions are cast out and man becomes a temple of
God, full of sanctity, light, purity and grace. Blessed is he who contemplates the Lord in the
innermost recesses of his heart and pours out his prayer with mourning to the loving kindness of
the Lord. (Answer 210)
160. R3 p238 St Maximus the Confessor: The mind cannot be freed from passions solely
through right activity, if it does not at the same time receive many and varied contemplations.
161. R19 p215 Evagrius of Pontus: As sight is superior to all the other senses, so prayer is more
divine than all the other virtues.
162. R25 p207 Lossky: All the virtues together subserve perfection in prayer; while the virtues
cannot possibly be assured if the spirit is not constantly turned towards prayer. Moreover, the
greatest of the virtues, charity, that love of God in which the mystical union is accomplished, is
itself the fruit of prayer, ?????????????s? ????s, as St Isaac the Syrian says. For, in prayer, man
meets with God personally he knows Him and he loves Him. Knowledge (gnosis) and love are
closely inter-connected in Eastern asceticism.
163. As an example of a different source than the Fathers, to paraphrase the book Unseen
Warfare, R9 p81, in order for us to reach Christian perfection, we need to wage and win an all-
encompassing war against our spiritual enemies and our own sinful tendencies. For this to
happen, we need to plant in our heart the following spiritual attitudes and activities, treating them
like valuable weapons for the battle: (a) be humble, (b) trust only God, (c) strive without ceasing,
and (d) remain constantly in prayer. The first three are very important, but it is the fourth one that
is the leading quality and primary weapon of the person who is after spiritual perfection. This is
due to the fact that it is through prayer that the first three are acquired, used to maximum
advantage and maintained in the first place. With prayer we both attract and receive all blessings
for this extraordinary endeavor, given to us by the infinite love and generosity that God feels for
us. By prayer we put in Gods hands both our weapons for spiritual battle and our concerns for
spiritual safety per se, not to mention our hope for eventually being granted union with Him. But
in order that it may reach its full potential in, it is imperative that prayer stay constantly active in
us, as a natural function and extension of our spirit.
164. R3 p87 St Gregory of Sinai: How then can you think and say that we assert that one can
succeed in prayer without a life of action? It is not that we assert, but the fact is that, besides a
life of action, another, a mental activity is required, without which it is impossible to succeed in
prayer.
165. R14 p281 St John Climacus: Always be brave, and God will teach you your prayer.
166. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: The Savior says: "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord,
Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Therefore, you also, well beloved, if your desire for Divine silence is not just bare words, but
you love it in deed and in truth, strive not only to have orthodox faith but also to be filled with
good works.
167. R11 p82 St Basil the Great: Prayer is a request for what is good, offered by the devout to
God. But we do not restrict this request simply to what is stated in words We should not
express out prayer merely in syllables, but the power of prayer should be expressed in the moral
attitude of our soul and in the virtuous actions that extend throughout our life This is how you
pray continually not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God through your
whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted prayer.
168. R14 p268 St John Climacus: The first task of stillness is disengagement from every affair
good and bad, since concern with the former leads on to the latter. Second is urgent prayer. Third
is inviolable activity of the heart. And just as you have to know the alphabet if you are to read
books, so if you have missed out on the first task, you cannot enter upon the other two.
169. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: Faith without works is dead... (James 2:26) just as
works without faith are dead.
170. R3 p297 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: It is the nature of these two things, sobriety and
prayer to Jesus, to be in union one with the other. For sobriety is complete attention and constant
prayer; and prayer in turn means the utmost sobriety and attention of mind.
171. R3 p303 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Invocation of the name of Jesus and freedom from
passionate thoughts is indeed a blessed practice, for it brings peace to the soul.
172. R3 p333 St Philotheus of Sinai: Sweet memory of God, that is, of Jesus, coupled with
heart-felt wrath and beneficent contrition, can always annihilate all the fascination of thoughts,
the variety of suggestions, words, dreams, gloomy imaginings and, in brief, everything with
which the all-destructive enemy arms himself to sally forth, daringly seeking to devour our souls.
Jesus, when invoked, easily burns up all this. For in no other place can we find salvation except
in Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself confirmed this saying: Without me you can do nothing. (Jn
15:5)
173. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: As letters cannot be written in the air but should be
engraved on some solid body to preserve them for a long time; so we must combine the Prayer of
Jesus with the most laborious sobriety, in order that the beautiful virtue of sobriety should abide
with Him in us, remaining for ever whole and so, through Him, become an inalienable part of
us.
174. R3 p337 Philotheus of Sinai: If a man gives way to evil thoughts, it is impossible for his
outward man to be pure of sin. Those who do not uproot evil thoughts from the heart cannot fail
to manifest them in corresponding evil deeds.
175. R4 p410 St Gregory Palamas: In those who practice prayer, the action of mind, consisting
of thoughts, is easily purified; but the soul which gives birth to these thoughts will not become
pure unless at the same time all its other powers are purified.
176. R14 p281 St John Climacus: If you are always in dialog with your king in regard to your
enemies, take heart whenever they attack you. A long struggle will not be necessary for you, for
they will soon give up of their own accord. These unholy beings are afraid that you may earn a
crown as a result of your battle against them through prayer, and besides, when scourged by
prayer they will run away as though from a fire.
177. R3 p226 St Diadochus of Photice: A man who always remains in his heart is far from all
the allurements of this life. Walking in the Spirit, he cannot experience carnal lusts. Such a man
proceeds under the protection of virtues, having these virtues as guards posted at the doors of his
city of purity; so all the wiles of the demons fail against him.
178. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: If you truly wish to cover thoughts with shame, to
keep silence as you should and to be sober in your heart without effort, let the Jesus Prayer
cleave to your breath and in a few days you will see it in practice.
179. R3 p310 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Invocation of the Lord is that which at once stifles
and disperses every evil design of the enemy, every word, every fantasy, every idol and every
pillar of malice.
180. R3 p231 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: This warm and attentive prayer, that is, prayer that is
pure, gives birth in the heart to desire, to turning towards God, and to love towards the ever-
remembered Lord Jesus Christ, as is written: Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
your name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you. (SoS 1:3); and I am
lovesick. (SoS 2:5)
181. R3 p84, St John Climacus: With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no surer
weapon against them, either on earth on in heaven.
182. R3 p228 St John of Karpathos: Long labor in prayer and considerable time are needed for a
man with a mind which never cools to acquire a new heaven of the heart where Christ dwells, as
the Apostle says: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do
you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Cor
13:5)
183. R3 p83 St Gregory of Sinai: The beginning of the action of grace in prayer manifests itself
differently, for, according to the Apostle, the Spirit divides His gifts severally distributing to
each one individually as He wills. (1 Cor 12:11). To some, there comes the spirit of fear,
rending the mountains of passions and breaking in pieces the rocks hardened hearts such fear
that the flesh seems to be pierced by nails and numbed as in death. Others quake, being filled
with joy what the Fathers called the leaping of joy. In yet others, pre-eminently in those who
have achieved success in prayer, God produces a subtle and serene glow of light when Christ
comes to dwell in the heart (Eph 3:17) and to shine mysteriously in the Spirit. Therefore, God
spoke to Elijah on the mount of Horeb (1 Kings 19:12) and said that the Lord is not in this or that
not in some individual actions of beginners but in a subtle glow of light which shows the
perfection of prayer.
184. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: A man who strives all his life to practice prayer and serving
God, speedily becomes akin to angels in life, honor, estate, wisdom and understanding.
185. R3 p238 St Nilus: Not every man who has achieved passionlessness has true prayer; for
such a man can still be occupied with simple thoughts (about things, without passionate
movements being attached to them) and be distracted by their stories (perhaps their pictures and
their various connections) and thus be far from God.
186. R3 p237 St Nilus: But even when the mind does not tarry on simple thoughts of things, it
still does not mean that it has yet found the place of prayer. For it may be occupied with
(philosophical) speculation concerning these things and pondering over their causal
relationships. Although these are abstractions, yet, since they are speculations about things, they
imprint on the mind their images and lead it far away from God. (The mind philosophizes rather
than praying this is the state of the savant.)
187. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: As wax melts in the fire, so does imagination disperse
and disappear under the action of pure prayer through simple, imageless cleaving of the mind to
God, self abandonment to Him and a most sincere union with Him.
188. R3 p235 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Every thought reproduces in the mind the image of
some sensory object; for the Assyrian (the enemy) being a mental power, can seduce us only by
using something sensory to which we are accustomed.
189. R3 p229 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: The Prayer of the Heart, pure and undistracted, gives
birth in the heart to a certain warmth, as in Lk 12:49: "I came to send fire on the earth, and how
I wish it were already kindled! and in Lk 24:32: Did not our heart burn within us while He
talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?
190. R3 p229 St John Climacus: He is the true and wise monk who has kept his warmth
inextinguishable and to his death never ceased to add fire to fire, warmth to warmth, desire to
desire, zeal to zeal.
191. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: The direct effect of this warmth is to drive away
everything which prevents perfect practice of pure prayer. For our God is fire, a fire which burns
the evil wiles of the demons and of our passions.
192. R3 p230 St Diadochus of Photice: When the heart receives, with burning pain, the shooting
of the demons, so that the victim seems to feel the very piercing of the arrows, this is the sign
that the soul has begun to hate passions acutely. This is the beginning of its purification. For, if it
does not suffer great pain from the shamelessness of sin. It cannot later fully enjoy the
beneficence of truth. A man who thereupon wishes to cleanse his heart should constantly inflame
it by memory of our Lord Jesus, having this (that is memory of the Lord) as the sole object of his
thoughts and his constant spiritual doing.
193. R3 p228 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: He who has no prayer free from thoughts has no
weapon for battle. By prayer I mean the prayer which is constantly active in the innermost secret
places of the heart, so that the enemy in his secret onslaughts is invisibly flogged and scorched
by calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
194. R14 p278 St John Climacus: War reveals the love of a soldier for his king, and the time
and practice of prayer show up a monks love for God. So your prayer shows where you stand.
Indeed, theologians say that prayer is a monks mirror.
195. R5 p59 St Gregory Palamas: The saints purify themselves of evil passions and transcend
all knowledge by uninterrupted and immaterial prayer, and it is then that they begin to see God.
196. R11 p110 Ammonas, disciple of St Anthony of Egypt: Because they had first practiced
profound hesychia, they possessed the power of God dwelling within them; and then God sent
them into the midst of human society.
197. R50 p30: The Saints have placed the center, the basis of our minds and thoughts in the
heart cf Mt 9:4, 15:18-19; Mk 2:6, 2:8; Lk 1:51, 2:35, 2:51, 3:15, 5:22, 9:47; Jn 12:40; Rom
1:21
198. For example, R13 p99 St Seraphim of Sarov: Reverent care is needed here because that
sea that is, the heart with its thoughts and desires which must be purified by means of
attention, is great and wide In which are innumerable teeming things (Ps 104:25), that
is, many vain, wrong and impure thoughts, the offspring of evil spirits.
199. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: Prayer is the cause of salvation, the source of immortality,
the indestructible wall of the Church, the unassailable fortress which terrifies the demons and
protects us in the work of righteousness. And Prayers are the nerves of the soul. If you deprive
yourself of prayer, it is like taking a fish out of water.
200. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: Prayer and praying make men temples of God. As gold,
precious stones and marble adorn the palaces of kings, so do prayers adorn the temples of Christ
the souls of believers. What greater praise can be said for prayer than that it makes us temples
of God, and that He Whom the heavens cannot contain yet enters into the living soul in prayers?
201. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: Prayer is a great weapon, a great protection. And It is
more essential to remember God than to breathe. And You must think of God more often than
you breathe.
202. R3 p337 St Philotheus of Sinai: If a man gives way to evil thoughts, it is impossible for his
outward man to be pure of sin. Those who do not uproot evil thoughts from the heart cannot fail
to manifest them in corresponding evil deeds.
203. R18 p27 St Theophan the Recluse: To stop the continual jostling of your thoughts you
must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only the thought of the Lord
Jesus.&rdquo 205. R9 p220: Prayer can become a victorious weapon in unseen warfare only
when it becomes real, that is, when it takes root in the heart and begins to act there unceasingly.
From that moment it becomes an impenetrable, unconquerable and insuperable barrier,
protecting the soul from the arrows of the enemy, the passionate assaults of the flesh, and the
enticements of the world with its prelest. Its very presence in the heart cuts off the unseen
warfare.
206. R13 p62 St Gregory of Sinai: Whoever adopts an excessively strenuous labor of prayer
from hearsay or study, labors in vain through having no director.
207. R39 p140 The director is an instrument of the Holy Spirit, Gods surrogate. Unlike the
ultimate director, he is not perfect
208. As discussed in R39 p 107, an Elder is marked by the image of Christ and of the Holy
Spirit, Who give him love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)
209. R3 p288 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: For as the more the rain pours down upon the earth,
the more it softens the earth; so too the holy Name of Christ, when it is invoked by us without
thoughts, the more constantly we call upon it, the more it softens the earth of our heart, and fills
it with joy and delight.
210. R3 p234 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: In some of their writings, our glorious Fathers point
out the signs of illumination, free from prelest, and the signs of illumination which is prelest. The
thrice Blessed Paul of Latros said: The light of the enemy power is like the smoky flame of
physical fire when a soul which has subdued passions and is cleansed sees it, abhors and
abominates it. The light of the Spirit of good is good, pure and joy giving; its coming illumines a
man with its light and fills the soul with gladness and peace, making it gentle and
compassionate.
211. R39 p21: The disclosure of thoughts in confession is essentially retrospective; it deals with
sins that have already occurred. Spiritual direction, by contrast, is essentially preventative, even
teleological aimed at future spiritual development by disclosing those ????????s which
might lead the person into sin if left unchecked.
212. R3 p236 St Diadochus of Photice: To purify the mind is the work of the Holy Spirit alone.
213. R3 p236 St John Climacus: To make the mind refrain from wandering is also the work of
the Holy Spirit alone.
214. R3 p84 St Gregory of Sinai: The soul, if it has discernment, can discriminate by mental
taste the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the fantasies and illusions of Satan.
215. R40 p71: Prayer must be personal; it must be the personal concern of every human being;
that is, it must be conscious and willed. Then its power is truly great. It genuinely becomes a
means of union of the person with God.
216. This is in stark contrast to other religions (eg, Buddhism) and their forms of meditation.
217. R4 p409 St Gregory Palamas: Since God is goodness itself, mercy itself and a limitless
deep of benevolence, he who enters into union with Him, partakes in every way of His mercy.
And union with Him is achieved by acquiring Godlike virtues, as far as this is possible, and by
communion with Him through prayer and supplication. However, communion with Him through
Godlike virtues renders the diligent doer capable of receiving the divine union, but does not
effect it; it is intense prayer by its holy action that accomplishes the soaring of man to God and
Union with Him; for in its essence prayer is the union of intelligent beings with their Creator,
when its action transcends passions and passionate thoughts through piercing of the heart and
contrition. For while the mind is passionate, it cannot unite with God. Therefore, so long as it
remains such, it does not receive Gods mercy in prayer. But to the extent that it drives away
passionate thoughts, it acquires mourning and contrition. And in proportion to contrition and the
piercing of the heart, it is granted merciful comfort, and, after long remaining in these feelings
with humility, it at last transforms the desiring part of the soul.
218. R20 p17 St Ignatius of Antioch: Jesus Christ, the Word that came out of silence.
219. R4 p414 St Philotheus of Sinai: Angels have no physical voice, but mentally never cease to
sing glory to God When you pray thus always, you too are then like the holy angels, and your
Father, Who sees your prayer in secret, which you bring Him in the hidden depths of your heart,
will reward you openly by great spiritual gifts.
220. R21 p27 St John of Kronstadt: The foundation of prayer is the yearning of the image
towards its prototype, as of like to like.
221. R13 p55 St John Climacus: Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience. In
this way, every one that asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks shall it be
opened.
222. R19 p236 St Symeon the New Theologian: There was this alone that held me back my
ingrained propensities and evil habits of sensuality. By the persistent practice of prayer,
meditation of Gods oracles and the acquiring of good habits, this fades away.
223. R8 p166 St John of Kronstadt: The Lord sent me trials; I fought against my enemies with
the weapons of faith, prayer, penance and communion in the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In this
warfare I learned what was sincere faith, hope, patience, prayer, purity of heart the unceasing
invocation of the name of Jesus Christ.
224. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: During prayer there sometimes occur moments of deadly
darkness and spiritual anguish arising from unbelief in the heart (for unbelief is darkness.) Do
not let your heart fail you at such moments, but remember that if the divine light has been cut off
from you, it always shines in all its splendor in God Himself, in His Church, in heaven and on
earth, and in the material world, in which His eternal power and Godhead are visible.
225. R14 p277 St John Climacus: Those of us who are swept by passion must ceaselessly pray
to the Lord, for all the passionate have advanced from passion to dispassion.
226. R13 p60 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Spiritual vigilance or sobriety is a spiritual art which
completely delivers a man, with the help of God, from sinful actions and passionate thoughts and
words when fervently practiced for a considerable time. It is silence of heart; it is guarding of the
mind; it is attention to oneself without any other thought which always, incessantly and
unceasingly calls upon Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, which breathes by Him, with Him
courageously takes up arms against the enemies, and which confesses Him.
227. R14 p272 St John Climacus: Wealth and numerous subjects constitute the power of a king.
Abundance of prayer constitutes the power of the hesychast.
228. R13 p100 St Paisius Velichkovsky: As this divine prayer is the highest of all monastic
labors, the summit of reparations according to the decision of the Fathers, the source of virtues, a
most subtle and invisible activity of the mind in the depth of the heart, therefore correspondingly
invisible, subtle snares of various delusions and fantasies scarcely comprehensible for the human
mind are set by the unseen enemy.
229. R3 p297 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: To call on Jesus perpetually with warm desire, full of
sweetness and joy, fills the air of the heart with joyous stillness; and this comes from extreme
attention. But He Who perfectly purifies the heart is Jesus Christ alone, the Son of God and God,
the Cause and Maker of all good things. For He says: I make peace I the Lord (Is 45:7)
230. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: One love is the love natural to the soul; the other is the
love which is poured into it by the Holy Spirit. The first is moved by our desire and is in
proportion to it; so it is easily despoiled by evil spirits when we do not constrain our will to abide
in it. But the second so inflames the soul with love of God, that all parts of the soul cleave to the
ineffable delight of this Divine love with utter simplicity of purpose. For then the mind made
pregnant by the action of spiritual grace, sends forth a rich torrent of love and joy.
231. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian: Love incited by something external is like a small lamp
whose flame is fed with oil, or like a stream fed by rains where flow stops when the rains cease.
But love whose object is God, is like a fountain gushing forth from the earth. Its flow never
ceases, for He Himself is the source of this love and also its food which never grows scarce.
232. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: Let faith, hope and love stand foremost in your spiritual
contemplation, brother, but most of all love; for the other two (faith and hope) teach one only to
despise visible blessings, whereas love unites the soul itself with God through virtues,
comprehending the Invisible One by mental perception.
233. R9 p204 St John Chrysostom: Prayer is a great blessing if practiced in a right inner state
and if we teach ourselves to give thanks to God, both when we receive what we ask and when we
do not receive it. For when He gives, and when He does not give, He does it for your good. Thus
when you receive what you ask, it is quite clear that you have received it; but when you do not
receive it, you also receive because you thus do not receive what is undoubtedly harmful for you;
and not to receive what is harmful means to be granted what is useful. So, whether you receive
what you ask or not, give thanks to God in the belief that God would have always given us what
we ask were it not often better for us not to receive it.
234. The Orthodox position on this issue differs greatly from the belief held by some Protestant
groups who consider someone saved, for good, from the moment they acknowledge Christ as
their Savior.
235. R14 p279 St John Climacus: When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use
words when he is praying, for the Spirit Himself will intercede for him with groans that cannot
be uttered. (cf Rom 8:26)
236. As shown in R5 St Gregory Palamas: The Triads, pp 64-65, quoting St Dionysios
Aeropagite
237. R3 p223 St John Chrysostom: Seek nothing from the Lord of Glory except this one:
mercy; and seek this mercy with a humble and warm heart, calling to Him from morning till
evening and if possible all night: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me, and forcing your
mind to this work until death itself.
238. R3 p201 St Nilus: Prayer is ascent of the mind to God.
239. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: When during prayer your heart is overwhelmed with
despondency and melancholy, be sure that these proceed from the Devil, endeavoring by every
means to hinder you in your prayer. Be firm, take courage, and by the remembrance of God drive
away this deadly feeling.
240. R14 p269 St John Climacus: Stillness is worshipping God unceasingly and waiting on
Him.
241. R14 p270 St John Climacus: Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with your every
breath. Then indeed you will appreciate the value of stillness.
242. R14 p272 St John Climacus: Some who preside over the race of stillness always keep
before them the words: I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I
shall not be moved. (Ps 16:8) Others keep the words: In your patience possess your souls. (Lk
21. 19) Others: Watch and pray. (Mt 26:41) Others: Prepare your works for your death.
Others: I was brought low, and He saved me. (Ps 116:6) Others: The sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18)
243. eg, R3 p80 St Gregory of Sinai: Remembrance of God, or mental prayer, is higher than all
other works; as the love of God, it stands at the head of all virtues.
244. Jn 15:5-7 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as
a branch and is withered If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what
you desire, and it shall be done for you.
245. R9 p 81: And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. (Mt
21:22)
246. R3 p28 St John Climacus: A hesychast is the one that says: I sleep, but my heart is awake;
it is the voice of my beloved! (SoS 5:2)
247. R3 p213 St Isaac the Syrian: When a man attains constant prayer, it will mean that he has
reached the summit of all virtues, and has become the abode of the Holy Spirit; for a man who
has not wholly received the grace of the Comforter cannot keep this prayer in his heart with joy.
Therefore, it is said that when the Holy spirit comes to live in a man, he never ceases to pray, for
then the Holy Spirit Himself constantly prays in him (Rom 8: 26 For we do not know what we
should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered.) Then prayer never stops in a mans soul, whether he is asleep or
awake. In eating or drinking, sleeping or doing something, even in deep sleep his heart sends
forth without effort the incense and sighs of prayer. Then prayer never leaves him, but at every
hour, even if externally silent, it continues secretly to act within. This is why someone has called
the silence of the pure bearers of Christ prayer; for their thoughts are Divine movements, and
the movements of mind and heart which are pure are meek voices by which they secretly sing
praises to the One Who is in secret.
248. R3 p227 St Isaac the Syrian: A man who keeps hourly watch over his soul has his heart
gladdened by revelations. A man who concentrates the vision of his mind within himself, sees
there the dawn of the Spirit. A man who abhors all dispersion of the mind, sees his Lord in his
own heart.
249. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: One love is the love natural to the soul; the other is the
love which is poured into it by the Holy Spirit. The first is moved by our desire and is in
proportion to it; so it is easily despoiled by evil spirits when we do not constrain our will to abide
in it. But the second so inflames the soul with love of God, that all parts of the soul cleave to the
ineffable delight of this Divine love with utter simplicity of purpose. For then the mind made
pregnant by the action of spiritual grace, sends forth a rich torrent of love and joy.
250. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian, when asked what constitutes the coming to maturity of the
many fruits of the Spirit: When man attains perfect love. When he was asked how to know if
anyone attained it: When memory of God comes to life in his mind, mans heart is immediately
set aflame by love of God and his eyes shed copious tears. For remembrance of loved ones is
wont to bring tears and so tears never cease to flow in such a man, for that which moves him to
remember God never stops working in him. Therefore, even in sleep he converses with God,
since it is natural for love to produce this effect and love is the perfection of men in this life.
251. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian: Love incited by something external is like a small lamp
whose flame is fed with oil, or like a stream fed by rains where flow stops when the rains cease.
But love whose object is God, is like a fountain gushing forth from the earth. Its flow never
ceases, for He Himself is the source of this love and also its food which never grows scarce.
252. eg, As quoted in R22 p13, St Hesychius of Jerusalem wrote: Truly blessed is the man
whose mind and heart are as closely attached to the Jesus Prayer and to the ceaseless invocation
of His name as air to the body or flame to the wax. The sun rising over the earth creates the
daylight; and the venerable and holy name of the Lord Jesus, shining continually in the mind,
gives birth to countless intellections radiant as the sun. (On Watchfulness and Prayer, 196, as
found in the Philokalia, Vol I, p 197.)
253. R3 p280 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Attention is unceasing silence of the heart, free from
all thoughts. At all times, constantly and without ceasing, it breathes Christ Jesus, the Son of God
and God, and Him alone, it calls upon Him, and with Him bravely fights against the enemies,
and makes confession to Him Who has power to forgive sins. Such a soul, through continual
calling on Christ, embraces Him Who alone searches the heart; and it seeks to hide its sweetness
and its inner attainment from all men in every way, lest the evil one should have an easy entrance
for his wickedness and destroy its excellent working.
254. R3, p30 St John of Karpathos: Much labor and effort is needed in prayer in order to attain
to an untroubled state of thoughts that other heaven of the heart, where, according to the
Apostle, Christ dwells: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves.
Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified. (2
Cor 13:5)
255. R5 p91 St Basil the Great: He who has been set in motion by the Spirit has become an
eternal movement, a holy creature. For when the Spirit has come to dwell in him, a man receives
the dignity of a prophet, of an apostle, of an angel of God, whereas hitherto he was only earth
and dust.
256. R14 p280 St John Climacus: Some emerge from prayer as from a blazing furnace and as
though having been relieved of all material defilements. Others come forth as if they were
resplendent with light and clothed in a garment of joy and of humility.
257. R3 p229 St Isaac the Syrian: Intense doing gives birth to measureless heat intensified in
the heart by flaming thoughts, which arise anew in the mind. And this doing and guarding refine
the mind by their heat and endow it with vision. This heat produced by the grace of
contemplation gives birth to the flow of tears. Constant tears still the thoughts in the soul and
purify the mind, and with a pure mind a man comes to the vision of the Divine mysteries. After
this the mind attains vision of revelations and symbols such as the prophet Ezekiel saw.
258. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: This warmth in us may have different and varied
origins and natures Of these, the most genuine warmth is that which comes from pure Prayer
of the Heart, with which it is always born, grows and in essential enlightenment comes to rest on
its Sabbath, that is, according to the Fathers, it makes a man essentially filled with
enlightenment.
259. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: The direct effect of this warmth is to drive away
everything which prevents perfect practice of pure prayer. For our God is fire, a fire which burns
the evil wiles of the demons and of our passions.
260. R3 p230 St Elias Ekdimos: When the soul becomes free from everything external and is
united with prayer, then prayer like a flame envelops it, as fire envelops iron and makes it all
fiery. Then the soul, though still the same soul, like red hot iron, can no longer be touched by
anything external.
261. R3 p229 St John Climacus: When (spiritual) fire comes into the heart, it resurrects prayer;
after its resurrection and ascension on high, Divine fire descends to the chamber of the soul.
262. R19 p248 St Macarius of Egypt: There is indeed a burning of the Spirit, which burns hearts
into flame. The immaterial divine fire (??????????????????????) has the effect of enlightening
souls and trying them, like unalloyed gold in the furnace, but of consuming iniquity, like thorns
or stubble; For our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:29)
263. R13 p60 St John Climacus: When the fire descends into the heart, it revives prayer. And
when prayer has risen and ascended to heaven, then the descent of the fire takes place into the
cenacle of the soul.
264. R13 p61 St John Climacus: The holy and heavenly fire scorches some on account of their
defective purity; but others it enlightens as having attained perfection. The same fire is called a
consuming fire and an illuminating light. For this reason some leave their prayer as if it were a
hotly heated bathhouse, feeling a certain relief from defilement and earthliness; while others go
out shining with light and arrayed in a double garment of joy and humility. But those who after
prayer feel neither of these two effects are still praying bodily, and not spiritually.
265. R3 p227 St Isaac the Syrian: He who wishes to see the Lord within himself must use every
effort to purify his heart by constant remembrance of God; in a mind thus illumined, he will see
the Lord at all hours.
266. R3, p38 St Gregory of Sinai: It is ordained that man must put before all things the
universal commandment to remember God of which it is said: And you shall remember the
Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His
covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. For, by the reverse of that which
destroys us, we may be secure. What destroys us is forgetfulness of God, which shrouds the
commandments in darkness and despoils us of all good.
267. R3 p211 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: When through the benevolence and grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ this (pray purely and without distraction) comes to pass in us, then, abandoning the
many and the varied, we shall unite with the One, the Single and the Unifying, directly in a union
which transcends reason, as the glorious Theologian says: When God unites with gods (that is,
God-like men) and is known by them, then the heart is filled with radiance by the penetration of
the Holy Spirit. It is born from the pure and undistracted Prayer of the Heart, such as we have
spoken of.
268. R13 p58 St John Climacus: God is the teacher of prayer; true prayer is the gift of God.
269. R9 p205: There also exists, through the grace of God, Prayer of the Heart only, and this is
spiritual prayer, which the Holy Spirit moves in the heart: the man who prays is conscious of it,
but does not do it; it acts by itself. This prayer belongs to the perfect. The form of prayer
accessible to all and demanded of all is the form where mind and feeling are always combined
with the words of prayer.
270. R25 p209 Lossky: According to St Symeon the New Theologian, such ecstasies and
ravishment are appropriate only to beginners and novices whose nature has not yet gained
experience of the uncreated. St Symeon compares ecstasy to the condition of a man born in a
dark prison feebly lit by a single lamp, who can thus have no conception of the light of the sun or
of the beauty of the outside world, who suddenly catches a glimpse of a landscape bathed in
sunlight through a crack in the wall of his prison. Such a man would be carried away, and would
be in ecstasy; little by little, however, his senses would become accustomed to the light of the
sun, and adapted to the new experience. In the same way, the soul which progresses in the
spiritual life no longer knows ecstasies: instead, it has constant experience of the divine reality in
which it lives.
271. R3 p239 St John Climacus: The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming thoughts as
soon as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we say or think.
The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord.
272. R19 p249 St Symeon the New Theologian: Blessed are those who incessantly have the
eye of the intellect open and see the light in every prayer and talk with Him face to face. Blessed
is that monk who stands in prayer in front of God, who sees Him and is seen by Him, and who
feels himself as being out of the world.
273. R3 p238 St John Climacus: Men, whose mind has truly learned to pray, indeed converse
with the Lord face to face, as those who have the ear of the king (that is his most close and
trusted servants.)
274. R8 p108: When spiritual joy comes to the body from the mind, it suffers no diminution by
this communion with the body, but rather transfigures the body, spiritualizing it. For then,
rejecting all evil desires of the flesh, it no longer weighs down the soul that rises up with it, the
whole man becoming spirit, as it is written: He who is born of the Spirit is spirit.
275. R3 p81 St Gregory of Sinai: If you are truly practicing silence hoping to be with God, and
you see something even the image of Christ or an angel or some saint, in no way accept
it a beginner should pay attention to the action of the heart, which is not led astray, and refuse
to accept anything else until his passions are pacified.
276. R20 p1 St Seraphim of Sarov: Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find
their salvation.
277. R11 p110: St Isaac the Syrian says that it is better to acquire purity of heart than to convert
whole nations of heathen from error. Not the he despises the work of the apostolate; he means
merely that unless and until we have gained some measure of inner silence, it is improbable that
we will succeed in converting anybody to anything.
278. R14 p276 St John Climacus: The beginning of prayer is the expulsion of distractions from
the very start by a single thought (???????????s? a repeated short prayer); the middle stage is the
concentration on what is being said or thought; its conclusion is rapture in the Lord.
279. R21 p55 St John of Kronstadt: When you are praying alone and your spirit is dejected, and
you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Holy
Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; and so do all the angels, including your
own guardian, and all the saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where
God is there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are all its rays. Try to understand what
this means. Bear in mind with whom you are conversing. Men often forget with whom they are
conversing during prayer, and who are the witnesses of their prayer.
280. As quoted in Volume 1 of The Inner Kingdom, R11 p83.
281. cf footnote 127
282. R5 p52 St Gregory Palamas: When the soul pursues this blessed activity, it deifies the
body also; which, being no longer driven by corporeal and material passions although, those
who lack experience of this think that it is always so driven returns to itself and rejects all
contact with evil things. Indeed, it inspires its own sanctification and inalienable divinization, as
the miracle-working relics of the saints clearly demonstrate.
283. R20 p9 Bishop Kallistos Ware: When the Philokalia uses the phrase Prayer of the Heart
it does not mean affective prayer in the Western sense, prayer of the feelings and emotions. It
means prayer of the total person, prayer in which the body participates as well as the soul and
spirit. After all the body is the messenger of the soul As St Maximus the Confessor says, and
we ought to use our physicality in the work of prayer.
284. R20 p 30 St Isaac the Syrian: Many are avidly seeking but they alone find who remain in
continual silence Every man who delights in a multitude of words, even though he says
admirable things, is empty within. If you love truth, be a lover of silence. Silence like the
sunlight will illuminate you in God and will deliver you from the phantoms of ignorance. Silence
will unite you to God Himself More than all things love silence: it brings you a fruit that
tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then there is
born something that draws us to silence. May God give you an experience of this something
that is born of silence. If only you practice this, untold light will dawn on you in consequence
after a while a certain sweetness is born in the heart of this exercise and the body is drawn almost
by force to remain in silence.
285. R3 p47 St Gregory of Sinai: There are two forms of ecstasy in the spirit: one, of the heart
(going deep into the heart, in forgetfulness of all things), the other, enravishment (being carried
beyond all limits of all that is.) The first belongs to those who are still learning, the second to
those who have attained to perfection in love. Both alike place the mind in which they act outside
of senses (or the consciousness of outer relationships); for Divine love is an intoxicating forcing
of thoughts by the Spirit towards the most excellent, which deprives a man of the sense (or the
consciousness) of outer relationships.
286. R3 p222 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: Prayer practiced within the heart, with attention and
sobriety, with no other thought or imagining, by repeating the words Lord Jesus Christ, Son of
God, silently and immaterially, leads the mind to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. By the words
have mercy upon me, it turns it back and moves it towards him who prays, since he cannot as
yet not pray about himself. But when he gains the experience of perfect love, he stretches out
wholly towards our Lord Jesus Christ alone, having received actual proof of the second part (that
is, of mercy.) Therefore, as someone has said, a man calls only: Lord Jesus Christ! his heart
overflowing with love.
287. R8 p116: God is essentially apart from other beings by His uncreated nature. The proper
condition of these beings is the created state, and when they transcend their own domain by
communication with God, they participate in uncreated life: deification.
288. R5 p 57 St Gregory Palamas: This hypostatic light, seen spiritually by the saints, they
know by experience to exist, as they tell us, and to exist not symbolically only, as do
manifestations produced by fortuitous events; but it is an illumination immaterial and divine, a
grace invisibly seen and ignorantly known. What it is they do not pretend to know.
289. R5 p64 St Gregory Palamas: Since the Reality which transcends every intellectual power is
impossible to understand, it is beyond all beings; such union with God is thus beyond all
knowledge, even if it called knowledge metaphorically, nor is it intelligible, even if it is called
so
290. R8 p116: Referring to the supernatural power to see God, given us by the presence of the
Spirit, St Gregory wrote: Since this power has no other means of acting, having gone beyond all
other beings, it becomes wholly light in itself and like that which it sees; it is united without
admixture, being light (itself), and seeing light through light. If it looks at itself, it sees light; if it
looks at the object of its vision, it again sees light, and if it looks at the means by which it sees,
again it sees light. That is what union means; all is so one, that he who sees can make no
distinction either of the means or the end or the object; he is conscious only of being light and
seeing light distinct from all that is created. What he means in using these words is that, in
Christ, we are given the power to become Spirit (cf Jn 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.) Even more, by participating in Gods
uncreated grace, we become gods. As St Paul says: (Gal 2:20) It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me.
291. R4 p 414 St Philotheus Kokkinos: The mental prayer is the light which illumines mans
soul and inflames his heart with the fire of love of God. It is the chain linking God with man and
man with God It allows a man constantly to converse with God.
292. R4 p 414 St Philotheus Kokkinos: Angels have no physical voice, but mentally never cease
to sing glory to God When you pray thus always, you too are then like the holy angels, and
your Father, Who sees your prayer in secret, which you bring Him in the hidden depths of your
heart, will reward you openly by great spiritual gifts.
293. R3 p235 St Basil the Great: As the Lord dwells not in temples built by human hands,
neither does He dwell in any imaginings or mental structures (fantasies) which present
themselves (to the attention) and surround the corrupt soul like a wall, so that it is powerless to
look at the truth direct but continues to cling on to mirrors and fortune-telling.
294. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius, quoting Evagrius of Pontus: Where God is recognized
as abiding, there He is known; this is why a pure mind is called the throne of God. The thought
of God is not to be found in the thoughts which imprint images in the mind, but in the thoughts
which make no imprints. Therefore, a man who prays, must strive in every possible way to
repulse thoughts which imprint images in the mind.
295. R3 p235 St Maximus the Confessor, in his commentaries on the great Dionysius:
Imagination is one thing, thinking or thought is another. They are produced by different forces
and differ in the qualities of their movements. For thought is the action or the production of
mind, and imagination is the fruit of passion, the imprint of an image representing something that
is or seems to be sensory. Therefore, no imagination can be admitted in relation to God, for He
exceeds all mind.
296. R14p263 St John Climacus:Those with a mind accustomed to true prayer talk directly with
the Lord, as if to the ear of the Emperor.
297. R5 p59 St Gregory Palamas: The saints purify themselves of evil passions and transcend
all knowledge by uninterrupted and immaterial prayer, and it is then that they begin to see God.
298. R9 p 206: There is yet another for of prayer, which is called standing in the presence of
God, when the man who prays is wholly concentrated in his heart and inwardly contemplates
God as being present to him and within him, with corresponding feelings either of fear of God
and the feeling of wonder and awe before His greatness, or of faith and hope, or of love and
submission to His will, or of contrition and readiness for any sacrifice. Such a state comes when
a man becomes deeply immersed in prayer by word, mind and heart. If a man prays in the right
way and for a long time, these states come to him more and more often, and finally this state can
become permanent; then it is called walking before God and is constant prayer. This was the
state of David, who says of himself: I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved (Ps 16:8)
299. R9 p 205: There also exists, through the grace of God, Prayer of the Heart only, and this is
spiritual prayer, which the Holy Spirit moves in the heart: the man who prays is conscious of it,
but does not do it; it acts by itself. This prayer belongs to the perfect. The form of prayer
accessible to all and demanded of all is the form where mind and feeling are always combined
with the words of prayer.
300. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: That heart is pure which, always presenting to God a
formless and imageless memory, is ready to receive nothing but impressions which come from
Him, and by which is wont to desire to become manifest to it.
301. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: A heart is called perfect when it is devoid of all
natural impulse towards any thing or any image; a heart like a well polished tablet on which,
being clean, God inscribes His laws.
302. R3 p239 St Nilus: The highest prayer of the perfect is the ravishment of the mind and its
total transcendence of everything sensory, when the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26) before God, Who sees our heart like an
open book intimating its desire by the soundless signs written therein.
303. R3 p61 St Gregory of Sinai: The beginning of mental prayer is the purifying action of the
power of the Holy Spirit, together with the mysterious officiating of the mind, just as the
beginning of silence is withdrawal from all things of freedom from all cares; the middle stage is
the illuminating power (of the Spirit) and contemplation, and the end ecstasy, or the soaring of
the mind towards God.
304. R3 p388 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: When the mind and thought stand before God
through intense concentration of the eye upon Him and warmth of prayer, the heart is moved to
tenderness. When mind, word and spirit (heart) press close to God, the first by attention, the
second by invocation, the third by tenderness of feeling, then the whole of the inner man serves
God, as the Lord ordains: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, (Lk 10:27).
305. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: That soul is pure which, freed from passions, is
ceaselessly made glad by Divine Love.
306. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: That soul is perfect whose desiring power is wholly
directed towards God.
307. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: That mind is pure which, freed from ignorance, is
illumined by Divine Light.
308. R3 p235 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Since every thought enters the heart through
imagining something sensory (and moreover the sensory hinders the mental); so the light of the
Deity begins to illumine the mind when it is freed of everything and totally empty of form
(without representation of shape or form.) For this illumination is manifested in a mind already
pure, on condition that it is free of all thoughts.
309. R5 p90 St Gregory Palamas: One recognizes this light when the soul ceases to give way to
the evil pleasures and passions, when it acquires inner peace and the stilling of thoughts, spiritual
repose and joy, contempt of human glory, humility allied with a hidden rejoicing, hatred of the
world, love of heavenly things, or rather the love of the sole God in Heaven.
310. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: That mind is perfect which, having received through
faith the knowledge of Him Who is above all knowledge, and having surveyed all His creatures,
has received from God an all-embracing knowledge (in its general features) of His providence,
and His judgment manifested in them naturally as much as a man can understand.
311. R3 p398 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: As Adam was fashioned by Gods hand out of clay
and then God breathed into him a living soul; so the mind, recreated by virtues, through frequent
invocation of the Lord with pure thought and warm feeling, undergoes a Divine change, gaining
new life and creation by knowledge and love of God.
312. According to St Gregory Palamas, R43 p111, the Light is the beauty of the age to come,
the substance of future good, the most perfect vision of God, the heavenly food.
313. eg, R3 p 201 St John Chrysostom: Zealous prayer is the light of the mind and soul, a
constant, inextinguishable light.
314. eg, R51 p161-163 St John of Damascus, On The Trinity: Light is the Father, Light the Son,
Light the Holy Ghost The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.
315. Here are three well known examples from our hymnography: Come, receive the light from
the unwaning Light, and glorify Christ, Who has risen from the dead. I see Thy Bridal
Chamber adorned, o my Savior, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter therein; O
Giver of Light, make radiant the vesture of my soul and save me. And Gladsome Light of the
Fathers glory, Holy, Heavenly and Immortal; and Holy blessed Jesus Christ! As we come to the
setting of the sun and see the evening light, we praise you with loud voices, O Son of God, and
Giver of Life; for this the universe glorifies you.
316. It has been the long time Orthodox practice that all icons depict Christ and the saints with
luminous halos around their heads.
317. R13 p49 St Isaac the Syrian: He who desires to see the Lord within himself endeavors to
purify his heart by the unceasing remembrance of God. The spiritual land of a man pure in soul
is within him. The sun which shines in it is the light of the Holy Trinity. The air which its
inhabitant breathes is the All-holy Spirit. The life, joy and gladness of that country is Christ, the
Light of the Light the Father. That is the Jerusalem or kingdom of God hidden within us,
according to the word of the Lord. Try to enter the cell within you, and you will see the heavenly
cell. They are one and the same. By one entry, you enter both. The ladder to the heavenly
kingdom is within you. It is built mysteriously in your soul. Immerse yourself within yourself
beyond the reach of sin, and you will find there steps by which you can mount to heaven.
318. In speaking about the vision of light that accompanies progress in prayer, St Gregory
Palamas wrote (R8 p107): In His incomparable love for men, the Son of God did not merely
unite His divine Hypostasis to our nature, clothing Himself with a living body and an intelligent
soul, to appear on earth and live with men but, O incomparable and magnificent miracle! He
unites Himself also to human hypostases, joining Himself to each of the faithful by communion
in His holy body. For He becomes one body with us (cf Eph 3:6) making us a temple of the
whole Godhead for in the very body of Christ In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily (Col 2:9). How then would He not illuminate those who share worthily in the divine
radiance of His body within us, shining upon their soul as He once shone on the bodies of the
apostles on Tabor? For as this Body, the Source of the light and grace, was at that time not yet
united to our body, it shone exteriorly on those who came near it worthily, transmitting light to
the soul through the eyes of sense. But today, since it is united to us and dwells within us, it
illuminates the soul interiorly.
319. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Truly blessed is he who cleaves with his thought to
the Prayer of Jesus, constantly calling to Him in his heart, just as air cleaves to our bodies or the
flame to the candle. The sun, passing over the earth, produces daylight; the holy and worshipful
Name of Lord Jesus, constantly shining in the mind, produces a measureless number of sun-like
thoughts.
320. R19 p253 St Symeon the New Theologian: Light is the Father, light is the Son and light is
the Holy Spirit the three are one light, one and not divided. (cf footnote #314 the Fathers
often copied and quoted each other.)
321. R3 p388 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: When thought frequently invokes the Name of the
Lord, and the mind gives intense heed to this invocation of the Divine Name, then the light of
recognizing God, as His God, envelops mans whole soul like a radiant cloud.
322. R5 p66 St Gregory Palamas: As St Maximus the Confessor says, he who is in God has left
behind him all that is after God: All the realities, names and values which are after God will be
outside those who come to be in God by grace. But in attaining this condition, the divine Paul
could not participate absolutely in the Divine essence, for the essence of God goes beyond even
non-being by reason of transcendence, since it is also more than God.
323. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: This is why the great Paul, after his extraordinary rapture,
declared himself ignorant of what it was But what was he himself? He was that to which
he was united Such then was his union with the light. Even the angels could not attain to this
state, at least not without transcending themselves by unifying grace.
324. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: There is a difference between illumination and a durable
vision of light, and the vision of things in the light, whereby even things far off are accessible to
the eye, and the future is shown as already existing.
325. R22 p13, St Gregory Palamas: This light at present shines in part, as a pledge, for those
who, through impassibility, have passed beyond all that is condemned, and through pure and
immaterial prayer have passed beyond all that is pure. But on the Last Day, it will deify in a
manifest fashion the sons of the Resurrection, who will rejoice in eternity and in glory in
communion with Him Who has endowed our nature with a glory and splendor that is divine.
326. R16 p364: Using nuptial imagery, St Symeon the New Theologian describes his union
with personified dispassion: Impassibility, whose face is always radiant, is and has always been
joined to me It brought to me the ineffable pleasure of union, an immense desire for nuptial
union with God. Having known the union, I likewise became impassible, inflamed with pleasure
and burning with desire for it. I shared in the light. Yes, I became light.
327. R5 p67 St Gregory Palamas: For it is in the glory of the Father that Christ will come again,
and it is in the glory of their Father, Christ, the the just will shine like the sun; they will be
light, and will see the light, a sight delightful and all holy, belonging only to the purified heart.
328. R3 p235 St Basil the Great: As the Lord dwells not in temples built by human hands,
neither does He dwell in any imaginings or mental structures (fantasies) which present
themselves (to the attention) and surround the corrupt soul like a wall, so that it is powerless to
look at the truth direct but continues to cling on to mirrors and fortune-telling.
329. R3 p235 St Maximus the Confessor, in his commentaries on the great Dionysius:
Imagination is one thing, thinking or thought is another. They are produced by different forces
and differ in the qualities of their movements. For thought is the action or the production of
mind, and imagination is the fruit of passion, the imprint of an image representing something that
is or seems to be sensory. Therefore, no imagination can be admitted in relation to God, for He
exceeds all mind.
330. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius, quoting Evagrius of Pontus: Where God is recognized
as abiding, there He is known; this is why a pure mind is called the throne of God. The thought
of God is not to be found in the thoughts which imprint images in the mind, but in the thoughts
which make no imprints. Therefore, a man who prays, must strive in every possible way to
repulse thoughts which imprint images in the mind.
331. R9 p206: There is yet another form of prayer, which is called standing in the presence of
God, when the man who prays is wholly concentrated in his heart and inwardly contemplates
God as being present to him and within him, with corresponding feelings either of fear of God
and the feeling of wonder and awe before His greatness, or of faith and hope, or of love and
submission to His will, or of contrition and readiness for any sacrifice. Such a state comes when
a man becomes deeply immersed in prayer by word, mind and heart. If a man prays in the right
way and for a long time, these states come to him more and more often, and finally this state can
become permanent; then it is called walking before God and is constant prayer. This was the
state of David, who says of himself: I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved (Ps 16:8)
332. R19 p248: When a man is united with God, he experiences the light of His grace, for the
Holy Spirit resides in and wholly transforms him, bestowing new senses upon him.
333. R5 p91 St Gregory Palamas: The prize of virtue, it is said, is to become God, to be
illumined by the purest of lights, by becoming a son of that day which no darkness can dim. For
it is another Sun which produces this day, a Sun which shines forth the true light. And once it has
illumined us, it no longer hides itself in the West, but envelops all things with its powerful light.
It grants an eternal and endless light to those worthy, and transforms those who participate in this
light into other suns. Then indeed, the just will shine like the sun. What sun? Surely that same
one which appears even now to those worthy as it did then.
334. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: When, empowered by Jesus Christ, we begin to press
forward in firmly established sobriety; then, first, there appears in our mind a lamp, as it were,
which the hand of our mind holds aloft to guide our mental steps; thereafter comes a full moon,
circling in the sky of the heart, and, at last, like the sun, comes Jesus, radiant with truth like the
sun, that is, both revealing Himself and illumining contemplation with His all-brilliant rays.
335. R3 p200 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: As the soul leaves, the body becomes dead and
stinking; so the soul not urging itself to prayer is dead, damned and fetid.
336. R3 p 201 St Isaac the Syrian: You cannot approach God without constant prayer.
337. R19 p250 St Symeon the New Theologian: There is no other way for anyone to know God,
except through contemplation of the light sent forth by Him.
338. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: As it is impossible for the sun to shine without light,
so it is impossible for the heart to be cleansed of the filth of wicked thoughts without prayer in
the name of Jesus. If this is true, as I have seen (by experience), let us utter this Name as often as
we breathe. For it is light, and those others (wicked thoughts) are darkness. And He (the Jesus we
invoke) is God and Almighty Lord, whereas the others are servants of the demons.
339. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Just as it is impossible for us, as men, to chase birds
in the air or to fly as they do, since it is contrary to our nature; so it is impossible for us to be free
of the incorporeal thoughts of the demons, and freely and attentively to direct our mental eye to
God, without sober and constant prayer. If you have not got this, you are on earth and are
chasing tings of the earth.
340. R25 p206 Lossky: Union with God cannot take place outside of prayer, for prayer is a
personal relationship with God. Now, this union must be fulfilled in human persons; it must be
personal, conscious and voluntary. The power of prayer fulfills the sacrament of our union
with God says St Gregory Palamas, because it is a bond connecting rational creatures with
their Creator. It is more perfect than the practice of virtues, for it is the leader of the choir of
virtues, says St Gregory of Nyssa.
341. R25 p209 Lossky:The mystical experience which is inseparable from the way towards
union can only be gained in prayer and by prayer.
342. R19 p236 St Macarius of Egypt: The blessed Paul urges them to make haste to acquire
through insistent prayer that from which it is no longer possible to fall away, that is perfect and
unchanging love of the Spirit. The man who compels himself every day to persevere in prayer is
enflamed with divine affection and fiery longing by spiritual love towards God, and receives the
grace of the sanctifying perfection of the Spirit.
343. R19 p236 St Symeon the New Theologian: There was this alone that held me back my
ingrained propensities and evil habits of sensuality. By the persistent practice of prayer,
meditation of Gods oracles and the acquiring of good habits, this fades away.
344. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: Thus ceaseless prayer keeps our mental air free from
the dark clouds and winds of the spirits of evil. And when the air of the heart is pure, there is
nothing to prevent the Divine Light of Jesus shining in it, as long as we are not puffed up by
pride, vanity, conceit and a boastful showing off, and we do not strive towards the unattainable
and are not therefore deprived of Christs help. For Christ, being the image of humility, hates all
those things.
345. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: This union of the mind with God is what the Fathers speak of
when they say: The end of prayer is to be snatched away to God. This is what the great
Dionysius says that through prayer, we are united with God But it is not yet union, unless the
Paraclete illumines from on high the man who attains in prayer the stage which is superior to the
highest natural possibilities, and who is awaiting the promise of the Father; and by His revelation
ravishes him to the contemplation of the light
346. R13 p53 St Seraphim of Sarov: Those who have truly resolved to serve God must practice
the remembrance of God and unceasing prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying with the mind:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. By this practice, while guarding
oneself from distraction and while maintaining peace of conscience, one can draw near to God
and be united with Him. Other than by unceasing prayer, according to the words of St Isaac the
Syrian, it is impossible to draw near to God.
347. R19 p248 St Symeon the New Theologian (speaking of the vision of the young George):
He was wholly in the presence of immaterial light (?????????) and seemed to himself to have
turned into light When the visible sun sets, this sweet light of the spiritual star takes its place,
as a pledge and confirmation in advance of the unceasing light that will follow on it.
348. St Gregory Palamas, quoted in R23, p102: And that he sees supranaturally light that
surpasses light he is well aware; but with what he sees this light he does not then know, not can
he scrutinize its nature, because the Spirit through which he sees is unsearchable.
349. St Gregory Palamas, quoted in R23 p103: When the intellect is rooted in its own energy,
which constitutes its self-conversion and self-observation, it thereby transcends itself and
communes with God.
350. R3 p47 St Gregory of Sinai: It is said that in the life to come the angels and saints shall
never cease to progress in increasing their gifts, striving for greater and even greater blessings.
No slackening or change of virtue to sin is admitted in that life.
351. R3 p235 St Callistus: Movements produced in the soul by the Divine Spirit, as a result of
efforts, make the heart quiet and urge it to call out constantly: Abba, Father! This is not
accompanied by any imaginings but is devoid of all images. But we ourselves become then
transformed by the dawning of the Divine Light, which endows us with an image in keeping with
the burning of the Divine Spirit. More than that, it changes and alters us by Divine Power. How
He alone knows.
352. R19 p 262 St Symeon the New Theologian believed that seeing the Divine Light in this life
is a requirement to being able to see it in the next: Indeed, since they did not seek with every
effort to see the light of His glory while they were still in this world through purification and did
not introduce Him entirely into themselves, with good reason He will be unapproachable for
them also in the future. His reasoning: Because if there is purification here, there will also be
vision here; but if you say that vision will be after death, you will place purification also after
death and so you will never see God, for after the departure there is no action for you through
which you can find purification. And he adds the rider: Indeed, if He says that the Spirit is
given to those who believe in Him, certainly those who have not the Spirit are not believers in
their hearts. What this really means is that when we progress sufficiently in our spiritual quest
in this life and have been deemed worthy of significant spiritual experiences here, then we can be
certain of the same in the next life. As far as the alternative is concerned, although he expresses a
strong opinion (above) he is also cognizant of the fact that God has a specific plan for the
salvation of each one of us and that He is the ultimate judge of what happens to us in the next
life. At the same time, we should all be trying to get as purified as we can, as soon as possible.
353. R19 p 263 St Symeon also taught that if we strive with all our heart to reach God, the
rewards for our efforts will certainly be there for us: Blessed are those who seek with all their
soul to come to the light (Jn 3:21) by disregarding everything else, for even if they do not
succeed in entering into the light while they are still in the body, nevertheless they will pass
away, perhaps in good hope and, albeit in a low degree, they will receive it all the same.
Therefore, our vision of light may not happen here, but after death, according to the will of God.
If we are ready, he said, grace will be given to us, either here or in the age to come. We need to
focus on working to purify ourselves to obtain grace, and not on the vision of the Divine Light;
the result can happen here or in the hereafter. This, of course, is in agreement with the
similar statement by St Macarius of Egypt, discussed above.
354. R19 p 268 St Symeon also wrote a significant amount about the faithful being able to unite
God as a reward for their continuous effort: In proportion to their fervor and to their prompt and
joyous work, sooner or later, more or less, they will receive the reward of the vision of God
(???????) and will become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4); they will be gods by
adoption and sons of God. As St Gregory Palamas clarified about three hundred years later,
what is meant here is that we will partake in Gods energies and not in His essence.
355. As quoted in R19 p263, St Macarius of Egypt believed that the experience of divine grace is
not the absolute criterion for our salvation. To the question: What will happen if I happen to
pass away after a life of thirty or forty years without having received the divine power? He
responds: I answer you on this that God does not judge you as blasphemous, for you have
displayed greater zeal. God can tell you, I do not judge you as blasphemous because you have
come out behind me and you have lamented and sought night and day; and whereas before you
felt secure in appearances and you were puffed up with conceit because of them, now you have
made a greater effort in looking for the truth according to the Scriptures in order to receive
divine power in yourself. This, of course, does not mean that one can experience theosis in this
life (our main topic here) without experiencing the effects of grace, but expresses the belief that
St Macarius had that many of those who do not reach theosis in this life will also be saved by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
356. R19 p263 According to Sts Macarius and Symeon, any tangible evidence of the reception
of the divine power is not as significant as the zeal and effort in looking for the truth. They
both taught that the vision of light is primarily a gift of God, offered to those who have
succeeded in purifying themselves and have been deemed worthy of enlightenment. Our efforts
to unite with God need to culminate in love for Him, leading us to a union, in light, with our
Creator.
357. R19 p258 Similarly, for both Sts Symeon and Macarius, those who have purified their
minds can perceive the Divine Light in a new kind of spiritual experience. This is further
supported by St Maximus the Confessor in his writings about the opening up of the heart to
constant prayer: At the very onset of prayer the intellect is so ravished by the divine and infinite
light that it is aware neither of itself nor of any other created thing, but only of Him Who,
through love, has activated such radiance in it.
358. R13 p53 St Seraphim of Sarov: Only those who have interior prayer and watch over their
souls receive the gifts of grace.
359. eg, Eph 5:11; Cor 11:1
360. eg, Gal 3:27
361. cf Jn 14:21; 15:16
362. cf Rom 6:4; Col 2:12; 3:3
363. cf Eph 6:18; Gal 4:6
364. R14 p264 St John Climacus: He who has achieved stillness has arrived at the very center
of the mysteries.
365. As in Ps 46:10 Be still and know that I am God
366. R3 p88 St Maximus the Confessor: Nothing is more terrible than the thought of death, and
nothing more glorious than remembrance of God.
367. R13 p66 St Nil Sorsky: The Prayer of the Heart waters the soul like gardens. This
activity, which consists in the watching of the mind in the heart, outside all thoughts, is
extremely difficult for those who have not been trained to it. (It is difficult not only for
beginners, but even for those who have labored long but who have not yet received or retained
within the heart the sweetness of prayer from the action of grace. It is well known from
experience that for the weak this work seems very wearisome and hard.) But when one obtains
grace, them he prays without difficulty and with love, being comforted by grace. When the
effect of prayer comes, then it draws the mind to itself, fills it with joy and delivers it from
distraction.
368. R13 p60 St Maximus Kapsokalyvitis, as recorded by St Gregory of Sinai: From my youth I
had great faith in my Lady, the Mother of God, and besought her with tears to grant me the grace
of mental prayer. Once I came to her temple as usual and fervently prayed to her for this. I went
up to her icon and reverently kissed her image. Suddenly I felt as if there fell into my breast and
heart a warmth which did not burn, but bedewed and delighted me, and stirred my soul into
compunction. From that moment my heart began to say the prayer within itself, and my
mind began to delight in the remembrance of my Jesus and the Mother of God and to have
Him, the Lord Jesus, constantly within itself. Since then the prayer has never ceased in my
heart.
369. R3 p223 St John Chrysostom: The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the
depths of the heart, will subdue the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, and will
save our soul and bring it to life. Thus, abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. But this
work is not done in one or two days; it needs many years and a long time. For great and
prolonged labor is needed to cast out the foe so that Christ dwells in us.
Published: October 27, 2010