Introduction

St. Theophan the Recluse (1815–1894), Russian Orthodox bishop and recluse of the Vysha hermitage, was among the most influential spiritual writers of nineteenth-century Russia. After 1872 he lived in strict seclusion, translating the Philokalia and answering the many who wrote to him for guidance. He was canonized in 1988.

On Prayer gathers Theophan’s fullest teaching on interior prayer in two parts. The first, On Unceasing Prayer, traces the ascent from the words of the Jesus Prayer to the union of the mind with the heart and the steady remembrance of God that the Apostle calls praying without ceasing. The second, On the Jesus Prayer, gives close practical direction in the prayer itself — what it is, why every Christian needs it, how it is woven into the day, and how to guard against the dangers that beset those who take it up without a guide.

Theophan distinguishes carefully between the mechanical repetition of words and the living prayer of the heart, between true warmth given by grace and counterfeit warmth, and between the safe path of humble, contrite attention and the spiritual delusion that overtakes the self-willed. The result is at once a map of the whole life of prayer and a sober handbook for walking it.