Exercises That Contribute to the Formation of the Soul’s Powers According to the Spirit of the Christian Life

There are three powers: mind, will, and feeling. Corresponding to them, the exercises are also distributed. They are directly aimed at the formation of the powers, but in such a way that the spirit is not quenched thereby but, on the contrary, kindles more and more. The latter serves as the measure and temperance of the former, which is subject to it even to silent obedience or perfect cessation.

a) Exercises forming the mind, with kindling of spiritual life

Christian formation of the mind is the imprinting in it of all truths of faith so deeply that they constitute its essence, or so that it consists of them alone, so that when it comes to reason about something, it might reason or verify everything known by them and in general could not make even the slightest movement without them. In the Apostle this is called holding “the pattern of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13).

The exercises or practices belonging to this are: reading and hearing of the word of God, the writings of the fathers, lives of the holy fathers, mutual conversation, and questioning of those more experienced.

Good—to read or listen; better—mutual conversation; still better—the word of the more experienced.

More fruitful—the word of God, and after it—the writings of the fathers and the lives of the saints. However, it must be known that the lives are better for beginners, the writings of the fathers for those in the middle, and the word of God for those who are perfect.

All of these—both sources of truths and ways to draw them—obviously contribute both to the imprinting of them in the mind and, at the same time, to the upholding of the spirit of zeal. Often a single passage kindles the spirit for more than one day; there are lives about which mere remembrance revives the heat of zeal; there are passages in the holy fathers that are all-stirring. Therefore there is a good practice: to copy out such passages and keep them for times of need to stir up the spirit.

Often neither inner nor outer practice helps—the spirit remains in slumber. Hurry to read something. This does not help—run to someone for conversation. The latter with faith rarely remains without fruit.

There are two kinds of reading: one—consecutive, almost mechanical, and another—selective, according to the demands of spiritual needs, by advice. But even the first is not useless. It is, however, more fitting for those already established, who as it were only repeat, not study.

It is absolutely necessary for everyone to have someone to talk with about spiritual matters who already knows everything about you and to whom you can boldly open everything that comes to heart. Better if there is one, at most—two. But idle conversations for simple passing of time must be completely avoided. Here are the rules of reading: before reading one must empty the soul of everything; stir up the need to know what is being read; turn prayerfully to God; follow the reading with attention and put everything in the opened heart; what has not reached the heart, stay with it until it does; it is evident that one must read very slowly; stop reading when the soul no longer wishes to be nourished by reading—it is full, that is. However, if some passage strikes the soul, stay with it and do not read further.

The best time for reading the word of God is morning, lives—after midday, the holy fathers—shortly before sleep. Thus one can touch on all somewhat each day.

In such occupations, one must constantly keep in mind the chief aim—the imprinting of truths and the stirring up of the spirit. If reading or conversation does not produce this, then they are idle scratching of taste and ear, empty curiosity-seeking. If this is accomplished with understanding, then truths are both imprinted and stirred up, and one helps the other; but if one deviates from the right manner, then neither happens: truths are packed into the head like sand, and the spirit becomes cold and hard, puffs up and becomes proud.

Imprinting of truths is not the same as investigating them. Here only this is required: clarify the truth and hold it in the mind until it blends with it, without arguments or restrictions, one face of the truth.

Therefore, the easiest way to this can rightly be considered the following: all truths are in the catechism. Each morning take a truth from it and clarify it, carry it in your mind and be nourished by it, as much as the soul wishes to be nourished, for a day, two, or more; do the same with another and thus to the end. An easy method and universally practiced. If unable to read, ask about one truth and go with it.

It is clear that the law for all is: imprint truths so that they stir up. But the ways of fulfilling it are various, and one for all cannot be indicated.

Consequently, reading, listening, and conversation that do not imprint truths and do not stir up the spirit should be considered wrong, having deviated from the truth. This is the disease of much reading out of mere curiosity, when the mind alone follows what is being read, not bringing it to the heart, not delighting its taste.

This is the science of fantasizing, which does not build up, does not teach, but destroys, always leading to pride. The whole matter, as was said, must be confined to the following: clarify the truth and hold it in the mind until the heart tastes it. In the holy fathers it is said simply: remember, hold in the mind, keep before your eyes.

b) Exercises for forming the will and turning to stirring up the spirit

To form the will means to imprint in it good dispositions, or virtues: humility, meekness, patience, abstinence, yieldingness, helpfulness, and others—so that, having grown together with it or merged with it, they constitute its nature as it were, and so that when the will undertakes something, it undertakes it by the impulse of these and in their spirit, so that they become rulers and reign over our deeds.

Such a disposition of the will is secure and lasting; but since it is opposed to sinful disposition, its acquisition constitutes toil and sweat. Therefore, the practices belonging here are especially directed against the chief weakness of the will, that is, self-will, disobedience, impatience under the yoke.

This ailment is cured by submission to the will of God, with rejection of one’s own and all others. The will of God is revealed in various forms of obedience that lie upon each person. The first and chief requirement of it is observance of the laws or commandments in one’s own, individual, position or calling; then observance of the church order, the requirements of civil and family order, the requirements of circumstances, which come from the will of providence, the requirements of the spirit that is zealous for this, all with discernment and counsel.

All this—the fields for righteous deeds that are open to everyone, and moreover all of them. Therefore, know only how to manage them, and you will not feel a scarcity of means for forming the will.

For this, clarify for yourself the whole sum of righteous deeds possible for you, in your place, calling, circumstances, together with consideration also of when, how, in what measure, and what can and must be fulfilled.

Having clarified all, determine a general outline of deeds and their order, so that everything done is not random, while remembering at the same time that this order is appropriate only in general; in particular it can be changed by the demands of the course of affairs. Do everything with discernment.

Therefore it is better to reckon each day the possible cases and possible deeds.

Those accustomed to righteous practice never determine anything ahead of time, but always do what God sends, because all comes from God; by circumstances He reveals to us His decrees.

All this, however, is only deeds. Walking in them makes one upright only. To ascend through them to virtues, one must maintain steadfastly the spirit of true good work—namely, doing everything with humility and fear of God according to God’s will and to God’s glory. Whoever acts out of self-confidence, with boldness bordering on audacity, in self-pleasing or man-pleasing, forms within themselves an evil spirit of self-righteousness, arrogance, and Pharisaism, even if their deeds are right.

Maintaining the right spirit, one must also remember the laws, especially the law of gradualism and continuity—that is, always begin with the lesser and ascend to the greater, and having begun to act, do not stop. By this one can avoid:

confusion that you are imperfect, for it does not come at once; time will come yet; thoughts that you have already accomplished everything, for the degrees have no end; arrogant ambition for deeds beyond your strength.

The final goal is naturalness of good works, when the law no longer lies as a burden.

More successful than all in achieving this is one who has the grace to live together with a virtuous and active person, and even more successful if under their instruction. There will be no need to do again or redo what is left undone through inexperience and lack of practice. Do not read, do not reflect, as they say, but find a devout one, and at once you will learn the fear of God. The same can be applied to every other virtue. Yet it is good, judging by yourself, your character and situation, to choose especially one good work and hold to it firmly—it will be foundational, like canvas—and by it transition to others. This is salutary when strength fails—it powerfully reminds and quickly awakens. Most reliable of all is the giving of alms, which leads to the King.

However, this concerns only deeds, not dispositions, which must have their own internal order, rooted in the spirit, in some way independent of consciousness and freedom, as the Lord grants. The beginning recognized by all saints is the fear of God, and the end is love; in between all virtues are built one from another, though not the same in all, but necessarily on humble and contrite repentance and sorrow for sins. This is the vital essence of virtues. The portrayal of each virtue, its properties, practice, degrees of perfection, deviations—this is the subject of special books and patristic teachings. Learn all this through reading.

Such good works directly form the will and imprint virtues in it, but at the same time they keep the spirit in constant tension. As warmth is aroused by friction, so by good deeds fervor is kindled. Without them even a good spirit grows cold and dissipates. This ordinarily happens to those who do not act, or people who limit themselves to avoiding evil and wrongdoing. No, one must assign and choose good deeds. Yet there are also overly busy doers who quickly exhaust themselves and scatter their spirit. Everything needs measure.

c) Formation of the Heart

To form the heart means to cultivate in it a taste for holy things, divine things, spiritual things, so that, occupying itself with them, it feels itself as though in its own element, finds in that sweetness and blessedness, and remains indifferent to everything else, having no taste for it and even more—having an aversion to it. All spiritual activity of the human person converges toward the heart: truths are imprinted in it, good dispositions are implanted in it, but its own proper work is chiefly this taste we have shown. When the mind perceives all the structure of the spiritual world and its various objects, or in the will different good initiatives ripen, the heart must feel sweetness in all this and emit warmth. This spiritual sweetness is the first sign of revival of the soul dead from sin. Therefore its formation is a very important moment even in the beginnings.

Activity directed toward it is all our sacred service in all its forms—both general and particular, both domestic and ecclesiastical, and chiefly the spirit of prayer moving within it.

Divine service, that is all the daily offices with all the adornment of the temple—icons, candles, incense, singing, reading, action, as well as services for various needs, then domestic service, also with things sanctified by the Church—icons, oil, candles, holy water, the cross, incense—all this assemblage of sacred things, acting on all the senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste—are wakeners of the senses in a dead soul, powerful and the only true ones. The soul has died from the spirit of the world, which surrounds it through the sin dwelling in it. All the structure of our church service, both in its structure and significance, and in the power of faith, and especially the hidden grace within it—has an irresistible power to blow away the spirit of the world and, freeing the soul from its oppressive influence, gives the possibility to breathe as though freely and taste the sweetness of this spiritual freedom. One who enters the temple enters a completely different world, is permeated by it, and changes accordingly. The same happens to those who surround themselves with sacred things. The frequency of spiritual impression penetrates more quickly within and sooner completes the transformation of the heart. Therefore:

1) One should establish the most frequent possible presence in temples at church services, ordinarily at matins, liturgy, and vespers. Strive for this and at the first possibility be there every day, or at least once, and if possible, even without ceasing. Our temple is paradise on earth or heaven. Hasten to the temple in faith that it is the place of God’s dwelling, where He Himself promised to hear more readily; while staying in the temple, be as before God in fear and reverence, which express through patient standing, bows, attention to the service generally, without scattering of thoughts, weakness, or carelessness.

2) One should not forget other sacred services, private ones, whether celebrated in the temple or at home, as well as one’s own domestic prayer with all the church adornment. One must remember that this is only a kind of supplement to church service, not a replacement for it. The Apostle, commanding not to deprive oneself of gatherings, made known that all the power of service belongs to common service (Heb. 10:25).

3) One should observe all church celebrations, rites, and customs—in general all the established order—and surround oneself with it in all your departures, so that you remain constantly as though in a certain special atmosphere. This is easy to do. Such is the arrangement of our Church. Accept it only with faith.

But chiefly what gives power to church service is the spirit of prayer. Prayer is both an all-encompassing obligation and an all-powerful means. By it truths of faith are imprinted in the mind, and good morals in the will, but especially the heart is enlivened in its feelings. Only then do the first two proceed swiftly when this one is present. Therefore the formation of prayer must be begun before all else and continued constantly, tirelessly, until the Lord grants prayer to the one who prays.

The beginnings of prayer are laid in the very turning itself, for prayer is the aspiration of mind and heart to God, which is what happens in turning. But by heedlessness or inexperience one can extinguish this spark within oneself. Then at once one must begin a certain kind of practice, with the goal of kindling the spirit of prayer. Apart from performing the services and participating in them, which we have mentioned, more directly related to this is one’s personal praying, however and wherever it is accomplished. Here the rule is one: grow accustomed to prayer. For this:

Choose a rule of prayer—evening, morning, and daytime.

The rule should be small at first, so as not to turn away the spirit unaccustomed to this practice and effort.

But it must always be performed with fear, diligence, and full attention.

This requires: standing, bows, kneeling, making the sign of the cross, reading, sometimes singing.

The more frequently you rise to such prayer, the better. Some do this at every hour—little, but more often.

Which prayers to read is set out in prayer books. But it is good to grow accustomed to one particular one, so that when you begin it, your spirit immediately catches fire.

The rule of prayer is simple: standing to pray, speak it with fear and trembling as into God’s ear, accompanying it with the cross, bows, and prostrations, according to the movement of your spirit.

The rule accepted must always be fulfilled without fail; but this does not prevent adding more as your heart’s need requires.

Reading and singing aloud, or in a whisper, or silently—all are the same, for the Lord is near. But sometimes it is better to accomplish the whole prayer in one way, sometimes in another.

One must firmly hold in mind the goal of prayer. That prayer is good which ends with a falling before God with the feeling: “By the judgments You know, save me.”

There are degrees of prayer. The first degree is bodily prayer, more in reading, standing, bows. Attention wanders, the heart does not feel, there is no desire: here there is patience, labor, sweat. Nevertheless, set boundaries and perform the prayer. This is active prayer. The second degree is attentive prayer: the mind grows accustomed to gathering in the hour of prayer and to speak all of it consciously, without scattering. Attention is woven together with the written word and speaks it as one’s own. The third degree is prayer of feeling: from attentiveness the heart is warmed, and what was there in thought becomes feeling here. There the word is crushing, and here is compunction; there is petition, and here is the feeling of need and necessity. Whoever has passed into feeling prays without words, for God is God of the heart. This, then, is the goal of prayer’s education—standing to pray, to pass from feeling to feeling. In this reading may cease, as may thinking, and let there be only remaining in feeling with certain signs of prayer. Such prayer at first comes gradually. In church or at home prayer’s feeling comes upon one… And behold the common counsel of the saints—do not pass by this without attention: that is, when feeling is present, cease every other activity and stand in it. The holy Ladder-maker says: “An angel prays with you.” By attention to these manifestations of prayer is the education of prayer ripened, and by heedlessness it is destroyed: in education indeed lies the work.

No matter how much someone considers themselves perfected in prayer, the rules of prayer should never be abandoned, but should be practiced as indicated, and always begin with active prayer. With it should be attentive prayer, and then heartfelt prayer will come. Without this these latter are scattered, and a person will think they are praying when in fact they are not.

When prayer’s feeling ascends to continuity, then spiritual prayer begins, which is the gift of God’s Spirit praying for us—the last degree of prayer that can be grasped. But they say there is also a prayer beyond understanding, or transcending the limits of consciousness (so in holy Isaac the Syrian).

The easiest means of ascending to continuity in prayer is growing accustomed to the Jesus Prayer and rooting it in yourself. The most experienced men in spiritual life, enlightened by God, found this one simple and at the same time all-powerful means for establishing the spirit in all spiritual practices, as well as in the whole life of spiritual asceticism, and in their teachings left detailed rules about it.

Laboring and striving ascetically, we seek the purification of the heart and the restoration of the spirit. There are two paths to this: the active, that is, walking in those ascetic labors indicated before, and the contemplative—turning the mind to God. There the soul is purified and receives God; here God, beheld, burns up all impurity and comes to dwell in the purified soul. Concluding the latter in a single Jesus Prayer, Gregory of Sinai says: “We acquire God either through deeds and labor, or through the skillful invocation of the name of Jesus,” and then adds that the first path is longer than the latter—the latter is swifter and more effective. Consequent to this, some placed the Jesus Prayer first among labors. It enlightens, strengthens, enlivens, overcomes all enemies, visible and invisible, and leads to God. Such a mighty and all-powerful prayer! The name of the Lord Jesus is a treasure of goods, powers, and life in the spirit.

It follows from this of itself that everyone who has repented, or begun to seek the Lord, can and should be given complete instruction in the practice of the Jesus Prayer from the very first, and with it already be introduced to all the others, for by this path one can more quickly be strengthened, more quickly see spiritually, and enter into internal peace. Not knowing this, some, or most, stop at bodily and mental practices and almost wastefully spend their efforts and time.

This practice is called the “art.” And it is very simple. Standing in consciousness and attention in the heart, pronounce unceasingly: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” without any image or form, in faith that the Lord sees you and gives you attention.

To become established in this, one should set aside a definite time in the morning or evening, a quarter hour, half an hour or more, according to what one is able, for doing nothing but this prayer. This is after morning and evening prayer, standing or sitting. By this the beginnings of becoming accustomed will be laid.

Then during the day, moment by moment, strive to practice it, whatever you are doing.

More and more the habit will be acquired, and it will be performed as though of itself, in every deed and occupation of the person. The more decisively one takes hold, the more quickly one succeeds.

One must absolutely keep consciousness at the heart and during the practice narrow the small breath, as a sign of the intensity with which it is performed.

But the highest condition is faith that God is near and hears us. Speak the prayer into the ear of God’s hearing.

This becoming accustomed brings warmth into the spirit, then enlightenment, and then rapture. But all this is achieved sometimes over years.

At first this prayer is for a long time only active, like any practice, then it passes into attentiveness, and finally becomes rooted in the heart.

There are deviations from the right path of this prayer. Therefore one must learn it from one who knows it. The errors mostly come from where the attention is—in the head or in the chest.

Who is in the heart is safe. Even safer is who sorrowfully falls before God at every moment with prayer for deliverance from spiritual delusions.

The holy fathers have set out this teaching in detail. Therefore whoever takes up this work must read them, setting aside all else. The best teachings: in Hesychius, in the introductions of elder Basil, in the life of Paisius; in Gregory of Sinai, Philotheos of Sinai, Theoliptos, Simeon the New Theologian, in Nilus of Sorsk, in the hieromonk Dorotheus (Russian).

Whoever becomes accustomed to this, practicing all that was shown before, is a man—a doer of the Christian life. Swiftly he will see himself in purification and Christian perfection and will attain the longed-for peace in communion with God.

Behold these practices for the powers of the soul, with their adaptation also to the movements of the spirit. Here we see how each of them is adapted to the life of the spirit, or spiritual feelings. But they also lead to the strengthening of the initial conditions of inner dwelling, namely: practices of the mind lead to the gathering of attention, practices of the will to vigilance, and practices of the heart to sobriety. Prayer or praying covers all of them and unites all; even in its exercise it is nothing other than the internal activity explained before.

All these practices are appointed for the formation of the powers of the soul, according to the spirit of the new life. This is the same as spiritualizing the soul, or raising it into the spirit and blending it with it. In the fall they were joined to the opposite. In turning, the spirit was restored, but the soul remained with a stubborn neck of disobedience and unwillingness toward the spirit and things spiritual. These practices, permeated with spiritual elements, make the soul akin to the spirit and blend it with it. From this it is evident how essentially necessary they are and how badly those do who exempt themselves from them. They themselves are the cause that their labor goes without fruit—they toil but see no fruit, then soon grow cold, and all is ended.

But here one must remember that all their fruit comes from the spirit of zeal and seeking. It carries the restorative power of grace through those practices and brings enlivening into the soul. Without it all these practices are empty, cold, lifeless, dry. Reading, bows, services are fruitless and all the rest when there is no inner spirit. This practice can teach pride and Pharisaism and be sustained by them alone. Therefore all falls away when difficulties meet those who have no spirit. And by themselves they are wearisome. But the spirit gives the soul the power by which it finds no satiety in these practices and would wish to occupy itself in them alone and always.

Thus it is extremely necessary, in these practices, always to keep in mind that the spirit of life should burn, with humble and sorrowful falling before God, our Savior; this is nurtured and preserved best of all by prayer and prayerful practices. One must watch and be careful not to stop at these alone, for they are also nourishing to the soul. It is possible to remain thus only of the soul with detriment to the spirit. This can happen most of all with reading and, in general, with the knowledge and assimilation of truth.