Chapter 82
On the Prayer of Novices
82.2.1 May the mercy of God be with you!
82.3.1 I don’t recall what prompted me to write to you about prayer for novices. Surely something in your letter gave me reason to do so.
82.4.1 My thought is this: novices should first be taught to pray properly using ready-made prayers, so that they may take into themselves the thoughts, feelings, and words of prayer. For the word we offer to God must be befitting God. When the teacher notices they have made sufficient progress in this, then let him teach them how to pray not with words that belong to others, but with their own words—bringing their own personal spiritual needs before God in prayer and asking Him to be merciful to them and to help them. At the same time, you can offer them short little prayers, showing them examples in the twenty-four little prayers of Saint John Chrysostom, and allowing them to gather other similar little prayers from the psalms, from church prayers, and to compose them themselves.
82.5.1 With these short little prayers they will learn well to keep their attention undistracted during prayer. Then finally you can teach them about the Jesus Prayer, without burdening it with any external methods, and instilling only one thing—to bring forth this prayer from the heart.
82.6.1 Every prayer must come from the heart, and any other kind of prayer is not prayer at all. Both prayers from a prayer book and your own prayers and short little prayers—all must come from the heart to the Lord, whom you see before you. All the more must the Jesus Prayer be this way.
82.7.1 I mean the practice of cell-rule prayer. Let church prayer flow according to what is read and sung in the Church. In the midst of it you may insert your own prayer and short prayers, especially during the litanies or when what is being read and sung cannot be heard or understood.
82.8.1 Beyond this, resolve all your questions about prayer as you see fit. Only require that they not be lazy and that prayer always come from the heart. Never allow them to sit during prayer. Let them stand reverently. Sitting while praying the Jesus Prayer is a bad habit.
82.9.1 With a brother who keeps falling—yet at times experiences spiritual movements—manage him as you see fit.[1] Pray for him and make him pray for himself, showing him mercy sometimes and strictness at other times. The book of Barsanuphius and John is very necessary for spiritual fathers and spiritual guides. Read and learn.
82.10.1 N speaks the truth when he says there are no true spiritual guides nowadays. Yet one must not remain with Scripture and patristic teachings alone. Questioning of a guide is necessary.[2] Paisius of Neamț decided thus: let two or three of one mind form a union and guide one another or question one another, living a life of mutual obedience, with fear of God and prayer, in moderate ascetic strictness.
82.11.1 May the Lord bless you!
82.12.1 Be saved!
82.13.1 Your well-wisher.
82.14.1