Chapter 14
On Prayer as the Work of All Christians
14.2.1 The mercy of God be with you!
14.3.1 N… N…
14.4.1 Last time I think I assured you that He who began His work in you will also complete it... To my great comfort I conclude from your words that He is indeed completing it. Glory to You, O God! Glory to You, O God! Glory to You, O God! What is happening in you is good. This is the ordinary path of those who, having been called and having heeded the calling, walk by the voice of the calling steadfastly, not allowing themselves anything that would be contrary to the requirements of God’s will, which the conscience suggests and confirms.[1] God is everywhere, and as soon as He finds a heart that does not resist Him, He enters into it and gladdens it. The heart rejoices and, clinging to Him, does not wish to depart from Him. Imagine an empty sphere. The air inside is stale and has become corrupted. If you drill a small hole, then fresh outside air, gradually pressing inward, will displace the old air that has become corrupted. If the ball had feeling, it would surely cry out: ah, how good it is for me now! It is the same with us. The heart, blocked up by selfishness, decays within, and things go very badly. We turn to the Lord—a hole is drilled in the heart through the labor of new life, the inner uncleanness departs, and in its place enters something else—what is pure.[2] This divine spiritual element is the Lord Himself. Feeling this, the heart rejoices with the joy of life drawn from the Lord. The Lord is called the Visitor of souls... When He visits, the soul rejoices.
14.5.1 That’s the meaning of what happens in you! But this is not some exclusive privilege for you alone. Such is the common path for all. And this is not from us—it is God’s gift! If it’s a gift, you must give thanks to the Giver and humble yourself... Humility is the foundation of everything! As soon as humility departs, the heart closes up and everything good in it suffocates. May your heart always be contrite and humble. You have this. Don’t lose it, but rather develop this feeling more and more... Our normal relationship to God is a sorrowful falling before Him in the heart with contrition, with the cry: ‘Save me by the judgements You know!’ We must place ourselves in the Lord’s hands, that He may do in us and with us whatever His holy will desires, if only He would save us...
14.6.1 Now it comes to mind: did you do the right thing by getting rid of the troubles with the estate? How to manage estates is a matter of indifference, as long as it doesn’t go by cunning, but everything is turned to the glory of God. The Lord instructed: that hearts not be weighed down, not only by gluttony and drunkenness, but also by the cares of life. That you acted rightly, you have the witness within yourselves: the soul has received wings, as it were... And glory to God!
14.7.1 The work of prayer is not the work of hesychasts alone, but of all Christians—and this extends to its very highest degrees. All degrees of prayer are God’s work. But before God all are equal... and He looks only upon the heart. As the heart turns to Him, so He turns to the heart – whoever’s heart it may be. The Lord said: that as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us... This is about all Christians. And the apostle says: your life is hidden with Christ in God. Childlikeness in prayer, as in the whole disposition of the soul, is the very best state of mind; so guard it... and ask the Lord not to let you lose this feeling. Children come up to their father or mother and say nothing, they just hover around them – because it’s sweet for them to be near them... So conduct yourself, that in simplicity of heart you always hover around the Lord.
14.8.1 Question: ‘Should I, given my many worldly obligations, maintain prayer, or should I use it only during my cell rule and in church, and the rest of the time, if not suppress it, then at least not maintain it?’ – You must always keep prayer… God is everywhere, and sees everything, and His eyes are brighter than the sun. The remembrance of this must be planted in the heart or fused with one’s consciousness. When the soul holds this awareness, it cannot help but have both the fear of God and reverence before Him, with a concern to please Him in everything – in word, in thought, in movement, and in deed. With this disposition meet others, and see them off, and do every task – whether you are alone or with people. Convince yourself that through every circumstance God is testing you and, fixing His eye upon you, waits to see how you will act. And conduct yourself as a student answers at an examination—both outwardly and inwardly. This disposition is the prayerful disposition, and it is given only through prayer. Prayer is the turning of intellect and heart to God. When this is present—there you have prayer... Labor at it. God willing, you will receive everyone and not depart from Him with your intellect. In this is the labor... and there is no division. Only perhaps at the beginning of your attempts. Don’t forget that this is the main thing... both a host’s warm hospitality to a visitor, and full attention, and cheerfulness, and along with all this the remembrance of God with fear and reverence. If you were to become incapable of continuing life in society, it would be no great loss... But prayer, when it follows the true path, should not lead to that. It will only lead you to glorify God with your whole life, having removed from it everything superfluous, vain, and passion-feeding, and having made it a silent preaching about what is fitting—yet without repelling anyone or cutting them to the heart, but attracting everyone and disposing all by the fragrance of your life to imitate it. Take the trouble to think this through according to your own circumstances and arrange things accordingly. A gloomy, repellent, or grumbling life is not God’s life. I hope that your prayer will not allow you to distort yourself in this way. Nevertheless, careful thought is necessary, along with trials... and asking for God’s help. The root of everything is humility and warmth of the heart toward all. God will give the burning of the heart. Then whoever meets you, everyone will sense this warmth, and it will bind all to you and make all submit to you. Bless us, Lord!
14.9.1 I’ve grown worse at praying from prayer books. This is no loss. Never mind if you never pick up a prayer book.[3] Prayer books are like conversations—French ones, for example.[4] At first, before someone learns to speak freely, he memorizes set phrases; but once he becomes fluent, those phrases fall away and are forgotten. So too with those who pray. They’re needed until the soul begins to pray on its own, but when it’s already praying on its own, you can leave them aside. Only when your own prayer won’t come—then, to stir it up, you need to begin praying with printed prayers. And when your own prayer is stirred up, leave them aside... That’s what the great men of prayer did... They would read—one person a single psalm, another a single Glory—and then, having entered into the spirit of prayer, they would leave the psalms. You need to know several prayers by heart, and also several psalms. But always, when prayer is in your heart, you can pray even without a prayer book—by your own turning to God, with prostrations. Just so long as there’s no slothfulness, no self-indulgence. For immediately the enemy will approach and, as if taking you by the hand, will begin to pull you away from prayer... Understand his tricks... The manifestation of the onset of prayer is not the same for everyone. With you it’s like this: ‘Some kind of pulse starts beating in the heart... an urge appears in the intellect to say the prayer... a tightness is felt in the throat... the intellect soon runs off, but in the heart the work continues’... Look: what here is essential and what is incidental? This pulse in the heart and tightness in the throat are nervous accidents which in some people manifest differently—for example, as trembling—and in others don’t occur at all. And it seems to me that even those who experience it can choose not to let it develop, just as they can develop it to an extreme—as, for example, someone in Siberia who fell into convulsions. All this is nervous, and can and should be cut off. For: ‘The presence of God expands and elevates our life’, producing no disorders or irregularities. Follow this with attention. But what’s essential here is this: ‘The heart feels a prompting to prayer’... There must be warmth, and with the warmth, attention... That the intellect runs away—that’s not right. You must hold it and bring it into harmony with the heart, or enclose it in the heart. Stand with your attention in the heart at this point and, without leaving it, pray there to the Lord with whatever words you wish, or even without words, by turning to God alone—contrite and humble. So remain there without leaving. When this movement is in your heart and you’re alone, leave everything else and pray—sitting or standing, just pray intently there in the heart. So, until the feeling evaporates. It’s written like this somewhere... I think in the Ladder. And if this happens when others are present, you should still pray—but you shouldn’t make a show of your prayerfulness. Know that you must never leave the heart with your attention. But the work in the heart is sometimes only noetic—accomplished by the intellect—and sometimes also of the heart, that is, both begun and continued with warm feeling. This is the law not only for hermits, but for all who must stand before God with a pure heart and work before His face—that is, for all Christians. The intellect grows tired of speaking the word of prayer. Pray then without words – casting yourself down before the Lord mentally in your heart and giving yourself over to Him... This is prayer properly speaking; the word is only its expression... and it is always weaker than prayer itself before God.
14.10.1 You pray well in church and don’t notice how the service goes by. This is good! If you can, go to church as often as possible. It is the true house of God... even though it’s built of bricks and mortar. The heart senses that it is in the Father’s house, and it is sweet to it... For cultivating prayer, the best thing is to go to church. At home slothfulness overcomes you, but there slothfulness has no place: for what else is there to do but pray?
14.11.1 You’re right not to give much weight to what happens with you... First fruits... how far from the real thing!.. And in general, you shouldn’t be too preoccupied with yourself. The Holy Fathers say: ‘Don’t measure yourself’... The best measure for yourself is: ‘there is nothing’... Lord, grant me to make a good beginning!.. Lord, by whatever judgements You know, save me! And drive away every thought about measuring yourself, but, forgetting what lies behind – as though it never was – press on to what lies ahead. The enemy prompts you to measure yourself, so as to stir up self-conceit and ruin the whole work. Always say to yourself: ‘There’s nothing there, nothing to measure.’
14.12.1 The fear of spiritual delusion is also justified... There is mental spiritual delusion – that’s self-conceit... and there is external spiritual delusion – that’s lights, sounds, some kind of figures... Spit on all of it... It’s the enemy’s work. A demon appeared to someone and started shouting: ‘Christ is coming, Christ is coming!’ The man said to him: ‘Get away, you deceitful delusion! Christ won’t come to me, for I am an utter sinner’ – and the demon vanished.
14.13.1 ‘It seems like everyone would abandon everything.’[5] – Everything will come in its own time, if that is pleasing to God. Wait. But don’t desire it—rather, as the Lord wills.[6] For your present state is not contrary to God’s path. The prayer of the heart is never premature. It is the beginning of the work. By its establishment in the heart, God’s work comes to ripeness.[7] You must develop it, sparing no labor. God, seeing your labor, gives what you seek. True prayer doesn’t come about by itself: it is a gift of God. Seek, and you will find... That you haven’t used the technical method of grafting prayer—that’s no loss. That method isn’t indispensable; you can do without it. It’s not the position of the body that matters—it’s the inner disposition. The whole thing is this: to stand with attention in the heart and to look toward God or to cry out to him. I haven’t yet met anyone who approves of that technique. His Grace Ignatius and Fr. Macarius of Optina doesn’t approve of it either.
14.14.1 That you experience feelings of repentance in prayer and tears—that is the real work. Without feelings of repentance, prayer is not really prayer. So write it down as though it never happened.[8] Prayer without these feelings is the same as a stillborn child. So say the holy Fathers. But fan the tears into flame... Learn to wail over yourself as over someone dead—and with lamentations... For the chief thought, or the place where you should hold yourself mentally, is the hour of judgement, or that moment when God is ready to pronounce: come, or: depart! O, Lord, save me! And how can I not weep, unable to say with certainty that He will not say: Depart!?[9]
14.15.1 I went through your letter line by line, and it seems I’ve left nothing untouched that came to mind to say to you. Have I missed something? In our letters we are brothers, but you are the elder. My handwriting is hard to read, and yours is even harder. Won’t you repent of this—and with the fruit of repentance?[10]
14.16.1 Do you have Isaac the Syrian? If not, get yourself a copy—and the Ladder too. These two books will explain everything to you. And there are many other books besides. Ephrem the Syrian, Abba Dorotheus, Barsanuphius and John—their answers—the Memorable Sayings.[11] I imagine you have them already. But if you don’t have it, get it. Ferapontov will bring it if you ask him. Look for the venerable Hesychius on sobriety and prayer. The monks of Mount Athos published it in Russian translation from the Philokalia as a separate book. It’s what you need most right now. Read it regularly. Doesn’t Father T... have it? I’m very grateful to His Eminence Eusebius for remembering me. When you write, please convey to him my deep respect and my request for his holy prayers.
14.17.1 May the Lord bless you, your wife, and your children.
14.18.1 That the children are weak in health—it’s nothing. The less energy they have, the closer to the Lord they’ll be. In any case, you must accept whatever children God has given you... And give thanks for everything.
14.19.1 Pray for my unworthiness.
14.20.1 Your intercessor, Bishop Theophan.
14.21.1