“Čičirni ispovijedi čitana svome duhovnom otcu” – čitajte online besplatno u cjelini

Download Authentic Confessions to His Spiritual Father (.epub) 1.0.0

Listen online

Story One

The Beginnings of Traveling and the Search for Constant Prayer

           I, by the grace of God, am a Christian man, a great sinner in deeds, a wanderer of the lowest rank, roaming from place to place. My dwelling is as follows: a bag of biscuits at my back and the Holy Bible in my breast; that’s that. On the twenty-fourth week after Trinity Day, I came to church for lunch to pray; the Apostle was reading from his Epistle to the Thessalonians, beginning 273, in which it is said: continually pray. This phrase particularly struck my mind, and I began to think how one can pray incessantly when one has to engage in other affairs to support one’s life? I searched the Bible and, there, found it with my own eyes – and exactly the same as what I had heard – that it is necessary to pray constantly, to pray at all times with the spirit ← , to put on prayerful hands in any place. I thought and thought, but did not know how to resolve.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; What should I do, I thought, where can I find someone to explain it to me? I will go to churches where good preachers are celebrated, maybe I will hear something relevant to me. And I went. I heard many good sermons about prayer. But they were all about prayer in general – what prayer is, how to pray properly, what the fruits of prayer are, and no one spoke about how to achieve success in prayer. There was a sermon about prayer in the Spirit and about constant prayer – but how to achieve such prayer was not indicated. So listening to the sermons did not lead me to what I wanted. Why, after listening to them and not having been taught how to pray constantly, did I no longer listen to public sermons, but with God’s help I sought an experienced and knowledgeable companion who would explain to me the meaning of constant prayer, by my irrepressible desire for this knowledge.

            My dear Father, he said. – I heard that one must pray without ceasing, but I do not know how to pray incessantly, and I cannot even understand what unceasing prayer means. Please explain it to me, my brother. 

I do not know, dear brother, how else to explain it to you. Here, I have a book here which explains it; and the Holy Elder Dmitry taught the inner life of man. Please read this page on it.

 I began to read this: “The Apostolic Sayings: Pray without ceasing – we must understand the prayer that is in the mind: the mind can always be concentrated on God and pray to Him incessantly. 

Please explain to me how the mind can always be concentrated on God without being distracted and constantly pray. This is very strange, except for those whom God Himself gives this ability, the abbot said. And he did not explain it. 

 After spending the night there, and thanking him for the kind welcome, I continued my journey, not knowing where I was going. I was grieving over my lack of understanding, but I comforted myself by reading the Bible. I went on for days on this main road, and in the evening, an old man, who looked like a spiritual one, caught up with me. Over the two hours, he asked what was troubling me, and he told me that he was a hermits from a desert, 10 versts away, in the direction of the main road. And he invited me to come with him to their desert. There, he told me, we welcome travelers, comfort them, and feed them with monastics at the inn. 

I didn’t feel like going in, and I answered his invitation as follows: My peace depends not on the room but on my spiritual disposition; I am not seeking food, as I have a lot of dry bread in my bag. 

What kind of training are you looking for, and what are you wondering about? Come on, come on, my brother, into our desert; we have experienced elders who can give spiritual instruction and point you on the right path in the light of God’s word and the reasoning of the Holy Fathers. 

Meeting the Elder and the First Lessons of Prayer

Here you see, father, that about a year ago, when I was near the dining table, I heard the Apostle say: “Pray constantly.” Not understanding this, I began to read the Bible. And there, too, in many places, I found God’s commandment that one should pray continuously, always, at every time, in every place, not only during work but even in one’s sleep. “I sleep, but my heart watches” (Psalm 6:5). This greatly surprised me, and I could not understand how it could be done and what methods were available. A strong desire and curiosity arose in me, and it did not occur to me day or night. That is why I began to go to churches, listen to sermons about prayer; but no matter how many I listened to, I did not receive instructions on how to pray continuously, or what such prayer meant. I often read the Bible and checked what I had heard; but in doing so, I did not find the knowledge I wanted. And so I remained in wonder and concern.Oldboy crossed himself and began to speak: Praise God, dear brother, for this discovery of your inexhaustible desire to acquire the uninterrupted interior prayer. Know that in this title there is God and be at peace, confident that until now you have been tested with regard to the harmony of your will with the voice of God, and it has been understood that the heavenly light, the uninterrupted interior prayer, is not attained by the wisdom of this world, nor by external curiosity, but on the contrary; simplicity of heart. Therefore, it is not strange that you could not hear the essential work of prayer and learn the science of how to achieve its uninterrupted action. In fact, although many preach about prayer, and there are many sayings from various writers, but since all their reasoning is based, for the most part, on reason, on the considerations of natural reason, and not on active experience, they teach more about the virtue of prayer than about the essence. One excellently reasons about the necessity of prayer; another – about its power and goodness; a third – about the means to perfection in prayer, that is, about the fact that for prayer, diligence, attention, warmth of heart, purity of thought, reconciliation with enemies, humility, sorrow, etc. are necessary. And what is prayer? and how can one learn to pray? – these, though first and most necessary questions, are rarely explained in detail by the preachers of this time; therefore, their considerations, though complex, are difficult to understand, and require a mysterious way of teaching, not merely scholastic knowledge. And what is the pity that present-day occasional, instinctive wisdom leads to measuring God by human measures. Many people think about the work of prayer quite perversely, thinking that preparatory means and feats create prayer, and not prayer that generates feats and all the virtues. In this case, they mistakenly take the results or consequences of prayer for the means and methods for it, and thus they belittle the power of prayer. And this is quite unpleasant for holy Scripture: for the Apostle Paul gives instructions about prayer in the following words: “I pray first of all to create prayers”; first of all; first of all. Here is the first instruction in the Apostle’s statement about prayer: that he recommends the matter of prayer first of all: “I pray first of all to create prayers.” Many good deeds are required of a Christian, but the matter of prayer must be first of all, because without it no other good is possible. It is not possible to find the way to the Lord without prayer, to understand the truth, to break the flesh with passions and lust, to be enlightened in the heart by the light of Christ, and to be saved by previous, frequent prayer. I say frequent because the perfection and correctness of prayer is left to our opportunity, as the Apostle Paul says: we may pray secretly, as we should, not knowing. Therefore, only frequency, perseverance is left to our opportunity as a means of achieving the purity of prayer, which is the mother of every spiritual benefit. Take the mother, and produce children for you, says St. Isaac Syrian, learn to acquire the first prayer and you will easily perform all the virtues. And this is unclear to those who are little acquainted with practice and the mysterious teachings of the holy fathers.

            In this conversation, we have approached almost to the very desert. To avoid losing this wise old man, and rather to gain permission for my desire, I hastened to say to him: Please gracious father, explain to me what continuous inner prayer means, and how to learn it. I see that you know it in detail and with experience.

            The elder accepted this request with love and called me to himself: Come now, I will give you the book of the holy fathers, from which you can clearly and fully understand and learn prayer through the help of God. We entered the cell, and the old man began to say the following: Continuous inner Jesus prayer is continuous, never ceases to call the divine name of Jesus Christ with the mouth, mind and heart, with the constant image of His presence, and the request of His mercy, in all occupations at any occupation. It is manifested in the words: Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! And if someone habitually takes up this invocation, he will feel great joy, and will want to always do this prayer, so that without prayer it will not be possible, and this prayer will flow out of him by itself.

            Do you now understand what persistent prayer is? – Very well, my father! For the sake of God, teach me how to attain it! – I exclaimed joyfully.

Reading of The Book of Charity and spiritual progress

As for how to learn prayer, we will read about this in this book. This book is called The Book of Charity. It contains a complete and detailed treatise on continuous inner prayer, presented by twenty-nine holy fathers, and it is so high and useful that it is considered the main and first teacher in contemplative spiritual life, and, as St. Nikon reveals, “without effort and pain it leads to salvation.”

            – Is it higher and more sacred than the Bible? – I asked.

– No, it is not higher and more sacred than the Bible, but it contains clear explanations of what is mysterious in the Bible, and is not intelligible to our short-sighted minds. I present to you an example: the sun is the greatest, brightest and most wonderful light; but you could not see and consider it with an ordinary, unprismed eye. You need some artificial glass, although a million times smaller and duller than the sun, through which you could see this splendid king of lights, be dazzled by its flaming rays and accept its radiance. Thus, the holy scriptures are like the brilliant sun, and Charity is like the glass.

Now, listen – I will read how to learn unceasing interior prayer. The Elder revealed Charity, found the teaching of St. Symeon the New Theologian, and began: “Sit still and quietly, alone, with your head bowed down and your eyes closed; breathe quietly, look inwardly with your mind, bring your reason, that is, your thoughts from your head into your heart. When breathing, say: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Expel thoughts, have patient patience, and repeat this exercise more frequently.’ The Elder then explained all this to me, showed me the example, and we read more from Charity, as well as from St. Gregory of Sinai, and from St. Kalista and Ignatius. The Elder explained everything he had read in Charity and added his own words. I listened with excitement, absorbed the teaching, and tried to remember it as well as I could. This is how we spent the whole night, awake, and then went to the morning service.

The Elder sent me away, blessing me, and told me to come to him with sincere confession and revelation, because without the trustworthiness of a mentor, it is inconvenient and unsuccessful to engage in inner work unceasingly.

Standing in Church, I felt a burn within me, determined to learn interior unceasing prayer as thoroughly as possible, and I asked God to help me. Then I thought, how should I go to the Elder to receive advice or to come to Him with revelation? After all, I will not be allowed to stay in the guest house for more than three days, and there are no apartments near the desert? Finally, I heard that four versts is a village. I came there to find a place to live. And, to my good fortune, God showed me a comfortable place. I rented the town here for the whole summer to guard the garden, so that I could live alone in the garden shed. Thank God! – I found a quiet place. And so I began to live and study the interior prayer, according to the method shown to me, and go to the Elder.

For a week, I diligently studied the cultivation of unceasing prayer alone in the garden, exactly as the Elder told me. At first, it seemed to go well. Then I felt a great burden, laziness, boredom, a nightmarish sleep, and various thoughts came upon me like a cloud. With sorrow, I went to the Elder and told him about my situation. He welcomed me lovingly, and began to say: “This, my dear brother, is a struggle against the dark world, which finds nothing more frightening than our heart prayer, and therefore it is doing everything to hinder you and turn you away from the study of prayer. However, the enemy acts not otherwise than by the will of God and the providence, as far as we need it. It can be seen that you still need a test of humility; and therefore it is too early to approach the higher gateway of the heart with untamed zeal, lest you fall into spiritual greed.”

Here is what the monk told me about this case of instruction from The Good-Hearted One. The old man found the teaching of Holy Monk Nikiforos, the ascetic, and began to recite it: “If, after working for a while, you are unable to enter the country of the heart in the way you have been instructed, then do what I say to you and, with the help of God, you will find what you are looking for. You know that the ability to speak lies within each person in the throat. If you desire) and let it be pronounced continuously thus: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!”I did as the elder had ordered me, and on the first day I hardly managed to finish my twelve thousand prayers late in the evening. On the second day I did it easily and with pleasure. At first I felt tired or as if my tongue had stiffened and I had a sensation of heaviness in my jaws, but then there was a slight pain in the thumb of my left hand, which moved very easily and pleasantly. All this stimulated and forced me to say more prayers. Thus, for five days I faithfully recited twelve thousand prayers, and as time went on I grew to enjoy and to look forward to it.

Then he went to the elder for a revelation and told him about it in detail. He listened, and began to say: Praise be to God that the desire for hunting and the ease of prayer have been revealed to you. This is a natural state that comes from frequent exercise and asceticism, like a machine that, when given a push or a jolt to its main wheel, keeps on moving for a long time; and in order to keep it moving, this wheel must be lubricated and pushed. Do you see what wonderful abilities the merciful God has bestowed on even the sensual nature of man, which can be felt outside of grace and in an unperfected sensuality and in a sinful soul, as you yourself have already experienced? And how wonderfully, wonderfully, and delightfully it is, when the Lord chooses to reveal the gift of spontaneous spiritual prayer and purify the soul from passions! This state cannot be depicted, and the revelation of this prayerful mystery is a foretaste of the sweetness of the heavenly earth. Such a state will please the seekers of the Lord in its simplicity and goodness of heart! Now I allow you to do prayer as much as you wish, and always try to devote your waking hours to prayer, and without a candle, call on the name of Jesus Christ! With humility, surrendering yourself to the will of God and expecting help from Him: I believe that He will not abandon you and will guide your path.”

            After accepting this guidance, I spent the entire summer in silent prayer to Jesus, and I was very calm. In my dreams, I often dreamed of making prayer. And on the day when I happened to meet someone, all the people I met seemed to me to be as loving as relatives, even though I did not talk to them. My thoughts completely ceased, and I did not think about anything but prayer, and to listen to which, my mind began to incline, and my heart began to feel warmth and a certain pleasure. When I happened to go to church, the long, empty service seemed to be short, and it was no longer tiring for the forces, as it had been before. My separate attic seemed to me to be a magnificent temple, and I did not know how to thank God that He had sent such a merciful and wise elder to me, an ungodly and sinful man, and a teacher.

The death of the elder and the beginning of the independent path

            But I was not long in enjoying the advice of my loving and wise elder. At the end of the summer, he died. I, with tears, said farewell to him, thanked him for teaching me, the sinful and ungodly, as a father, and asked him for the prayer shawls he always used in prayer. Therefore, I was left alone. Finally, the summer passed, and the town was cleared. I had nowhere to live. The man considered me, gave me two baskets for sentinel, and heaped up a bag of biscuits for the road, and I set out again, wandering around in various places; but I no longer walked as I had previously walked with need; the calling of the name of Jesus Christ was pleasing to me on the road, and all people became kinder to me, it seemed that they all came to love me.

Once I started thinking about where I should put the money I had received for running the town and what I would use it for? Come on, I’m talking about it! The old man is no longer alive, there is no one to teach; I will buy Dobrotolyubye, and I will study the inner prayer from it. I crossed myself and went to prayer. I reached a provincial town and began to ask for Dobrotolyubye; I found it in one place, but it was asking for three ruble coins, and I only had two; I haggled, haggled, but the merchant did not agree to give anything; finally, he said: “Go to this church, ask the parish priest; he has an old book, maybe he will give it to you for two ruble coins.” I went and indeed bought Dobrotolyubye for two ruble coins, all battered and old; I was delighted. I repaired it somehow, covered it with a cloth, and put it in my bag with my Bible.

I wandered for a long time in different places with the prayer that accompanied me, which encouraged and consoled me on all paths, at all meetings and occasions. Finally, I felt that I should settle down in one place, both for convenient solitude and to study The Love of Goodness, which I had been reading, lying down for a nap or during the day’s rest; but there was a strong desire to immerse myself more and more in it, and to draw from it a true instruction for the salvation of the soul through heart prayer. But since, according to this desire, I could not get any work anywhere, or take a permanent place of residence, because of the incompleteness of my left hand since childhood; and therefore, being in the impossibility of having a permanent abode, I went to the lands of Siberia, to Saint Innocent of Irkutsk, with the intention of walking silently through the forests and steppes of Siberia, and therefore it was more convenient for me to engage in prayer and reading. So I went, and incessantly made a silent prayer. After a short time, I felt that the prayer began to pass into my heart somehow, that is, the heart, with its usual beat, began to speak to itself in prayerful words with each beat, for example: 1) Lord, 2) Jesus, 3) Christ, and so on. I stopped saying the prayer with my mouth, and began to listen intently to what the heart was saying; remembering how the deceased old man had explained it to me, how it was pleasant. Then I began to feel a subtle pain in the heart, and in my thoughts such a love for Jesus Christ that it seemed as if I would have fallen down at His feet, and would not have let them out of my hands, licking them sweetly, to tears, but thanks to the fact that He gives such comfort for His name, gracefully.

Next, some beneficial heat began to appear in my heart, and this warmth extended throughout my chest. This drew me especially to the diligent reading of The Love of Goodness, in order to both trust my senses and to study further in the inner prayer of the heart; for without this trust I was afraid of falling into vanity, or taking natural actions for the grace, and not appearing to be quickly acquired in prayer, as I heard from the deceased elder. Therefore, I went more at night, and spent the days mostly in reading The Love of Goodness, sitting in the forest under the trees. Oh, how much new, how much wise and so far unknown has been revealed to me by reading! Practising in it, I enjoyed such a delight that I could not even imagine. Although some places were incomprehensible to my foolish mind when reading, the consequences flowing from heart prayer explained my misunderstanding; besides, I occasionally saw in a dream the deceased elder of mine, who explained many things to me, and increasingly inclined my foolish soul to humility.

Because of sins of my evil soul, the need for spiritual life, or for better instruction and experience, temptations began to appear at the end of summer. That is, I went out into the wide road and, at dusk, two men resembling soldiers’ heads came up to me; they began to demand money from me. When I said that I had not a single kopeck, they did not believe me and viciously shouted: “You are lying! Wanderers collect a lot of money!” One of them said: “There is no point in talking to him,” and hit me on the head with a stick so that I fell unconscious. I do not know how long I lay senseless; however, when I woke up, I saw that I was lying next to the forest, on the road, completely numb, and my bag was gone; only torn ropes on which it was carried. Thank God that they did not take my passport, which was in my old hat, for the sake of proving my identity in the event that they requested it. Getting up, I cried bitterly, not so much from a headache as from the fact that they had taken away my books, the Bible, and The Pursuit of Holiness, which were in my bag. Neither day nor night did I stop weeping and lamenting. Where is my Bible, which I read in my childhood and always carried with me? Where is my The Pursuit of Holiness, from which I borrowed both instruction and comfort. I have become poorer, the unfortunate one, of both my first and last treasure in my life, without being fully satisfied by it. It would be better for me to be killed than to live without this spiritual food! I can no longer buy it! 

            Suddenly I came up to the stage where there was a convoy of wagons led by soldiers. Comparing them with the thieves who had robbed me, I fell at their feet and earnestly asked them to tell me where my books were. At first they paid no attention to me, and then one of them began to say: if you give us something, we will tell you where they are. Give us the whole lot. I vowed solemnly that I would give them, no matter what, for the sake of Christ; here, take my passport as security. They told me that my books were in the convoy, along with other stolen items confiscated from other thieves. How can I get them? Ask the captain who is escorting us. I ran up to the captain and explained everything in detail. By the way, he asked me: do you know how to read the Bible? I answered, not only do I know how to read it, but also how to write: you will see on the Bible the inscription that it is mine; and my passport also bears the same name and surname. The captain began to say: These are rogue deserters, soldiers who lived in a dugout, and robbed many people. They were caught yesterday by a clever road-maker who wanted to cheat them out of three rubles. They probably will give you your books when they are here; but come with us for a night’s rest; it is only four versts away, and we will not stop for you here. I happily followed beside the captain’s horse, talking to him there. I noticed that he was a good and honest man, and not young. He asked me who I was, where I was coming from and where I was going. I answered everything truthfully; and so we reached the staging hut for the night. He found my books, gave them to me, and said: where do you want to go at night, stay with me in the vestibule. I stayed.

            When I received the books, I was so glad that I did not know how to thank God; I pressed them to my chest and held them there so that even my arms stiffened. Tears rolled from my eyes with joy, and my heart beat with delight!

            The captain, looking at me, asked: It seems that you love to read the Bible. I could not reply to that out of joy, but only wept. He continued: I myself, brother, carefully read the Gospel every day. At the same time, he unbuttoned his uniform and took out a small Bible printed in Kiev, all covered in silver. Sit down, I will tell you how it took me here. You can have dinner in the meantime.

We sat at the table, and the captain began to tell us: I served in the army from a young age, not in a garrison; I knew the service well and was well-liked by my superiors as a proper lieutenant. But I was still young, and my friends were young too; unnoticed, I was addicted to drinking. By the end, I had become so sick that I couldn’t touch wine for six weeks. When I wasn’t drinking, I was a proper officer, but as soon as I poured a glass, I spent six weeks in bed. They were patient with me for a long time, but because of my boss’s rudeness, expressed in the most humiliating ways, they demoted me to the rank of a soldier for three years and transferred me to a garrison, and if I didn’t correct my mistake and stop drinking, they threatened me with the most severe punishment. In this unfortunate state, I tried hard to keep my temper, and tried to cure myself of this addiction, but I just couldn’t, so they wanted to transfer me to the punishment company. When I heard this, I didn’t know what to do.After hearing this, I said to him, “What can I do to help your Gospel, when no effort of mine, nor any medical advice, could keep me?” I said this because I had never read the Gospels. Don’t tell him that, the monk replied, I assure you that there will be benefit. On the following day, the monk brought me this Gospel. I opened it, looked at it, read it, and said: “I won’t take it. There is nothing here you won’t understand. And I am not used to reading the seal of the church.” The monk kept encouraging me that there is a beneficial power in the words of the Gospel, for it contains what God Himself said. There is nothing that you don’t understand; just read it carefully. One saint said: “If you don’t understand the Words of God, then the demons understand what you read and tremble; for the passion for drinking inevitably arouses the demons. And here is something else I will tell you: John Chrysostom writes that even the porch where the Gospel is kept scares the demons away with the stench, and it becomes difficult for them to plot their evil against it.” I don’t remember exactly what I gave that monk, I took the Gospel from him, put it in a box with my other things, and forgot about it. After some time, it was time for me to ask for forgiveness, Death wanted wine, and I opened the box more quickly than the devil to get money and run to the tavern. The first thing I saw was the Gospel, and I quickly remembered everything the monk told me, opened it, and began to read, first of Matthew (chapter 1). After reading it to the end, I understood nothing; and I remembered what the monk said: “There is no need to understand anything; just read carefully.” Let me read the second chapter now, I thought; I began to read it, and it became clearer. Let me read the third chapter; as soon as I started, the bell rang in the barracks: “Time to go to your beds.” So I could not leave the gate; and that is how I ended up.Listen, since I was healed from drunkenness and took an oath to read the Gospel every day, all my life, in accordance with a whole Evangelist per day, no matter what the obstacles, I now do this. If there is too much work, and I am very tired, then in the evening, when I lie down, I force my wife or my son to read the whole Evangelist to me, and I steadily follow this rule. In gratitude and for the glory of God, I had my Gospel made in pure silver, and I always wear it on my chest.

     After walking a verst, I remembered that I had promised the soldiers an entire amount of money, which I suddenly now had. Should I give it to them, or not? One thought told me: they have beaten you and robbed you, and it is not right to use it for their benefit, because they are under arrest. Another thought imagined something else: remember that the Bible says: ”If your enemy wants to put you to death, kill him. ”. . I was convinced, and as I was approaching the stage, they all pulled out the brushes to chase them to the next station; I ran quickly, put the former amount of money I had in my hands, and said: “Flee and pray: Jesus Christ is merciful, he will not leave you!” And with that, I turned away from them and went in another direction along my path.

After walking 50 steps along the great road, I decided to take a path that would be more secluded and convenient for reading. I walked through forests for a long time, and sometimes I came across small villages. Sometimes I spent the whole day in the forest, diligently reading Dobrotolyubiye; I learned many strange things from it. My heart was heated up with desire to be united with God, with the help of inner prayer, which I sought to learn, under the guidance and supervision of Dobrotolyubye; and along with this, I felt sadness that I had not yet found a shelter where I could read peacefully.

At this time, I was also reading my Bible and felt that I was beginning to understand it more clearly, not as before, when a lot seemed to me unclear, and I often was surprised. The Holy Fathers rightly say that Dobrotolyubye is the key to the opening of the mysteries of the Holy Scriptures. By its guidance, I began to understand the secret meaning of the Word of God more fully; I began to see what an inner mystery a person is, what true prayer is, what worship of the Spirit is, what the kingdom is within us, what ineffable supplication of the Holy Spirit is, what it is to abide in Me, what to give Me your heart, what to be clothed in Christ, what to enter the soul, what to be bound by the Spirit in our hearts: Father, and so on and so forth. When I began to pray with my heart, everything around me appeared to me in a wonderful way: the trees, the grass, the birds, the earth, the air, the light, everything seemed to tell me that they exist for man, they testify to God’s love for man, and they all pray, they all sing the glory of God. And I understood from this what is called the “guidance of wordless creatures” in Dobrotolyubye, and I saw a way how one can talk with God’s creations.”

Meeting with a forester in a lonely forest

And I wandered for a long time in this manner. At last I came to such a secluded place that I saw no village at all for three days! All my provisions had run out, and I was very sad at the thought that I might die of hunger. When I began to pray with all my heart, despair left me, I put myself entirely in God’s hands, and I became cheerful and calm. A little while later, walking along a path that led to a vast forest, I saw in front of me a guard dog that had come out from the forest; I called to it, and it ran up to me and began to lick my hands. I was overjoyed and thought: but this is surely the work of God! There must be a herd of cattle in that forest, and there must be a shepherd or a hunter patrolling here to hunt. Sure enough, I can at least beg a little bread, because I have not eaten for two days, or I can at least ask where the nearest village is. When I turned around and saw that I had nothing to give, the dog ran back into the forest along the narrow path it had come from. I followed it; after walking about half a kilometre, I saw that the dog had gone into a hole, from which it began to bark.

A man came out from under a thick tree. He was thin, pale, of middle age. He asked me how I had got here. I asked him why he was there. And we began to talk kindly. He took me into his shack and told me that he was a forest ranger and patrolled this forest, which had been sold for cutting down. He offered me bread and salt, and we started talking. ’I envy you, I said, that you can live so comfortably alone from people, not like me, who wander from place to place, and scramble among all kinds of people. If there is hunting here, he said, then perhaps you can live here, there is an old shack of a former guard, though it has collapsed, but it is still possible to live in it in summer. You have a passport. There will be bread for us, it is brought to us once a week from our village; then there is a stream that never dries up. I myself, brother, have had only one piece of bread for ten years, and a glass of water, and nothing more. So that is the thing, in autumn, when the men have finished their work, a hundred labourers come here, and the forest is cut down, then neither I nor you can live here. After listening to all this, I was so delighted that I almost fell down on my knees. I did not know how to thank God for such grace. What I had been longing for and wishing for, I now suddenly receive. There are still only four months until deep autumn, and therefore I can use this quiet and peaceful time to study and reach unceasing prayer in my heart. So I gladly stayed in the shack I had been shown. We talked even more with this simple brother; he began to tell me about his life and his thoughts. 

“I was, he said, in my village not the last person, I had a skill, I painted wood, but I dyed the paint blue, and I lived in abundance, though not without sin: I deceived many in trade, made a false promise; I became angry, drank and fought. There was an old gentleman in our village who had an ancient, ancient book about the terrible judgment. He used to go to church, and read, and for this he was given money; he also came to me. Sometimes, if you gave him ten coins, it would be up to half a ruble. That’s when I listened, sitting at work, and he read about the torments we will suffer in hell, how the living will be changed, and the dead will rise again, how God will come to judge, how the angels will sound the trumpets, and what fire and pitch will be, and how the sinners will eat. One time, when I was listening to this, I became frightened, I thought: I cannot escape punishment! I will strive to save my soul, perhaps my sins will be forgiven. I thought and thought, and then I gave up my craft, sold the house, and as I was alone, I went to begging in order that the world would give me bread, clothing, and wax candles for confession,” he continued.

Hearing this, I regretted it and thought to myself: they say that some scientists and intellectuals are atheists and do not believe in anything; and our brethren – ordinary men who try to atheise! Apparently, the Dark World has been given access to everyone, and it may attack the simplest ones more easily. As much as possible, let us try to strengthen ourselves against the enemy of the soul with the Word of God. So, in order to help and support the faith of these brothers as much as possible, I took out from my bag Добротолюбство, found the chapter of St. Isaiah, read it, and began to explain to him that abstaining from sins, fearing for torments, is unsuccessful and barren, and the soul cannot be delivered from imaginary sins, nor protected from mental sins. Therefore, all this is obtained through inner prayer, and not only by fearing for hellish torments, but even by desiring for the kingdom of heaven, if someone begins to commit saving deeds, the holy fathers call this a mercenary deed. They say that fear of torment is a slave’s path, and desire for rewards in the kingdom is a mercenary’s path. And God wants us to walk toward Him along the way of sonship, that is, to behave with love and diligence toward Him, and to enjoy in our hearts and souls the saving union with Him.

            No matter how much you exhaust yourself – and you want to go through physical labors and trials; but if you do not always have God in your mind, and the constant Jesus prayer in your heart, then you will never calm down from your thoughts, and you will always be inclined to sin, even in the most minor cases. Accept it, brother, to constantly perform Jesus prayer; it is convenient and easy for you in this solitude; you will soon see the benefits. Wrongfaring thoughts will not come, faith and love for Jesus Christ will be revealed to you; you will learn how the dead will rise, and the terrible judgment will seem to you as it really will be. And there will be such lightness and joy in your heart from prayer that you will be surprised and no longer get bored and tormented by your saving life.

            Next, as I could, I explained to him how to start and how to continue the constant Jesus prayer, and how the Word of God commands it, and the holy fathers teach it. He seemed to give his agreement to it and calmed down. After that, I left him and locked myself in the old cellar indicated to me.

Practice of Jesus Prayer in solitude

My God, what joy, peace and delight I felt as soon as I entered the entrance to this cave, or rather, the tomb; it seemed to me like a magnificent royal palace, full of every kind of pleasure and entertainment. With tears of joy I thanked God, and reflected: Now, in this peace and silence, it is necessary to carefully take up my business and ask the Lord for enlightenment. So I began, first of all, to read the “Charity,” all in order, from beginning to end, with great attention. In no time I had read it all, and saw what wisdom, holiness and depth it contains. But since it is written about many different subjects, and contains various instructions from the holy fathers, I could not understand everything and bring it all together in one place, particularly the method of learning continuous automatic prayer in the heart. And this was what I wanted, according to God’s command through the Apostle: “Desire fervent passions” and more: “Do not put out the Spirit” And so I thought, I think, how should I be? My mind is not enough, my understanding is not enough, there is no one to explain it. I will begin to bother God with prayer; perhaps the Lord will somehow enlighten me. After that, I did nothing for a whole day except to be in unceasing prayer, without stopping for the least moment; my thoughts calmed down and I fell asleep: so I saw in a dream, as if I were in the cell of my departed elder, and he was expounding the “Charity,” saying: “This holy book is full of great wisdom. It is a mysterious treasure of understanding of God’s mysterious plans. Not everywhere, and not to everyone is it accessible; however, as far as each interpreter goes, it contains such instructions, for the wise – wise, for the simple – simple. That is why you, my brethren, should read it not in the order in which the books of the holy fathers are arranged one after the other. There, this order is theological; but for an uneducated person who wants to learn from the “Charity” the art of inner prayer, it should be read in the following order:1) First, read the book of St. Nikon of Chrysostom (in two parts); then, 2) the entire book of Gregory Sinai, except for the short sections; 3) St. Simeon of New Theologian on the three images of prayer and the word about faith; and afterwards, 4) the books of St. Callistus and Ignatius. These fathers contain a complete instruction and teaching on the inner prayer of the heart, which is clear to everyone.So, first of all, I began to find the heart seat, according to St. Simeon the New Theologian. I closed my eyes, looked with the mind, that is, with imagination, into the heart, wishing to imagine it in the left side of the chest, and listened attentively to its beating. Thus I first engaged in this activity for half an hour, several times a day; at first I noticed nothing except darkness; then soon the heart began to appear and to convey movement within it; then I began to introduce and exhale the Lord’s Prayer along with breathing into the heart, following the instructions of St. Gregory of Sinai, St. Callist and Ignatius, that is, by inhaling air, with intellectual contemplation in the heart, imagining and saying: “Lord Jesus Christ”, and with exhaling the air, “Have mercy.” First I engaged in this activity for an hour, then two, and then the more I practiced, the more often I could do this, and finally spent almost the entire day in this activity. When fatigue or laziness or doubt occurred, I immediately began to read in Saint Dmitriios the places in the Good Life that teach about the heart’s activity, and again there was exhilaration and diligence in prayer. After three weeks, I began to feel pain in the heart, then some pleasant warmth in it, consolation and peace. This encouraged and encouraged me all the more and more diligently to practice prayer, so that all my thoughts were occupied with this, and I felt great joy. From that time on, I began to feel different dispositions in the heart and in the womb. Sometimes there was a joyful boiling in the heart, in it such lightness, freedom, and contentment that I changed completely and was thrilled. Sometimes there was a passionate love for Jesus Christ and for all of God’s creation. Sometimes, tears of thanksgiving flowed spontaneously out of my eyes, thanking the Lord for having loved me, a sinner. Sometimes my former foolish idea was so much aware of me that I easily understood and reflected on what I had previously not even thought of. Sometimes the heart’s sweet warmth ran through my whole being and I gratefully felt the presence of God everywhere. Sometimes I felt the greatest joy at the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, and I realized what He meant by saying, “The kingdom of God is within you.”Months passed by, and I spent all this time alone in this prayerful activity, enjoying the sensations mentioned, and I became so accustomed to heartfelt prayer that I practiced it continuously, and finally felt that prayer itself, without any special encouragement on my part, was produced and uttered in my mind and heart, not spoken in my mind at all; but even in my sleep it works in the same way, and is not interrupted by anything, no matter what I do. My soul thanked the Lord, and my heart was constantly filled with joy.

       Increase Thy works, LORD, for Thou hast created all things with wisdom. Many miracles and events happened along my path. If I told of them all, I would not finish in one day. Well, for instance: one winter evening I went to a village to spend the night, which was already two steps away. Suddenly a great wolf attacked and rushed at me. I had old flax ropes in my hands (I always carried them with me). So I beat off the wolf with these ropes. And what happened? The ropes slipped out of my hands and somehow got caught right behind the wolf’s neck, the wolf rushed away from me and, jumping over some shrubs, got entangled in the shrubs with its hind legs, while the ropes caught its neck. I said a prayer and wanted to save the wolf; and moreover, I thought that if it broke the ropes and ran away with them, then my valuable ropes would be lost. As soon as I came close and grabbed the ropes, the wolf really broke them and ran away without a trace. So I, thanking God and remembering my blessed elder, reached the village safely; I went to the inn and asked to spend the night there. I entered the house. In the front room, two people were sitting at the table, one an old man and the other a fat middle-aged man, who looked as if they were not ordinary people. They were drinking tea. I asked the man at their horse what they were like. He told me that the old man was a teacher of the folk school, and the other was a clerk in the county court; both were noblemen. I brought them to the fair, two steps away from here. After sitting for a while, I asked the old woman for a needle and thread, went to the candle and began to sew the torn ropes. The clerk looked at me and said: “You must have hit your knees hard, you broke the ropes.” I said: “No, a wolf did that.” “Do wolves pray?” said the clerk, laughing. “No, I didn’t break them. It was the wolf… How can wolves pray? He said with a laugh. “I told them in detail about what had happened and how precious these ropes were to me. The clerk laughed again and began to say: “In your case, miracles always happen! What is there to do, folks? You just threw it at him, and the wolf was scared and ran away; for both dogs and wolves fear stones, and it is not strange to get caught in the woods; there is little of everything in the world, so why believe in miracles? Having heard this, the teacher began to argue with him: “Don’t think so, good-natured man! You have no further education, but you did learn the short sacred history of the Old and New Testament, published as a set of questions and answers for schools. The old man whose ropes this is, was a saint: what does holiness mean? No, it is nothing other than the turning of the unblemished state of the first man into a sinful man through his deeds. When a soul is sanctified, the body is sanctified too. The ropes were always in the hands of the saint; therefore, through the touch of his hands and the vapors of his body, the holy power was imbibed upon the ropes, the power of the unblemished state of the first man. This is the mystery of the spiritual nature!.. This power is naturally felt by all animals, both present and past, and is felt through smell. In all animals, the nose is the main instrument of sensation. This is the mystery of the sensual nature!.. In your case, you have all the power and wisdom; as for us, we do things all very simply: once you pour a glass of vodka and hit it, it becomes strong, said the clerk, and he went to the cupboard. It is up to you, he said, but I would like you to give us some learned knowledge. I liked the teacher’s words and, approaching him, said: “I dare to say something more to you about my elder, and I explained to him how my elder appeared to me in a dream, taught me and emphasized the Importance of Charity. The teacher listened to all this carefully. And the clerk, lying on the bench, murmured: “It’s true they say that people go out of their minds and read the Bible. That is exactly what happens! A woodcutter would draw for you at night on the books. Just that, a dream? Oh, it will soon pass! ”By morning, the clerk had turned away to the wall and fallen asleep. Hearing this, I turned to the teacher and said: “If it is allowed, I will show you the same book on which it is clearly underlined, not smeared with ash… I took out Charity from my bag, and showed it, saying: I am amazed at this wisdom, how could a disembodied soul take charcoal and write?… The teacher looked at the post-it note and began to say: this is also the mystery of the spirits. I will explain it to you: when the spirits are in the physical form of a living person, they take on and compose a tangible body from air and luminous matter, and when they perform their manifestations, they return to the elements from which their body was composed. And as the air has resilience, compressive and tensile power, the soul clothed in it can take up everything, act and write. “What kind of book is this of yours? let me have a look!” He unfolded it and the Word and Speech of Simeon the New Theologian opened. “Oh, it must be a theological book. I have never seen it… This book, Father, is almost entirely devoted to the teaching of the inner heart prayer in the name of Jesus Christ; it is revealed here in all its detail by the twenty-nine holy fathers. “I know the inner prayer,” said the teacher. “I bowed down to him and asked him to tell me something about the inner prayer. And this is what is written in the new testament that man and all creatures obey the will not by force, and everything naturally sighs, strives and desires to enter into the freedom of God’s creatures; and this secret sighing of creatures and innate aspiration of the souls is the inner prayer. It has nothing to learn, it is in all and in everything!.. And how can one find, discover and feel it in the heart, realize and accept it by one’s own will, attain that it may be clearly acted, enjoyed, enlightened and saved? I asked. “I do not recall whether this is written anywhere in the theological treatises. Here, here in this book, everything is written and explained, I indicated…

Upon leaving, I thanked God for my conversation with the teacher, and I prayed for the scribe, hoping that the Lord would arrange for him to read The love of godliness at least once, and that he would teach him about salvation.

A meeting with a pious priest

And then one spring, when I was going to a village, I had to go to a priest. He was a good and lonely man: I spent three days with him. After considering me at that time, he began to tell me: stay with me, I will pay you; I need an honest person; you saw that a new stone church was being built in our place instead of the old wooden one. I cannot find a reliable person who would watch the workers, and who would sit in the chapel to collect alms for the construction; but I see that you would be able to do this, and on your way you would live well; you would sit alone in the chapel, and pray to God; there is also a compartment separated for the guard; please stay, even if only for this time, until the church is finished. Although I refused at first, I had to agree at the priest’s persuasive request. And so I stayed for the summer until autumn. And he began to live in the chapel. At first, I had a peaceful and comfortable time to practice in prayer, even though a lot of people came to the chapel, especially on holy days, to pray, to rest, and to collect something from the donation bowl. And as I sometimes read the Love of godliness, some of those who came heard this and started a conversation with me, and others asked me to read something to them.

            After some time, I noticed that one peasant girl often went to the chapel and prayed to God for a long time. Listening to her muttering, I found out that she was reading some strange prayers, and others were completely distorted. I asked her: who taught her this? She said that her mother, who was a church woman, and her father a fanatic due to her lack of education. Pitying all this, I advised her to read the prayers correctly, according to the tradition of the holy church, and therefore I interpreted it to her: Our Father, and Blessed be the Virgin Mary. And, finally, I said: make more and more frequent the prayer of Jesus; it is more profitable than all prayers to God, and you will receive the salvation of your soul through it. The girl took my advice to heart and began to do so with simplicity. And what happened? After a while, she announced to me that she had become accustomed to the prayer of Jesus, and that she felt a constant inclination, that if she could, she would continue to pray with it, and that after praying, she felt pleasure at the end, as well as joy and desire to pray again. I was delighted to hear this, and I advised her to continue praying with the prayer of Jesus Christ.

The time was approaching the end of summer; many of those who came to the chapel also began to come to me, not only for reading and advice, but also with various life troubles, and even for identifying lost and missing persons; apparently, others considered me a witch. Finally, the girl in question, in distress, came for advice on what to do. Her father intended to marry her to an impulsive vagabond, also from the villages of Bespopovshchina, and would marry him. What was this lawful marriage, she exclaimed, it is unimportant! I want to escape, wherever my eyes are looking. I told her, where will you run? After all, they will find you again. You cannot hide anywhere nowadays, they will find you everywhere; and it is better to pray more earnestly to God so that He will by His providences thwart the intentions of your father and preserve your soul from sin and heresy. This will be safer than fleeing.

            “Ah, they too were holy,” said the priest. “If the saints were afraid to make contact with people lest they be harmed, then what is one to do with an impotent sinner?” At last I said good-bye to this good priest, who led me out with love. 

A Story about a Saved Girl

            I walked ten miles, and stopped to spend the night in a village. On this night I saw a desperate man very ill, and advised his neighbors to administer the sacraments to him. They agreed, and the next morning sent for a priest from their own parish. I stayed behind to venerate the holy gifts and to pray for this great sacrament. I went out into the street, sat on a step and waited until I met the priest. Suddenly from the back alley came a girl who had been kneeling in the chapel. 

            “How did you get here,” I asked. 

            They were supposed to take me and turn me into a fugitive, and I got up. At the same time, kneeling at my feet, she began to say: “Have mercy on me, take me with you and take me to a nuns’ monastery. I don’t want to get married, I’ll live in a monastery, to do Jesus’ prayer. Others will listen to me, and take me in.” 

            “Oh, I beg you, where am I going to take you?” I said. I don’t know of any convents on this side, and how can I take you if you don’t have a passport? Since you won’t be accepted anywhere, and you can’t hide anywhere at the moment, they’ll beat you, send you to your place by transport, and punish you for vagrancy. Go home and pray to God, and if you don’t want to get married, then think of some bodily infirmity. This is what you call salvation. This is what Father Clement and the Holy Mother Marina, who took refuge in a monastery for men, did, and many others. 

            At the same time we were sitting and thinking, we saw four men driving sheep along a road. They jumped up next to us. They grabbed the girl, put her on a wagon, and one of them left. Three tied my hands and drove me back to the village where I lived in the summer. When I pleaded my case, they only shouted, “We’ll show you, holy man, how to woo girls!” 

In the evening they brought me to the village administration, put an iron collar on my leg, and put me in prison until morning, until they finished the trial. The priest, finding out that I was in the prison, came to visit me. He brought me dinner, comforted me, and said that the father spiritual would come to advocate for me and say what the dean thought about me, that I was not the person they thought I was. After sitting with me, he left. 

Later in the evening, the administrator passed through a village and was told about what had happened. He ordered a meeting and had me brought to the judge’s house. We all entered and waited. The administrator then came in, seated himself at the table in his official clerical robe and shouted out: “Hey, Epifan! Was your daughter not harmed in any way by the village?” “No, father!” “Was this young man ever implicated in any mischief?” “No, father!” “Well, at least we will judge and decide: you and your daughter will settle this on your own; but tomorrow we will interrogate this young man and torture him, and send him to prison so that he doesn’t show up around here again. That’s all!” Having said this, the administrator got up from the table and went off to sleep while I was once again locked in prison. Early the next morning, two men—the hundred men’s servant and the centurion—arrested me and let me go again; and I went, thanking God for having granted me to endure for his sake. This comforted me, and even warmed me all the more with unceasing heart prayer.Then he began to say: “Take care of your soul and do not worry! Remember what the Apostle said: ‘What is in you is more than in the world.’ Now you have learned from experience that no temptation comes beyond the power of a person; but with temptation, God works and makes achievement. The hope of this divine help sustained and guided the zeal and efforts of the holy prayer-makers, who not only spent their lives in unceasing prayer themselves, but with love also taught and opened it to others, as needed and in time. This is what St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “Not only do we ourselves need to pray continuously, as commanded by God, in the name of Christ, but we should teach and open this to all monks, lay people, the wise and the simple, men, women and children, and arouse diligence in all. “Similarly, the Reverend Callistus of Antilykuda says: “neither the intellectual action about the Lord (that is, inner prayer) nor the contemplate knowledge, and the ways to heal the soul, should be kept in one’s own mind, but written down, disclosed, and the public counsel of mutual benefit. And the Word of God also says that “let us help each other, for the city is strong and high.”

To spend this day in peace, without obstacles to spiritual joy, I asked the church watchman to spend the night in the shed. All day long I was in a profound joy and sweetness of heart; I lay on the floor in this unheated shed, as if I were resting on the bosom of Abraham: prayer was very powerful. Love for Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother, like sweet waves, swirled in my heart and seemed to immerse my soul in pleasing ecstasy. By evening, I suddenly felt a violent throbbing in my legs, and I remembered that they were wet. Ignoring this, I began to listen more attentively to my heart with prayer and no longer felt any pain. In the morning, I wanted to get up, but I saw that I could not even move my legs; they were completely relaxed, like blisters; the watchman barely dragged me off the floor. So I lay there for two days, motionless. On the third day, the watchman began to drive me out of the shed, saying: if you die here, go with me. As soon as I staggered out on my hands, I lay on the church porch.

When I recovered, I began to teach the boy, I wrote the Lord’s Prayer instead of the lessons; I made him copy, showing him how to write the words well. Teaching him was easy for me, because he served the master during the day and came to me for lessons only when the master was asleep, that is, from morning until late at lunch. The boy was intelligent and soon began to write something. The master from Poland, noticing that he was writing, asked him: Who is teaching you? The boy said that it was the crippled wanderer who lived with us in the old sauna. The master from Poland was curious and came to see me while I was reading The Acts of Love. After talking with me, he asked: What are you reading? I showed him the book. – Oh, this is The Acts of Love, he said. I had seen this book in the parish priest when I lived in Wilno; however, I had heard that it contains some strange tricks and a special art of praying, written by Greek monks, similar to the fanatics in India and Bukhara who sit and twitch their hearts and worship this natural feeling for nothing. We should pray simply to fulfill our duty before God; get up and say the Our Father as Christ taught us; that is, for a whole day nothing is wrong with it, but to repeat the same thing over and over; you will go crazy, and ruin your heart.”Do not think about this holy book, my father,” he said. “It was not written by simple Greek monks, but by great and holy people whom your church venerates, somehow Anthony the Great, Makariy the Great, Mark the Ascetic, John of Kronstadt, and others. And the Indian and Buhara monks took over the heartfelt way of inner prayer from them, but they rearranged and distorted it, as my elder told me. And in Dobrotolyubia, all the instructions on heartfelt prayer are drawn from the Word of God, from the Holy Bible, in which Jesus Christ Himself, who commanded us to read ‘Our Father,’ also commanded unceasing heartfelt prayer, saying, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul’; ‘Be vigilant and be alert and pray’; ‘Stay in Me, and I in you.’ And the holy Fathers, citing St. King David from the Psalms: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good,’ interpret it so that a Christian should seek and attain sweetness in prayer and constantly seek comfort in it, and not just once a day recite ‘Our Father.’”

    At night, in the soft snow, I can hear the voice of my old man, but I cannot see anyone; the voice said to me: Behold, your master has healed you, and you can do nothing to help the caretaker. God commanded us to have compassion on others. With what pleasure would I have helped her? I do not know how. Here is what you should do: she has had a dislike for tree oil since she was a child, and not only for eating it, but she cannot bear the smell without nausea; therefore, give her a spoonful of the oil to drink, it will make her vomit, the bone will come out, and the wound in her throat, which was scratched by the bone, will be smeared with oil, and she will recover. How will I give it when she has a dislike; will she not drink it? You should persuade the master to hold her by the head and suddenly, even if forcibly, pour it into her mouth. I woke up immediately and went to the master and told him about it in detail. He asks whether he will now make your oil? Here she is vomiting and snoring, and her neck is swollen all over. However, I guess we will try it; the oil is not harmful, but it will not help. He poured some tree oil into a glass, and we gave her a sip. At once she began to vomit violently, and soon the bone came out with blood; she felt easier and fell asleep soundly.

    In the morning, I came to check and saw that she was calmly sitting over her tea, and together with her husband, they were wondering about the healing. What’s more, as was told to me in a dream, that she does not like tree oil, because no one, except them, both of them knew about it. Here the doctor came, the caretaker told him what happened to her, and I told her about it; how the man healed my legs. The doctor, having listened, said: no one of these cases is strange; in both of them, the same natural force worked, but for the record, I will write it down in a note-book. He took a pencil and wrote it down in a note-book.

    After this, word soon spread around the area that I was both a prophet and a doctor and a healer; people from all sides constantly began to come to me with their various cases and situations, bringing me gifts and began to worship and beg me. I looked at this for a week, and fearing that I might not fall into vanity and ruin myself with dissipation, I left there secretly at night.

           Then I once again went on the separate road to my home, and felt such ease as if a mountain had fallen from my shoulders. Prayer consoled me more and more, so that sometimes my heart boiled over with immense love for Jesus Christ, and from this sweet boiling, like soothing streams, flowed through all my joints. The memory of Jesus Christ was instilled so much in me that while thinking about the Gospel events, I seemed to be seeing them before my eyes, I was moved by sorrow and joyfully wept, and sometimes I felt joy in my heart that I could not express. It so happened that sometimes I did not enter human settlements for days on end, and I felt as if I were the only person on earth, one poor sinner before an indulgent and human-loving God. I was comforted by this solitude, and the prayerful pleasure for it was far more intense than for those in the world.

            Before leaving Irkutsk, I went to see a spiritual father with whom I had been holding conversations, and said to him: “Here I am already on my way to Jerusalem; I came to say goodbye and to thank him for his Christian love for me, an unworthy traveler.” He said to me: “May God bless your journey.” But what did you not tell me about yourself, who you are and where you come from? I have heard a lot from you about your travels; it would be interesting to know about your background and life before your travels.

            “Well,” I said, “I will be happy to tell you about this too. It is not a long story.”

Biography of the Pilgrim and His Former Worldly Life

            I was born in a village in the province of Orlovsk. After my father and mother, there were only two of us, my older brother and I. He was ten years old, and I was two years old – the third. That’s how our grandfather took us under his wing; he was an elderly wealthy and honest man who kept a busy inn on a major road, and because of his kindness, many travelers stopped by. We began to live with him; my brother was restless, and he ran around the village all the time, while I would hang around with my grandfather. On holidays, we would go to church with him, and at home he would often read the Bible, the very one that I have. My brother grew up and corrupted himself – he got used to drinking. I was seven years old; once I was lying with my brother on the stove, and he threw me off, causing me to injure my left hand. That has been the case ever since – it is completely withered away.”

          When I saw that I would not be capable of any field work, my grandfather began to teach me to read and write, using a Bible, for we had no alphabet. Somehow, I learned to read, following his instructions, not knowing how. When my grandfather began to have poor eyesight, he often made me read the Bible, while he listened and corrected me. We often had a village clerk visiting our house, who wrote beautifully, and I watched him, and liked the way he wrote. In that way, I learned to write too. My grandfather was delighted with me, and told me: Now God has given you literacy. You should be grateful to Him and pray often. So we went to all the church services, and we also often prayed at home; I was forced to read: “Have mercy on me, O God”, and my grandfather and granny would make the sign of the cross or kneel down. Finally, when I was seventeen years old, granny died. My grandfather talked to me: There is no mistress in our house, but what of that? Your older brother has bolted, I must marry you. I was rather ashamed, thinking of my illness, but my grandfather insisted, and I got married. A decent and proper girl, twenty years old, was chosen for me. A year passed, and my grandfather became ill on the eve of his death. He called me and said: Here is the house, and all the inheritance, live according to your conscience, deceive nobody, and pray to God most of all. Do not count on anything but God, go to church, read the Bible, and remember both our parents. Here is one thousand roubles for you – keep them, do not spend them wastefully, but do not hoard them, either; give them away to beggars and to God’s churches.

          So he died, and I buried him. My brother became jealous that the estate had been left to me, and began to hate me with help from an enemy, and actually wanted to kill me. Finally, this is what he did at night, when we were asleep and there were no servants: he broke the door of the safe where the money was kept, pulled it out from inside, and set fire to the door. We heard it as the whole house and its courtyard were on fire, and barely got out of the windowpane, in pyjamas. The Bible was under the head of the bed, and we took it with us. As we looked at our house burning, we said between ourselves: Thank God that the Bible survived, we have something to be content about even in the fire. So all our property was burned, and my brother left us without a trace. Only later did we find out that he began to drink and boast that he had stolen the money and set fire to our estate.

I am still naked and shod; I am miserable; I have put up a small hut on credit and have started to live as a bohemian. My wife was a craftswoman: she wove, spun, sewed, did work for people, and worked day and night. And I, with my one hand, couldn’t even make a knot. She was sewing or spinning, and I was sitting by her side, reading the Bible, and she listened, and sometimes she would cry. When I asked her: Why are you crying? Thank God, we are alive. So she would say: It is so moving to me that the Bible is written so well. We also observed our grandfather’s command – we fasted frequently, read the Akathist of the Holy Mother every morning, and made one thousand bows at night, so as not to be tempted. So we lived quietly for two years. But what was strange is that although we had no notion of inner prayer, which is created in the heart, and never heard of it, we only prayed in words, and the unnecessary bows we made, like idiots, were useless. Long outward and meaningless prayers did not seem difficult. Perhaps the truth was told to me by one teacher that there is a secret prayer within a person, which he himself does not know how it happens, how it is created in the soul, and awakens one to prayer, who knows what and how.To be fair, the Russian saying goes: people assume, and God has, I said, I have come to see my spiritual father. I thought that today I would go down the road to the Holy Mount of Jerusalem, but it turned out differently; a completely unexpected circumstance left me there for three more days. And I could not stand it, so I came to see you to tell you about this and to get your advice on how to act in this sudden turn of events.

            What strange events take place on the path of life! And yet God and His holy providence direct our deeds and intentions, as it is written: and what we will and what the children of God are. After hearing this, my spiritual father said: I am very glad, dear brother, that the Lord unexpectedly arranged to see you in a short time. And since you are now free, I will gladly keep you longer and you will tell me more about your instructive meetings that took place during your long journey. I listened to all your previous accounts with pleasure and attention. I am willing to do so, I responded, and began to speak. 

            There was much, both good and bad; it is not easy to tell all, but much has come out of memory, because I tried to remember mainly what moved my lazy soul to prayer, and I rarely remembered the rest, or rather, I tried to forget the past, following the example of the holy Apostle Paul, who said: I strive to praise the highest honor, forgetting the past, while reaching forward. And the late Beatified Elder used to say that obstacles to heart prayer come from two sides, from thoughts of vanity and muse, that is, if the enemy does not manage to distract from prayer with vain thoughts and sinful intentions, he restores in memory instructive memories or entices prayer, and it is unendurable. And this is called a clear theft, in which the soul, having neglected conversation with God, turns to a pleasant conversation with itself or with animals. And he taught me to never accept even the most beautiful spiritual thought during prayer, and after the day, if it happens to see that the time spent was more in instructive reflection and conversation than in the essential prayer of the heart, then this is considered immoderation or self-interest for the necessary, for spiritual greed in prayer. Preferring to have more time spent in useful contemplation and conversation than in substantial prayer of the heart, I devoted much more time to it than was spent on other activities of piety. But how can I forget everything? Something else has seared itself so deeply into my memory that I have not remembered it for a long time, but I remember it, as for example, one pious family whose house God allowed me to stay a few days with the story described below.

A Meeting with the God-fearing Family of a Landowner

Walking away from the town by a distance of about ten versts, I saw a poor village and a poor little wooden church, but very well decorated externally and painted. As I passed by, I wanted to pay respects to God’s house, and I entered the church sanctuary and prayed. By the side of the church, on the raised ground, there were two little children of about five or six playing. I thought that they must be the children of a priest, even though they were very well dressed. So I prayed and went on. Before I had walked ten steps away from the church, I heard a scream behind me: beggar, beggar, stay! This was what the little children were shouting and running towards me; they grabbed my hand: let’s go to our mother; she loves beggars. I am not a beggar, I tell them, but a passing man. And what is this bag? This is my travelling bread. No, we must go, my mother will give you money for the road. Where is your mother? Behind the church, behind that gate.

They led me into a beautiful garden, in the middle of which there was a large country house; we went into the parlours, what cleanliness and decorating! And our mother came running towards us. I beg your kindness! I beg your kindness! Where has God sent you to us? Sit down, love, sit down! She took the bag off me, put it on the table, and sat me down on a comfortable bench; would you like to eat? or a cup of tea? is there anything you need? I thank you again and again, I answered, I have enough food in my sack, I like drinking tea, but because of our peasant lifestyle I have no habit of drinking it, your efforts and your kind hospitality are more valuable to me than food; I’ll beg God to bless you for this evangelical hospitality.

Then she sighed, “And so I stood up and said: I ask your forgiveness, mother, I must go; may the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and your loving children. Ah, no! God forbid that I go; I won’t let you go. Here, it’s almost evening, and my husband will be coming to the town, where he serves in the district court. How happy he’ll be to see you! He considers every traveler as God’s messenger. And if you go, he’ll be very upset not to see you: besides, tomorrow is Sunday, and you’ll pray with us at lunch, and whatever God has sent, you’ll eat together; at our every religious celebration we have up to thirty poor holy brothers. But you didn’t say anything about yourself, where you’re from and where you’re going? Talk to me, I like hearing spiritual conversations with godly people. Children, children! take the traveler’s bag and take it to the image room, where he’ll spend the night. While she was listening to these words, I was amazed, and I thought: am I talking to a person, or is it a ghost who has appeared to me?After this, I asked, “Where is the book by John the Preacher, which you wish to send to your mother?” Let’s go to my room and I’ll find it for you. As soon as we sat down to read, the gentleman arrived. Seeing me, he embraced me affectionately, and we kissed each other as brothers and Christians, took me to his room, and said, “Come, dear brother, let’s bless my cell. I think she has grown bored with you. Whenever she sees a traveler or a traveler, or a sick person, she is glad and does not leave them day or night; that has been the custom in her family for a long time. We entered his room. There are many books, beautiful icons, a life-giving cross as high as a person, and the Gospel is placed near it. I prayed and said, “In your room, brother, there is a heavenly paradise. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and His holy saints, and here (pointing to the books) are their divine, living, and never-ending words and instructions. I think you often enjoy a heavenly conversation with them.” “Yes, I confess,” the gentleman replied, “I like to read. What books do you have here?” “I have many spiritual and religious books,” he said, “a whole year’s collection of sermons, the works of John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, many theological and philosophical books, as well as many sermons by famous preachers. My library costs me fifteen thousand rubles.””There is no book on prayer with you, I asked,” and I love reading about prayer. There is a new book on prayer, written by a priest from St. Petersburg. The priest has given an interpretation of the Lord’s prayer: ‘Our Father’ and we were happy to read it. Shortly afterwards, a lady came to us, brought some tea, and the children brought a whole loaf of silver, like cakes I had never eaten. The gentleman took the book from me, gave it to the lady, and said: ‘Now we will have her read it; she reads it wonderfully, and we will treat ourselves to it.’ The lady began reading, and we began listening. As I listened to the reading, I also listened to the prayer being conducted, through my heart; the further the reading went, the more the prayer developed and pleased me. Suddenly I saw someone darting by in front of my eyes, as if in the air, like my deceased elderly uncle. I startled, but in order to conceal this, I said, ‘Sorry, I dozed off for a moment.’ Here I felt as if the old man’s spirit had penetrated my spirit or illuminated it, and I felt a light in my mind and a multitude of thoughts about the prayer. As soon as I crossed myself and tried to drive away these thoughts, the lady finished reading the entire book, and the gentleman asked, ‘Did you like this work?’ ‘Very much,’ I replied, ‘and the Lord’s prayer Our Father is the supreme and most valuable among all the prayers that we Christians have; for it is taught by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and the interpretation given in this book is very good, but it is mostly directed towards Christian activity, and I had to read in the Holy Fathers a contemplative, secret interpretation of it.’”In which did you read this? For example, in Maxim the Confessor, and in the “Dobrotolubia” of Peter Damascene. Please, do you remember anything, tell us! Please. The beginning of the prayer: “Our Father in heaven” In the book we read, it is explained that under these words one should understand the inspiration of brotherly love for one’s neighbors, as children of the one Father. This is very fair, but the holy fathers explain it further and more spiritually, namely – they say that in these words one should turn one’s mind to heaven, to the heavenly Father, and remember our obligation to present ourselves in God’s presence constantly and to walk before God. The words: “Let thy name be hallowed” are explained by the book with care, so as not to pronounce God’s name without reverence, or in an unfair oath, in other words, so that the holy name of God should be pronounced with sacredness and not wasted; and the secret commentators see here a direct request for inner heart prayer, that is, may the most holy name of God be written on the inside of the heart, and self-help prayer sanctifies and sanctifies all the feelings and spiritual faculties of the soul. The words: “Let thy kingdom come” are explained by the secret commentators as follows: let the inner world, peace and spiritual joy come to our hearts. In the book it is explained that by the words: “Give us today our daily bread” we should understand a request for necessary needs for bodily life, not superfluous, but only necessary and help for our neighbors to be sufficient. And Maxim the Confessor, under the name of daily bread, understands the nourishment of the soul with heavenly bread, that is, the Word of God, and union of the soul with God, through divine contemplation and unceasing inner prayer of the heart.Oh! this great affair and it is almost impossible for the inhabitants of the world to attain inner prayer, exclaimed the gentleman; though if the Lord could help them to send it forth without inefficiency. Do not think so, father, it is neither impossible nor arduously difficult. God has commanded it for everyone. His power is in inaction; and experienced holy fathers propose ways to facilitate the path to inner prayer. Of course, for desert dwellers they indicate special and higher means, but for the laity they also prescribe useful and guiding means to achieve inner prayer. Nowhere have I ever read about this in detail, said the gentleman. Please, please, I will read to you in the book Dobrotolyubstvo. I brought my Dobrotolyubstvo with me, found Peter Damaskin’s article in volume 3 on sheet 48, and began to read the following: “One should learn to call on the name of God more than to breathe, at all times and in all places and in all deeds. The apostle says: ‘Never cease praying’, that is, he teaches to always have the things of God in mind, in every time and place, and in every deed. You must have the Creator of affairs in mind and magnify Him, and you will constantly pray, and your soul will always rejoice.” See how this method of continuous prayer is convenient, easy and accessible to anyone who has any human feelings at all. They all liked it very much. The gentleman embraced me with enthusiasm, thanked me, looked at my Dobrotolyubstvo, and said, “I will definitely buy such a book for myself; I will soon get it from St. Petersburg; and now, for memory’s sake, I’ll write down this article that you have read – tell me.” And he very quickly wrote it down. Then he exclaimed, “My God! Here I have an icon of St. Damaskin (probably an icon of John Damaskin). He took a frame, put a written sheet under the glass, and hung it under the icon, saying, ‘Here the living words of a godly man, under his image, will often remind me to carry out this saving advice in his activity.’”After the pastors had gone home, the three of us remained in the room. Then the lady brought me a white shirt and stockings – I bowed down to her and said, “I won’t take these stockings from my mother, I don’t know how to sew them, we’ve always worn aprons. She hurried back and brought her old cape, made of thin yellow cloth, and cut it in two. The husband said, ‘Look, this poor man’s apron is almost worn out,’ and brought his new boots, the ones he wears over his boots. Then he said to me, ‘Go into that room.’ I went there, changed my clothes, and came out again. They sat me down on a chair, and started putting me on, the husband began wrapping my feet with the apron, and the wife started putting on the boots. At first, I didn’t want to cooperate, but they told me to sit still and said, ‘Sit and be silent, Christ washed the feet of his disciples.’ I had nothing to do, and I started crying, and they cried too.

I have asked you, dear brother, not only out of mere curiosity, but out of goodness and Christian sympathy for you, and also because, a couple of years ago, I saw an example that gave rise to my question to you. You see, there came to us a beggar with a soldier’s retirement passport, an old man, very poor, almost barefoot and naked, who spoke little and simply, like a countryman. We took him into our charity; after a few days he fell seriously ill, so we took him to this gazebo, reassured him, and started going for him, my wife and I, to treat him. Eventually, he was close to death; we prepared him, calling our priest to confess, anoint and discharge him. The day before his death, he got up, asked for a sheet of paper and a pen, asked me to close the door and not let anyone in while he wrote a will to his son, who asked that it be sent to St. Petersburg to the given address. I was surprised to see that he wrote not only in a beautiful, most educated handwriting, but his work was also wonderful, correct and very tender. Come tomorrow, and I will read you his will; I have a copy of it.

Being in such a painful state, I realized my transgressions, repented, confessed, set free all the people in my service, vowed to torment myself with all kinds of labor for the rest of my life, and to hide in a wretched form, so that for my wrongdoing I might be the last servant of people of the lowest class. As soon as I firmly decided on this, the visions that had been troubling me immediately ceased. I felt such a joy and delight at being reconciled to God that I cannot fully express it. That is when I also experienced firsthand what Paradise means, and how the Kingdom of God is revealed within our hearts.
I soon recovered, fulfilled my intentions, and with a retired soldier’s passport I secretly left my homeland. And here I have been wandering throughout Siberia for 15 years. Sometimes I’ve taken on laborious work for peasants, and sometimes I’ve made a living by God’s name. Oh, with all these toilings, what bliss, happiness, and peace of conscience I have experienced! This can be fully felt only by one who, out of painful hell, has been carried by the mercy of the Intercessor to the kingdom of God. After telling this, he handed me his will for delivery to his son, and the next day he died. And here is the list of his will, which I now have in my pocket, enclosed in my Bible. If you wish, I’ll read it now. Please do so!

I unfolded it and read:  In the name of God, the Trinity glorified Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Dear son!  It has been 15 years since you have seen your father, but he is in the realm of the unknown, sporadically informing you of his condition, nourishing you with paternal love, which compels him to send these final lines to you, so that they might be a lesson in life for you.

You know of my sufferings for my carelessness and careless life; but you do not know how I have been blessed in my obscure wanderings, enjoying the fruit of my repentance.

I am passing peacefully into the hands of my good Savior, who, along with your benefactor, receives my blessing. For the graces poured out on a father are to be bestowed on his caring son. Pay him my gratitude, as you can.

Leaving you my fatherly blessing, I implore you to fear God, guard your conscience, be cautious, kind, and prudent, treat subordinates as generously and lovingly as you can, not despise beggars and strangers, remembering that even the dying father, in poverty and the darkness of his soul, was tormented.

            Calling upon the grace of God, I peacefully closed my eyes in the hope of eternal life, in the forgiveness of the way of the man Jesus Christ.

            My father.

            That is how we lay down and talked. And I asked him: Do you have no worries and no worries with a crazy man? After all, there are also many of our pilgrims who wander about, or laze around, and wander about. There have been few such cases, more and more pilgrims have been caught, the master replied. So we pamper and keep such idlers longer. They, after living among our good beggars, Christian brothers, often correct themselves and become humble and gentle people. There was a recent example of this. One local city man became so dissolute that they drove him away with sticks from his gates, and no one even gave him a piece of bread. He was a washed up, violent, and mean person, and he also stole. In this state he came to us hungry; he asked for bread and wine, of which he was an extraordinary connoisseur. We welcomed him kindly, and we said: Live with us, we will give you as much wine as you want, but only on the condition that you immediately go to bed once you have drunk, if you have even a little anger or slander, then not only will we spit you out and never accept you, but even I will treat you like a servant or a gardener, a vagabond. Having agreed to this, he remained with us. For a week or more, he really drank a lot, as he wanted; but always, because of his promise and for his affection for wine (so as not to lose it), he went to sleep or went out into the garden, lay there and was silent. When he had sobered up, the beggar brothers persuaded him and gave him advice to be moderate, although at first he little by little. Gradually, he began to drink less and, finally, after three months, he became a careful person and now sometimes takes a job, and does not eat the food of strangers. So the next day he came to me with gratitude. What wisdom, through the guidance of love is done! I thought to myself and exclaimed: Blessed be God who shows his mercy in the enclosure of his enclosure!

            After these conversations, we with the master, laying down for an hour or an hour and a half, heard a blessing until morning, gathered together and went inside, and then Mrs. was already here and with her children. We listened to the morning; but immediately after that, the Divine Liturgy began. We with the master, and with one boy, stood at the altar, and Mrs. with her child and daughter-in-law – near the altar window, to see the consecration of the holy gifts. My God! How they prayed close together and tears of joy flowed down their faces! What a wonderful light shone in their faces, so that I, looking at them, did not want to cry.

After the service, the priest, the servants and all the beggars went to the dinner table together, and there were about forty beggars; there were sick people, lame people, and boys. Everyone sat down. What a silence and a silence! I took courage and said carefully to the master: in the monasteries, the lives of the saints are read during dinner; why not bring such an order here? It would be insignificant. Here I will read the first dinner, then you will, then the priest and then the brothers, on a rotation basis, whoever knows how. The priest, having eaten, began to say: I like to listen, but a humble servant does not have time to read. When you come home, you do not know how to return with all the worries and troubles; you have to do this, you have to do that; there are boys in piles, and the cattle are in abundance, all day long in the hustle and bustle, there is no time to read or preach. What I learned in seminary, I have long since forgotten. Hearing this, I shuddered, and the lady sitting next to me, as if she grabbed me by the hand, began to say: Father says it with humility, he always humiliates himself, and he is the kindest and most pleasing to God. For twenty years he has been widowed and raising a whole family of grandchildren, and besides, he often serves. At these words, the following saying by Mykity of Styfata in Dobrotolyubya came to my mind: the inward mood of the soul measures the nature of things, that is, who is who, so he concludes about others. And he goes on to say: Who has attained true prayer and love, he has no perception of things, he does not distinguish the righteous from the sinner, but he loves them all equally and does not condemn them, as God does; as the sun shines and rains on the righteous and the wicked. There was silence again. Beside me sat a completely blind beggar among the beggars. The master fed him, cut the fish, gave him a spoon, poured soup for him. Watching closely, I noticed that this beggar’s mouth is wide open, and his tongue is constantly moving and seems to be trembling; I thought he might be a priest, and began to notice more. During the end of the meal, one old woman suddenly felt bad, she had a strong seizure and made a gurgling noise. The master and his wife took her to their bedroom and laid her on the bed; the lady remained to walk with her; the priest went in case of emergency to get additional Holy gifts; and the master ordered to harness a carriage and rode after the doctor to the city. Everyone went their separate ways.

            I felt a prayerful hunger; my need for prayerful outpourings was great, and solitude and silence had passed away for me. I felt in my heart as if there were some flood that wanted to break through and flow out into all parts; however, the more I kept it back, the stronger the pain in my heart became–but it was a joyful pain, demanding silent peace and filling with prayer. Here I saw why the true workers of prayer, who experience this prayer spontaneously, fled from people and hid themselves in obscurity, and also understood why the Holy Elder Isychius calls even a useful conversation but impulsive, inordinary, and where St Euthymius the Syrian says: a good word is silver, and silence is pure gold. Having thought about all this, I went to see the poor man; everyone was resting after lunch there. I climbed onto the attic, became calm, rested, and prayed. When the beggars got up, I found the blind man and took him outside the yard; we sat there alone and began to talk.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; After reading this, I began to think that it was very convenient for me, and I began to pray in a whisper over my sewing, and I liked it. Those who lived with me in the house noticed this and began to laugh at me; are you a sorcerer or someone who constantly mutters? Or what are you saying? I stopped moving my lips to hide it, and began to pray in one language only. Finally, I got so used to praying that the language itself speaks of it day and night, and I like it.

             I walked like this for a long time, and then suddenly I became totally blind. In our family, almost everyone has dark water in their eyes. That is why our society from my poverty determined me to be hospitalized, which is located in our provincial city of Tobolsk. I am now going there, and the gentlemen stopped me in order to give me a ride to Tobolsk.

What was the name of the book you were reading, was it not The Good-Lover? I don’t remember, I didn’t look at the large sheet. I brought my Good-Lover, found in the 4th part in Kalista, the Patriarch’s words he said to me for remembrance, and I began to read them to him. Here it is, the blind man cried out. Read, brother, as it is very good. When I came to the line where it says, “It is necessary to pray with the heart,” he began to approach me: what does that mean? – And how is it done? I told him that the teaching about heart prayer is described in detail in this same book, in The Good-Lover, – and he asked me with zeal to read it to him.

             We’ll do it, I said. Do you intend to go to Tobolsk? Yes, even now, he replied. So here’s what, I think I’m going to start tomorrow, we’ll go with you and I’ll read you everything that concerns heart prayer and show you how to find a heart place and enter it. But what about the ride? he asked. Well, what kind of ride, as though it was half a hundred versts to Tobolsk, let’s go slowly, and two people know how good it is to go alone; and talking and reading about prayer as you go, is more convenient.

So we agreed; in the evening, the gentleman himself came to call us all to dinner, after dinner we announced that we were going on a journey with the blind man, and that we did not need a ride; to make it more convenient to read The Good-Lover. At the same time, the gentleman began to say: I also very much liked The Good-Lover; I have already written a letter and prepared money so that, once I go to court, I will send to St. Petersburg so that they will send The Good-Lover to me with the first mail. So on the morning we set off on our journey, thanked many times these gentlemen for their exemplary love and kindness; and they both walked us a hundred steps from their home. So we said goodbye.

We went with the blind man, and we went slowly and gradually, carrying about ten and eleven kilometres a day, and spent the rest of the time in secluded places, reading The Holy Loves. I read to him all about the prayer of the heart in the order prescribed to me by the late monk-leader of my monastery, that is, starting with the St. Nikon the Monk, and continuing in the same way. With what eagerness and attention he listened to everything and how everything pleased him and gave him pleasure! Then he began to ask me such questions about prayer that my mind wasn’t able to answer them. After reading what he needed from The Holy Loves, he began to ask me earnestly to show him practically how to find the heart with the mind, and how to introduce the divine name of Jesus Christ into it, and how to pray with happiness in the heart. I began to tell him: here you can’t see anything, but you can imagine and imagine what you saw before, that is, a person, or something, or some of your limbs, for example, your arm or leg, you can imagine them as vividly as though you were looking at them, and you can direct and fix your eyes on them, even though you are blind? I can, the blind man replied. So you can also imagine your heart, direct your eyes as if you were looking at it through your chest, and as quickly as possible imagine it, and listen carefully with your ears to its banging and beating from beat to beat. When you get used to this, begin to say or think the prayer words for each beat of the heart as you look at it. In this way, starting with the first beat, say or think “Lord” and “Jesus” for the second, “Christ” for the third, “forgive me” for the fourth, and “me” for the fifth, and repeat this many times. It is easy for you because the beginning and preparation for the prayer of the heart are already in place for you. When you get used to this, start to insert and withdraw the whole prayer of Jesus into the heart together with the breath, as the fathers teach, that is, by taking in the air, say and imagine: “Lord Jesus Christ” and when you exhale, say: “forgive me”! Practice this more often and more, and soon you will feel a subtle and pleasant pain in your heart, then there will be warmth and an expansion in it. So, with the help of God, you will achieve the delight of inner prayer of the heart for yourself. But at the same time, be very careful not to have any images in your mind, and ideas of any kind. Do not accept any images; because the holy fathers strictly forbid to remain blind during inner prayer, in order not to fall into temptation by beauty.Blind, having listened to everything carefully, began to diligently act according to the instructions, and at night, when we stopped for the night, he mostly spent a long time doing this. For a few days, he began to feel a great warmth and indescribable pleasure in his heart, and apart from that, he was keenly engaged in praying this prayer, which revealed to him a love for Jesus Christ. Sometimes he began to see light, although he didn’t notice any objects or things in it; sometimes it appeared to him, as he entered the heart, that a strong flame of a burning candle was luminous inside the heart, and by spilling out through the throat it illuminated it; and in this flame he could even see distant things, as happened once. We were walking through a forest, and he was absorbed in prayer, speechless. Suddenly he said to me: “It’s a pity! The church is already on fire, and the bell tower has fallen.” I said to him: “Stop imagining something non-existent; this is temptation, and all such dreams should be quickly discarded. How can you see what is happening in the city? We are still 12 versts away.” He obeyed, continued praying and fell silent. By evening we arrived in the city, and I could see several burned houses and the fallen bell tower, which had been built on wooden piles, and the people who were besieging it, and they were all surprised that the fallen tower had not crushed anyone. In my opinion, all this misfortune happened at the same time as the blind man was telling me about it. “You said that my vision was illusory,” he began to say to me, “but it is so. How could I not thank and love the Lord Jesus Christ, who opens up His grace to sinners, to the blind, and to the unwise! Thank you also for teaching me how to act heartily.”

I said to him: “Love Jesus Christ, and give thanks; but be careful to accept visions as immediate revelations of grace; for this can frequently happen, and is, in fact, natural.” The human soul is relatively unrestricted by space and substance. It can see in darkness, and very distant objects, like those that are near. We only fail to give the strength and flight to this natural capacity of the soul, and we either stifle it with the clumsiness of our body or with the confusion of our thoughts and divided minds. When we concentrate on ourselves, disengage ourselves from all that surrounds us, and deepen our powers, then the soul steps into its proper function and acts to the fullest extent; this is a natural matter. I heard from my late Elder that not even devout people, but those endowed with it, or suffering from it, can see in a dark room the light that comes from all things, distinguish objects, feel their double, and penetrate the thoughts of others. And that, when in the heart, it flows directly from the grace of God, it is so delightful that no language can speak of it, and nothing material can be applied to it, or compared to anything; all sensual experiences are base in comparison with the sweet sensations of grace in the heart. My blind attendant listened to this with diligence, and became even more humble; his prayer in his heart developed more and more, and it increasingly pleased him. I was glad about this from my heart, and thanked God that He has allowed me to see such a blessed servant of His.

            I was apparently enjoying these feelings excessively, whether out of a submission to God’s will or not, but after a while I felt a trembling and fear in my heart. I thought, without him, there would be some more misfortune or hardship, just as there had been for that girl whom I had taught the Jesus Prayer in the chapel. Thoughts crowded upon me like clouds, and I recalled the words of St. John of Karpathos, who says that he who frequently teaches, abandons himself to scandal and suffers hardships and temptations for those who have benefited from him spiritually. Having overcome these thoughts, I intensified the prayer by which I banished them completely, and encouraged myself, saying: May the will of God be done! I am ready to endure everything except that Jesus Christ will not send me for my wickedness and pride. And the people whom I had just opened up to the mystery of the inward way and inner prayer were also prepared for the encounter I had with them by the immediate secret teaching of God. After having calmed myself thus, I went forth with joy and prayer and rejoiced as before. It was a rainy day for two days, and the road was so muddy that it was almost impossible to take out my feet from the dirt, and I walked along the steppes, and I did not see any settlements for versts. In the evening, I saw a yard near the road and I was happy to be able to ask for a rest and spend the night.

As I sat there, I thought that she would not calm down soon, and I said to her: “Mother, where should I sleep? I am tired from the road.” And I gave her a bed, father, and placed a bench near the front window, and I spread the bedding and laid the pillows. I fell asleep, and I closed my eyes as if I was asleep. The cook kept stirring around for a long time; at last she went away, put out the fire, and came to me. Suddenly, the whole window, which was in the front corner, the frame, the panes, and the pieces of the jamb, broke in an explosion and fell with a terrible crash, the whole house shook, and a painful moan, scream, and sobbing broke out outside the window. The old woman was frightened and jumped to the middle of the room, and fell on the floor. I jumped up, thinking that the earth had opened under me. I saw two carriers bring a man into the house, all bloody, so that his face was not visible. This frightened me even more. It was a courier who had come to change the horses. The carrier suddenly missed the gate and hit the window with a thud, and the carriage tipped over, so the courier fell, smashing his head on the pointed wedge attached to the post. The courier asked for water and wine to wash his wound, he covered it with wine, and he drank a glass himself, and he shouted: “Horses!” I stood by his side and said: “How do you feel, father, with such pain riding?” “I have been sick sometimes,” he replied, and he jumped. The servants took the old woman to the stove in a corner without feeling, covered her with a quilt, and said: “This was a fairy tale that happened to her from fear; she will recover.” And the caretaker woke up and went back to sleep.

I was left alone.

Shortly afterwards, the old woman got up and started walking from corner to corner like a crazy person. She left the house. I, after praying, felt relief, and in the light I fell asleep a little.

In the morning, after saying goodbye to the caretaker, I set out, walked, and sent my prayer with faith, hope, and gratitude to the Father of graces and all comfort, who saved me from imminent danger.

           Six years after this event, while passing by a woman’s monastery, I went into the church to pray. The abbess, who was a strange and simple soul, took me to her after the meal, and ordered me to have some tea. Suddenly, unexpected guests arrived; she went out to meet them, while leaving me with the nuns, her novices. The humble Sister who was serving the tea first aroused my curiosity to ask her: ‘How long have you been in this monastery, Mother?’ ‘For eighteen years,’ she replied, ‘I was brought here mad, and God has had mercy on me. The abbess left me at the cell and became a nun. Why did you lose your mind?’ I asked. ‘Because of fear,’ she replied. ‘I was a servant at such a station, and at night while sleeping, the horses broke open a window, and I became terrified. I was taken by relatives to holy places for a whole year, and now I have just been cured. After hearing this, I rejoiced with my soul and praised God, wise in all things for those who build things.’

After lunch, the priest said to me: “Go and lie down, and I will read the Word of God and prepare for tomorrow’s sermon.” So I went into the kitchen; there was no one there, only an old woman sitting in a corner, hunched over, coughing. I sat by the window, took out my The Glory of Love from my bag, and began to read it quietly about myself; finally, I listened to the old woman who was sitting in the corner, constantly whispering the Lord’s Prayer; I rejoiced when I heard the most holy name of the Lord, which is often pronounced, and began to speak to her: “How good it is, mother, that you pray all the time!” “This is the most Christian and salvific thing to do,” she replied. “Have you always been so accustomed to praying? Since childhood,” the priest said. “This is the only joy I have in my old age, that God forgives me. How is that? Please tell me, for the glory of God and the glorification of the gracious power of the Lord’s Prayer.” I put The Glory of Love back in my bag, sat closer to her, and she began to tell:

            I was a young and beautiful girl; my parents arranged for me to marry, so that I might have a wedding tomorrow, and the groom came to us, but before he had taken ten steps he fell and died, without even taking a breath. I was so afraid of this that I refused to marry and decided to live in virginity, and go to holy places to pray to God. But I was afraid to go alone, in case my youth was mocked by evil people. An old friend taught me to always recite an Our Father wherever I went, and she strongly assured me that, with this prayer, no harm could come to me on the road. I believed her, and I was able to go everywhere safely, even to far-away holy places; my parents gave me money for this. 

            In my old age I became ill, and here the local priest takes care of me and feeds me. 

            Listening to this, I didn’t know how to thank God for the day that had opened before me such instructive examples. Then, having asked the blessing of a good and pious priest, I went on my way, rejoicing. 

The Story of the Conversion of an Old Kazan Official

            Not long ago, as I was walking through the Kazan Gubernia, I found how the power of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is revealed clearly and vivaciously even to those who do it unconsciously, and how the frequency and duration of prayer is the surest and most direct way to reach good results. I happened to spend the night in a Tatar village. There, entering the house, I saw a chariot and a Russian driver outside. The horses were being fed at the side of the cart. Excited by this, I set out to ask for lodgings immediately, thinking that at least I would spend the night among Christians. I approached the driver and asked who was travelling. He replied that the gentleman was passing through Kazan on his way to the Crimea. While we were talking with the coachman, the gentleman, pushing aside the curtain, peeped out from the cart, looked at me and said, “I am staying here too, but I did not go into the house because the Tatars are very bad, and I have taken the risk of spending the night in the cart.” 

            After many inquiries, he also told me the following about himself: until he was sixty-five years old, he served in the fleet as a captain of the first rank; in his old age, an incurable disease called gout struck him, and he retired, living on a farm in the Crimea with his wife, almost constantly ill. My wife was a choleric tempered woman, a gambling woman. She grew bored living with me, the sick man, and she left me, bringing with her even the servants, and leaving only an eight-year-old boy, my godson, with me. 

         And I lived like that for about three years. The servant boy was young and quick-witted, and he did most of my household chores, cleaned the room, stoked the fire, cooked porridge for me, and boiled the samovar. But he was an extremely lively and restless fellow. He was always running, clumping, shouting, making a noise, and he was very troublesome for me. And because of my illness and boredom, I always loved to read spiritual works. I had an excellent book by Gregory Palamas about the Jesus Prayer: I read it almost constantly, and I also made the prayer little by little. My boy was disturbing me, and no threats or punishments could keep him from his antics. So I came up with a device: I sat him in a room on a bench, ordering him to say the Jesus Prayer constantly. At first he did not like it at all, and he did everything possible to avoid it and often shut up. In order to make him obey my order, I put a scythe near me. When he said the prayer, I quietly read a book or listened to him saying it; but as soon as he fell silent, I showed him the scythe, and he was frightened and started saying the prayer again; and this calmed me down because there was silence in my house. After a while I noticed that there was no need for the scythe anymore; the boy began to work harder and with more diligence to obey my order. Then I noticed a complete change in his lively nature; he became quiet and silent, and he did the household chores more successfully. This made me happy, and I began to give him more freedom. Eventually, what happened? He became so used to praying that he almost always did it without any prompting from me. When I asked him about that, he would answer that he felt an irresistible urge to pray constantly. What do you feel about it? Nothing, I only feel that it’s good for me when I say prayer. But how exactly do you feel? I don’t know how to explain. It’s fun, or what? Yes, it’s fun.

            My son was already 12 years old when the war broke out in the Crimea, I went to my daughter in Kazan, and he accompanied me. They put him in the kitchen with other people, and he was very sad and complained to me that people, playing and chatting with each other, started to tease him too, and it prevented him from praying. Finally, after three months he came to me and said: I’m going home; I’m so bored here. I told him: How can you go so far alone in the winter? Wait until I go and bring you. The next day my boy disappeared. Everyone was searching for him, but they couldn’t find him anywhere. Finally, I received a letter from people remaining in our village in Crimea, saying that they had found my son dead in my empty house on April 4, two days after Easter. He was lying on the floor in my room, with his hands crossed on his chest, his cap under his head, and in the same cold surduk where he had been wearing when he left. And they buried him in my garden. When I received this news, I was very surprised at how quickly my boy had reached the village. He left on February 26, and he was found on April 4. To travel nearly three thousand kilometers in one month, God willing, even on horseback. After all, we’d have to cover a hundred kilometers a day. And besides, in cold clothes, without an identity card and without a penny in the pocket. Suppose that someone had transported him on the way, but this was all without the special providence and care of God. Here is my son, the priest finally said, he has tasted the fruit of prayer, and I have not yet reached his level even in my old age.

After that, I began to say to the priest: a wonderful book by the Monk Gregory Palamas, which you wanted to read, I know it. But in it, more than anything, there is only the so-called inaudible Jesus prayer. It would be better to read a book called Dobrotolyubye, where you will find complete and perfect science about how to reach the spiritual Jesus prayer in the mind and heart and taste its sweetest fruit; and I showed him my Dobrotolyubye. He, I noticed, was glad to take my advice and promised to get this book.

            My God, I reflected to myself, what strange acts of God’s power can happen from this prayer! And how wise and instructive this event is; the severe experience taught the boy prayer, and it also served as a means of consolation! Are not the same severe experiences of God’s power that we encounter on the prayer path? And therefore, why do we fear and be disturbed when the hand of our heavenly Father, filled with infinite love, shows us them and when these experiences teach us to study prayer more diligently and lead us to the consolation of the inexpressible?

    Having finished these accounts, I said to my spiritual father: Forgive me, for the sake of God, I have spoken too much, and the holy Fathers call excessive speech not just impiety, but ‘idleness.’ I must go to visit my companion from Jerusalem. Pray for me, poor sinner, that the Lord, in His great mercy, may arrange my way to eternal life.

    God grant you health and happiness, dear brother, he replied, and the assiduous grace of God illuminates your path and accompanies you, as did Raphael with Joseph.

Three Keys to the Inner Prayer Treasury

Found in the Spiritual Treasures of the Holy Fathers

      In my heart there is a storeroom for thy words. (Psalm 119:11).

      Evil continually finds way into the soul by every possible means (Kataphugiot, Chapter 19).

      If man has different temperaments, inclinations and abilities, then different means are used by each individual to attain the same goal. Similarly, the goal of inner prayer is reached through many paths — different approaches, depending on one’s own inclinations.

One of these methods is common both for success in prayer and for success in the Christian life, in one way: unconditional obedience, as Simeon the New Theologian says; laborious good deeds and asceticism, as the Church sings in its hymns: “acts of devotion you have found, god-inspired, in visions of the East” (Tropareion, psalm 35). Prayer outside for internal prayer: Lord, teach us to pray; special gracious influences, such as when, for example, Calypso Calivite, after two years of prayers to the Virgin, suddenly felt sweetness and warmth fall into her heart; a young man named George, in a simple prayer, suddenly saw an inner light and accepted a ceaseless automatic prayer, and so on.

There are also other important ways to internal prayer that are directly related to it. There are three of them, as we find in the Holy Fathers.

1) The part of the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ.

2) The attentiveness to this invocation; and

3) Entering within oneself, or, as the Church Fathers say, entering the mind into the heart.

Since these methods open the kingdom of God in us in a quick and convenient way and reveal the treasure of internal spiritual prayer in our heart, it is very appropriate to call them the keys to this secret ark.

First key: The invocation of the name of Jesus Christ

        If quantity leads to quality, then almost uninterrupted invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, though initially scattered, can lead to attention and warmth of heart; because the human nature is capable of assimilating a certain mood through frequent repetition and habit. In order to learn to do something well, one must do it much more often, said one spiritual writer; and St. Isaac says that frequency produces habit and appeals to nature (chapter 7). As can be seen from the observations of experienced men, this is the case with regard to internal prayer as follows: one who wants to achieve inner prayer resolves to invoke the Divine Name frequently, almost continuously, that is, to utter the Lord’s Prayer orally: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Sometimes it is shortened, that is, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, as St. Gregory the Sinaite teaches. He adds that the shortened invocation is more convenient for the beginner, however, he does not contradict either one or the other, advising only not to frequently change the prayer verbs in order to get used to the invocation more easily. And in order to even further arouse oneself to the continuous production of prayer, the disciple considers himself to be on the rule, watching the time, a certain number of times to invoke, that is, to say a hundred or a thousand prayers by the beads during the day and night, slowly, while speaking, straining the tongue and lips. After a while, the mouth and tongue of the adept acquire such a habit and, as self-motion, they already move spontaneously on their own, even without a voice. Further to this movement of the tongue, the mind listens and gradually clears itself of distraction and comes to attention to prayer. Finally, it can also imitate the weakness of the mind in the heart, as the Fathers express it, that is, the mind, returning to the heart, warms it with the warmth of divine love, and already the heart itself moves freely, without compulsion, inexpressibly in joy, invoking the name of Jesus Christ and pouring itself out with the petition, “My heart watches” (Psalm 103:16). St. Isaac beautifully expressed the fruitfulness of frequent intelligent invocation of the name of Jesus Christ: “Like the rain that falls on earth to multiply, it also fertilizes the earth; thus the name of Christ, when often invoked, joyfully performs and delights in our hearts, just as the rain multiplies on the earth.”

        Although the method presented, based on the experiences and observations of the holy fathers, is sufficient to provide convenient guidance in order to achieve the desired goal of interior prayer, there are still higher methods: attention and introduction of the mind into the heart. This first method belongs primarily to those who have not yet been accustomed to attention and are not yet able to successfully work on the heart, or it can be an introduction and supposition to the following methods. However, according to the differences in properties and abilities, whoever finds what is more convenient, that is what he chooses, as Nikifor the Hermit says.

2. Key: Attaining Attention to the Heart

Attention is the observance (keeping) of reason, as St. Nicopherine expresses it, or attention is the gathering of reason on itself and its deepening into some subject, while all foreign thoughts and images are abandoned. As it is necessary, when taking up prayer, Saints Callist and Ignatius assure us, citing the words of St. Nyl that attention, which seeks prayer, will inevitably attract it; for prayer follows more than anyone else, and it is fitting to turn to it (The Ascent of Blesseds, 2 Part, Chapter 24). St. Isiah says something similar: listen closely to thoughts; let the mind be inclined to pray (Ascents of the Blessed, 90); and furthermore: the air is filled with the happiness and silence of the heart by a great attention (Ascents of the Blessed, 91), which Nicopherine says is “so necessary for prayer, as a lamp is for the light of a lamp” (Ascents of the Blessed, Chapter 102).

1) St. Symeon the New Theologian, 2) Philoefor of Sinai, 3) Feolipit, metropolitan, and 4) Varsofius and Ioannes.

            In third place, we place the redemptive story of Abba Filimon. He mentions the path of asceticism throughout.

1. The first group of instructions

1) Instructions by Saint Simeon the New Theologian

St. Simeon the New Theologian presents the method of entering the heart in the depiction of the third form of prayer, in the 68th word (page 163, in the Russian second edition):

            The third form of prayer is truly amazing and indescribable, and to those who have not experienced it, it is not only uncomfortable, but even seems incredible. And indeed, in our time, this form of prayer is encountered by few, while they are constantly repelled by the intrigues and tricks of the demons, in order to divert the mind to their many and diverse thoughts. For then, being free of all, the mind has a good sense, without any hindrance, to investigate the thoughts instilled by the demons, and with great ease to repel them and offer its pure heart to its God with prayer.

            After describing the conditions for success in this form of prayer, namely, perfect obedience, and the observance of one’s conscience, both in relation to God and in relation to people, and in relation to things, and to do everything as if one were before God, he continues:

“By acting in this way, you will find the true and unobstructed path to the third form of prayer, which is as follows: the mind should keep the heart in place when it is praying, and let it constantly revolve inside, sending prayers to God from the depths of the heart.” This is everything: work in this way until you have tasted God. When, at last, the mind is there, inside the heart, and the heart has tasted and felt that the good God is there, then it will no longer want to move away from that place in the heart; then it will say, like St. Peter: “It is good for us to be here, and we shall always keep our gaze directed inward to the heart and keep turning there without ceasing, driving out all the thoughts that the devil brings.” For those who have no idea of this matter and do not understand it, it often seems to be difficult and oppressive. But those who have tasted the sweetness that it has and have enjoyed it in the depths of their heart, cry out with St. Paul and say: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” Why did our holy fathers, when they heard the Lord saying that evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, sodomy, lying testimony, slander come out of the heart, and that this is the essence of a depraved person; when they also heard that, in another passage of the Gospel, we are commanded to cleanse our inner vessels, so that the external one may be pure, they abandoned all other spiritual work and began to devote themselves entirely to this one work, that is, to the guarding of the heart, being convinced that, along with this work, they would easily attain to any virtue, and without it they could not possibly succeed in any. They practised it primarily and wrote about it. Whoever wishes may read their writings and read what Marcus the Ascetic wrote about it, what John the Hermit said, Saint Issacius, Philotheus of Sinai, Abba Isaac, Vartsius the Great, and others. If you want to learn how to do this (that is, how to enter the heart and remain there), I will tell you about it.

            Three things should be observed above all else: taking care of everything, even the blessed, and not only the unblessed and worldly, or else deadening everything, a pure conscience in everything, so that it does not betray you in anything, and perfect impartiality, so that your thought does not lean toward any thing. Then sit in a special and silent place by yourself, close the door, turn your mind away from any temporary and worldly thing, lean your head to your breast, and thus stay attentive within yourself (not in your head, but in your heart), returning your mind and your senses to that place. Having your mind there, seeking it in every way, seeking where your heart is, once you find it, your mind is there completely. At first you will find some darkness and hardness inside; but once you continue this work of attention day and night, you will obtain some constant joy. The mind, by practicing this, will reach the place of the heart, and then you will see inside things you have never seen or known before. From this moment, from whatever side a thought arises and appears, before it enters inside and thinks, or imagines, the mind will immediately drive it away and destroy it in the name of Jesus, that is, Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. From this moment on, the mind will begin to be angry with demons, to chase them away, and to strike them with the name of Jesus. As for the other things that usually accompany this training, with God’s help, you will learn from experience, by keeping vigilance and holding Jesus, that is, His prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!

2) Instructions of St. Hryhoriy of Sinai

St. Hryhoriy of Sinai presents in his three articles on interior prayer and the technique of prayer in the heart Anabaptism 1, pp. 112-119. Here is a short excerpt from them:

            We should have angelic communication with the Lord through pure prayer in the heart; but we, not understanding the greatness, dignity, and glory of the grace of rebirth, and not caring about becoming spiritually mature through the fulfillment of the commandments, and rising to the state of understanding contemplation, indulge in negligence, which plunges us into the abyss of senselessness and darkness. It happens that we hardly remember if God exists, and we have no idea what we are supposed to be, as children of God by grace. We believe, but in a faith that is not active, and after being renewed by the Spirit at baptism, we do not cease to live in the flesh. If at times we repent and begin to fulfill the commandments, we do it only outwardly, and not spiritually, and we deprive ourselves of spiritual life to the point that what others manifest as faults and mistakes. So, until the moment of death, we remain dead in spirit, living and acting not for Christ, and not corresponding to the definition that those born of the Spirit should be spiritual.

& nbsp; Meanwhile, the faith we received in Holy Baptism cannot be destroyed, but only buried like a treasure in the earth. And prudence and gratitude require us to take care that it be opened and brought to light. How can this be done?& nbsp; There are two ways that lead to this: first, this gift is revealed by the diligent fulfillment of the commandments, so that when we fulfill the commandments, it manifests its brightness and brilliance all the more; secondly, it comes into being and is revealed by the constant calling of the Lord Jesus, or, what is the same, by the unceasing memory of God. The first means is powerful; the second is more powerful, so that even the first receives its full strength from the second. Therefore, if we sincerely wish to reveal the hidden grain of grace within us, we should hasten to acquire this last heartfelt practice and have this one matter of prayer in our hearts, not by outward spectacle, until it warms our hearts and kindles it with an indescribable love for the Lord.& nbsp; The action of this prayer in the heart can take place in two ways; sometimes reason precedes, clinging to the Lord in the heart with unceasing remembrance, sometimes the action of prayer itself, having been awakened by the fire of joy, draws the mind into the heart and fixates it upon the calling of the Lord Jesus and upon a reverential attitude toward him. In the first case, the action of prayer begins to be revealed, subduing passions through the fulfillment of the commandments, by the warmth of the heart, as a result of the increased calling of the Lord Jesus. In the second, the spirit draws the mind into the heart and anchors it there, restraining it from its customary pursuits. With these two types of prayer, the mind is alternately active and contemplative: by action, it overcomes passions with the help of God, and by contemplation, it sees God as far as is possible for mankind.& nbsp; The active, rational, and heartfelt prayer is carried out as follows: sit down on a chair to the height of a kneeling, lower your mind from your head to your heart, and hold it there: and from there, piously and heartily, say: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” Hold your breathing as well, so that you do not breathe exhaleambitiously, because this may dissipate your thoughts. If you notice that thoughts begin to arise, do not follow them, even if they are simple and good, not only vain and evil. At this point, putting your mind into your heart and calling upon the Lord Jesus often and patiently, you will soon destroy such thoughts and vanquish them by striking the soldiers with the divine name. St. Lysimachus says: “With the name of Jesus, strike the soldiers; there is no weapon more powerful than this, neither in heaven nor on earth.”

When you take up this work of prayer, it is proper for you to read only books that present the teachings on the inner life, on sobriety, and prayer, particularly the Ladder of Mount Athos, the words of Isaac the Syrian, the ascetic works of Maximus the Confessor, Symeon the New Theologian, Isaiah, Philo of Sinai, and others. Leave aside books of a different kind for a time, not because they are bad, but because they are not suitable for your present mood and eagerness: they can distract your mind from prayer. Read little, with deep attention and comprehension.

Do not neglect prayer either. Some keep a great rule of prayer, others completely abandon the prayer book, praying to the Lord in one reasonable prayer. You should choose the middle way: do not include many prayers, because that leads to discouragement. But do not abandon them, in case of weakness and relaxation. If you see that prayer is operating in you and does not cease to move in your heart, do not abandon it and do not turn to the prayer book. This would mean leaving God inside and leaving Him there to speak to Him from the outside. For those who do not yet have the action of prayer, it is necessary to pray much and even excessively, in order to remain constantly in this frequent and diverse prayer, until such a painful labor of prayer is inflamed in the heart and the action of prayer begins in it. But one who has finally tasted this grace, should pray in moderation and spend more time in a reasonable prayer, as the fathers have commanded. In case of relaxation of the heart, one should pray or read the writings of the fathers. The use of vestments is excessive when the wind sets the sails; they are needed when the wind calms down and the boat stops.

A great weapon has nemesis for him who holds the tears in prayer, torn and broken, so as not to fall prey to the vanity of the joys brought about by Jesus’ prayer. The one who keeps such a joyous heart will avoid all harm. Genuine non-magical inner prayer is that in which the warmth, coming from Jesus’ prayer, brings fire to the depths of the heart and kindles passions, like hell. It lights up the soul with wonder and light, not from the clear air or the winds of heaven, nor even from above, but bursts forth from the heart, like a spring of water, from the life-giving Spirit. Love this one and turn to it in your heart, keeping your mind always alert. Do not fear anything with it; for He who said, “Rejoice, I will not fear,” is with us.

3) Instructions of the Monk Nickyfor the Monk

            Nicholas the monk explains in his article on sobriety and the preservation of the heart (Part 2, page 36-43) how to enter the heavenly heart in the sense of the soul. 

            Those of you who wish to receive the fire of the heavenly heart in the sense of the soul and to know the kingdom of heaven through experience, come, and I will tell you the science of the heavenly life, or rather the art which, without effort and hard work, brings its maker into the shelter of impartiality. Through our fall we have made a descent; let us return to ourselves, turning away from the external. Reconciliation and kinship with God is not possible for us unless we return to ourselves and enter within. Only inner life is truly Christian life. All the fathers testify to this.

            One brother asked Aba Agafona: what is more important, physical labor or the preservation of the heart? The elder answered: Man is similar to a tree; physical labor is the leaves, and the preservation of the heart is the fruit. Since, according to the Scriptures, every tree that does not bear good fruit is uprooted and is considered worthless, it is obvious that you should devote all your care to the fruit, that is, to the preservation of the heart. However, we also need a leafy outfit, that is, physical labor.

            St. Basil says: lock the doors of your cell for your body, lock the doors of your mouth for your tongue, and lock the inner doors for the evil spirits. While sitting on the mount, if you are skilled, watch which ones come to your father and in what number to enter the vineyard of your heart and to increase the grapes. Having worked, the watchman (that is, listens to the heart), rises to pray, and then sits down again and resolutely takes up the same work (that is, the attention of the heart and prayer).

            St. Makarios the Great teaches that the main business of the ascetic is to enter his own heart, to create a struggle with Satan and to oppose his thoughts, to struggle against him.

            St. Isaac the Syrian writes: The main thing for the ascetic is to enter his inner treasury, and he will see the heavenly treasure. The treasure of the kingdom of heaven is hidden inside him, that is, in his heart. Therefore, wash yourself from sin, and prepare yourself in your heart: there you will find the steps by which you can climb to the heights.

            Here is the saying of Karpfiya: much effort and work is required in prayers to find an undivided state of thoughts, which is another heavenly heart in which Christ lives, as the apostle says: Do you not know that Christ lives in you? 

Here are the words of St. Symeon the New Theologian: Since the time when man was driven out of Paradise and separated from God, the devil and demons have gained freedom day and night, invisibly tampering with every person’s apparent strength. The only way to protect oneself against this spirit is by constantly remembering God. Whoever is touched by this remembering God, he can restrain both his wandering and his reasoning power. Therefore, it is necessary to seek out a teacher who knows this matter. If such a teacher is not available, then, after calling upon God for help in weeping and the subduing of the heart, do as I tell you.

            Together with such a rich and joyous influence on our heart and worthy of its attention, all the virtues will come to us: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, and so on.

4) Advice of Callist and Ignatius of Xanthopoly

            St. Callist and Ignatius of Xanthopoly present their teachings on the interior formation of the heart in a total of one hundred sections contained in the Dobrotolubiya (part 2, pp. 56-131). The following are the main items that are necessary for us:

            The beginning of life with God is zeal and all the diligent effort to live according to the saving commandments of Christ; and the end is the manifestation of what was impressed upon us by divine grace in baptism, or what is the same, to “cast off the old man with his deeds and lusts” and “put on the new self, in accordance with God’s image” (Ephesians 4:22-24), as the divine Paul says: “My child, if you merely live in mortal as the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            When we are baptized, says St. Zosimus, then our soul shines more than the sun, and is purified by the Holy Spirit. Like the pure silver lying against the rays of the sun, which itself emits light, not because of its own nature, but through its illumination by the sun; similarly the soul, cleansed in baptism, receives rays of glory from the Spirit, and is itself internally glorious. Alas! But this glory, ineffable and terrible, remains in us only one or two days, and then we extinguish it by bringing on a storm of worldly cares and passionate deeds.

            In the divine baths, that is, in the holy font, in the tunis, we receive the full divine grace. If we then conceal it under the cover of worldly worries and passions, then we can renew it and purify it by repentance and the fulfillment of divine commandments, and see its natural brightness. This happens in proportion to the faith of each person and the ardor of the effort to live according to the faith, especially with the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Mark says: “Christ, the perfect God, has given the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit to those who have been baptized, and it requires no program from us; it opens up for us and is clearly executed in proportion to the observance of commandments, until we reach the fulfillment of Christ in the measure of our age.”Thus, since the beginning and root of saving action is to live by the Lord’s commandments, and the end and fruit is to restore the perfect grace of the Spirit that was first given us in baptism, which is buried by passions and is again revealed by the observance of God’s commandments, it is fitting for us to declare this gift, to purify it and see it more clearly. The epistle of the Lord, John, says that he who keeps the Lord’s commandments with the Lord, dwells with the Lord. The Lord Himself expresses this even more clearly, saying: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, loves Me. And he who loves Me will be made Father by Me, and I will love him and show myself to him. When anyone loves Me, my word will remain in him, and my Father will love him, and he will come to us and have a place in him.”Let it be known that if we teach our mind to descend with breathing into the heart, we will also observe that, descending there, it becomes one and naked, sustained by a single thought and invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ; on the other hand, emerging from there and stretching towards external objects, it willingly divides into many images and memories. To preserve this simplicity and singleness of mind, the experienced Fathers have commanded that whoever has worked hard to acquire the habit of keeping his mind in the heart in vigil, should sit in a silent and dark place, especially at the beginning of this good undertaking. For the vision of external objects is naturally the cause of dispersing thoughts. When the silent and dark temple conceals from us what is external, thought ceases to wander and is more easily gathered within, as Basil the Great says: “The mind which is not distracted by feelings about the world, turns back to itself.”

            Do this too, and, first of all, know that all such adjustments of the body are ordered, are determined by detailed rules and are considered necessary until pure and unceasing prayer arises in the heart. When, however, by the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have attained this, then, having abandoned many and various deeds, you will be more closely united to the One Lord in pure and unceasing heartfelt prayer, free of these adjustments.

            Therefore, if you wish to attain the life of Christ Jesus by means of works, seek to attain the thing that, in any time and hour, and in every work, to pray to the Lord in the heart with purity and fervency, so that in this way, from infancy, you may be able to arrive at the state of a mature man, in the measure of age, in the performance of Christ’s will. Do not forget at the same time that when sometimes a clean and unceasing prayer comes to you of its own accord, you must, under no circumstances, spoil it with your rules of prayer. This is the teaching of Philip. Whether it is at night or in the day, the Lord will give you the power to have a pure and unceasing prayer, and He will enlighten your heart in spiritual works. When you have attained the constant dwelling of prayer in the heart, then, as Isaac the Syrian says, you will have attained the completion of all virtues and have become a habitation of the Holy Spirit; then prayer will not cease when you sit, walk, eat or drink or do anything else; even in deep sleep the fragrance of the prayer will come easily from within; if it is silenced in sleep, it will always be secretly working in its inwardness, without interruption.

            When you have attained a lasting dwelling of prayer in the heart, then, as Isaac the Syrian says, you have attained the end of all virtues and have become a habitation of the Holy Spirit; then prayer will not cease when you sit, walk, eat or drink or do anything else; even in deep sleep the fragrance of the prayer will come easily from within; if it is silenced in sleep, it will always be secretly working in its inwardness, without interruption.

Second group of instructions

1) John the Presbyter’s instructions

            1) Contemplation is a continuous silence of the mind, in which it breathes constantly and unceasingly with Christ Jesus, the Son of God and God, and only Him, and, with Him courageously, opposes the enemies and has the power to leave sins (that is, to confess them).

            2) The fruitfulness of heart is a firm settling and standing of the mind at the gates of the heart; so that it sees how bad outside thoughts are coming, these thieves and robbers, hears what they are saying and doing, these destroyers and draws the outlines surrounding the image, attempting to capture the mind through dreams and lead it astray. If it is difficult for us to go through such an action, it will clearly show us the art of mental defense (ch. 6).

3) Images of sobriety: the first is not to be carried away by dreams or by example; the second – to have a heart that is always silent and a mouth that is silent from every thought, and to pray; the third – to constantly call upon the help of the Lord Jesus Christ in humility; the fourth – to have an unwearying remembrance of death; the fifth – the most effective of all – to look only upward, without accusing earth (chapters 14–18).8) The devil walks like a roaring lion with his flocks, calling for whom to devour. May our hearts never stop keeping watch, our minds clear, our thoughts restrained, and our prayers to Christ Jesus, our God. For besides Jesus’ help, there is no other that can be found to help you for your whole life. For He alone is Lord as God, knowing the demons’ tricks, subtleties, and deceits (chapter 39).13) The experienced great David says to the Lord: “I will keep my kingdom to you.” And the restoration of our spiritual and external peace, from which all the virtues are born, depends on the help of the Lord who gave us His commandments and removed the superfluous distraction that most often destroys spiritual peace, like water extinguishes fire. Therefore, don’t fall into slumber through negligence for your own destruction, but by the name of Jesus, beat off your enemies. This is the sweetest name and it will bring freshness to your breath; and then you will recognize the benefits of peace (Chapter 100).17) What an amazing fruit for the soul of the soul is silence, in which sins, striking first in the mind, only in the thoughts, and if they are received by the heart, become then coarse sins of the senses, are all repelled by the imaginary virtue of sobriety, which does not allow them to enter inside and enter inside, and enter and enter into the heart, and into Jesus Christ (Chapter 111).21) The business of unceasing temperance and multilateral, is to see immediately lurking and evil thoughts that form in the mind. The business of conversation – to refute and expose the thought that has made an assault to enter our mind through the perception of a sensuous object. The very thing that immediately extinguishes and disperses every intention of the adversaries, every dream, every idol and every pillar of malice, is the call of the Lord. And we ourselves see how Jesus, our great God, strikes them with force and protects us who are humble, poor and incapable of anything (Chapter 153).3) The language of blessedness belongs to the Creator, and it is the purpose of reason to calm the heart by perfectly focusing on God (ch. 1).

7) In every hour and every moment, let us insist on keeping our hearts free from thoughts that obscure the soul’s mirror, in which we must imprint and illuminate only Jesus Christ who is the wisdom and power of God the Father. Let us constantly seek the kingdom of heaven within our heart; and, as a matter of course, we will find in ourselves the secret seed, the pearl, the leaven, and all the rest, if we purify the eye of our mind. To this end, our Lord Jesus Christ said: The Kingdom of God is inside you, meaning the Divinity that is within the heart (cf. chapter 23).

1) The setting of the sun makes night; and when Christ departs from the soul, darkness of passions envelops it, and the beasts of desire begin to torment it. The sun of the senses rises, and the beasts hide in their lairs. Christ illuminates the mind that prays; and every world of this nature departs, and the mind goes forth to its work, that is, to the divine instruction until evening (letter 45, pp. 45–46).

            8) Believe me, I tell you the truth, that if in every work of yours you have as your constant companion the Mother of all good, prayer, it will not extinguish until it has shown you the path to it, until it has introduced you inside, and until it has achieved the ineffable glory and delight. It removes all obstacles, smooths the path of virtue, and makes it fit for those who seek (Letter 48).

            9) While thinking, read the verbs of prayer, and speak to the Lord, constantly crying out and not grieving; constantly praying, imitating the self-abandonment of this widow who begged the unbridled judge. Then (this will mean that) you will walk in spirit, not listening to bodily desires, and not ceasing to pray with mindful persistence, but becoming a temple of God in which God is silently sung. Thus, while praying in thought, you will eventually achieve unceasing contemplation of God, have secret visions in which the invisible can be seen, serving the only one to the one who is one, and that in the wisdom of your own conscience that love flows forth (Letter 48).

4. Words of Sophrony the Great and John the Forerunner

            1) By the calling of the Name of God, enemies are weakened. Knowing this, we will not cease to call God’s Name to help us. This is prayer, and Scripture says: “Always be praying” (Response 422).

            2) Remember that God is a heart-mover, He is looking at the heart, and call Him in your heart. This is what Scripture says: “Close the doors of your house and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Response 427). Let us therefore shut our mouths and pray to Him in our hearts, for he who closes his mouth and calls on God, or prays to Him in his heart, he keeps the commandment (Response 427).

            3) Your heart’s work ought to consist of prayer to God without ceasing. If you wish to succeed in this, begin, and seek with diligence, relying on it, and God will bless you with success (Response 26).

            4) A persistent calling of the Name of God is a medicine that kills not only passions, but also their very action. Just as a healer searches for a fitting remedy or plaster for the wound of a sufferer, and they show effect, while the patient does not know how it is done: so also the Name of God, when called, kills all passions, even though we do not know how it is done (Response 421).

1) They spoke of Avva Filimon, the hermit, who had locked himself in a cave not far from the Lavra called Romiia, and had devoted himself to ascetic struggles, repeating mentally what the Great Arsenius is said to have said to himself: “Filimon, have you been content during the time spent in this cave. His business was to make cords and knit cones, which he gave to the ekonkratia and received a small bread in return, with which he lived. He ate nothing but bread and salt, and not every day. He probably did not take any care of his body at all, but, through his exercise in contemplation, he was in divine illumination, and, pleasing in this incomprehensible heavenly vision, he was in spiritual education. Going to church on Saturdays and Sundays, he always went alone and immersed himself in contemplation, not allowing anyone to approach him, so that his mind would not be distracted from its action. In the church, however, standing in the corner and bending his face down, he shed streams of tears, constantly pursuing repentance and always turning the hearts and images of holy fathers, especially Arsenius the Great, whose footsteps he sought to follow in every way.

2) When there arose false rumors about him in Alexandria and its surroundings, he went away and retired to the Lavra of Nikanor. Receiving him with divine love, the pious Pachomios gave him a separate cell and enjoined him to lead an ascetic life. For a whole year he did not allow anyone to see him, and he did not even trouble him except when he brought the necessary bread. Holy Paschal Resurrection came; when conversation turned to the life of a hermit, Pachomios understood that this avowed brother of his also had a fine intention (to live in seclusion) and that he filled him with many ascetical sayings both written and unwritten, showing everyone that without perfect solitude it is impossible to please God; for without solitude not even Moses’ patriarchy is possible, and patriotarchy begets mourning, and the cause of which is fear, of which is humility; which begets understanding, of which is love. And love makes the soul healthy and unprurient; and thus a person knows that he is not distant from God.3) He (Filimon) said to him: it is necessary through silent contemplation completely to purify the mind and give it the inextinguishable activity of the Spirit. Just as the eye, turning to the sensible, is amazed by that which is visible, so the pure mind, turning to the intellectual, is enthralled by the Spirit-perceived things, so that it cannot be torn away from them. And the more it is exposed through silent contemplation to passions and cleansed, the more it is pleased by the action (the Spirit of spiritual things). The mind is then perfected when it tastes the authentic habitation and is united with God. Then it, having the dignity of a king, no longer feels poverty and does not become absorbed by earthly desires, even if you offer it all the kingdoms. Therefore, if you wish to attain such virtues, run away from the world and diligently follow the path of the holy, neglect your external appearance, wear humble clothing and modest decorations. Keep your gesture simple, your speech unpretentious, your posture unholy, your voice inadequate. Love to live in poverty and be looked down upon by all. Most of all, be mindful of preserving the mind and sobriety, be patient under all hardships and preserve the spiritual blessings you have already acquired, unharmed and inviolate. Take care of yourself carefully and do not accept any of the passions that secretly invade you. For although silence masters the passions of the soul, if you allow them to flare up and intensify, they are usually even more inflamed, and those who allow this, with even greater force, bring sin. Just as bodily wounds, rubbing and tearing, are incurable. Perhaps a single word can distract the mind from the memory of God, when the demons are hungry for this, and the senses agree with them. It is a great feat and fear to preserve the soul. Therefore, you must completely withdraw from the world and, having turned the soul away from any attachment to the body, become homeless, destitute, stateless, penniless, selfless, carefree, unsupervised in human affairs, humble, compassionate, kind, gentle, gentle, quiet, quiet, printing in the heart. For it is not possible to write on wax without first erasing the letters previously drawn on it, as the Great Basil teaches us. Such was the image of the saints who, having completely withdrawn from all worldly customs and by preserving an unperturbed heaven-gazing in their hearts, were enlightened by divine laws and shone with pious deeds and words, having died bodily with the restraint of soul, true fear of God, and love. For by non-cessating prayer and by instruction in the divine scriptures, the keen eyes of the heart are opened, and the Lord of forces is seen, and there is great joy, and a divine desire that is unbridled bursts forth in the soul, while the body is also preserved by the action of the Spirit, and the whole person becomes spiritual. Such are the wishes of the makers of blessed silent contemplation and of the most intense ascetic life, who, having extricated themselves from all human comfort, draw near to the only One eternally communicating with the Supreme Ruler of all, the King of the powers.4) Having heard this, that pious brother, who was struck with love of God in his soul, left his place and, together with Filimon, reached the hermitage where the greatest of the Fathers had made the path of piety. They settled in St. John of Koluvas’ Lavra and entrusted their care to the Lavra’s prelate, since they wanted to be in silence. And they remained there with the grace of God in complete silence, during the Sabbaths and the Lord’s days of rest, with their common Church services, and the rest of the days in solitude; and each one would pray and perform his own service in particular.

9) Brother Ivan, having run away from the small town, came to the holy and great father Filimon and, embracing his feet, said to him: What shall I do, father, so that I might be saved? For my mind runs about in every direction where it is not fitting. And he, after a while, said: this illness (of the soul) is the nature of those who are external, and it is in them. And it is in you, because you have not yet received love of God, there is no warmth of love and knowledge of Him in you. The brother said to him: What shall I do, father? And he said to him: Go, take in your heart the secret teaching, and it will clear your mind from this. The brother, not knowing what is meant by this teaching, said to the elder: What is this secret teaching, father? And he said to him: Go and be sober in your heart, and in your thoughts speak piously and with trembling fear: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” Thus expounds the Elder, who is the blessed Diadochos.11) The brother asked him again, “I see many vanity dreams in my sleep. The old man said to him, ‘Do not be lazy or discouraged; but before you fall asleep, do many prayers in your heart and resist the thoughts and impulses of the devil to lead you according to his will. Let God accept you. As far as you can, be careful to fall asleep with psalms on your lips and wise counsel, and do not allow your mind to be careless and to accept other people’s thoughts. What thoughts you pray, and in the same thoughts you incline, and when they dwell in you, when they whisper to you, and when they come.” Also, say the holy symbol of the Orthodox faith before you fall asleep, for the doctrine of Orthodox faith is the source and protection of all good things.

And he said this to him: Think about the things that are fleeting, which are afflictions of the immaculate soul that has been given over to negligence. For this reason, according to Scripture, we are obliged to protect our reason, to sing rightly, without distraction, and to pray with a pure mind. Therefore, brother, God wants us to show our diligence towards him, first by works (moral and virtuous deeds), then by love and continuous prayer, and he will grant us the way of salvation. Obviously, there is no other way that leads to heaven except to completely detach oneself from all evil, to acquire all good, to love God perfectly, and to be with him in holiness and truth, so that when someone does this, he will quickly reach the heavenly glory. But at the same time, anyone who wishes to ascend must immediately put to death the desires that exist on earth. For when our soul enjoys the vision of true good, it no longer returns to any of the passions that are aroused by sweet, sinful pleasure; but, having distanced itself from mundane pleasures, it receives the manifestation of God with a pure and unadulterated thought. Therefore, we need great self-restraint, many bodily labors and purification of our soul, and we must obtain God in our hearts so that we can do His divine commandments without sin and so that He Himself may teach us to observe His laws, radiating on us by His action infused with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Through our labors and temptations, we must purify the image after which we were created as rational beings capable of perceiving all understanding and imitatio Dei, bearing feelings that are pure from all impurity through being refined in the furnace of temptations and embodied so as to ascend to the dignity of kings. God and the human race created the inclination toward every good that is able to contemplate with the mind the joys of the angels of glory, reign, power, origin, authority, unfathomable light, the glory of the undimmed. But when you correct some virtue, do not let your thought rise above your brother, for you have corrected it and he has hated it, for this is the beginning of pride. When you struggle against some passion, do not grieve and do not despair at the fact that the enemy is persisting; but, having risen, turn to God with a sincere heart, saying with the prophet, “Lord, judge those who persecute me,” because I am unable to resist them. And when he sees your humility, he will soon send you his help. When you are walking with someone on the road, do not take up a vain conversation, but give your mind a spiritual exercise that it had so that, through it, this good habit may abide in it and the forgetting of worldly confusions, and it may not depart from the port of detachment.13) And after a few moments, he came again and, beginning his speech, asked: What should I do, father? My night service is oppressive, and it prevents me from praying vigilantly and from increasing it; and I want to take up some work when I am singing. The elder said to him: if you can pray vigilantly, do not touch work; but if you are gripped by drowsiness, lean a little against your thoughts and cross your arms, and then touch work. He again asked: do you, father, not become oppressed by sleep during your service? The elder said: not so easily; but when drowsiness comes upon me at times, I lean a little against my thoughts, but I begin to read from the beginning of the Gospel of John, raising the eye of my mind to God, and it immediately disappears. I act in a similar way even with my thoughts, especially when I encounter one of them as if it were fire with tears, and it disappears. You, however, cannot yet arm yourself against them; but try your best to keep the hidden instruction and try to follow the prayers established by the holy fathers, like the daily prayers—those of the third, sixth, ninth and the evening, as well as the night services. Make every effort not to do anything out of human conceit, and be careful not to make enemies with any of the brothers, so as not to turn away from God. And try to keep your mind from being dispersed, so that it listens carefully to internal thoughts. When, being in church, you have an intention of receiving the holy gifts of Christ, do not leave it until you receive the perfect world. Staying in one place, do not move from it until the dismissal; within yourself, think that you are in heaven, and are waiting for God together with the holy angels, ready to receive Him into your heart; prepare for this with fear and trembling, so as not to be worthy to be a communionist of the holy powers.14) My brother, who lived with me, once told me the following. While I was sitting by his side, I asked him: were you tempted by evil thoughts while living in the desert? He said, “Forgive me, brother! If God allows the foul seductions of the devil to come upon you, such as I have experienced, I doubt whether you would be able to bear their bitterness. I am seventy years old, or even a little more, and I have endured many temptations while living in various deserts in complete silence. But what I experienced and suffered from these demons is not worthwhile to recount to those who have not yet been tempted by silence. In such temptations I have always done the following: I have relied entirely on God, to whom I have given vows of abstinence, and He has soon saved me from all difficulties. Why, brother, do I no longer plan or take any action on my own? But knowing that He cares for me, I easily endure the temptations that come upon me. And all I bring before Him is that I constantly pray. Great help comes from this, and the hope that the more attacks of sorrow and misfortune, the greater the crowns of patience are prepared for the patient. For in the righteous Judge these are balanced with each other. Knowing this, brother, do not give in to cowardice. Having entered the midst of the battle to fight, fight, and inspire yourself by the fact that there are many who are fighting against the enemy of our race, and that there are more of the enemy’s hordes. And how could one dare to oppose such a terrible opponent of our race, if the hand of God’s Judge, the Word, did not embrace us, enclose us, and cover us? How would human nature have endured the scourge of this terrible adversary? For as Job says, “Who will uncover the covering of His garment? Who will come in his plenitude? From His nostrils burning lamps come forth, and sparks like fire. From His nostrils skirts of smoke come forth, a smoke of a burning fire. His soul is as ravenous coal, and as pitch melted flows forth from His nostrils. Strength is on His loins, destruction is before Him. His heart is hard as a stone, firm like a foundry. He lights up the abyss like a tin furnace, and conceives the sea as a quiet harbor, and the fathomless as a prized possession. All that is high sees Him, the eye which is in the waters.”15) His brother told me about another of the virtues of Abba Filimon, namely that he could not bear to hear a barren word, and if someone were to talk carelessly about something that did not concern spiritual benefit, he would not give any reply on the subject. He also did not ask me: why are you going? and when I came back, he did not say: Where were you? what did you do there? Some time ago, for an urgent necessity, I went to Alexandria, and then, for a particular church matter, I went to Tsargrada, without letting the servant of God know. There I stayed for some time, visiting the reverent brothers there, and finally, after a time, I returned to him in the desert. When he saw me, the old man was greatly delighted, and with the customary greeting he offered a prayer, and sat down, but he did not ask me anything at all, and was occupied with his usual purposeful activities.18) Up to this point he also added a tale of a hermit, saying that he had already attained incorruptibility and received bread from the hand of an angel, but that he had lost such esteem through laziness. For when the soul relaxes its divided and strained attention, then the soul is seized by night, for where God does not shine, all things are dissolved, as in darkness; and then the soul cannot look directly upon the one God and tremble at His Word. “God draws near to Me,” says the Lord, “and not God is far off. Or does man hide himself in secret places, and will I not see him? Do I fill heaven and earth?” And he recalled many others similar to those who had fallen. He also recounted the fall of Solomon, who, he said, had acquired such wisdom and, being admired by all, shone forth like an early morning with the light of wisdom, but who later, for the sake of a small favor, had lost his glory. Therefore, it is fearful to indulge one’s laziness; but we must pray continually, so that another rational thought may not find us and replace God with something else. Only a pure heart, made the abode of the Holy Spirit, sees God Himself as in a mirror.All efforts should therefore be directed towards practising the virtues and the ascetical disciplines which lead to the state of innocence, the fruit of which is a contemplative vision accessible to natural reason. For action is the means of attaining contemplation, as the penetrating and spiritual reason of St Gregory the Theologian says. If we detest what we are doing, we shall want for all spiritual quickening; for however much anyone may have reached the summit of virtue, all the needs of ascetic effort, by which he checks the indulgent appetites of the body and the strict control of his thoughts, remain indispensable prerequisite for the fullness of Christ. For the more our righteousness is increased, the more our spiritual life matures, and, at last, when reason is fully illuminated, it is fixed on God and perceives divine light; then it receives the inexpressible mysteries. It then truly perceives the place where wisdom is found, and power and understanding to know all things, and long life and salvation, and the light of the eyes and the light of light. For while we are occupied with the struggle against the passions, we lack the ability to enjoy this present state of things: the former blindfaith concept of the virtues, and the latter to those of the virtues and the faults. But when we have ceases from the light which naturally arises from these, and having been burdened with spiritual gifts, we become entirely luminous and see spiritual things without interference. Such a one is detached from all the fleeting objects here and has returned from death to life.This is what the brother who lived with Abba told us. But who can be surprised by more than this? This brother, who had long been a presbyter, had penetrated into the heavenly life by his mind and his intention, so much so that he avoided divine services like a burden, so that, even though he was living in such a dangerous life, he went to Holy Communion very rarely. And of the divine Mysteries he did not partake, even though he was in frequent contact and conversation with people, although there was nothing earthly said but something useful to those who sought conversation with him. And when he wanted to receive the divine Mysteries, he made many long addresses to God, pacifying Him with his prayers, his hymns of praise, and his confessions. He dreaded the voice of the priest who said, “Holy men, holy, dedicated altars, dedicated vessels to [the Lord’s] glory, and forever blotless; to you, O Lord and Christ, we dedicate these for the presence of your name” (Ezr 9:11). For in this time, he said, the whole Church is filled with the holy angels, and the King of the powers, by a secret action, turns the bread and the wine into His body and blood, by Holy Communion, and becomes present in our hearts. Why, then, is it so necessary for us, together with others, to take part in the sacred communion of the holy mysteries of Christ, without doubt and hesitation, so that we may share the illumination bestowed upon them? Many of the holy fathers saw holy angels; they kept silence and did nothing.21. And thus when he was speaking, the brother said that whenever the elder had a need to sell his handicrafts, for fear of any lie or deceit, or superfluous word, or any other kind of sin, to avoid talking and bargaining, he would stand pretending to be a beggar; and whoever wanted to buy his handicrafts, would take it from him and give him what he wanted, in gratitude, without saying so, this merciful man. He worked small baskets, and he accepted them with thanks, never saying a word.

2) Before starting, perform several devotions and do not wear clothing.

3) Find in your imagination the place of the heart under the left bustle and remain attentive there.

4) Shift your mind from the head to the heart, and say: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” quietly, with the lips or with one mind, as you wish, and speak slowly with reverent fear.

5) Try to maintain your attention as much as possible, and do not consider any thoughts, whether they are healthy or good.

6) Have calm patience, and leave to stand for a long time, forgetting everything.

7) Maintain moderate moderation and humility by force.

8) Maintain silence.

9) After lunch, read the Gospel and those fathers who reflect on interior action and prayer gradually.

10) Get 5 or 6 hours of sleep per day.

11) Sometimes pray externally for interior action.

12) Do not touch any work that distracts.

13) Most often believe your experiences with the instructions of your parents.

14) Recall the words of the Lord: “My mother, leave me my strength” (Ps 27: 8). Say it too, O my soul: “O Lord, leave me firm determination and the attachment of my heart to attention! For from Your only will is to do and to act; with Your help and assistance, let me clear my mind and heart with the help of attention, and prepare them for Your dwelling, the Trinity!”

Paragraph closing

I kept thinking: “Remember, Father, last year I set out from here with a deaf elderly man, who had a letter from an Irkutsk merchant to his son in Odessa, to send me to Jerusalem. So we safely reached Odessa in a short time. My companion immediately hired a place on a ship to Constantinople, and he set off, while I, staying behind, went in search of the letter of the merchant’s son. Soon finding his apartment, to my great surprise and sorrow, I could not find this benefactor of mine alive: it had been three weeks since he had died after a short illness and had been buried. This upset me greatly, but I trusted in God’s will. All the household were in poverty, and the deceased’s widow, having three small children, was so grieving that she kept crying out for days at a time, succumbing several times a day and suffering; it seemed that there was not much time left for her to live from such deep sorrow. However, she welcomed me kindly; having no opportunity, given their circumstances, to send me to Jerusalem, she left me to stay with her for about two weeks, until the deceased’s father, keeping his promise, arrives here in Odessa to settle the affairs, accounts, and business matters of the bereaved family. So I stayed here.Finally, having traveled 70 versts away from Odessa, I came upon a wonderful event: a large convoy of goods was traveling – 30 wagons, and I caught up with them. One leading wagoner, like a chieftain, was riding ahead on his horse, and the others, gathered together, were following behind. We had to pass by a stream pond where a broken spring ice was spinning and melting water in a circle with a terrifying noise. Suddenly, the front wagoner stopped his horse, and the whole convoy stopped. All the wagoners rushed to him and saw that he was undressing. They asked him why he was undressing. And he answered that he wanted to take a bath in the pond. Surprised, the wagoners – some began to laugh at him, some to scold him, calling him mad, while the elder, the wagoner’s own brother, who was undressing, began to try to stop him and push him so that he could continue on his way. He defended himself and did not want to listen. Some of the younger wagoners, for fun, began to use buckets, from which they poked the horses, to draw water from the pond and splash on the one who wanted to take a bath – some on his head, some on his chest, saying, “Here we buy him.” As soon as his body touched the water, he exclaimed, “Oh, how good!” and sat down on the ground, while he still became wet; then, for a short while, he fell onto it and peacefully died. Everyone was afraid and did not understand why this occurred. The elders were worried and said that this had to be reported to the court, while the others assumed that it was inevitable and written in his fate.

            – I can’t say anything about it, dear brother, except that there are many wonderful and incomprehensible things in nature. I think God arranged this to make it clearer to people how He rules and manages nature through unexpected and immediate changes in its laws under certain circumstances… I myself once witnessed a similar event: not far from our village there is a very deep, jagged pond, although not very large; it is even frightening to look at its dark bottom. A bridge has been built for pedestrians across it. A peasant from my parish, a family man of good behaviour, suddenly felt an irrepressible urge to throw himself from the bridge into the deep water. He struggled with this thought and desire for a whole week; at last, he could not stand this strong urge any longer, he got up in the morning, hurried away, and jumped into the pond. Soon afterwards, hearing a cry, they dragged him out of the pond with his legs broken. When they asked him about the cause of his fall, he replied that although he now felt great pain, he was calm in his soul, that he had fulfilled his irrepressible desire, which had been driving him for a week, so that he was ready to sacrifice his life to fulfil his desire. For more than a year he was treated in the city hospital; I visited him often and, seeing doctors around him, would have liked to hear from them, just as you have done, what the cause of this case was. The doctors all unanimously replied to me that it was “raheina”… When I asked them to explain to me from the standpoint of science what this is and how it affects a person, I didn’t get anything more than that it is a mystery of nature that has not yet been discovered by science… And I noticed from their side that if this mystery of nature had been approached by a person with an irresistible “raheina”, it would not have achieved its goal. Indeed, there are many meetings in our lives that are not subject to clear understanding…

            While we were talking like this, it became dark, and I stayed here for the night. In the morning, the stationer sent me his clerk to allow the deceased to be buried in the cemetery, and that the doctor had found no signs of insanity during the autopsy of the body, and that his death was attributed to a sudden blow.

            So, after saying goodbye to the priest, I went on.

Traveling for several days and quite tired, I came to a large trading town called “White Church.” As it was almost evening, I began to search for a place to stay. On the marketplace I met someone who also looked like a traveler, asking about the house of a local resident. Seeing me, he approached and said: “You must be a traveler too, so let’s go together and find a man named Yevreynov. He is a good Christian, has a large inn for travelers, and loves to give hospitality to travelers. I have a note about him here.” I agreed gladly, and soon we found him. Although we did not meet the host himself, his wife, a kind old woman, welcomed us warmly and took us up to a special chamber on the attic to rest. We settled down, rested a bit, and the host came and invited us to dine. After dinner, we talked, and somehow the conversation turned to the reason why he was called Yevreynov. “I’ll tell you an amazing story about this,” he replied and began his story. “Here you see, my father was a Jew, a native of the town of Shklov, and he was a strong enemy of Christians. From his earliest years he prepared to be a rabbi and studied all the Jewish tracts to refute Christianity. One day, as he was passing through a Christian cemetery, he fell asleep on a bench. There, a stranger appeared to him and angrily reproached him, saying, “How dare you mock the dusty bones of my ancestors? I am a Christian, and you are an enemy of Christ!” About three times a night, this vision would appear to him, causing him no sleep and great distress. They read prayers and incantations over him, but the vision not only did not leave him, but became more frequent and more intense. Although he did not want to do so, he made the following request: “I would be happy to do whatever you want to do in order to get rid of this painful and unbearable vision.” The signed request ended the vision and it never troubled him again. He moved to this place, married my mother, a good Christian, and lived a pious life in prosperity.

            After dinner, having thanked God and the host, we went to our room to relax. We still did not feel like sleeping, so we talked with our companion. He told me that he was a merchant from Mogilev, that he had lived for two years in Bessarabia as a servant in one of the monasteries there, but only on a temporary passport, and that now he was going back to his homeland to obtain a permanent dispensation from the merchant society to become a monk. He praised the monasteries there, their statutes and rules, and the strict life of many pious elders who lived there, and assured me that the Bessarabian monasteries were opposed to the Russians, as heaven was to earth. He tried to persuade me to go there. At that time, as we were having this conversation, they brought another lodger to us, a non-commissioned officer who had been discharged from the army for a while, and who was on a leave of absence from home. We saw that he was very tired from the journey. After praying together to God, we went to sleep. When we got up early in the morning, we began to prepare to go on our journey. And as soon as we wanted to go and thank the host, we suddenly heard the bell calling for the morning service. The merchant and I began to wonder: how can we go on hearing the call and not having visited the Church of God? It would be better if we waited for the morning service, prayed in the holy temple, and then it would feel more pleasant to go. So we decided to go, and we called the non-commissioned officer with us. And he told us: “What is there to do on the road, and what profit is there for God to visit the Church? When we get home, we will pray there! Go when you want, and I will not go. While you are waiting for the morning service, I will go a little ahead, and bring him home if you want: say it beforehand, as God will bring you.”

            So we went to church, and the non-commissioned officer went on his way. After having the morning service (there was also the morning service here), we returned to our room and began preparing our backpacks. We looked: the hostess had brought us a samovar, and she said: “Where are you going? Come and have a cup of tea, and have a meal with us; will we leave you without food?” It wasn’t half an hour after we were sitting by the samovar, when our non-commissioned officer hurried up to us, wrung out.

            – I came to you with bitterness and joy.

            – What’s the matter? we asked him.

And here! As I said goodbye to you and went, I wanted to go to the tavern to exchange the assignment for small amounts and have a drink to make it easier to go. When I entered, I exchanged the money and flew like an eagle on the road. After walking three versts, I wanted to count the money and see if everything went well with the publican. I sat down on the side, took out my wallet, reviewed it all, and found my passport lying there, but it was not there, only some notes and money. I got scared as if I had lost my head. And I realized something: of course, I protected it when I paid in the tavern. I should run back there. I run, run, and there is trouble again: no, where is it? It’s going to be a disaster for me! When I arrived, I asked the publican, and he said, “I haven’t seen it.” I was sad again. I have to search for it and walk around the places where I stood and stumbled. And what? Fortunately, I found my passport, as it was folded, it lay on the floor among the straw and rubbish, all crushed in the mud. Thank God! I breathed a sigh of relief. It was like a mountain had fallen from my shoulders! Although for being untidy and dirty, the teeth are taken – but that’s nothing, at least I will come back here with my eyes. And I came to tell you about this, and, having run in fear, I rubbed my foot so hard that it was impossible to walk and asked for some pudding to bind to the wound.

            – Wanda ja tam, bratje! To je ti za to, što nisi poslušao i nije otišao sa nama moliti – počeo je govoriti trgovac. – Pogledaj, htio si ići dalje naprijed, a napokon se vratio naprijed obratili, a još i krenuo od kukavice. Rekao sam ti da ne predviđaš, a kako stiže, to se i dogodilo! No ipak, što nije otišao u crkvu, još i govorio takve riječi: “Zašto nam je korisno moliti se”. To, bratje, nije dobro … Naravno, Bog ne traži našu griješnu molitvu, ali iz ljubavi prema nama, voli kada molimo. I ne samo sveta molitva, koju sam Duh Sveti podržava kada je priopćujemo i koju probudi u nama, Bogu je lijepa, jer on to od nas zahtjeva, objašnjavajući: “Budi u meni i ja ću biti u tebi.” No, i najmanja stvar koju činimo za Gospoda, za koju je on posebno usmjerena i koja nas potiče na spasenje, je cijenjena pred njim. Njegova neizmjerljiva dobrota nagrađuje nasčitanjem. Božanska ljubav vraća dobročinstva tisuće puta više od očekivane posvećenosti od strane ljudi; ako nešto radite za Boga i to je mali dosje velikost, on će vam dati zlatnice. Ako samo namjeravate otići k Ocu, on će već doći po vas. Reći ćeš kratkim i suhim riječima: “Prijemi me! Oprosti mi!” I on će te objimati i okrenuti glavu. Ova je ljubav Nebesnog Oca prema nama nepoštena! I izove potpune ljubavi on se raduje i od svakoga i najmanjeg spasenja. Tvoja je mišljenja da je Gospodin od toga vječna i da će to imati koristi i za tebe, ako malo pogovoriš, a zatim ponovno se zabaviš, ili čak kuniš neku malenku dobru stvar, na primjer, recite koju molitvu, poklanjete pet ili deset poklona; povaićete od srca i pozovate Imena Isusa Krista, ili opažate dobru misao, ili se organizirate pročitati číšu spasenje, ili se odbacite od jela ili podnesete malo našaćanje u mješavini … Svi su to vaši i stvar to vam se čini nedostatnim za potpuno vaše spasenje i kao da je bezužitečni. Ne! svako od ovih malih djela ne ide u zaborav, bit će podižno izračunano prijemalom Boguima očima i dobit će nesmrtne nagrade, ne samo u vječnosti, već i u ovom životu. Ovo tvrdi i Sveti Ivan Zlatousti. “Nijedno dobro djelo, kaže on, koliko god je malenito, neće biti zanemarito Pravednim Suđem. Ako su grijesi izrađene s točnim detaljem, da dajemo odgovor za riječi, za želju i razmišljanje, onda svaki od takvih malih djela bit će izračun je predstavljen s posebnim detaljem i dobiva veliko nagradu, ne samo u vječnosti, već i u ovom životu.

& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp; I will give you an example which I myself witnessed last year. There was an old monk of good life in the Bessarab monastery where I lived. One day he was tempted and became very hungry for dried fish. Since it was not possible to get it in the monastery at that time, he decided to go to the market and buy some. He fought long and hard with this thought, reasoning that a monk must be content with the common monastic food and must avoid luxury in every way, and that it is also improper for a monk to walk about among the crowd on the market. In the end, the evil suggestion gained the upper hand over his reasoning, and he, having resorted to self-indulgence, dared to go to the market for the fish. As he emerged from the monastery and walked down the city street, he noticed that he had no belt on his hands and began to reason: ‘How can I go as a warrior without a sword? It is improper, and the worldly people, meeting me, will judge me and be tempted to take advantage of me, seeing a monk without a belt.’ He wanted to go back to take them, but when he looked in his pockets, he found them there. He took them, crossed himself, put them on and went calmly. As he approached the market, he saw a horse standing near the stalls, with a huge wagon full of huge barrels. Suddenly, the horse, frightened by something, ran away with all its might and hit the owner with its hooves; it fell on him and, though not very hard, threw him to the ground. Immediately after this, two steps behind him, the wagon overturned and the barrels flew apart. Getting up, he was of course frightened, but at the same time he wondered how God had saved him from death, for if the wagon had fallen just a little earlier, he too would have been smashed to pieces, as well as the wagon. Without thinking about this any further, he bought the fish, returned, ate it and, after praying, went to sleep… In a light sleep, a certain unknown noble old man appeared before him and said: ‘Listen, I am the patron of this monastery and I want to enlighten you so that you understand and remember the lesson, that the struggle against sensual enjoyment and idleness leads to the ease of the enemy, and he had prepared this tragic accident, which burst out before your eyes, to lead you to death. If you had subdued your lusts and expressed them truly, this would have saved you from death. Having said this, the old man who had appeared hurriedly left the cell, and the monk bowed to him at his feet and with this, woke up, finding himself no longer on the bed, but humbly stretched out at the entrance to the door. This vision he immediately told for the benefit of the soul to many people, including me.Truly, God’s love for us sinners is unfathomable! Isn’t it strange that for such a small matter, for taking money from a pocket and putting it on a hand, and calling out the name of God once, for this small gift, life is given to a person! And God’s scale of human destiny has not weighed so many hours of idle time… Truly, there is great sacrifice here for a small coin – the gold coin… Do you see, brother, how strong the prayer is, and how the name of Jesus Christ is powerful, which we call upon! St. John of Carpathian in his book “Mercy” says that when we call upon the name of Jesus in prayer and say: “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” there is a secret voice of God: “Child, your sins, and your hours, are forgiven,” Eighteen the Psalmist says: “The prayer, even if it is uttered by us, who are full of sins, is immediately purified” (Homily II). God’s mercy toward us sinners is great, but we, who are sinners and negligent, do not want to give up even a short hour in thanksgiving to him and exchange the time of prayer, which is the most important, for the worries and concerns of life, forgetting God and our duty! Because of this, we often suffer from misfortunes and misfortune; but this is determined through God’s loving providence for our understanding and for our turning to Him.

He took out a book from his pocket and began to read a wonderful story about a pious Agaphnikes who, from childhood, had been taught by his pious parents to recite daily the prayer “Hail Mary” and other prayers before an icon of the Mother of God. He did this every day. Then, in old age, he lived alone and, engrossed in his cares and worries, rarely recited the prayer, and finally ceased to do so altogether. One evening he took in a traveller to stay the night. The traveller told him that he was a hermit from Ava and had had a vision to go to Agaphnikes and reproach him for abandoning the prayer to the Mother of God. Agaphnikes explained that he had long recited the prayer and had seen no benefit from it. Then the hermit told him: “Remember, blind and ungrateful one, how many times this prayer has helped you and saved you from misfortune. For instance, a companion fell off the wagon with you and broke his leg, while you were not harmed at all. And, after recalling many other such instances, the hermit at last said: “Do you know that all these events were kept at bay for you by the intercession of the Holy Mother of God for the short prayer with which you used to prepare your soul for union with God . . .’ Look, continue this, and do not abandon it. You have been abandoned by her.”And after this I walked for ten or fifteen days, enjoying the recollection of the stories I had heard from the pious merchants of White Church; then I began to approach Kiev, when suddenly out of the blue I felt some weight, relaxation, and gloomy thoughts; prayer came with difficulty, and I had a feeling of disconnection. So, to rest, having seen a grove and thicket of bushes near the road, I went there, sat behind a private enclosure, and read the Love of God so as to nourish my soul, which had weakened, and to calm my cowardice. Having found an unpeopled place, I began to read the 4th part of the Love of God by Cassian the Roman, about the eight thoughts. Having read for half an hour with pleasure, I unexpectedly found a man a hundred paces away from me, in the depths of the woods, kneeling. I was happy, thinking that, of course, he was praying to God, and I resumed reading. Having read for an hour or more, I again looked at this man, and he was still kneeling. I was deeply moved by this, and I thought: “That is how godly servants of God are.” While I was thinking about this, this man suddenly fell to the ground and lay down humbly. I was surprised and thought: “Here are some holy servants of God.” While I was wondering about all this, this man suddenly fell to the ground and lay down. This surprised me, and because I could not see his face, but he was standing with his back to me, I was inspired with curiosity to go and see who this man was. I approached and found him in a light trance. It was a country boy of twenty-five years old, clean in face and a noble-looking boy, but pale from the inside, wearing a peasant coat, girded with a pigskin strap, and nothing else was with him except a little dinar. Having heard the sound of me approaching, he woke up and stood up. I asked him who he was. He told me that he was a peasant from Smolensk province, who was travelling from Kiev.

            – As you can see, – he replied, – I have been a shepherd in our village since childhood, and everything was fine for ten years. Finally, one day, when I drove the herd home, I didn’t even think that there was no fine woolly sheep. And our elders were an angry and inhuman man. When he came home in the evening and saw that his sheep were missing, he came to me, started scolding me and threatening to beat me to death, break my arms and legs. Knowing that he was so angry, I went to look for his sheep in the places where the herd grazed during the day. I searched and searched and searched for them until midnight, but there was no sign of them anywhere. It was so dark, because it was autumn. As I went deeper into the forest, which is impassable in our province, a storm suddenly arose. It was as if the trees were all in a rage! In the distance, wolves were howling, and I was so afraid that my hair went up; the further I went, the worse it became, and I almost fell from fear and terror. Here I fell to my knees, crossed myself, and with all my strength said: “O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” As soon as I said this, I suddenly felt light, as if there had been no sorrow, and all my fear passed, and I felt good in my heart as if I had flown to heaven… I rejoiced in this, and I instinctively wanted to say this prayer all the time. And I don’t even remember if the storm lasted for long, and how the night passed, but I saw that it was day, and I was standing in one place on my knees. I got up peacefully, saw that I had not found the sheep, left and went home, and I felt good in my heart and wanted to keep saying the prayer. As soon as I came into the village, the elders, seeing that I had not brought the sheep, beat me to death; that’s when he dislocated my leg. So, after these beatings, I lay almost motionless for six weeks, only knowing that I was making a prayer, and it comforted me. Then I recovered a little, but started walking around the world; and as it seemed to me tedious to be jostled among people all the time, and there was so much sin, I went to wander around sacred places and forests. I have been walking for a year now.

            Don’t be disconsolate, dear brother: everything is pleasing to God and everything is saving, whatever happens during prayer, say the Holy Fathers, whether it’s ease or severity – everything is good; no prayer, neither good nor bad, goes to waste before God. Ease, warmth and delight show that God rewards and consoles for this feat, and burden, gloom, dryness mean that God purifies and strengthens the soul and saves it with this useful endurance, preparing it with humility for the future joy of grace. Here is proof of this, I will read to you from St. John the Ladder.

            I found this article here and read it to him. He listened attentively and with pleasure, and thanked me very much for it. So we said goodbye. He went deep into the woods, and I, having left the road, continued my way, thanks to God who has enabled me, the sinful, to receive such an instruction.

            The next day, with the help of God, I arrived in Kyiv. My first and main desire was to talk, confess and participate in the Holy Mysteries of Christ in this holy place, so I settled closer to the servants of God in order to walk more conveniently to the temple of God. I was welcomed into the home of a kind old Cossack, and, since he lived alone, it was quiet and peaceful for me there. During the week that I was preparing to confess, it occurred to me to make a detailed confession. I began to recall and go through all my sins in the smallest detail, so that I would not forget them; I began to write down everything I remembered, in the minutest detail, and wrote a long list. I sensed that 7 verst from Kyiv, in the Quit-Town Desert, there is a cleric of a pious life, who is very wise and prudent – one who doesn’t visit him on the spirit, comes to his senses of compassion and returns with a life-saving instruction and lightness of heart. This greatly comforted me, and I immediately went to him. After counseling and talking, I gave him my list to review. After reading this, he said to me: “My dear friend, you’ve written a lot of empty things. Listen to me: 1) you should not recite at confession those sins in which you previously repented and were forgiven, and did not repeat them, otherwise it will be distrust of the power of the confession sacrament. 3) the Holy Fathers forbid reciting sins with all their details, and confessing them in general, so as not to provoke temptations in themselves and in the priest by private examination of them; you read everything, and what is most important has gone unnoticed – you have not said the worst sins, have not recognized them and have not written that you do not love God, hate your neighbor, do not believe in the word of God, and are filled with pride and ambition in all your sins. ��

            – It is a pity, dear friend, that you have not understood what I was explaining to you. In order to teach you more quickly, here I will give you a list, by which I myself always confess. Read it, and you will clearly see the exact proof of what I have just been saying to you.

1. I do not love God. For if I loved Him, I would constantly think about Him with delight; every thought of God would bring me joy. On the contrary, I think about worldly matters much more often and with much greater pleasure than about God. If I loved Him, communion with Him through prayer would nourish me, give me pleasure, and draw me toward constant fellowship with Him; but, on the contrary, I not only do not enjoy prayer, but I even find it tiresome, struggle against reluctance, become distracted by mundane pursuits, and am ready to busy myself with something unimportant in order to shorten or cease prayer. When engaged in frivolous pursuits, time passes unnoticed, but when occupied with God, when I bring myself into His presence, each hour seems to me like a year. Whoever loves someone, thinks about him constantly throughout the day, imagines him, cares for him, and has his beloved friend in mind at all times, whether he is working or at play. I, however, can hardly detach even one hour from my daily routine in order to delve deeply into thoughts of God and to overflow with love for Him, while I give vent to passionate worship twenty-three hours a day to my idolatrous gods! I am dry, gloomy, and lazy. And if I do wander into a conversation about the divine, it is with the greatest zeal to refocus on the passages that appeal to my passions. I zealously flit about, the whole day long, curious about headlines, government decrees, and political events; avidly I seek to satisfy my inquisitiveness about secular studies, arts, and possessions, and I regard the biblical teachings, the knowledge of God and religion, not as a joy but a dry and boring occupation, and as a mere time to pass at leisure. In short, if the love of God is seen in keeping His commandments: “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, and I not only fail to keep His commandments, but I make only a little effort to do so, then it is the purest truth that I do not love God….This is proved by the statement of the Christian Ethics that “it is evidence that a person does not love God and Christ that he does not keep His commandments” (N. P. 3).3) I do not believe in anything religious. Neither in immortality nor the Gospel. If I were firmly convinced and absolutely believed that there is life after death and that there is recompense for earthly deeds, I would constantly think about it; the very thought of immortality would frighten me, and I would treat this life as a stranger preparing to enter his homeland. Instead, I do not even think about eternity, and I consider the end of this life to be the limit of my existence. A secret thought dwells in me: who knows what will happen after death? If I say that I believe in immortality, I say so only with reason, and my heart is far from being firmly convinced of it; my actions and constant concern for the enjoyment of the sensual life clearly show this. If the Holy Gospel were truly accepted into my heart, as the word of God, I would constantly study it, enjoy it, and even look at it with deep reverence. The wisdom, goodness and love hidden in it would arouse me in admiration, I would delight in the teaching of the Law of God day and night, feed on it as a daily food, and be sincerely drawn to perform its rules. Nothing earthly would strongly divert me from this. On the contrary, if I occasionally read or hear the word of God, I do so either out of necessity or curiosity, without paying close attention, and I feel dryness, uninterestingness, and, as if reading a common book, I leave it without any fruit and am willingly ready to replace it with reading about something worldly.

            Having read these things to me in the confessional, I was terrified, and I thought to myself: “My God, what terrible sins are hidden in me and I have not noticed them yet!” Therefore, the desire to cleanse them compelled me to ask for guidance from this great spiritual father, in some way, having recognized the causes of all evils, to find a way to remedy them. And so he began to explain to me.

             – Do you see, dear brother, the cause of hatred for God is unbelief, the cause of unbelief is lack of conviction, and the cause of lack of conviction is the neglect of bright, true knowledge, carelessness about spiritual enlightenment. In a word, one cannot love without believing; one cannot believe without being convinced. And in order to be convinced, it is necessary to acquire a full and thorough knowledge of the subject in question; it is necessary, through reflection, study of the word of God and experienced observations, to awaken a yearning and a desire, or, as others say, a “surprise” in the soul, which makes the desire to know things more closely and to penetrate into the properties of an object more deeply.

             One spiritual writer reflects on this as follows: “Love,” he says, “is normally developed through knowledge, and the greater the depth and expanse of knowledge, the greater the love, and the more convenient the soul becomes for love of the Divine, with a deep and thorough examination of the most sublime and infinite Creator-person.”

             Now you see, dear brother, that the cause of the sins you have read lies in the laziness of thinking about spiritual things, which extinguishes the feeling of need itself. If you wish to know the means of overcoming this evil, you should strive after spiritual enlightenment, strive for it with diligent study of the Word of God, the teachings of the Holy Fathers – reflections and spiritual advice, or conversation with wise men about Christ. Oh, dear brother, how many evils we encounter because we are lazy about enlightening our soul with the word of truth, we do not learn the law of the Lord day and night, and we do not pray for this diligently and persistently! And because of this, our inner man is dull, cold, and exhausted, without the strength to vigilantly walk the path of truth to salvation. So, to use these means, let us dare to fill our mind with reflections on heavenly subjects as often as possible, and the love, poured out from above, will develop and ignite within us. Let us also pray as often as possible in this way, for prayer is the most important means and the most powerful remedy for our renewal and success. Let us pray as the Holy Church teaches: “Lord, give me now to love You, as occasionally one succumbs to that same sin!”

            After respectfully listening to all this, I beseeched this holy father to instruct me and grant me the holy sacraments of Christ. Therefore, on the morning of my reception, I wished to return to Kiev with this blessed farewell, but this kind father, having the intention to go to the Lavra in a few days, left me for the time being in his desert cell so that I could freely engage in prayer in this silence. Indeed, during all these days I was as if on heaven: with my spiritual father’s prayers, I, the unworthy, enjoyed perfect peace. Prayer flowed so easily and peacefully into my heart that I seemed to have forgotten everything and myself, thinking only of the one and only Jesus Christ!

            Finally, the priest returned, and I asked him for instruction and advice on where I should now continue my traveling path. He blessed me as follows: “Go to Theotokos Poshtova in Pochaiv, and worship its miracle-bearing Stupa of the Most Blessed Mother of God; and she will guide your footsteps along the road of peace.” So I, having accepted his counsel with faith, went to Pochaiv three days later.

            Notwithstanding my weariness, I traveled for 200 versts, because the road led through Taverns and Jewish hamlets, and I rarely saw Christian dwellings. In one hamlet I saw a Russian visiting guest house and, being gladdened by it, I entered it to spend the night and ask for bread for the road, because my crusts were almost gone. Here I saw the master — an elderly man, perhaps wealthy — and I heard that he was also from the Orlov Oblast. When I entered the parlour, his first question was, “What is your faith?”

            I answered that I was Orthodox Christian.

            – What an Orthodox you are!’ said he with a smile, “You in your country are Orthodox only in words, but in deeds you have their superstition. I know your faith, brother! One learned priest seduced me and led me astray, and I came to your church, so that, after spending half a year, I returned. But there, for the service of God, a fiddler simply mutters without understanding, and everyone is there with passes and without understanding; and yet the singing in the villages is no better than in taverns; for the service of God, it is only a sin! Come, don’t be a fool where you come — neither to church nor to market!”

            Listening to this, I understood that this old man was an Old Believer; but as he spoke persuasively, I could not argue with him or convert him, but only thought to myself that it is not possible to convert Old Believers to the true Church until we have corrected the liturgical service and have set an example of this in particular for religious persons. The Old Believer knows nothing of the inner life. He relies on outward appearances, and, in our land, they are neglected.

& nbsp; And so, I wanted to leave from here, and went out into the yard, when I suddenly saw, through the open door, in a particular corner, a person who did not look Russian, lying on the bed and reading a book. He invited me over and asked who I was. I told him. Here he began to say: “Listen, dear, would you not agree to serve me, a sick person, for at least a week, so that I may, with God’s help, recover? Refuse, O my God’s slave!& nbsp; I do not need any payment; I will gladly serve you in whatever way I can, for the sake of the name of God. I remained with him. I heard many things from him about saving things. He told me about St. Athos Mountain, about the great ascetics there, and about many hermits and solitary hermits. He had a book in his possession called & nbsp; The Love of God, in the Greek language, and a book by Isaac the Syrian. We read together and compared the Ukrainian translation by Paisii Velichkovsky with the original Greek text, and he remarked that it is impossible to translate more accurately and more faithfully from Greek than the Ukrainian translation of & nbsp; The Love of God.& nbsp; As I noticed, he constantly prayed and was an expert in inner heart prayer (and spoke fluent Russian), so I questioned him about this subject. He was eager to tell me about it, and I listened attentively, even writing down many of his words. Here, for example, he said about the majesty and greatness of the Lord’s Prayer like this:& nbsp;”Or, if you wish,” he said, “I will tell you something more” – and he mentioned it in a learned way, because he said he had studied at the Academy of Athens. “On the inflection of the Jesus prayer,” he continued. “I have often heard many god-fearing Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer to honor the Word of God and the tradition of the Church, not only in private prayer but also in the House of God. Listening with respect and pleasure to this quiet prayer, one can discern that in many cases the tone of the prayer is different: those who raise the pitch on the very first word of the prayer, i.e. those who say ‘Lord,’ lower it for all the other words. Those who begin the prayer with a lower tone, raise it in the middle of the prayer, i.e., at the word ‘Jesus,’ making a loud exclamation, they also lower the tone at the end, as if they had started. Those who begin and continue the previous prayers with a low, uniform tone, raise it at the last word, i.e., ‘Have mercy on me, the sinful,’ with a touching accent. But some, saying the entire prayer in one piece, i.e., ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,’ make the accent on only one word – ‘Son of God.’

            Now consider: one prayer, and yet the same; Orthodox Christians hold the same religion; the common notion that this most important and highest of all prayers contains two objects – God the Son and His mercy is known to all. Why then do not all express it with the same intonation, that is, in speech? Why do not they all intonate in the same way, but at each particular place the soul is especially moved and expresses itself in a special exalted and tense tone? It may be that many people will say that this happens as a result of habit or of an example taken from others, or as a matter of the notion that each person has a different view, or, finally, that it is easier and more convenient for each person to say it according to his state of ability to speak. And I think of this quite differently. I want to look for something higher here, something that not only is not known, but even to the one who prays, there is a secret movement of the Holy Spirit “stirring with inaudible sighs,” in those who are lost: how and what to pray? And if everyone prays in the name of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, according to the announcement of the Apostle, then the secret-acting Holy Spirit, “makes supplications to those who supplicate,” while at the same time, against one’s will, He can offer each person His gift of grace: one receives the reverential fear of God, another receives love and another firmness. And therefore, he who has received a gift, reverently praises the Almighty and in his prayer expresses a word of particular emotion and delight with the word “Lord,” in which he has the grandeur and power of the Creator of the world in mind. He who has received the mysterious outpouring of love in his heart, is especially impressed and absorbed by the joy of exclaiming “Jesus Christ.” Similarly, the old man, without the special emotion of love and delight, could not even hear the name of “Jesus,” even when it is spoken in casual conversation. He who unshakably believes in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, who is the only-begotten Son of God, the Father, is exulting even more and is getting more firm in faith, when he says the words “Son of God.” He who has received the gift of humility and deeply realizes his own powerlessness when he says “have mercy on me,” groans, becomes humbled and, with particular tension, feels the last words of the Lord’s Prayer burst forth, nourishing the hope of God’s mercy and checking his own fall. These, I believe, are the reasons for the difference in the intonation of the Lord’s Prayer! … And from this observation one can understand, to God’s glory and for one’s own instruction, who is particularly given to feeling, and who has what spiritual gift. Some people told me, “Why do not all the signs of these mysterious spiritual gifts appear together, in their entirety? Then not one, but every word of the prayer would be experienced with a uniform agitated intonation by the one who is praying.” I replied to this as follows: “Because the grace of God distributes the gifts of the Holy Scriptures; who can experience that and enter the domain of grace with limited reason?”He spent five days with this old man, and he began to recover his health little by little. It was a lesson to me that I did not notice how time passed, for in this small house, we were completely absorbed in nothing but prayer, calling upon the name of Jesus Christ, or talking about only one thing, namely, how to live as a Christian.

Here I began to get closer to Pochaev. Not going a hundred yards, a soldier came upon me. I asked him where he was going, and he told me that he was going home to the Kam’janets-Podilskyi province. In silence, after walking with him for ten miles, I noticed that he was sighing heavily, as if he was sad about something, and he was very gloomy. I asked him, “Why are you so sad?” And he began to cling to me and say, “Oh, good fellow! If you have already noticed my sorrow, then swear to me that you will not tell anyone about it, and I will tell you all about myself, because death is coming, and there is no one to consult with.”

            “You see,” he said, “I was conscripted as a common soldier. After serving for five years, I became extremely uncomfortable, and was often beaten for failing to perform my duties properly and for drinking. I decided to run away. Now, it has been thirteen years since. For six years I hid and hid, here and there; I robbed horses, broke into shops and peddled in this way alone, selling my stolen goods to various crooks; I met a soldier who was returning home in a distant province with an honorable discharge. My soldier died and I hoarded all his savings. I went boldly to the distant province of Astrahan. There, I became honest and started taking work as a workman. I drank a lot, my wife also did, and in one year we spent all the money that had remained after the old man. One day I was unsuccessful for a long time, so I took the old horse to the stable and sold it for five hryvnia to a stable owner. And I went into the forest to wait for night. When I lay down there, I fell asleep. My head and hands were still outside. Then this menacing cloud seemed to descend to the ground, and my old grandfather, who had died twenty years before, came out of it. Several packages of things I had stolen at different times. I became even more frightened. Squeeze him harder!” And suddenly the earth began to squeeze and crush me from all sides so strongly that I could not bear the pain, the tightness and the exhaustion, and screamed: “Mercy!” Squeeze him harder!” And I felt such a sharp pain and tightness that no torment on earth could match it. Finally, this old grandfather of mine brought me the old horse I had stolen the day before and shouted: “What is this?” And I felt a painful compression from all sides that I cannot express how cruel, frightening and exhausting it was; it was as if something inside me was being torn and, with terrible pain, crushed me, so that I could not stand it and would have fallen unconscious if that torment had been only slightly less severe. My face was split open. At that moment, with this blow, I woke up in a state of terror and, staggering in shock, I barely managed to stand up and go home. My wife was still sick for a long time, look you, and now there is a scar that she previously had not had. She became worse and worse, and at last I began to be afraid of people and embarrassed, as if everyone knew about my past trickery. I became too timid. That is why, with long patience, I wanted to throw myself on the throat. But then the idea came that I didn’t have long to live and would soon die, because all my strength had gone, so I decided to leave my homeland and die there. What shall I do, a poor man? After all, my patience is not enough!”

            Having heard all this, I was surprised at myself and praised the wisdom and grace of God, seeing how He miraculously turns sinners, and began to tell him, “Brother!”

            – No, it is not possible, he said to me: “It seems to me that when I begin to pray, God will immediately spoil me.”

            – You are empty, brother! The devil is putting these thoughts into your head. God is infinitely merciful and sympathizes with sinners and forgives those who soon repent. After all, you know the Lord’s prayer, that is, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, the sinner.” Recite it without ceasing. 

I was surprised and delighted by this, and asked him to tell me in detail what had happened to him. “Well,” he said, “as soon as I fell asleep, I found myself on the same meadow where I had been tortured. At first I was frightened, but suddenly a bright sun rose behind the clouds, and a wonderful light filled the whole field, and I saw red flowers and grass. Suddenly my grandfather approached me, so handsome that you could not believe it, and he spoke to me softly and kindly, saying: ‘Go to the Church of St. George the Victorious in Zhytomyr; there they will take you as a church guard; live here for the rest of your life and pray without ceasing; God will have mercy on you!’ After saying this, he crossed my hands and in an instant disappeared. I felt such joy that words cannot express it, it was as if something had dropped from me, and I soared into heaven… With this I suddenly woke up, feeling as if I had become lighter, and my heart did not know what to do from joy. What should I do now? I will immediately go to Zhytomyr as my grandfather told me. I will go easily with prayer.”He was standing behind the church. And suddenly a man appeared, though not very well dressed, but he seemed noble, and asked me where candles were sold. I pointed. He went off, and I remained to pray at the feet of Our Lady. I prayed and went on my way. After passing a little while on the street, I saw a window in a house open, and a gentleman sat there reading a book. I saw that it was the same man who had asked me about the candles in the church. I took off my hat as I passed by, and he beckoned me and asked, “Are you a pilgrim?” and inviting me, he asked who I was and where I was going; then he brought me some tea and said, “Listen, little soul! I am traveling the same way on the road to my destination. We set off the next day. We walked for three days, as we had agreed, one after another; he kept on reading the book, which he did not let out of his hands during the day or night, and he often pondered over something. Finally, we stopped at one place to have lunch. He ate himself, but the book lay open before him, and he often looked at it. I saw that the book was the Gospel, and I asked him, “May I ask you, Father, why you constantly keep the Gospel in your hand, day and night, and always hold it and carry it with you?””And I greatly approved this his reasoning and his desire for prayer, and I asked him further: ‘From which particular evangelical teaching do you draw your doctrine on prayer?’ ‘From all four of the evangelists,’ he replied, ‘by reading the whole New Testament in sequence. Having read it for a long time and gone thoroughly through it, I found out what is the progress and the right order of the doctrine on prayer throughout the Gospel, both from the first evangelist and on in a proper sequence (system). For example, right from the start there is set forth an introduction or presentation to the doctrine on prayer, then the form, or the external expression in words, then the condition necessary for prayer, the means of how to learn to pray, and the examples. Finally, the spiritual and inner secret doctrine of praying in the name of Jesus Christ, which is higher and more beneficial than the outward form; then its necessity, its good fruits, and so on. In short, a complete understanding of the prayer practice is set out in a systematic order or sequence in the Gospel, from beginning to end.”Listen carefully. He gladly agreed, and said to me, ‘Open your Gospel, look into it and note what I will say’ (he gave me a pencil). Please look at these notes. ‘First of all,’ he began, ‘read chapter six of Matthew, from verse 5 to verse 9’. Do you see here the preparation for prayer or an introduction teaching not to begin praying for the sake of praise, nor in a noisy environment, but in a secluded place and in tranquility, and to pray only for the forgiveness of sins and for union with God, and not to make many and unnecessary requests concerning our various needs. Then, continue reading that same section from verse 9 to verse 14. Here the form of prayer is presented, that is, the words in which it is to be pronounced. In it, wisdom is combined with everything necessary and required for our life. Then continue reading verse 14 and 15 of the same section, and you will see the condition required to keep prayer true, because without forgiveness by us of those who offend us, the Lord will not forgive our sins. Passing to the 7th chapter, you will find from verse 7 to 12 measures for success in prayer and approval in hope: ‘ask, seek, knock’. This reinforced expression illustrates the frequency of prayer and the priority practice in it, so that prayer not only accompanies all our activities, but even surpasses them in time. This is the most important attribute of prayer. An example of this is found in chapter 14 of Matthew from verse 32 to 40, where Jesus Christ himself repeats the same prayer many times. A similar example of the frequency of prayer is found in Luke (Xl, 5–14) in the parable of the persistent request of a friend, as well as in the many times repeated importunate request of the widow to the judge (Lk. 18, 1–15), depicting Jesus Christ’s commands, which should always, in every case, be fulfilled.

            After this thorough introduction, the Gospel of John reveals the essential teaching of secret inner prayer of the heart, first of all, in the wise narration of Jesus Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, where the interior worship of God in spirit and truth, which God desires, and which is continuous and unceasing, is revealed. (John IV, 5-25). Next, in chapter 15, from verse 4 to verse 8, the power, strength, and necessity of inner prayer, that is, the indwelling of the soul in Christ, in constant remembrance of God, is more clearly depicted. Finally, read chapter 16 of that same Gospel, verses 23 to 25. See what a mystery is revealed here! Do you see that the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, or the so-called Jesus Prayer, that is, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” repeated often and many times, has great power and makes it easier to open the heart and sanctify it. This can be seen clearly from the example. The apostles, who, though they were not only one year students of the Lord Jesus and had already been taught by Him the prayer of the Lord, that is, “Our Father,” and of which we have knowledge from them, but when they had finished their earthly life, Jesus Christ revealed to them the mystery of what was still lacking in their prayer, so that their prayer was decisive. He said to them: “As yet you do not ask anything in My name. Everything you ask the Father in My name will be given to you also.” This was how it was with them, for after this, when the apostles learned to bring their prayers in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then how much they did wonderful miracles, and how abundantly they themselves enlightened!  Now do you see the connection and fullness of the teaching on prayer, so wisely set forth in the Holy Gospel? If, after this, one proceeds to the reading and epistle of the Apostles, then one will also find a consistent teaching of prayer there. 

  In this way, by studying the Bible for a long time and paying attention, one can discover many more discoveries of mystical knowledge hidden in the word of God that elude careful or superficial reading. Have you noticed how thoroughly and systematically, that is, in a secret systematic relationship, the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ reveals its teaching on this subject, which we have now explored? In what amazing sequence does it present its teachings on this subject through all four gospel writers? For example: in St. Matthew we see the beginning or introduction to prayer, its form, conditions, etc. And further on, in St. Mark, we find examples, in St. Luke, parables, and in St. John, a secret practice in internal prayer, even if in all four gospel writers (shorter or longer) these things are to be found. In the Acts of the Apostles we see the practice and effects of prayer; in the Apostolic Epistles, as in the Apocalypse itself, many details are inextricably linked to the work of prayer! That is why I am satisfied with only one Gospel to study all the paths of salvation.

  The whole time he was pointing it out to me and interpreting it, I was marking the important places in my Gospel, which was next to my Bible. All this seemed very wonderful and instructive and I thanked him very much for it.

  Then we walked unspoken for several days. My companion’s legs were very sick, probably from the unusual strain of walking, so he hired a carriage pair and took me with him. That is how we reached your borders and stopped here for three days, to rest and then immediately head for Anzer, which he longed to reach.

  – Your companion is wonderful! He must be very educated because of his integrity; I would like to meet him.

  – We live in the same house; I will take him to you tomorrow. Now it is late… excuse me!

Sixth meeting

Brother, help each other, for the city is strong and high; it is built like a kingdom.  (Prov. XVIII, 19).

         With these words and promises, I invited you, like the respected companion who has lightened the way through spiritual salvation, and whom you wanted to see. 

         I am very pleased, and I hope these honest visitors are pleased too, to see and hear both your useful, experienced word.  One is an ascetic saint, and the other is a reverent priest.  So, as the Apostle tells us, when two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, he is always with them; and since we are already gathered as one in his name, it is certainly his grace which pours over us all the more abundantly! 

         Last night’s narrative by your companion, dear brother, of your ardent commitment to the holy Gospel is very beautiful and instructive.  I have been interested to hear how such great piety and holiness were revealed to you. 

             The Most Loving Lord, who desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth, revealed this understanding to me in a marvelous way, without any human mediation. For eleven years I was a professor in the Lyceum, following the gloomy paths of indulgence, taking up the vain philosophy along the paths of the world, not for Christ, and might even have perished if it had not been for something that I lived with my godly mother and my beloved sister, on boulevards, I met and became acquainted with a wonderful young man who declared himself to be a French, certified student who had recently arrived from Paris and was looking for a governess place. His wonderful erudition appealed to me very much and I invited him in as a traveller and we got to know each other. For two months he often visited me and we sometimes walked together, talked, went out together in virtuable societies, of course. Finally, he came to me with an invitation to one of the aforementioned societies and, to convince me more quickly, began to praise the special cheerfulness and pleasantness of the place he was inviting me to. Having said this a few words, he suddenly asked me to follow him out of my office, in which we were sitting, and to sit in my drawing room. This seemed strange to me, and I, having already noticed several times that he was uncomfortable in my office, asked him what was the reason for this? And I kept him there even longer because the drawing room was near my mother and sister’s room, and, therefore, it would have been improper to talk there about trivial matters. He persisted in his desire with various maneuvers, and finally he spoke to me frankly like this: “Look, there is a Bible on this shelf between the books; I respect this book so much that it is hard for me to be in the presence of this conversation about our scattered subjects. Please take it out of here, and then we will be able to talk about important things.” I, out of sincerity, smiled at his words and took the Bible from the shelf, and I said, “It is a long time since you told me about this.” And handing it to him, I said, “Please put it in the room.” As soon as I touched it with the Bible, he was suddenly overcome with fear and disappeared. This amazed me so much that I fell unconscious on the floor. When the servants heard the noise, they rushed to me and for half an hour they couldn’t bring me out of the stupor. Finally, I, sensing and feeling a great fear, trembling, a restless excitement, and complete numbness of my hands and feet, so that I could not move them. Called by the doctor, he diagnosed my illness as paralysis, due to some severe shock or fright. For a whole year after this event, under careful medical treatment by many doctors, I lay there without ever feeling any relief from the illness, which later indicated the need to retire from academic service. My old mother had died by this time, and my sister had settled herself to a monastic life. Thus, all this further burdened my illness. The only thing I had in my consolation in that painful time was in reading the Bible, which since the beginning of my illness had not left my hands, as a guarantee of a wonderful coincidence with me.

Once, an unknown hermit, who wanders in search of a place of retreat, suddenly came to me. Convincedly he told me not to hope for medicine alone, which without the help of God would not be strong enough to help, but instead to ask God for help and to pray diligently for it, because “prayer is the most powerful remedy for all kinds of physical and mental illnesses.” “How can I pray in this state when I am unable to even bow my head or raise my hands for the sign of the cross?” I objected to him with my inattentiveness. He replied to me: “Pray however you can!” And further he could not explain to me in detail how to pray… After this visitor left, I involuntarily began to reflect on prayer and on its power and effect, recalling the theological lectures I had heard at the institution when I was still a student. This very soon occupied my mind, restoring to my memory the bright religious knowledge I had acquired, warming my soul, and at the same time I began to feel some relief from my painful attacks. Since an Evangelion was constantly at my disposal, I turned to it out of faith, by the grace of an miracle, and because I remembered that I had heard the whole tract of prayer on the basis of the texts of the Gospels in the lectures, I therefore considered it best to learn Christian prayer and righteousness. Reading this, I drew from it, like from a generous source, a whole system of a saving life and of a true inner prayer. With reverence, noting all the places and texts on this subject, I have since been constantly trying to learn these divine commandments and to put them into practice as much as possible, albeit with difficulty. With such occupation my illness gradually improved and, as you can see, I have fully recovered. Left alone, I have, out of gratitude to God for His fatherly mercies and healing and enlightenment, felt it necessary to devote myself to a hermit’s life so that I could free and absorb the precious principles of the life of eternity that have been indicated to me in the Word.SCHYMNICK – For such an important condition of special and extraordinary Divine mercy, and given your scientific education, it is unforgivable not only to fall into sadness, but even to allow the shadow of doubt about Divine intercession and His help to enter your soul! Do you know what the God-given Zlatoust says about this? “No one should grieve (he reproves) and imagine that the commandments of the Gospel are impossible or inconvenient! God, in predetermining salvation for man, has certainly not given him these commandments in order to make him a transgressor by the inconvenience of them. No! eternity” (“Zlatoust”, See St. Chion”s letter).&A The question of how to be saved is a devoutly Christian question that naturally arises in everyone, as a result of the feeling of damaged and weakened human nature and of the residual tendency to truth and righteousness inherent in it. Each person, even if somewhat of a believer in immortality and the reward of eternal life, inevitably contemplates the question of how to be saved when their gaze turns to heaven… In attempting to resolve this problem, he asks wise and knowledgeable people about it, and then, at their recommendation, reads the found truths and rules on the subject in the books of spiritual writers. In all these admonitions he finds conditions for salvation that are presented as necessary: a pious life, acts and efforts to achieve a decisive self-denial, which leads to the creation of good deeds, to the perpetual fulfilment of all divine commandments, which reveal the unshakability and firmness of one’s faith.11 These are fulfilled with deep humility and in a holistic manner, for as all virtues depend on one another, they must likewise support, perfect and stimulate one another, just as the rays of the sun only reveal their power and produce heat when they are focused through a glass into a single point. Otherwise, as the poet says: “The wicked love evil and many are the evildoers.”12{mosimage}As well, in order to provide the greatest assurance of the necessity of this complex and holistic activity, he hears the exaltation of the refinement of virtues and the condemnation of the wanton and portentous vices. All this is accompanied by a false promise of either great rewards and blessings, or of painful punishments and calamities in eternal life.”{mosimage}This is particularly the nature of the preaching of the new age!Ω. Addressed thus, the one who desires salvation readily begins to follow the instructions and add to his studies everything heard and read. But, alas! at the very first step of his desire, he does not find the means to achieve his purpose, foreseeing and even feeling that his corrupted and weakened nature will prevail over the convictions of the mind; that his free will is bound, its powers weakened, the strength of the spirit sapped. Given this lucid self-awareness of helplessness, he naturally proceeds to the thought that there are no means to realize the will of God, as required by Christian charity, nor has anyone ever been able to attain salvation and holiness. Therefore, in order to reconcile the requirements of the mind and conscience with the absence of the means to fulfill them, he turns to the preachers of salvation with the question: “How can I be saved? How can I justify the conditions of salvation, which are inaccessible to me? And can the preacher himself consistently perform everything he teaches?” , “Ask God, pray to God, so that He may help you.” Is it not wiser to begin before, at all times, to teach prayer as the principal cause of carrying out everything that Christian charity demands and that leads to salvation? Consider the questioner, and in the meantime, he proceeds to the study of prayer, reads, reflects, understands the teachings of those who have written on this subject. True, he finds many enlightened thoughts, profound knowledge, and expressions. Another person reflects well on the necessity of prayer; another on its power, benefits, the obligation to pray, the fact that prayer requires diligence, attention, warmth of spirit, purity of thought, reconciliation with enemies, humility, sorrow, and so on, that must be done in prayer. This is a general concept of prayer for those who are not familiar with the writings on interior prayer and the contemplative works of the holy fathers. Finally, a seeker comes across a book called “The Good of Love” (translation: Dobrotolyubye pereklad-s-matiyash-zmist-kniggh&nbmp), in which twenty-nine holy fathers clearly describe the doctrine of true and substantial heart prayer. Here the mystery of salvation and prayer begins to unveil itself to him, and he sees that to pray truly means to direct one’s mind and memory to the unceasing remembrance of God, to walk in His divine presence, to immerse oneself in His love through contemplation, and to unite the Name of God with the breath and movement of the heart, with the guidance of Jesus Christ, or with the making of Jesus’ prayer at any time and place and in every activity continuously .

            Although these bright truths, by illuminating the seeker’s knowledge and opening up to him the way to the study and attainment of prayer, would convince him to immediately proceed with the performance of these wise instructions, nevertheless, through his experimentation, acting in periodic approaches, he will not remain without difficulties until he has a discerned mentor in the fullness of the mystery that only frequency or continuity of prayer (however pronounced it may first be ) is the only powerful means of attaining the perfection of interior prayer and the salvation of the soul. Part of prayer is the foundation on which all the circle of saving activities rests, as St. Simeon, the New Theologian, confirms:  “He who constantly prays has in this alone acquired all that is good” .

            Therefore, to present the truth of this revelation in all its fullness, the mentor develops it in the following image:

            To save our soul, first of all, it is necessary to have true faith. The Holy Scripture says: Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews XI, 6 ). 

            But from the same Sacred Scripture it is evident that a person can not by himself reawaken faith in himself, even on the basis of a mustard seed; that faith is not of ourselves, for it is a gift from God; that faith, as a spiritual gift, is given by the Holy Spirit.

            What then should we do? How to reconcile a person’s need for faith with the impossibility of regenerating himself on the part of a person? The same Sacred Scriptures reveal a means for this and give examples: “Ask and it will be given to you.”  The apostles could not themselves rouse the perfection of faith to its highest degree, but they prayed to Jesus Christ:  “Lord, give us faith.”  Here is an example how faith is acquired. From this it is evident that faith is obtained through prayer.

            For the salvation of the soul, true faith requires good deeds – virtues, for “faith without deeds is dead.” For deeds reveal a person, not faith alone, and if you want to be born again, you must obey the commands: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not covet your neighbor’s wife, and love your neighbor as yourself.” And all these commandments must be observed together. “If one of these commandments is broken, you sin against all.” Thus teaches St. James the Apostle.

            But St. Paul, imagining the weakness of man, says that “the deeds of the law will not justify any flesh.” For I know that the law is spiritual, but I am a fleshly man, and I am sold to sin. Powerless, I am unable to keep the commands.

            I cannot do that until I ask for it, until I pray. All Apostle says:  “Do not have, and do not ask.” Such is the reason. And Jesus Christ Himself says:  “Without Me you can do nothing.” And He teaches us how to do this:  Be in Me, and I will be in you.” And being in Him means constantly feeling His presence, constantly asking with His name:  “”Whatever you ask in My name, I will create.” So, the ability to perform good deeds is acquired through prayer! An example of this can be seen in the Apostle Paul himself, who prayed three times to resist temptations, bowed his knees before God the Father, and He gave confirmation in the inner man, and finally commanded, first of all,  to pray and to pray for everything, even continuously to pray. From all this, it follows that all a person’s spiritual salvation depends on prayer, and therefore it is, first of all, necessary, because it enlivens faith, through it all the virtues are performed. In short, with prayer, everything will succeed, and without it, no Christian virtue can take place.

            True prayer requires certain conditions: it must be offered with purity of thought and heart, with intense effort, with attentive consideration, with trembling reverence, and with deep humility. But who in his honest conscience will not agree that he is far from the conditions specified for true prayer, that he offers his prayer more out of necessity, more out of compulsion than out of inclination, out of joy in prayer, out of love for prayer? The Holy Scripture itself bears witness to this, saying that it is impossible for a human being to keep his mind completely free from harmful thoughts: “Is it man’s nature to desire evil from childhood?” God gives us a new heart and spirit, and says, “Do what you want and be children of God.” And the Apostle Paul himself said: “My spirit prays, but my mind is without fruit.” And, “Do you know how we should pray in the temple?” — he says this again. From this it follows that we cannot fully express the essential qualities of our prayer!

            Yet what remains for each person, within the limits of his or her will and strength, to do without perishing and to save his or her soul? Man cannot gain faith without prayer, nor can he do good deeds; and finally, he is not able to pray authentically. What then remains for his will and his strength to do, so that he may not perish, but that he may be saved?

            Since every activity has qualities, the Lord has bestowed them as a gift of his will and grace. In order to make human dependence on God’s will more clearly manifest and to plunge him more deeply into the humility of wisdom, God has left his will and strength one quantity of prayer, ordering them to pray incessantly at any time, in any place. And thus the mysterious way to achieve authentic prayer, along with faith, the fulfillment of commandments, and salvation, is revealed…. Therefore, in the place of man is given a certain quantity. A part of prayer is given to his will. . . . This is exactly how the Fathers of the Church instruct. St. Maximus the Confessor says: “Praying sometimes is in our power, while praying authentically is a gift of grace.” St. Isaac the Syrian says that the frequency of prayer is a habit and is related to nature; that without frequent invocation of the name of Jesus Christ it is impossible to cleanse the heart.

The holy Calistus and Ignatius advise first of all to begin our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ often, uninterruptedly, because often and impure prayer leads to purity. Blessed Diodoch claims that if a person frequently invokes the divine name (prays), he will not fall into sins. What practical instructions the Fathers give, wise and close to the heart! They shed light in their simple investigation on the ways and means for the improvement of the soul. What a high contrast they present in comparison with the moral precepts of theoretical reason! Reason persuades: do this and do that well, arm yourself with courage, use your will, be convinced of the good consequences of virtue, for example – cleanse your mind and heart from false thoughts, fill the place with instructive reflections, do good, and you will be respected and at peace, live as reason demands, and all this, making every effort, cannot achieve its goal without frequent prayer, without the help of God. Let us now discover the other instructions of the Fathers and see how they say, for example, about the purification of the soul. St. Lysimachus writes: “When the soul is darkened by unclean thoughts, conquer the enemies with the name of Jesus, often repeating it. No means stronger and more successful than this will be found in heaven or on earth.” St. Grigorii of Sinai instructs: “Know that no one can keep his mind by himself, and therefore, when unholy thoughts come, often and repeatedly call upon the name of Jesus Christ, and the thoughts will subside by themselves.” What a simple and convenient, yet tested method, and the opposite of the counsel of theoretical reason, which seeks to achieve purity by its own efforts! Understanding these experienced instructions of the Fathers, we come to the true conclusion that the main, only and most convenient way of acquiring the means of salvation and spiritual perfection is part of, and continuity of prayer, no matter how feeble it may be.

Christian soul! If you do not find it in yourself to worship God in spirit and truth; if your heart has not yet felt the warmth and sweetness of mental and inner prayer, then offer in a prayer sacrifice that which you can do, which is under your will and in proportion to your power. Let the lower parts of your mouth sound like the first, with a constant prayerful appeal; let them incessantly call on the almighty name of Jesus Christ. This is not a great effort, and everyone can do it. At the same time, this is what the experienced command of the saint demands. The apostle says: “Let us bring our offering to God, or the fruit of our lips in the name of Him.” Certainly, part of prayer will become a habit and become a nature, bringing the mind and the heart into the right disposition over time. Imagine that if a person had impermissibly fulfilled one of God’s commandments about incessant prayer, then with one act they would have fulfilled all the commandments, for if they had prayed incessantly at all times, with all their works and occupations, secretly calling on the divine name of Jesus Christ, though at first only with no soul, then they would no longer have time for the sensual sins of pleasure. Every sinful thought would encounter an obstacle in its spread, and every sinful act would not be thought out as fully, as in an empty mind: many words and idle talk would be reduced or completely destroyed, and every guilt would be cleansed immediately with the gracious power of God’s name. The frequent exercise in prayer would often distract the soul from sinful deeds and lead it to a true knowledge of them, to union with God! Now you see how important and necessary quantity is in prayer! Part in prayer is the only way to acquire pure and true prayer, it is the best and most effective preparation for prayer, and the most reliable way to achieve the goal of prayer and salvation!

        One of the spiritual writers has a wonderful saying about this. “I know,” he says, “that for many false-minded, shallow philosophers who seek false greatness and noble habits in the eyes of reason and pride, the simple, oral, and singular, but frequent practice of prayer, appears insignificant, or a small occupation, or a low activity. They forget the instructions of Jesus Christ – “If you do not become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.” They make up a certain science for prayer, on the shaky foundations of natural reason.  Is there not such frequent prayer that our Divine Teacher Himself extolled? In half the world, there is no need! It is only necessary to continue it, not to falter, and do not worry: it will clear itself ‘from the partial.’ 

      Therefore, after all these arguments that the frequency of prayer, despite its weakness, is so powerful, unconditionally accessible to man, and lies entirely in his own will – dare to try, even if for one day on the first occasion, to observe yourself, the frequency of your prayer, so that the call to prayer to the name of Jesus Christ is taken much more; and this advantage of prayer over life’s affairs – in time will inevitably prove to you that this day is not lost, but gained for salvation; that on the scales of God’s justice, frequent prayer lifts the board of your weaknesses and actions, and smoothes the sins of that day in the memory book of conscience, puts you on the ladder of righteousness, and gives hope of receiving sanctification and eternal life. (From the author’s manuscript, received by Father Ambrose from the Dobry Monastery).

BUILDER.  – I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Holy Father! You have delighted my sinful soul with this reading. For the sake of the Lord, bless me to copy this list for myself – I will write it down for a few hours. Everything I read is so wonderful and delightful, and clear and precise to my stupid mind, just as in “Dobrotolyubiye” the holy fathers discuss this. The same Bot, Ivan of Karpathos, in the 4th part of “Dobrotolyubiye” (Dobrotolyubiye) also says that if you do not have the strength for moderation and active deeds, then know that the Lord wants to save you by prayer. And in your notebook, everything is so beautifully and clearly spread out. Thank God, first of all, and then you, that I was allowed to hear this!

PROFESSOR. – And I have listened to your lecture with great respect and pleasure, Reverend Father! All the arguments are absolutely true, and excellent from my point of view; but what strikes me is that the possibility of continuous prayer depends mainly on favorable conditions and complete solitude. For it is true that frequent or incessant prayer is the powerful and sole means of gaining the grace of assistance in all the works of virtue and sanctification of the soul, and an accessable power to human strength, but this method can be applied only when one has the opportunity of solitude and peace: the possibility of being detached from one’s post, duties and commitments; then all that remains is the struggle against laziness, or boredom of thought. But if one is obliged by one’s post, obliged by incessant duties, obliged to remain in the noisy company of people, and has a great urge to pray often, then it is impossible to do so due to inevitable dispersion. Therefore, the only way to often pray under optimal conditions can not be applicable by everyone.OPINION.  There is no need to stipulate this! Not to mention how the heart, trained in interior prayer, can always, in all occupations (both physical and mental) in any noise, unobstructedly pray and invoke the name of God (the leader knows this by experience, and an unbeliever needs a gradual training), we can say confidently that there is no occasion for prayer. For the secret thought of man is not subject to any external bondage, and is completely free within itself, it can be felt and transformed into prayer at any time, even the language itself can secretly express prayer without external sound, in the presence of many people, and during external occupations; and even with these occupations our own affairs are not so important, and our conversations are not so interesting that we cannot find a suitable time to often call upon the name of Jesus Christ, even if our mind is not yet accustomed to continuous prayer; although, of course, seclusion from people and dispersive objects is the main condition for attentive and uninterrupted prayer; however, in the case of impossibility of using it, one should not excuse oneself for the scarcity of prayer: since the number of opportunities that are accessible to each person – both healthy and sick – consists precisely in his will. The examples that testify to this include those who were burdened with numerous obligations, with engaging positions, worries, troubles, and work, not only always called upon the divine name of Jesus Christ, but also through this learned and achieved uninterrupted interior prayer of the heart. Thus, Patriarch Photius, elevated from the senators to the patriarchal rank, while administering the large congregation of Constantinople, was constantly in invocation of the divine name, and even through this achieved self-directed, heartfelt prayer. Thus, Kalistos in the holy Athos mountain, while performing a burdensome kitchen service, learned an uninterrupted prayer. Thus, the simple-hearted Lazarus, burdened with incessant works for the brethren, unceasingly, amid all the noisy occupations, uttered the Lord’s prayer and was peaceable. And many others who practiced similarly in unceasing invocation of the divine name. If it were not possible to pray amid distractions or in the company of people, then, of course, the impossible would not be commanded. Saint John Chrysostom, in his sermon on prayer, says the following: “No one should imagine that it is impossible to always pray while being preoccupied with the cares of life, or that one cannot be in the church. Everywhere where you are, you can set an altar to God in your mind through prayer.” It is possible to pray anywhere. And indeed, if a person pays close attention to himself, he will find an opportunity for prayer everywhere, provided that he is convinced that prayer must be the main occupation before all his obligations. Do not be overzealous in your concerns, so that through them you may gain more time for quiet prayer. Possibilities and the will of man are evident, and it is possible and convenient to pray at any time, in any position and place, to move from frequent oral prayer to rational prayer, and from that to heartfelt prayer, which opens the kingdom of God within us.

      Professor.  Right, it is possible and even convenient to practice frequent or even uninterrupted prayer during all mechanical occupations, because mechanical needlework does not require intense concentration and many reflections, and therefore my mind can at the same time immerse itself in unceasing prayer and my lips follow along with it. But when I am to engage in something purely intellectual, such as careful reading, thoughtful contemplation of a deep subject, or a work – how can I pray with my mind and lips at the same time? And since prayer is primarily a matter of the intellect, how can I give different tasks to one mind at the same time?

      Scholastic.  This problem of yours is not difficult to resolve, if we take into consideration that there are three kinds of prayer: 1) for beginners, 2) for those who are capable of it, and 3) those who have learnt to pray. So, beginners can have frequent, short oral prayers in the presence of God, while those who are able or have acquired a constant state of mind can engage in speculation or creation in the constant presence of God, as the basis of prayer. This can be expressed in an example. Imagine that a strict and exacting Sovereign has ordered you to make a reflection on a profound matter given to you – in His presence – at the foot of His throne. No matter how occupied you are with your subject, the presence of the Sovereign, who holds your life in His hand, by taking possession of you, will not allow you even for a moment to forget that you are reflecting, understanding and formulating not on your own, but in a place that requires special reverence, respect and propriety. This feeling – and this feeling of the close presence of the Sovereign – clearly expresses the possibility of engaging in ceaseless inner prayer and during intellectual exercises.

            As for those who, by long practice or by the mercy of God, have acquired a prayer of the heart, such people not only during deep intellectual activity, but even in their sleep, do not cease to practice uninterrupted prayer, which the Wise One says: ” While I sleep, my heart wakes up,”… O God, who awakens himself to prayer by immersing the mind and the whole soul in the uninterrupted flow of prayer, in which state he who prays was not, no matter how abstract and intellectual his occupation.

Paragraph. Hierarch. Please, Reverend Father, let me also express my thoughts. In the article you have read, it is clearly expressed that the only way to salvation and perfection is as a part of prayer – “whatever it may be”… For me, this is incomprehensible, and so I think: what will be the benefit if I continuously pray and invoke only in the language of Thee, O God, but not by it? This will be merely idle chatter! The consequence of this will be only that the language will become redundant, and the mind, which hinders this in its reflections, will also be damaged in its efficacy. God demands not words, but a careful mind and a purified heart. Is not it better, even if only occasionally or within a set time, to perform even a short prayer, but with attention, with diligence, with warmth of soul, and with due understanding? And otherwise, even if day and night you say a prayer, but you do not have purity of soul or deeds of virtue, then you will not gain anything redeeming; but by remaining at one, mere outward chatter, and finally becoming tired and bored, you will come to the point that, completely cooling faith in prayer, you will completely discard this idle practice. The futility of one oral prayer can also be seen in the denunciations presented in Holy Scripture; for example: “Such people worship Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me” (Prov. 4:15); “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 7:21); “I want to welcome with my tongue the things that my mind grasps more closely than the darkness of the night” (Isa. 66:2); and others… All this expresses the fruitlessness of external, inattentive oral prayer.Paragraph. – Your conclusion could have some basis if it were not connected with the oral prayer principle of perseverance or constancy; if the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ did not have its own inherent force, and did not receive attention and diligence because of the graduality of prayer practice… But since this passage refers to the frequency, duration, and constancy of prayer (even though it was initially accompanied by inattention or dryness), let us study it further. One spiritual writer, convincing us of the greatest benefit and fruitfulness of frequent prayer expressed in repetitive words, concludes by saying: “Although many ignorant persons consider it to be useless and even trifling to constantly repeat the same prayer, calling it mechanical and absurd; the secret which later emerges from this mechanical exercise, does not know how the unheeded, but frequent murmur, becomes a true cry of the heart, goes deep, becomes more pleasant, becomes natural to the soul, enlighten it, nourish it, and lead to unity… As for the children who are to be taught the alphabet and reading; the tediousness of this letter-by-letter exercise was for them a mystery. To purify the soul, you must first purify the body: you impose a fast upon yourself, depriving your body of nourishing and irritating food? It is a pious duty; yet you so conveniently forget it… And, consistently practicing it, you truly feel that through the external fasting of your body, you acquire an internal refinement of mind, calmness of heart, a weapon to subdue cravings, and a reminder to practice a spiritual exercise. through the long duration of prayer, you develop an inner prayer of the heart: it kindles and promotes mental union with God. What often occurs is this: anyone who undertakes to continually invoke the name of Jesus Christ, or, what is the same, to continuously recite the Lord’s Prayer, usually, at first, feels the work and struggles with laziness, but the longer and more he practices it, the more indifferent he grows to this exercise, so that later on, without effort, his lips move, and prayer is recited without a voice. As a result, he is motivated to pay attention to this involuntary movement of the lips, being thereby awakened to the kind of attention that ultimately becomes the source of the sweetness of heartfelt and true prayer. the opposing statements you quoted, their proper consideration explains this. they did not acknowledge it with their hearts. This is what is said to them and does not refer to the reading of prayer, which Jesus Christ expressly and positively, or certainly, commanded when he said: “Pray always and do not let your lips be idle” (just as he does not forbid it). or in an incomprehensible or unfamiliar language in church, understanding this to refer to public teaching, not to the prayer itself, which he says clearly: “I want them constantly to pray in prayer,” or: “Keep praying constantly,” does he correctly understand Scripture?”

      ARCHITECT. Indeed, it is true, dear Father! I have seen many who, without any educational guidance and without knowing what is praise, spontaneously and continuously creating the Jesus Prayer, have achieved what their mouth and tongue could not restrain from expressing the prayer, which later so delighted and enlightened them, and from being weak and unruly.

      SCHEMATIC. Yes! Prayer seems to transform a person. Its power is so powerful that no force of passion can withstand it. If desired, I will read you, brothers and sisters, a brief but interesting article that I have brought with me.

      ALL. We will listen with reverent pleasure!

      SCHEMATIC.

Confession about the power and effect of prayer

            Prayer is so powerful and powerful that whatever you pray for and do, prayer will bring you to the right and righteous action.

            For good deeds, nothing more is needed than love: love and do whatever you want, says the Blessed Augustine: for one who truly loves, cannot and will not do anything that is not beneficial to his beloved…. Since prayer is the outpouring and effect of love, the same thing can be said about it: do what you want, and you will achieve the goal of prayer, you will gain sanctification!

            In order to understand the subject more thoroughly, let us explain with examples:

1) Pray, and think of what you want, and your mind will be purified by prayer. Prayer will give you enlightenment of the mind, calm and dispel all inappropriate thoughts. – This is what St. Grigory Sinaite says: “In order to expel thoughts and purify the mind, he says, you must pray, because there is no other way to suppress thoughts than prayer.” St. John the Theologian also says: “Chase away imaginary enemies by the Jesus Prayer, and you will not find any other means.”

            2) Pray, and do what you want, and your actions will be pleasing to God and beneficial and saving for you.

Often prayer, no matter what it is, does not remain unfruitful (Marx the Ascetic) because it possesses the grace of God within itself. “Holy is His name, and every one who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” For example, someone who prayed without success in a life of unbelief in this prayer received a clear conscience and a call to repent. A lustful girl prayed when she repented and her prayer showed her the way to a chaste life and to listening to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

            3) Pray, and do not use much of your own power to overcome your passions. Prayer destroys them in you: “Whatever is your fault is in the world”, says the Holy Scriptures. And St. John of Karpas returns, that if you do not have the gift of modesty, do not be discouraged; but know that God demands of you diligence in prayer, and prayer will save you.

            The old man described in The Homilies, who “wards off victories”, that is, when he fell into a sin, did not despair, but prayed and by moderation, is a convincing proof of this.

            4) Pray, and do not be afraid of anything, do not be afraid of misery, do not be afraid of adversity, prayer will protect, ward them off. Remember the drowned unbelieving Peter; Paul, who prayed in prison; the monk, who was freed from temptation by prayer; the girl who was saved from the aggressive soldier through prayer, and similar cases: they confirm the power, strength and omnipotence of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

5) Pray, however somehow, always, and do not be shy of anything; be spiritually joyful and peaceful: prayer will arrange everything and teach you everything. Remember what the saints – John the Golden-Mouthed and Mark the Ascetic – say about the power of prayer: the first affirms that “even if it is prayed by us, who are full of sin, it immediately cleanses us”… And the second says this: “To pray in the manner to which one is able is in our power; but to pray cleanly is the gift of grace”. Therefore, whatever is within your power, offer it to God; whatever the quantity is possible for you to offer, begin by sacrificing it to Him, and God’s power will overtake your weak power; and the dry and scattered prayer, but frequent – always ongoing, having gained a habit, and having turned it into nature, will become a pure, bright, fiery, and worthy prayer.

            6) Finally, if the time of your being awake were filled with prayer, then naturally, there would be no time not only for sinful deeds, but even for thoughts about them.

            Now you see how profound the thoughts concentrated in this wise saying are: “Love, and do what you want. Pray, and do what you want!” … How joyfully and deliciously everything is said for a sinner burdened by weaknesses, for one who is weighed down by struggling passions!

            Prayer – that is everything, dear one, as a comprehensive means for salvation and improving the soul… Yes, but the condition of prayer is also closely linked here, and it is the condition: “Always pray,” the word of Bomij dictates. Therefore, prayer will then show all-encompassing power and fruit when it is practiced often, constantly, because often prayer is unconditionally within our power: just as purity, diligence, and perfection of prayer are a gift of grace.

            We should therefore pray as often as possible, devote everything that is in our power to prayer, even if it is at first careless! Frequent practice will teach us to be attentive, and quantity will certainly lead to quality.

      FR PH: Indeed, it is a great work of prayer! And fervent striving for its frequency is the key to opening its beneficial treasures. But how often do I meet in myself the battle between fervency and laziness! How great it would be to find a means and help to overcome and to convince and rouse oneself to constantly adhere to prayer!

      FR SCH: Many writers of spiritual literature recommend various means based on a sound understanding – to rouse diligence towards prayer: such as, for example

            1) They advise to immerse oneself in reflections on the necessity, superiority, and fruitfulness of prayer for the salvation of the soul.

            2) They firmly convince one that God most certainly requires our prayer from us, and His word testifies about this everywhere.

            3) Constantly be mindful that through laziness and neglect of prayer, one cannot keep up with the works of piety and obtain peace and salvation; and therefore, such a one will inevitably suffer both this as a punishment here on earth and torment in eternal life.

            4) Inspire one’s resoluteness with the examples of God’s saints, who all by means of incessant prayer achieved sanctification and salvation, and so on.

            Although all these resources have their own value and derive from a true understanding, however, the sickly and pampered soul, accepting and using them, rarely sees their fruitfulness because these medicines are bitter to its spoiled taste and weak to its deeply damaged nature. For one reason or another, some Christians do not know that one must pray frequently and diligently, as God requires; that we bear punishment for idleness in prayer, that all the saints prayed diligently and tirelessly; however, this knowledge rarely has a favorable result! Every observer sees that he either does not do these things with diligence, or he does not do them at all, and when he remembers this, he lives just as badly and idly as before.

            Therefore, the experienced and godly Holy Fathers, knowing the weakness of self-will and the debauchery of the lustful human heart, act upon this in particular, and from this side, like doctors, add sweet syrups and body to bitter medicines, sweeten the medicine cup with honey, and reveal the easiest and most effective remedy that destroys the effect by means of God – to attain perfection and the sweet hope of love for God in prayer. They advise us to think about this state of the soul as often as possible and to read carefully the stories told by the Fathers, who reassuringly assure us that it is easy and accessible to achieve these sweet inner feelings in prayer; and that they are desirable, somehow: the delight that comes from the heart; the soothing warmth and light that flows inside; the indescribable delight, joy, lightness, deep peace and substantial bliss and satisfaction of life that is awakened by the action of prayer in the heart. By deepening into these reflections, the weak and cold soul is warmed, strengthened, and encouraged to pray, and is lured towards the experiences of the practice of prayer, as the Holy Isaac the Syrian says: “the bait for the soul is the joy that is produced by hope, which thrives in the heart; and he continues: “At the beginning of this action and to the end, some method and hope of accomplishment is foreseen; and this is what spurs the mind to put the foundation of the work and the intention on this goal, and to attract the mind to its own satisfaction in the work ”. In the same way, the Holy Isaac, describing the procrastination of prayer and the renewal of diligence towards it at the end, says directly the following: “Then we are willing to seek a sweet feeling and joy in heart silence alone.”

            Therefore, by encouraging the dedication to prayer, this Father “promises a sweet feeling and joy in the heart,” just as the Great Macarius teaches: “that our spiritual labors (prayer) produce fruit with wholeheartedness and hope, that is, with the delight of our hearts.”

Archpriest: Would not this sort of reflection drive an inexperienced person toward spiritual vanity – as theologians call that desire of the soul that seeks excessive delight and love of grace, contenting itself with what it is required to do for the sake of virtue and duty, without wishing for a reward?         One of the great theologians, St. Macarius of Egypt, expresses this subject in the clearest of words, saying: “As when planting a vineyard, care and labour are put into the task of harvesting its fruits, and if the fruits are not harvested, all the work is in vain; so in prayer, if there are spiritual fruits, that is, love, peace, joy, and so on, or fruits of hope, that is, delights in our hearts, we must pursue them” (Chapter 3, Chapter 5). Do you see how clearly this Holy Father has addressed the need for enjoyment in prayer? But here is something that came to my mind recently, which is the main reason for the desire to drink. And therefore, an examination of this nature can also serve as a powerful means of encouraging diligence in prayer, which means that the Professor deserves to seek ways to do so. Examining that no action can occur without a cause, and walking up the ladder of perceptible things from the lower to the higher, it finally reaches the main cause of God. That is why no nation or tribe of savages has ever been, and still is, without any notion of God. There is something that draws him upwards, something that yearns for the unknown… On that basis, all natural religions take place, and it is very strange that the essence or soul of each primitive religion is a secret prayer, which is manifested by some kind of movement and a concrete, barbaric concept of pagans!

         Oh, if only man did not abuse this ability and kept it over his spiritual nature! Then he would have a great encouragement and a means on his way to moral perfection. But, alas! How often does this noble ability become a foolish passion of self-love when he turns it into a tool of his animal nature!

      Pustelnik.  – I am astonished how often in Russia, not only in monastic monasteries, but even from some God-fearing laypeople, one hears that many who are eager for solitary life or inner prayer are kept from following this inclination by fear of falling into temptation. Persuading others to do this, they present examples in support of their conditions; and since they themselves shun inner life, they drive others away from it.   I think this comes from two causes: either from a lack of understanding of the matter and from lack of spiritual education, or from their own laziness and envy of not being surpassed in these higher attainments by others who are on a lower level than themselves. The Holy Fathers reason about this matter, and they point out that there is no need to fear or have doubts when calling upon God. If some have fallen into self-deception or madness, it has happened to them because of pride, lack of a spiritual guide, and accepting appearances and dreams as truth. If such a temptation had actually occurred, it would have led to discernment and possession; for the quick aid of God intervenes in this humility. Have courage! I am with you, do not fear! says Jesus Christ. (Gr. Sin. l. f.) It follows from this that it is useless to fear or intimidate them from the life of the interior, on the pretext of temptation: for a humble awareness of one’s sins, openness of the soul to spiritual guidance, and ‘devoidness’ in prayer are a solid and secure bastion against temptation, which many are so afraid of and because of which many are afraid, and many are so afraid, and many are in temptation, as the experienced word of St. Philip the Egyptian says: ‘Many of the monks do not understand the temptation of their own mind, which is felt from demons; that is, they train only in one activity [external virtues] and do not care about the mind, that is, about inner contemplation, care about it, consider it, as something belonging to envy.’

      Monk. — Although the guidance of an experienced and spiritually knowledgeable teacher, or elder, to whom one could open up with trust and benefit every day, and who could freely accompany one on the path of interior instruction, constitutes the main condition for the practice of heart prayer, carried out in silence: parents who recommend this present an exception. Saint Nykifer the Hermit teaches clearly about this: “in the practice of inner heart operation, a genuine and knowledgeable instructor is necessary. If there is no such instructor, one should earnestly seek: if one cannot find him or her, then with sorrow of heart, ask God for help to obtain instruction and guidance in the teaching of Holy Scripture.” It is also necessary to take into consideration that a true prayerful desire can hear a good and instructive word from anyone, including ordinary people, for Holy Fathers also assure that if one asks a Saracen with faith and for the right purpose, he or she can give a useful word; if, however, one asks for instruction from a prophet without faith and with the right intention, then he or she will not satisfy one… This example is shown in the Life of Makarios the Great of Egypt, to whom one day a simple peasant understood and thus abolished his addiction. As for “seeing without seeing,” i.e., not seeing or perceiving any vision of light, angel, Christ, or saint, and turning away from any dreams; this is what the experienced Holy Fathers recommend, of course, precisely because the imagination can easily make up or bring to life perceptions; and an inexperienced person easily becomes attached to such dreams, praises them as heavenly manifestations, and falls prey to self-suggestion, and at the same time, as Scripture illustrates, that “the devil turns into an angel of light.” And that the mind naturally and conveniently can remain in “seeing without seeing,” and maintain it even in the presence of God’s presence, is evident from the fact that the power of imagination can perceive something with “seeing without seeing,” and hold an imagination on it under consideration of objects that are beyond the sight, which have no form, are not subject to touch, and are not measurable by touching what is on that coldness! Similarly, the presence of our soul’s airy, inscrutable, divine being can be imagined in the mind, recognized in the heart in silence. 

BUILDER. – It has happened to me in my travels to hear from pious people and those who are seeking salvation that they are afraid, under the pretext of pleasure, to touch the inner workings of their hearts. Some have listened to me with profit from Saint Gregory of Sinai’s book The Book of Love of God (op. cit.), in which he says: “The workings of the heart cannot be magical (not like the workings of the mind), for if the enemy wanted to turn the warmth of the heart into his disordered burning or the joy of the heart into a damp pleasure, but time, experience, and feelings would inevitably distort these deceits, even for those who are not very familiar with them.”
I have also met others who, much to my regret and after having learned the way of silence and inner prayer, upon encountering any obstacle or sinful weakness, become discouraged and abandon the inner workings of the heart that they have come to know.

HELPER. – And that is very natural! I sometimes feel it myself when I stumble into distractions or commit some sin…

But since inner prayer of the heart is a holy matter, and union with God, is it appropriate and is it not daring to introduce a holy matter into a sinful heart, without first cleansing it of sins, and without first cleansing it of evil, until it is first cleansed of evil, and without first cleansing it of sin?…

Is it better to be obscure before God than to bring the words of sin into a heart that is clouded and distracted by sin?

It is better to be obscure before God than to bring words of “mad actions” into a heart that is corrupted and distracted by sin and sin.

MONK. – It is a great pity that you think this way! It is this kind of thought – “disappointment” – the most sinful of all sins, and the weapon par excellence that the forces of darkness use against us…

Experienced holy Fathers teach otherwise in this respect. Saint Nikita of Styptov says, “Even if you fall and fall, deep into hell, then no matter how much you fall, do not despair, but return quickly to God, and He will speedily restore your fallen heart and give you strength long since lost (cap. 54).” Therefore, after any fall or weakness of the heart that is enslaved by sin, it should immediately be brought into the presence of God, to be healed and purified, just as infected things, after staying under the influence of the sun’s rays, lose their virulently sharp edge and power. Many spiritual teachers assert this categorically. In the struggle with our passions, salvation should in no way move away from the life-giving action of Christ’s invitation, which is in our hearts! Our actions should not only not turn us away from the presence of God and from inner prayer, arousing anxiety, discouragement, and sadness, but should also promote our rapid turn to God. A baby is held by its mother while it learns to walk, and returns quickly toward her when it stumbles.

The Hesitant. – To my knowledge, you are very interested in hearing my critical analysis of the concept of silence and the beneficial effects of solitude, which the hermits so love to practice. Here is how I think about this: since all people are by nature, by the Creator’s command, obliged to be in mutual dependence on one another; and therefore they are obliged to help one another in their lives, to work for one another and be useful to one another, this is how the well-being of the human race and love for one’s neighbor are based. And what good can an immovable hermit do in his inactivity to benefit his neighbor, and what benefit does he bring to the well-being of human society? He absolutely destroys the Creator’s law concerning the bond of love for one’s fellows and the beneficial influence on one’s fellow human beings!..

Professor. – According to my understanding, your view of silence is not true, and so your conclusion is incorrect; let us examine this in detail:

1. An isolated hermit is by no means in an idle or empty state, but is actually engaged, and moreover more so than one who participates in social life. He tirelessly carries on the highest moral activity with his own intellectual nature: he observes, understands, and watches over the state and development of his moral being. This is the true aim of silence! And this is beneficial both to his own inner development and to his neighbors, who are deprived of the opportunity to immerse themselves in themselves completely, for the moral development of society, because the contemplative hermit, communicating his inner achievements either verbally (in extraordinary cases) or by writing them down, blesses and benefits many more people than any public or private philanthropist, because the private, sensual philanthropy of worldly people is always limited to a small number of philanthropists; but the moral philanthropist, by the acquisition of convictions and experienced methods of spiritual development, becomes the benefactor of entire nations; his achievements and his teachings are passed on from generation to generation, something that we have actually seen, and from which we have benefited for centuries. And what is no different from Christ’s generous mercy for the sake of Christian love, but indeed surpasses it in its consequences.

            2. The beneficent and useful influence of silence on one’s neighbor is revealed not only in its instructive observations of the inner life, but even the example of its detached life is beneficial to the attentive layman, leading him to self-awareness and to a sense of awe… inspiring a sense of godliness, reminding one of what a person can be on earth, and how accessible it is to bring one back to the contemplative state in which one came out of the hands of the Creator. The solitary hermit of silence teaches by his silence, lives by his own example, preaches and persuades to the search for God…

            3. The usefulness shown here comes from the silence of the true, enlightened, and grace-filled light. But even if the hermit had no such gracious gifts to be a light unto the world, and he had entered into the path of silence with the sole aim of hiding himself from the community of people, through his slovenliness and carelessness and the bad and seductive example, then he would have done a great service and had a beneficial influence on society, like a barren, dry tree, and cast out the harmful plants for the unobstructed growth of the best and most useful ones. And this is already a great deal, and this is already a public benefit, that the hermit’s solitude takes away from him the temptation that would inevitably have come from his seductive life among people, and would have harmed the morality of others.

            Saint Isaac the Syrian comments on the importance of silence in the following way: “When we put all the deeds of this life on one side and silence on the other, we will find that it outweighs everything on the scales (p. 41). Signs of the Creator, miracles, and power in the world; do not compare it with the silence of silence, which is shameful in silence; the peace and conversion of many nations to God.”

            Even the most instinctive sages recognized the benefits of silence: the Neoplatonist philosophical school, which had many famous schools under the direction of the philosopher Plotinus, developed contemplative, inner life that is primarily achieved in silence… One spiritual writer said that if the state was developed to the utmost extent of enlightenment, the need existed for people for other, contemplative purposes, in addition to public civic activity, to maintain the spirit of truth and receive it from all the ages past, preserve it for the ages to come, and pass it on to posterity. Such people in the Church are hermits, hermits, and hermits.

Augustinian Hermit: “A stranger asks if we will approach the monk, and call upon his prayer. The monk replies, ‘…with you or without you, the Lord is the same. Without you, I… scream and cry, to the point that the flood causes the whole town to flood. And with you, I…strain, but I do not begin to cry.’, as he was not in need of the prayer… sometimes we also approach him, but this is a more practical matter for him, because we feel a liability of his influence in prayer.”

            So they began to study together, passing on to each other what they understood; the subject of study was the same. And what happened after a few days? The negligent became diligent, he loved the study, his neglect was transformed into diligence and diligence, which had a beneficial influence on his character and morality. And the intelligent fellow-student became even more capable and diligent. They gained a mutual benefit through the influence on each other… This is only natural; for a person is born into a society of people, develops intelligent concepts through people; life customs, emotional feelings, aspirations and desires, in short, everything is adopted on the model of himself. And since the life of people consists of the closest interrelation and powerful influence on each other, whoever lives among such people, becomes shaped by their habits, actions and customs. So a cold person can warm up, a dull one can sharpen, a lazy one can intensify his activity with the lively participation of a person similar to himself. The spirit of the spirit can transmit itself, can have a beneficial influence on each other: attract him to prayer, to attention, encourage him in despair, repel him from sin and excite him to holy activity, and therefore, helping one another, he can become more pious, more active and more godly. One for another, ask for prayers of brotherhood!

            And from this we can see that God is not satisfied with many requests and supplications (as it often happens in strong lands), but the spirit and power of prayer purify and excite the soul for which they pray, and present it as capable of uniting with God.

            If such a fruitful mutual prayer is characteristic of those who live on earth, it is self-evident that prayer for those who have passed away is also mutually beneficial, due to the closest connection between the heavenly and the earthly world; it is equally capable of attracting the souls of the warrior Church to fellowship with the souls of the triumphant Church; or, what is the same, with those who have passed on.

            Although everything I have said is a psychological judgment; but by revealing Holy Scripture, we shall be convinced of its truth!.. 1) Jesus Christ says to the Apostle Peter: “Even as you pray, that your faith may not fail.” Here the power of Christ’s prayer strengthens the spirit of Peter and encourages him in opposition to faith. 2) When the Apostle Peter was in prison, there was diligent prayer in the church for him. Here the help of fraternal prayer in circumstances of sorrow is manifest. 3) But the most explicit commandment about praying for others is expressed by the holy Apostle James: “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. For much shall be gained by the prayer of the righteous, and the soul shall be quickened.” Here the above- mentioned psychological conclusion is clearly confirmed.

            And what about the example of the Apostle Paul, given to us as a model of prayer for one another? One writer observes that this example of St. Paul should teach us how necessary mutual prayer is, when this holy and mighty spiritual ascetic recognizes the need for such spiritual prayerful help. In his letter to the Hebrews, he makes the following request: Pray for us, for we hope that the consciences of all those who desire to live well will respond favorably to the requirement of good works. To listen to this, how unreasonable it would be to rely solely on one’s own prayers and achievements, when a humble, simply endowed saint seeks the united prayer of his neighbors (the Hebrews), knowing that the power of God is manifested in weakness?

            Having established this, let us also note that the strength of prayer for one another is based on the bond of Christian love commanded by God, it demonstrates humility and the spirit of the one who does the praying, and the joint prayer is thus inflamed.

      PROFESSOR. – Wonderful and precise are your explanations and arguments, but it would be interesting to hear from you the very way and form of prayer for our neighbors, because I think that if the fruitfulness and appeal of prayer depends on the living participation of the neighbor and, mainly, on the constant influence of the spirit that prays on the spirit that needs to be prayed for, then there will not be a plea to put yourself in God’s out-of-sight presence, and to pour out your soul before God in its own need? And if you bring a neighbor to mind only once or twice a day, asking for his divine help; then does this suffice to attract and strengthen the soul of the one for whom you are praying? In short, it is important to know how or how to pray for our neighbors.

      MONK.  – Prayer of any kind that is brought before God must not, and cannot, take us out of the presence of God; for if it is poured before God, then it is, of course, in His presence… With regard to the method of praying for our neighbors, we should note that the power of this prayer lies in sincere Christian participation. Therefore, at the moment of remembering him (the neighbor) or in the designated hour for that purpose, it is necessary to draw the mindful gaze to God, offering the prayer in the following form: Gracious Lord! May your will be done, which desires to save everyone and to come to the knowledge of the truth: save and have mercy on your servant (such-and-such). Accept this prayer, which is a cry of love, commanded by you.

           These words are often repeated during the movements of the soul or while counting the beads – with this prayer. I have learned from experience how beneficial such prayer is for the one for whom it is uttered.