Chapter 206

On Spiritual Warmth and Physical Warmth

Certain particular movements in body and spirit come from prayer, but not the same in all who pray—some experience one kind, others another; therefore there is nothing to dwell upon in them.

In some, no special movements at all occur, and prayer proceeds quietly, even in full strength. And this is the very best and safest portion! What is prayer? The noetic standing before God in the heart with glorification, thanksgiving, petition, and contrite repentance. All of this is spiritual. The root of it all is reverent fear of God, from which comes faith about God and in God, self-dedication to God, trust, and cleaving to God in the feeling of love with forgetfulness of all created things. When prayer is in strength, all these spiritual feelings and movements are present in the heart in corresponding power. Read the prayers of the saints that have come down to us, ponder them, and you will see that all of this in them is the outpouring of their complete prayer-filled disposition. Again I repeat: here all is spiritual, it proceeds from God and ascends to God.

How does this happen? The holy father enters into the heart, deepens into contemplation of the mysteries of faith—either all of them in general, or one particular mystery of faith—sets in motion the aforementioned feelings and pours them out in prayer. We read these prayers, come into a disposition similar to theirs, either partially or fully, and remain in the proper disposition. Through frequent repetition of this, constant spiritual prayer is cultivated in us and a constant prayer-filled state is established, which is unceasing prayer. All here is spiritual, noetic, and descends from above downward.

How then does the Jesus Prayer, which is a spoken prayer, relate to this? And how does the warmth that develops within the heart and around it relate to the action of this prayer?

Prayer-skill does not form at once, but requires long labor and exertion of oneself. In this very labor of forming prayer-skill, the Jesus Prayer and the warmth accompanying it are of greatest help. Note that they are means, not the actual work itself. It is possible for the Jesus Prayer to be present and warmth to be present, yet true prayer to be absent. Strange as this may sound, it does happen!

When we pray, we must stand before God with our mind and think of Him alone. Meanwhile, in the head various thoughts constantly swarm and distract the mind from God. In order to teach the mind to stand fixed on one thing, the holy fathers used short prayers and became accustomed to pronouncing them without ceasing.

This unceasing repetition of the prayer held the mind in remembrance of God and scattered all extraneous thoughts. These short prayers were various. Saint Cassian said that in Egypt everyone used this one: “God, come to my aid; Lord, make haste to help me” (Ps. 69:1). Saint Joannicius was perpetually reciting: “My hope is the Father, my refuge the Son, my shelter the Holy Spirit, O Holy Trinity, glory to you.” Another: “I am human and have sinned; you are God and merciful—have mercy on me.” There is no doubt that others used various different prayers; in our tradition especially the Jesus Prayer became established and entered into common custom: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

So that is what the Jesus Prayer is. It is one of the short spoken prayers, like all the other short prayers. It is appointed for the purpose of keeping the mind fixed on one thought of God.

One who becomes skilled in this prayer and practices it as it should be practiced is truly in remembrance of God without ceasing. Since remembrance of God in a sincerely believing heart is naturally accompanied by religious feelings of reverence, trust, thanksgiving, submission to God’s will, and others—all of which are spiritual—we call the Jesus Prayer, which produces and maintains remembrance of God, a spiritual prayer. And this is just, when it is surrounded by these spiritual feelings. But when it is not accompanied by such actions, it remains what it is—a spoken prayer, like any other similar one. This is how we should think of the Jesus Prayer.

Now, what does the warmth that accompanies the use of this prayer mean? In order for the mind to remain fixed on one thing when using a short prayer, it must be drawn down by attention into the heart; for if it remains in the head, where the tumult of thoughts occurs, it will not succeed in concentrating on one thing. When attention descends into the heart, it draws all the powers of soul and body down to one point. This concentration of all human life into one place is at once accompanied by a special sensation; and this sensation is the beginning of the warmth that will come.

This sensation, at first slight, continually strengthens, becomes firmer, deepens, and from being cold as it is at first, transitions into a warm feeling and sustains attention upon itself. And it comes about in this way: at first attention is sustained in the heart by an effort of will, [and] through its strength attention gives birth to warmth in the heart. This warmth then sustains attention without any special effort on its part. They then support one another and must remain inseparable, for scattering of attention cools the warmth, and diminishing of warmth weakens attention.

From this comes the law of the spiritual life: keep your heart in feeling toward God—you will always be in remembrance of God. Saint John of the Ladder expressed this law somewhere.

Now the question—is this spiritual warmth? No—it is not spiritual! But ordinary, physical warmth. However, since it sustains the attention of the mind in the heart and thereby assists in the development there of the spiritual movements mentioned before, it is called spiritual, but only in that case if it is not accompanied by carnal pleasure, even a light one, but keeps the soul and body in a watchful state.

From this it follows: as soon as the warmth accompanying the Jesus Prayer is not accompanied by spiritual feelings, it should not be called spiritual, but simply physical warmth; and it, being such, is not bad if it is not connected with carnal pleasure, even light pleasure; but if it is, then it is bad and should be cast out.

This disorder occurs when the warmth is located below the heart. The second disorder is when, having come to love this warmth, one limits everything to it alone, caring neither about spiritual feelings nor even about remembrance of God, but only about having this warmth; this disorder is possible, though not in everyone and not always, but from time to time. One must notice this and correct it, for in such a case there will remain only physical, carnal warmth. One must not regard this warmth as spiritual or grace-filled. The warmth can be called spiritual only when it is accompanied by spiritual, prayer-filled movements. Whoever calls it spiritual without them makes an error. Whoever calls it grace-filled is even more wrong.

Grace-filled warmth is a particular thing, and it is, properly speaking, spiritual. It is detached from the flesh and produces no noticeable changes in the body, and is attested to by a subtle, sweet feeling. By these feelings anyone can easily determine and distinguish the warmth. Each person must do this; no outsider has any business or place in this.

If sometimes bodily movements or certain sensations occur during prayer and warmth—pay no attention to them: they do not pertain to the essence of the matter and vary among different people. Direct all your attention to spiritual actions and feelings. They will pass through the soul and body like the pleasant coolness of morning.

(Letter 244. Vol. 2, p. 61–66)