A Homily on Meditation, or the Remembrance of God (Part 2)

The words of instruction must first be pronounced by the tongue, in a very quiet voice, slowly, with all possible attentiveness, enclosing, according to the advice given above by Saint John of the Ladder, the mind in the words of instruction. Little by little oral prayer will pass over into mental prayer, and then into heart prayer. But this transition requires many years. One should not seek it prematurely; let it accomplish itself, or rather, may God grant it in the time known to Him, according to the spiritual age and circumstances of the ascetic. The humble ascetic is content with being deemed worthy to remember God. And even this he considers a great beneficence of the Creator to the poor and weak creature—man. He acknowledges himself unworthy of grace, does not seek to discover in himself the workings of it, knowing from the teachings of the holy Fathers that such seeking has its beginning in vainglory, from which come spiritual delusion and fall, that such seeking itself is already deception, for despite all diligent seeking the bestowal of grace depends solely on God.[1] He yearns to discover in himself his sinfulness, and to acquire the capacity for weeping over it. He commits himself to the will of the all-good and most merciful God, who knows to whom it is profitable to grant grace, and for whom it is profitable to withhold its coming. Many, having received grace, fell into negligence, high-mindedness and self-confidence; the grace given them served, because of their folly, only to greater condemnation for them. Blessed is the disposition of heart in a monk by which he, practicing any struggle whatever, practices it with complete disinterestedness, hungers and thirsts solely to fulfill God’s will, and commits himself with all faith and simplicity, rejecting his own reasons, power, and will, to the governance of the merciful Lord our God, who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.