Unceasing Prayer

Unceasing PrayerBy

John K Kotsonis, Ph.D.

Thesis: Unceasing prayer, as defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of the Church,

expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature, is an extremely significant aid and a very efficient

accelerator for our personal spiritual growth. As it develops, it engenders a direct, clear and constant

relationship with God, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for our theosis.

This work focuses on the unceasing, continuous prayer, especially the “Jesus

Prayer,” or “Prayer Of The Heart” - its origin, evolution, approach and results. The

text mirrors the structure of the Thesis statement.

I. Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of the Church,

expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature.

Prayer is our attempt to speak with God and establish a personal connection with

Him. As Orthodox Christians, we know that we are expected to maintain a powerful,

direct and personal relationship with God through prayer and receive the divine

grace that flows from it. The union that follows is the ultimate gift from God and

our birthright. In the words of St John Climacus: “Prayer is by nature a dialog and

a union of man and God. Its effect is to hold the world together. It achieves a

reconciliation with God.” (R14 p274).

Ever since the Fall, humans have tried to keep their connection with God alive and

functioning through prayer (1). However, an integrated prayer in God’s name could

not be offered until His Incarnation (including His Crucifixion and Resurrection)

was complete. After that point, the faithful can rely on His promise that He will

make sure our legitimate, and properly placed, requests are fulfilled (2). Christ

has pledged that He will act on our behalf, that He will be our personal Intercessor

(3,4) which is something the prophets of the Old Testament never had. Our prayers

are now blessed by the value of Christ’s human experience, including His sacrifice

and victory over death and He has promised to respond to our requests made in His

Name. We also know that prayer was a big part of Jesus’ life and that He prayed very

frequently, as we read throughout the New Testament. For example, the Gospel of

John K Kotsonis 11/19/06 1

Saint John, chapter 17, contains a deeply moving prayer that Jesus offered to His

Father. This long prayer was tailored to the circumstances He was facing at the

time, but it can also be seen as a grand template of a multi-faceted divine

invocation that addresses many of the general issues and principles of His mission

as a human (5).

In the following several paragraphs, the first part of the Thesis statement

above is addressed, ie,

(a) Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament and supported by the

Fathers.

Christ taught us to pray with faith, sincerity, and humility in our hearts.

Having faith is perhaps the most fundamental Christian quality, because without it

we cannot communicate with God, please Him or get anything back from Him. Words may

be flowing, but they are empty because our deeper mind and heart are fighting and

belittling this activity (6). As logic is a good yardstick for our endeavors in this

(created) universe, faith in God is our guide towards (and in) His uncreated sphere

of existence. We must have faith in His love, His power, and His infinite wisdom

(7,8,9.) A common expression, paraphrasing Christ Himself, is “All things are

possible to those who believe.” Jesus stressed the value and power of prayer in

faith as an integral part of His overall teaching (10,11,12,13,14). In addition, our

prayer should be sincere (15), and not like that offered by many Pharisees who did

not pray from the heart (16) and whose lives were not lived in accord with their

prayers (17). This is an absolute requirement for successful prayer that He will

respond to, because God must be approached in spirit and in truth (18). As we know

from the Old Testament, many of the Psalms demonstrate the urgency that the faithful

feel when approaching God (19). This deep desire and sense of urgency is also shown

in the parable of the persistent friend (20) and in the desperate pleadings of the

Syro-Phoenician woman on behalf of her sick daughter (21). Last, we should be humble

in praying (22), like any servant would be when asking for a great favor of a

powerful master (23). Sincere humility is expected (24,25) from all Christians, and

the difference between true, humble prayer vs. just bragging about our hypothetical

goodness is aptly demonstrated in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

(Lk 18: 9-14). Jesus abhorred pride and arrogance because He is simple (26) and meek


Himself. Humility (27) is the companion virtue of repentance and obedience (28), but

is also very synergistic with a host of other key virtues (29, 30, 31).

Christ taught us to pray in obedience, repentance, and forgiveness for all,

especially our enemies. Being obedient to His will is a very important “sine qua

non” for good prayer (32, 33) as we must all gradually move our lives in the

direction of our petitions (34). In this way we honor God as our Lord (35, 36, 37).

Towards this goal, Christ urged us not to pray with arrogance but to first focus on

keeping His Father’s commandments (38). Of course, Jesus’ personal example

throughout His ministry on Earth, especially His deeply moving prayers towards the

end of the Last Supper (Jn 17) and in the garden of Gethsemane (39) during the night

of his betrayal and arrest, can serve as excellent guidelines here. With obedience

comes repentance, which is another key requirement to successful prayer, as

explained clearly in the parable of the prodigal son (40). Because sin separates us

from God, if we want to get closer to Him, we must turn back, repent (41, 42). This

is shown in both the Old and New Testaments (43, 44, 45). Connected with repentance

is confession (46, 47, 48) for our prayers to be heard and answered (49). Christ was

very clear that if we want forgiveness from God (50), He expects us, as a

prerequisite, to forgive others who may have hurt us (51); a requirement that is

also clearly stated in the Lord’s prayer. In giving us this prayer, He wanted us to

understand His fundamental rule and spiritual law: if we do not forgive, we will not

be forgiven. Following His example in forgiving those who hurt us is the apex of our

obligation to Him. As we forgive, we are truly His disciples (52, 53, 54, 55, 56),

and many of Christ’s parables center on this important point (57). On His Sermon on

the Mount, Christ repeated that theme several times (58). We are really like Him

when we let go of negative feelings, and even forget, about other people abusing us.

Forgiveness is the precursor to detachment, which is absolutely necessary for clear,

effective prayer. Furthermore, the combination of forgiveness and detachment from

passions () grows into love for all, even for our enemies, which is the one

virtue without which all others are valueless and useless (59). In agreement with

these points, several Fathers taught that humble, prayerful obedience (60) is the

mother of all virtue, as will be discussed later on.


Christ taught us to pray in privacy, with fasting, and untiring persistence. In

teaching the need of privacy in our praying, He told us not to pray at the street

corners for others to see and admire us, but in our own room with the door closed

(61); and He also gave us several examples of Himself praying in solitude (62).

Fasting is another very useful practice, which enhances and confirms our lack of

blind dependence on, even freedom from, our passions and the physical world in

general. Christ often emphasized prayer augmented by fasting (63, 64, 65) because

their combination is truly powerful, as mentioned in many passages of both the Old

Testament (66, 67) and the New Testament (68, 69, 70, 71, 72). Following this line

of thinking, prayer added to fasting and obedience is even more powerful (73)

because these virtues reinforce each other; and so on. He also taught us to pray

with persistence (74), like in the parable of the friend asking for bread at

midnight (cf note #20) and also in the parable of the unjust judge (75). In the

same way that Jacob did, we must pray until our prayer is answered (76), because,

as we persist, the Holy Spirit gradually teaches us how to remove impediments (eg,

pride, impatience, lack of faith) to true connection with God. For this reason, we

need to stay the course (77) and He is happy to see us do that (78, 79). Job,

Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah, Bartimaeus and the Canaanite woman are excellent

examples here. However, our prayers are not answered because of what we do

[although, avoiding sin (80, 81) empowers them (82)] but because, seeing our

effort, He extends His grace and accepts them, when He chooses. The need for

persistence is also embedded in the Lord’s prayer (“…give us this day our daily

bread…” indicating that this prayer should be repeated at least once per day.)

Last, Christ taught us to pray in alignment with the Divine Will because when our

human actions are in tune with His plans, all requests are granted (83). We must

desire only the Divine Will and not our own (84), both in asking for something good

for our soul and in receiving what God decides to give in return. We should be moved

to prayer because God desires us to pray and not because we have things that we need

Him to provide. In this way, our main intent (in both our mind and heart) should be

to unite our will with the will of Christ, obey Him in everything, and in no way

attempt to bend His will towards our own. Our petitions must be for the glory of God

(85), or else they are weak; selfish or evil desires must be shunned. We must have


His mind (86) and act in accord with His will and in harmony with His commands (87).

As we live in communion with Him, our will is His will, which is the will of the

Father (88), and our prayers are offered to the entire Holy Trinity (89). One of the

best ways to align our prayers with the Divine Will, is to use Jesus’ name in them

(90, 91, 92, 93, 94) like the Apostles who knew the power of using Jesus’ name in

prayer (95, 96, 97). In using His Name, we show our frame of mind and we don’t just

use a form of rote speech (98). We show that we, on our own, have no right to ask

for anything from the Father, but that the Son authorized our request. In addition,

we must pray in the Holy Spirit (99, 100) [as elaborated in section IIIa] because in

this way He is praying within (and through) us, establishing the conditions for the

Holy Grace to be extended to us (101). The Holy Spirit empowers and blesses true

prayer that emanates from our spiritual essence, our heart, asking that we be

accepted back in the place which God has already prepared for us. In this way, the

Holy Spirit makes us sensitive to our weakness and sinful tendencies, and encourages

the transformation (in repentance and humility) that strengthens our bond with God

even further. As our mind clears up, our human, rebellious thoughts atrophy, slow

down and stop. Then, our unceasing supplication to Christ rests in our heart, fully

aligned with the Holy Spirit, and our Father in Heaven hears our silent prayer and

makes Himself known to us (102).

The Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart, is comprised of the following

statement: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is a

form of non-iconic (103) prayer (104) (ie, no visual representations (105) are

allowed in our mind) which is easy to use unceasingly. It is also an authentically

apophatic means to deification (106), in that it allows us to go beyond any

preconceived (107), limiting notions about God (108) and helps us focus on an

extraordinary goal: a direct, permanent and personal union with Him. Through it we

don’t try to understand, but just accept Him, in His infinite strength, wisdom and

variety.

The first two parts of the prayer combine our Orthodox Christian faith of the

Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and of the Holy Trinity (109) in that

they acknowledge the Father and the Son within the power of the Holy Spirit [in

addressing Jesus as Lord (110).] This is the “praise” part of the prayer. The words


“have mercy on me a sinner” complete the picture in terms of our relationship with

God, adding the surrender and petition part, which is meant to invoke God’s Holy

Grace and to “energize” the prayer, turn it from “neutral” or “passive” to

“active.” Prayer of the Heart really means cultivating the purity of our spiritual

center or heart (111), a process that involves an unconditional surrender to His

will, in all circumstances. Therefore, this short prayer integrates praise and

penance very efficiently, as it acknowledges the greatness of God and asks for

help, forgiveness and the extension of His holy Grace to us – ie, it addresses

every key aspect of our life in faith. What’s more, it is highly practical in that

it is designed to be repeated mentally, or even within our silent mind after it

sinks into our heart, allowing us to carry out our various tasks and accommodating

our need to interact with others and earn our daily bread.

The practice of praying continuously has extensive support in our Scriptures,

(eg, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117) , with St Paul as a major contributor: when he

spoke of prayer, he most often used words conveying the meaning of “constant,”

“always” and “continuously.” For him, prayer was as natural and as essential as

breathing. Now, in order to appreciate how the phrase “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of

God, have mercy on me a sinner” took root, here are some references (118, 119, 120)

of the many that are sprinkled throughout the Scriptures.

We should always pray, as St Paul instructs us: “Continue earnestly in prayer,

being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” (Col 4:2). In this way, God is inclined to

listen to us, recognize our effort and dedication, and grant what we ask for.

Actually, it was Jesus Himself Who taught us how to do this, in the parable of the

widow who would not give up until she received her just request: “Then He spoke a

parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,…” (Lk 18:1).

Given this, when we pray for something and think that God is slow in responding, we

should continue to pray, trusting that He is listening. However, His response may be

unexpected, as we often ask for things that are not good for us, while, other times,

our prayer can only be heard when we have overcome spiritual impediments that we

didn’t know were there. And yet, His giving us only gifts that are good for us and

His helping us cleanse ourselves spiritually, are excellent rewards and blessings in

return for our prayer. By keeping our prayer active past these two phases (that tend


to be close to the start of our journey to Him) we stand a very good chance of

overcoming all obstacles and eventually uniting with Him. Therefore, it is right for

us to believe that prayer never goes unheard, and that we should always keep praying

as best we can. We should also remember that the Church establishes all objective

conditions for our theosis; the Prayer of the Heart helps us create the

corresponding subjective conditions. In this way, the human-divine co-operation

() functions in full force - the ultimate result being our accepting the

Holy Spirit and entering into union with God.

(b) The Prayer of The Heart has been expanded, explained and commented on by a

number of the Fathers (121) of the Church and other significant Orthodox writers.

Following the early days of the Church, a tradition of “pure prayer” was

established around the fourth century and continued to our days. Some of the

Fathers shaped it in their own way, but the fundamental concept of unceasing prayer

focused on the Name of Jesus Christ has persisted through the centuries in the

context of our Orthodox mysticism. St John Climacus expertly summarized (R3 p239)

the whole process: “The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming thoughts as soon

as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we say

or think. The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord (122, 123).” True

prayer is never merely “mental” but emerges from the center of our being, our

heart, a process which, if we are submissive to God, is constantly renewed and

augmented by the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, we return to our heart and open its

door to the presence of God, Who is the source of our being, and meet Him there by

constantly calling out to Jesus, with faith and love. True prayer is not just a

good religious pastime, but an open and humble attitude to faith, reverence, awe,

trust, hope (124) and joy. These virtues fill our deeper self and tell us that we

are in the presence of Christ, our God, Whom we get to know in “unknowing” and see

in “unseeing”, by faith at first, and direct, mystical experience later.

There have been several short prayers taught by the Fathers of the Church. For

example. St Cassian wrote that the most popular prayer in Egypt of his time was the

first verse of Psalm 70: “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me,

O Lord!” On the other hand, St Joanniky repeated the following prayer, which is

still part of our holy services: “The Father is my hope, the Son is my refuge, the


Holy Spirit is my protection, Holy Trinity glory to You.” Another form of a popular

short prayer was: “Being a man I have sinned; but thou, being God the

Compassionate, have mercy on me.” Starting from the first years of Christianity and

gradually gaining momentum and widespread acceptance, the following prayer has

become the most commonly used by a great number of spiritual seekers: “Lord Jesus

Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Indications of its use can be

found from the fourth century on, with St Ephraim the Syrian, St John Chrysostom,

St Isaac the Syrian, St Hesychius of Jerusalem, Sts Barsanuphius and John of Gaza,

and St John Climacus. Later on it spread out widely and became very well known,

especially with the influence of respected Orthodox writers, like St Gregory

Palamas, and prestigious Orthodox books, like the Philokalia, whose message reaches

a broad audience to this date.

In reality there are as many ways of praying as there are people, given that true

prayer is a connection of two persons, God and myself. This connection is always

expressed in a unique and personal way. But, while many short prayers are very

helpful, the Jesus Prayer is considered to be the most effective because, in the

context of acknowledging the Holy Trinity and admitting our sins, it unites us with

the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the gateway to our Union with God, the ultimate aim

and fundamental hope of our prayer: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one

comes to the Father except through Me.” (Jn 14:6). Therefore, when we practice it

correctly with all our heart, we have behind us the full force of Christ’s

Incarnation, in which our salvation rests. Here is a short passage on the Jesus

Prayer from the renowned Orthodox book “The Way of a Pilgrim”, R8 p163 (but remember

that most Fathers suggest extreme caution in using our imagination): “The constant

inner prayer of Jesus is an unbroken, perpetual calling upon the Divine Name of

Jesus with the lips, the mind and the heart, while picturing His lasting presence in

one’s imagination and imploring His grace wherever one is, in whatever one does,

even while one sleeps. This prayer consists of the following words: ‘Lord Jesus

Christ, have mercy on me!’ Those who use this prayer constantly are so greatly

comforted that they are moved to say it at all times, for they can no longer live

without it. And the prayer will keep on ringing in their hearts of its own accord…”


According to the instructions given to us by St Gregory of Sinai (R2 p275, R3

p74, 84), this is how to pray: “Sitting in your cell, remain patiently in prayer,

according to the precept of the Apostle Paul (125). Collect your mind into your

heart and send out thence your mental cry to our Lord Jesus, calling for His help

and saying: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me’ until you are tired. When

tired, transfer your mind to the second half and say: ‘Jesus, Son of God, have

mercy upon me!’ Having many times repeated this appeal, pass once more to the first

half. But you should not alternate these appeals too often through laziness; for

just as plants do not take root if transplanted too frequently, neither do the

movements of prayer in the heart if the words are changed frequently. Compel

yourself by any means to do this work, for ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,

and the violent take it by force’ (Mt 11:12) as the Lord said showing that this

attainment demands severe labor and spiritual struggle. When you notice thoughts

arising and accosting you, do not look at them, even if they are not bad; but

keeping the mind firmly in the heart, call to Lord Jesus and you will soon sweep

away the thoughts and drive out their instigators – the demons – invisibly

scorching and flogging them with the divine Name. Thus teaches St John Climacus,

saying: ‘With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no surer weapon against

them, either on earth or in heaven.’” These instructions sound simple, but St

Gregory of Sinai has a clear warning (R14 p281) for those who may think that

learning to pray is like anything else we learned before: “You cannot discover from

the teachings of others the beauty of prayer. Prayer has its own special teacher in

God, ‘He Who teaches man knowledge.’ (Ps 94:10) He grants the prayer of him who

prays. And He blesses the years of the just.” (126)

St Gregory of Sinai has given us a lot of guidance on this topic. For example,

(R13 p69) he spoke of the effort involved in prayer, with words similar to those

above: “No bodily or spiritual activity without pain or toil ever brings fruit to

him who practices it, because ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the

violent take it by force.’” (Mt 11:12). Here, theologians agree, the word pain means

remorse and contrition of spirit. For those who are weak physically, weeping and

mourning for our sinfulness take the place of physical effort. For people with

stronger bodies, it takes physical discipline for the heart to acquire the peace


needed for prayer: “to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.” (1 Cor

9:22). He also stated (R13 p71) that the mind of those who are experienced in prayer

must concentrate on the heart (127), “If your heart has opened.” This should be done

with great fear of God, because the union of the mind and heart (which precedes our

union with God) is granted by divine grace, at God’s discretion: “The great gift of

prayer is usually preceded by some special sufferings and upheavals of the soul,

which lead our spirit to realize the extent of our poverty and nothingness (as St

Isaac the Syrian wrote.) To be worthy of this gift of Grace we need faithful

humility and purity, shown by the rejection of every sinful thought at their first

appearance. It is to the faithful, pure and humble that the gifts of the Spirit are

given.” (cf Lk 16:10-12).

To learn how to pray effectively means to let go of hardness and torpor of the

heart and grossness of the mind, traits due to spiritual arrogance and deeply

rooted (perhaps subconscious) rejection of God’s will. Sometimes we don’t feel like

praying - a trap set by the devil in the form of mental sloth and fear of spiritual

scrutiny. Therefore, we should force ourselves to pray over and above the

hesitation of our mind and resistance of our body, as stated before (in quoting Mt

11:12). This means that we will not be able to obtain salvation without

persistence. If we see such difficulties in our praying, we should pray even

harder, perhaps go back a level or two and start all over with the invocation of

the name of Jesus Christ aloud, or with fasting, vigils and prostrations. As warm,

heartfelt prayer returns, we should use this opportunity to remember our commitment

to repentance, charity, spiritual humility and obedience to our spiritual father.

And when the demons see our resolve and method of dealing with such problems, they

tend to leave us alone from fear that the net result of their attacks might be

additional good credit for us in heaven (128).

When we are ready to sit in prayer and ask God for a gift, we need to prepare

ourselves with firm faith (129), against all traces of unbelief and doubt (130). No

one should ever expect to obtain from God anything that was asked with a doubting

heart, as He Himself said: "And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing,

you will receive” (Mt 21:22) and “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say

to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be


impossible for you.” (Mt 17:20). However, to those who doubt, He will not grant

their requests. Sometimes we are insensitive to the words used in prayer, because

of unbelief (131) due to pride and lack of remorse for our sinful condition (132).

So, the more warmth, forgiveness, and contrition we feel in prayer, the better we

are praying. During prayer, our attitude should be intentional, deliberate and

extreme humility, because this is how we repulse the demons. Because of our hidden

pride, we often think: “this sin is not one of mine, because I am good.” Only

humility can get us out of that trap, especially with the help of a spiritual

director. And always remember that, when practicing the Prayer of the Heart, we do

not seek understanding or signs or visions or information of any kind, but are

purely engaged in sacred invocation and supplication of our God. Pure prayer is

neither some sort of abstract nor of analytical thinking but a direct and personal

encounter with our Creator.

The essence of the unceasing Prayer of the Heart is the search for a valid,

personal vision of God, granted to our whole being, not to the intellect alone. St

Gregory Palamas worked long and hard at the doctrinal foundation of the fact that it

is only the entire person that can receive grace, not any part (ie, soul, or mind,

or body) acting alone. Therefore, he warns against corporeal visions (corporeal

only!) or mental ones (mental only!). Both are demonic temptations that undermine

the unity of our whole being, the unity that Christ came to re-invigorate by giving

us immortality. Our body, mind or soul cannot receive the grace of Christ (that was

put on us during Baptism) alone, but only in working together can they help us reach

the goal of unceasing prayer, which is to obtain a true vision of God. This is

discussed further in section IIa.

The Jesus Prayer follows closely our Scriptural model of our relationship with

God, and is effective because it is centered on the Son of God Incarnate. This

purely Orthodox tradition survived and prospered for almost two millennia, not

because it was somehow imposed on the people, but because it is faithful to the

substance of our faith. Therefore, we can see it as a direct outcome of the essence

of our spiritual lineage. Yes, it does ask us to expend considerable effort, like

many of the Fathers who went through extraordinary struggles to kindle the correct

spirit of prayer. However, when it matures, it becomes self-sustaining, sinks into


our heart, and develops into a strong and immediate link between us and God. Across

that link, God’s divine grace flows to those that are ready, effecting the merging

of the individual with God’s divine energies, a process called deification or

divinization or theosis.

Many Fathers have written extensively about the meaning and significance of the

Prayer of the Heart (133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144,

145, 146). The essence of their message is that, although we cannot force our mind

to slow down and become idle, what we can do is simplify and unify its activity by

introducing, and focusing on, the Jesus Prayer (147). In the beginning, other

thoughts will persist, but with the help of the prayer we can gradually detach

ourselves from them and let them go: gently, repeatedly, just let them go. In their

place, slowly at first but more assertively as time passes, the single, commanding

and utterly satisfying thought of Lord Jesus emerges and takes over our mental

workings (148), with all the spiritual happiness and fulfillment that that entails

(149). Then, we don’t rely any more on any of our own weak efforts, but accept with

gratitude and relief the helping protection of the all-powerful Divine Name and the

abundant Holy Grace that is generously offered to us.

To close this segment, let me quote our greatest mystical teacher, St Gregory

Palamas, R8 p164, who said: “Not only should we ourselves in accordance with God’s

will pray unceasingly in the name of Jesus Christ, but we are bound to reveal it

and teach it to others, to everyone in general, religious and secular, learned and

simple, men, women and children, and to inspire them all with zeal for prayer

without ceasing.”

II. Unceasing prayer is an extremely significant aid and a very efficient accelerator for our personal

spiritual growth.

In his many letters, St Theophan the Recluse spoke of three levels in this

process of spiritual growth: (a) the prayer begins as an external action in which

the words are spoken repeatedly and, to the extent possible, our attention is

focused on that recitation; (b) gradually, the prayer is established deep in the

mind which prays without distraction, in parallel with other thoughts that are

devoted to everyday tasks; (c) eventually, and with God’s blessing, the prayer is


lived, silently, through the entirety of our spiritual essence, our heart. Words

may be spoken or thought or felt, but they are not necessary, as the prayer is no

more what we do but who we are. Like the Prodigal Son, we have returned to the

Father. Such wholehearted dedication to prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit (150).

St Theophan also wrote that “growth in prayer has no end.” Even beyond the point

where the prayer is established in our heart and it is silent and automatic, the

process of divinization that follows is endless, as lack of spiritual growth means

the end of life. From an Orthodox, apophatic perspective, as God is beyond limits

and finite attributes, so is endless growth in the process of merging with Him,

facilitated by Prayer of the Heart. We believe that this process of continuous

growth in the presence of the Lord will never end, even beyond His Second Coming.

Following St Theophan’s scheme (cf note 122), we will first address how

unceasing prayer guides our spiritual progress at the early stages, and then how

its help compounds and accelerates as we advance. The third stage, which leads us

to the experience of spiritual visions and the Divine Light, and then on to close

communion with God that culminates in theosis, will be discussed in the next

section of this work.

(a) The Prayer Of The Heart is an extremely significant aid for our personal

spiritual growth. Actually, prayer is considered the primary virtue, because, from

it, all others emerge and find strength. For example, here is a passage written by

St Gregory of Sinai, R2 p259: “The energy of the Holy Spirit which we have already

mystically received in baptism, is realized in two ways. First… through arduous and

protracted practice of the commandments… Secondly, it is manifested to those under

spiritual guidance through the continuous invocation of the Lord Jesus, repeated

with conscious awareness, that is, through mindfulness of God. In the first way, it

is revealed more slowly, in the second more rapidly, if one diligently and

persistently learns how to dig the ground and locate the gold… Let our aim be to

make the energy of prayer alone active in our hearts, for it brings warmth and joy

to the intellect, and sets the heart alight with an ineffable love for God and man.”

This saint spoke frequently of the primacy of prayer among virtues (151, 152). Along

the same lines, St Macarius of Egypt taught (R19 p216) that prayer, being the mother

of all virtues, should be thought of as first, before all the others: “Let the


prayer be preferred and zealously pursued and chosen by you before the rest of the

Commandments.” At the same time, he believed that prayer cannot stand alone, because

it “is the head of all habits, but it is dead without the rest of the members of

virtue.” There are five key virtues, he said: “first prayer, then temperance, alms,

poverty, patience.” His teaching was that all the virtues are necessary aspirations

for a good Christian life, and are all intertwined with, and based on, prayer, in a

strongly synergistic relationship. In agreement, St Gregory Palamas, drawing from,

and extending, the teachings of other Fathers (eg, St Isaac the Syrian, et al) spoke

of two approaches to theosis (R4 p409). They are (a) the cultivation of virtues (eg,

through strict adherence to God’s commandments, good works and a sacramental life)

and (b) unceasing Prayer of the Heart. The former purifies and prepares us for Union

with God, and as such is of extreme importance to all spiritual seekers. However, it

is the latter that actually provides the context for this sacred process to be

completed – a fact that he and other Fathers make abundantly clear. At the same

time, they all agree that a life of true prayer is always founded on a virtuous

Christian life within the Church (153), as discussed later in this section. Also,

they remind us that all we can do is supplicate God, ie, ask that He grant us union

with Him, if He chooses to, and that we cannot achieve this lofty state on our own.

That being said, the supremacy of unceasing prayer from among all virtues is well

established in the teachings of many other mystical Fathers as well [eg, St Gregory

of Nyssa (154), St Hesychius of Jerusalem (155), Sts Callistus and Ignatius (156),

St Mark the Monk (157), St Nil Sorsky (158), St Barsanuphius (159), St Maximus the

Confessor (160), Evagrius of Pontus (161), and others (162, 163)].

According to Sts Callistus and Ignatius, R3 p268, the Fathers call the mode of

life that is based on the Prayer of the Heart by many names, eg, the sane way,

praiseworthy doing and true contemplation, most spacious prayer, sobriety of mind,

mental doing, activity of the life to come, angelic life, heavenly life, divine

conduct, the land of the living, mysterious vision, most complete spiritual feast,

paradise created by God, heaven, kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, the darkness

beyond light, secret life in Christ, vision of God, the most supranatural

deification, and many other similar names. And (R3 p201) St John Climacus wrote: “In

quality, prayer is communion (, merging into one being) and union of man with


God. In action, it is what the world stands by, reconciliation with God, the mother

of tears and again their daughter, propitiation for sin, a bridge over temptations,

a wall against sorrows, the cessation of warfare, the doing of angels, the food for

all incorporeal spirits, the future bliss, a doing without end or limit, the source

of virtues, the seeker and finder of gifts, invisible achievement, food of the soul,

light of the mind, the sword cutting off despair, the evidence of hope, the loosing

of the bonds of sorrow, the riches of monks, the treasure of hesychasts, the gradual

decrease of anger to naught, the mirror of achievement, the measure of a man’s

degree, the evidence of spiritual state, the foreteller of the future, the sign of

glorification. For a man who truly prays, prayer is the torture chamber, the court

of justice, and the throne of the Lord even before the throne of the future. Prayer

is the estrangement from the world both visible and invisible.”

It is important to remember that no real progress in prayer can be accomplished

without progress and improvement in our Christian life (164). Not only is it

important that all our evil behaviors be stopped and sins be confessed, but also it

is imperative that our good works (eg, charity, humility, obedience) be multiplied

to the extent possible. In this way, the burden on our soul is lessened and our

faithful disposition is improved. Of course, all care must be taken that our love

for God, coupled with our zeal for salvation and theosis, be kept burning, in all

things great or small. In this spirit, we should always come to prayer bringing

deeds that correspond favorably to our petition, and constantly work hard to become

worthy to receive the grace and virtue that our heart desires (165). Prayer becomes

most effective when it is accompanied by an attitude of self-compulsion, as we

exert all of our efforts towards what we ask for. The correct spiritual order is a

healthy alternation between asking for a spiritual gift in prayer and trying to

acquire it through our own meager efforts. Then God blesses us and multiplies the

results of our work. If we pray for some spiritual virtue and at the same time

neglect any attempt at getting it on our own, then God does not have anything good

to bless and guide to fruition. Following this misguided approach, we tempt God

rather than pray to Him, which is a grave sin. Speaking on this from a positive

perspective, the Scriptures say: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man

avails much.” (James 5:16). St Maximus the Confessor tells us that what makes the


request most effective is when someone asks a saint to pray for them, and at the

same time they pray for it themselves, in addition to really trying to do

everything they can to obtain the result of the request through their own natural

efforts. And according to St Ignatius Brianchaninov, R13 p98, an essential pre-

condition of the Jesus Prayer is to keep His commandments (166). “Abide in My love”

(Jn 15:9) He said to His disciples, meaning to remember Him always, in union with

Him in spirit. True prayer without keeping God’s commandments is dead: “If you keep

My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's

commandments and abide in His love.” (Jn 15:10). In other words, if we obey Him, we

are able to pray all the time (167). And the other way around: being united with

Him in spirit through prayer, we long for Him with our whole being and naturally

act as He expects us to. As we get to know (through unceasing prayer) the virtues

of Jesus, and how sweet it feels to be close to Him, we direct all of our actions

(168) by faith and respect for His commandments (169).

We, Christians, are never isolated, but we are members of a sacred family whose

central method of safeguarding its cohesion, marshaling its strength, and bringing

salvation to the world, at the personal and the group level, is to praise and

supplicate God, with both words and deeds. We know that we are sinners, but we also

know that God is eager to have us back, and where there’s sin there’s redemption

too, which is the promise that our prayer reminds us of. For us, prayer is not a

way to find God, but a way of taking refuge in Him, Whom we have found, because He

came after us to remind us that He loves us and wants us to be saved. In this

context, unceasing Prayer was never thought as pulling us away from the Church,

but, instead, as being instrumental in binding us to it permanently. This is due to

the fact that the people who pray to their God and Savior, by invoking His divine

name constantly, can only find Him in their hearts to the extent that they are

faithfully connected to His Church by both, the Sacraments (eg, Baptism,

Confession, Holy Eucharist) and good works. The Jesus Prayer, as the Fathers

developed it, is the fullest realization of a truly Orthodox Christian life, both

personal and communal, and never a replacement for the latter. In this way, it

provides a lasting solution to the question of how to balance individual spiritual


discipline and devotion, with good works and well rounded, active participation in

the Christian community.

It is important to understand that our effectiveness in praying with warm

spiritual desire is proportional to our willingness and ability to marshal perfect

attention in our mind (170). If we fail to watch our mind carefully, we cannot be

close to Jesus, especially if we try to approach Him through effortful reasoning

that strains, but does not purify, our thinking process. Perfect spiritual

attention, devoid of low-level desires (171) and pre-conceived notions of what

should be or could be, coupled with warm Prayer of the Heart (172), fills the mind

with spiritual light. On the other hand, being without sobriety and without

constant invocation of Jesus, makes the mind dark. This can be verified through

direct experience on our part, especially under the direction of a spiritually

accomplished Elder (which is discussed later in this section). As the Fathers

taught, clear, solid attention of the mind is a necessary condition for successful

Prayer of the Heart, because it allows us to perceive God revealing Himself to us

(173). With attention, our mind stands firm and does not wander, because stray

thoughts are cut off. In this way, we enjoy uninterrupted remembrance of God, which

becomes the fountain of our faith, hope and love. Then we can see that the kingdom

of heaven is within us; and as we see that, we are encouraged to strive even harder

to keep the door open. Everything external is then seen as unworthy of our notice

and utterly undesirable.

The way that attention is helping our prayer is to watch for approaching

passionate thoughts (174), or, as spiritual progress is made, any type of

involuntary thought, and, eventually, any thought that is not from the Holy Spirit.

When such spiritual enemies are sighted, the attention’s function is to silently

alert the heart to not attach itself to that thought, if not repulse it with sacred

zeal and exclusive focus on prayer. As this is done, the heart, in one and the same

spiritual movement, ascends to God in prayer, calling for His help. The Holy Spirit

intervenes, strengthening our heart’s focus on the Lord, and the battle subsides

(175). As the demons see that [undesirable to them] outcome, they learn to avoid

bothering us in prayer, for fear that our benefit be greater than if they just

stayed away (176). The only risk is that they may come back in through a different


door, perhaps a pernicious sense of false pride that our prayer is magnificent. As

will be discussed below, our Elder then has to help us regain a measure of humility

and proper perspective on the spiritual lay of the land of prayer and our

relationship with the Divine. We should always remember that God wants one thing

from us: that we purify our hearts (177) by means of attention not to allow sinful

thoughts (178), but stay focused on Him and fill ourselves with prayer (179) in an

undivided effort throughout our life. Therefore, prayer should be combined with

attention like our soul is linked to our body. First comes attention enlivening the

mind, and when the enemies attack it with sinful thoughts, Prayer of the Heart

(180) faces them and destroys the opposition (181), because attention alone cannot

do it all. On this continuous battle (attentive prayer against sinful thoughts)

depends the life and death of our soul (182). By using attention to keep our prayer

pure, we make spiritual progress (183). Conversely, lack of attention leaves our

prayer unprotected, which then gets weakened, corrupted and extinguished from our

hearts.

The Fathers are unanimous that, through unceasing prayer, our mind is guided to

become disciplined, focused and silent. For example, Isaiah the Hermit says:

“Restrain the unrestrainable mind, scattered and dispersed as it is by the power of

the enemy, who, through our negligence, has once again, since Baptism, returned to

our slothful soul, along with other more evil spirits; as the Lord said: ‘The last

state of that man is worse than the first’ (Mt 12:45).” Also, St John Climacus

advises: “Let the memory of Jesus combine with your breath – then you will know the

profit of silence.” And, to show what happens after our mind-chatter yields to an

ever stronger prayer and devotion to God (184), Apostle Paul asserts that “it is no

longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20). To help us silence our mind,

the Jesus Prayer allows us to weaken and eliminate passionate thoughts (185, 186),

while, at the same time, demonstrate our devotion to God through persistence at

uniting with Him. If we are eager to reach spiritual perfection, we will distance

ourselves from evil deeds, passionate thoughts and unclean imagination (187), as in

Gal 5:16: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Even more, we will ultimately withdraw from all involuntary thought. The mind is not

strong enough to subdue passionate imagination by itself, because the demons are


expert at deceiving it and they introduce impure thoughts (188) from mental angles

that are unexpected to all but the most experienced among us (eg, memory, senses,

false logic, etc). However, the faithful invocation of Jesus will expel them if we

persist at it. According to St Gregory of Sinai, the origin and cause of the ever-

flowing thoughts in our mind is that we have lost the single and simple memory of

God. What we must do is bring our mind back to its original simplicity. Our

disobedience to God did not only discontinue our simple memory of good, but also

corrupted our soul’s power and diminished its natural disposition and desire for

virtue. The original simple, good, memory can be re-established by uninterrupted

remembrance of God, effected by unceasing Prayer of the Heart. In this way, our mind

and body are imbued with the Holy Spirit. When thoughts appear uninvited, we should

call to our Lord Jesus often and patiently, and they will flee the warmth (189, 190)

of the heart produced by prayer (191). Actually, as stated before, St John Climacus

instructs us to flog our foes (evil thoughts) with the name of Jesus, “for our God

is fire devouring evil.”

A key task to be accomplished is to diminish and tame the passions, eg, by using

attention to guard our heart from evil desires while our prayer purifies and

sanctifies it (192). As our heart becomes indifferent to sin, passions are subdued

and our whole being begins to long for God and union with Him. To achieve that, we

improve and increase our prayer, which strengthens our mind, and so forth. As a

simple example of how to tame the passions externally, the Fathers teach that those

who practice Prayer of the Heart should not eat a lot, because when the stomach is

heavy the mind is clouded and the purity and firmness of our prayer diminishes.

Similarly for a lot of sleep, many earthly interests and possessions, etc. Fighting

the passions internally is an even greater battle (193), true spiritual warfare

(194), during which the demons attack our soul but are repelled by our warm and

attentive prayer and the grace that comes to us for our dedication and effort. By

the name of Jesus and our love for Him, the Fathers tell us, passions are dissolved

like wax in a flame. Yet, demons try to re-enter the mind, and then the heart, eg,

through thoughts or senses. But, if our attention is focused and sharp, and our

prayer calm and warm, the evil spirits have no power to disturb us, and they go

away. This of course happens to the very best, most perfect in the Prayer of the


Heart (195), those who have renounced all temptations of this world (196) and whose

attention remains always intact.

To summarize the above, in the same way that we cannot survive without food and

water, our soul cannot please God in being free of inner sin without constant

guarding of the mind and purification of the heart (197, 198) through unceasing

prayer (199, 200, 201). Regardless of how much we fear future punishment, we cannot

reach God by just trying to refrain from committing sins, which is the negative

approach, without true sobriety (202) and constant remembrance of Christ (203),

which is the positive, spiritually assertive way. The Fathers teach us that in

order to win the war of our mind, heart and soul, and chase our spiritual enemies

away, we need constant supplication to Christ, with humility and untiring

persistence (204). Not doing that would be like going to battle unprotected by

armor and weapons (205), or attempting to swim across the sea fully clothed and

carrying a heavy load, or trying to live without air, water and food.

Turning our attention now to what can help us, our isolation from God (brought

about by prideful disobedience) can be cured through continuous prayer to Him,

assisted by our humble submission to the spiritual guidance of an experienced Elder

(206, 207). Those who strive to attain pure prayer in silence, must seek the

guidance of those who are familiar with it (208). The reason is that as we make

progress towards the gifts of the Spirit, eg, humility, Satan looks for

opportunities to undermine our efforts and bring us back under his control. Our

spiritual father can help us see what’s happening and face these challenges in a

safe way; he can guide us through the difficulties of cleansing our heart and

remaining steadfast in prayer. From his independent viewpoint, he can detect any

demonic threats to our efforts, perhaps pride disguised as piety due to an early

success. He can help us avoid self-conceit; then we can experience prayer free of

prelest (ie, misguided beliefs, ) which is fire that scorches passions and

brings joy (209) and quiet to the heart. Without guidance, we cannot discern

between demonic suggestions and authentic instructions from above. To follow the

correct path and reach our goal we need the help of someone who knows how to get us

there. To that end, his suggestions should be followed without question, especially

when he warns us against practices or experiences which are detrimental to our


progress. His job is not to teach us a secret method of prayer, but to help us

resist demonic attacks, stay humble and focused on our spiritual objective, and

recognize the true grace of God when He rewards our efforts. Even Saint Paul sought

the guidance of his fellow Apostles on several occasions “lest by any means I might

run, or had run, in vain” (Gal 2:2). What’s more, we have the words of Christ

Himself as He gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of the Holy Trinity,

related to following directions, each Divine Person trusting the others in all

humility: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of

Him who sent Me” (Jn 6:38); and also “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has

come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,

but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (Jn

16:13).

St Gregory Palamas warned us to be very careful when coming across flashy

spiritual experiences, in the sense that some early success (eg, an occasional

fleeting experience of the Divine) may delude us to believe that we are already

accomplished saints (210). In this way, we risk missing the forest for the trees

and falling victims to pride, thereby losing our way towards the correct next steps

that will lead us to theosis. In St Gregory’s words, our conceit will “open wide

the doors to him who is ever trying to seduce us.” The correct action is to never

feel proud or over-confident, but stay the course of pure prayer with the help of a

trusted Elder (211). Then, God will help us see our imperfections, which will

enhance our humility and contrition and help us control our sinful tendencies. This

can be done with repentance and confession, good works, sacramental life, attention

and continuous prayer. The result will be even more pure prayer, leading to more

stable openness of heart… and back to the same sacred cycle (contrition,

repentance, attention, better prayer, openness of heart) again. When our impurities

are mostly cleared, we are able to accept the Holy Spirit working in our heart

(212, 213), praying for us, and guiding us to theosis (214).

St Gregory Palamas also insists that the Jesus Prayer is not an easy and

mechanical way of obtaining grace: “Any one who considers as abominable the

beginning of prayer… that prayer accompanied by tears and repentance which comes

from grief truly felt in fasting and vigilance, and the care with which novices are


taught to lift up their divided minds, in uniform and harmonious prayer, the man who

scorns all that, should be consistent enough also to scorn the end pursued in

prayer…”(R7 p 145). Such comments show that he considered the Prayer of the Heart to

be a systematic and demanding spiritual discipline that helps the person collect

their mind by attention and purify it, under expert supervision, through repentance

and humility, in order to advance towards their end objective, theosis. Prayer cannot

cause our deification through some sort of blind mechanical repetition of a prayer-

like formula, because it is based on a personal (215, 216) interaction between us

and God, where we consciously appeal for His mercy and help. As He listens and takes

pity on us, He helps us reach Him. In this way, prayer represents our best means to

pull ourselves towards Him (217), like someone in a small boat pulls desperately on

a rope tied to a lighthouse on the shore, trying his best to save himself from the

storm. Each tug on the rope is not a casual exercise, but a conscious effort to

reach safety. (Mechanization of prayer is discussed further in section IIIa.)

(b) Unceasing prayer is a very efficient accelerator for our personal spiritual

growth, because it acts quickly to reaffirm our identity in God. Without care for

dogmatic particulars, we seek a direct existential grasp of the link between us and

God, a personal pathway that was put in place by Him at the beginning of this world

so that we can find our way back to Him. This link can be reclaimed only in deep

silence (218), after we have been purified enough to be able to hear the spiritual

whispers that the Holy Spirit utters in our heart; which is a key aspect of our

relationship with God and very important for the process of unceasing prayer. The

help of the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout this work and is discussed later in

this section, and even more in section IIIa. Under His guidance, we open up to

experiencing God’s will directly, determined to accept it in humility and obey His

every command (219). This kind of intimate communication is way beyond the usual

petitions of external prayer that we’ve been taught since childhood.

Through prayer we re-discover God’s image planted deep inside us (R19 p219).

Each time we pray, He unveils His presence (220) a little better and more clearly

(221). At the end, passionate thoughts are removed, unable to withstand the power

of God’s image which is being illuminated through prayer (222). In this way, we

advance towards His likeness (223), until He takes possession of our whole being -


the communion we all aspire to. When the process is ready to complete, visions of

the Divine Light usually take place, as elaborated in section IIIb. At the end, we

are lifted into union with Him, like the Holy Trinity is One: “That they may be one

just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in

one.” (Jn 17: 22-23).

In other words, our goal is a permanent state of Prayer of the Heart, where we

become what God intended us to be, by re-establishing our natural relationship with

Him, which is our birthright. According to Bishop Kallistos Ware, R11 p99, while

praying, we return from multiple thoughts to a single thought, God, a process that

leads us to our goal, ie, union with Him (cf footnotes #148, #267, #278 and St

Gregory Palamas’ quote on top of page 36). This is not easy, because thoughts fly

constantly through our mind, like flies buzzing all around us, as St Theophan the

Recluse said. This instability of our mind and inability to “be here and now” is one

of the most drastic consequences of the Fall, because that’s when humans lost (or

abandoned) direct, single-minded focus on God - which is when fear of death entered

our lives. In order to overcome this fundamental impediment, the first way is to

confront our undisciplined streams of thought and expel them, one by one, by sheer

force of will. This is practically impossible because the only tool or weapon we

have to operate inside our mind is thought itself, which may replace the thoughts we

don’t want but will ultimately refuse to die on its own accord, keeping the busy,

thinking mind vulnerable to the attacks of the demons (224). Such a negative

strategy is very exhausting and doomed to failure, because, thinking to ourselves

“stop thinking” is about as feasible as telling ourselves “stop breathing”: it just

can’t be done. In the end, we cannot eliminate darkness from a room by using another

type of darkness to overcome it. Eventually, we all come to the simple realization

that, for darkness to disappear, the light has to be turned on. And any thought that

is not focused on, and derived from, God, is an instrument of darkness in some way.

The positive method to eliminate darkness is to introduce light, especially the

Source of Light, where we avoid direct confrontation of thought-against-thought and

look elsewhere, towards a dominant, luminous presence that can keep the mind focused

because of its immeasurable sweetness and clarity: God Himself. The latter is a

spiritual strategy that can succeed, where the former, because of its futility,


fails. This is the approach recommended by the Fathers, eg, Sts Barsanuphius and

John of Gaza, R29 p130: “Do not contradict the thoughts suggested by your enemies,

for that is exactly what they want and they will not desist. But turn to the Lord

for help against them, laying before Him your own helplessness; for He is able to

expel them and to reduce them to nothing.” The Jesus Prayer is the supreme way to

combat this buzzing-thought morass that captivates and pollutes our minds, by

helping us focus directly and exclusively on God.

When spiritual purification, with the help of the heart prayer, is practiced,

together with watching and guarding the mind, all passions and evil thoughts are

uprooted (225) and replaced by contrition, mourning, tears, knowledge of ourselves

and our sins, memory of death, true humility and obedience. As our mind becomes

firmly established in the heart, with pure, unwavering attention and the prayer of

Jesus (226), it becomes impenetrable to suggestions from the devil (227). In this

way, we are led more and more to longing for God. And as we persist in prayer, with

strong desire and focus, a whole host of new virtues spring from our heart and

become manifest (228), eg, charity, joy (229), hope, silence, peace and endless love

for God (230, 231), our fellow human beings and everything around us (232). In

addition, all of our petitions to the Lord are answered in the name of Jesus Christ

(233). Here, the Fathers suggest that those who have attained perfect Prayer of the

Heart and enlightenment should remain in the silence of the Holy Spirit, because

they are now united with God and they should not tear their minds and hearts away

from Him for any reason (eg, a monk leaving the monastery to help his relatives.)

The Holy Spirit will help those in need, in His own time and in His own way.

We should accept the fact that grace and mercy, although always available to

those who approach Him with humility and devotion, are only given to us from God,

Who, in His love for us, renews them from moment to moment at His discretion.

Therefore, the grace that comes to us through Prayer of the Heart is a gift and not

the automatic result of some accomplishment. Although the perfect unceasing Prayer

of the Heart, and corresponding deep level of connection with God, is offered only

to the most advanced, even they can’t take it for granted. Instead, they have to

desire it, ask for it, keep it, honor it and live up to it every moment of their

lives (234). Given that pride is a great threat to spiritual seekers, true Prayer


of the Heart is always accompanied by the deepest sense of humility, repentance,

and obedience to His will. The Fathers say that our own efforts in prayer can take

us only up to a certain point, even counting the good works that our prayer

inspires us to do. Beyond that, only the grace of God can help us advance if we

allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. Throughout this process, our greatest

danger is any form of self-contentment that may raise its head, especially as we

see some spiritual progress or external confirmation, like a specific prayer

getting answered. Here again, the guidance of an experienced Elder is key.

This process of theosis is the same as the process of inviting and accepting the

Holy Spirit to establish Himself inside our heart, our spiritual essence (235). In

that sense, while speaking with Motovilov, St Seraphim of Sarov said: “’Lord Jesus

Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’… Let all your attention and training

be on this. Walking, sitting, doing and standing in church before the divine

service, coming in and going out, keep this unceasingly on your lips and in your

heart. In calling in this manner on the name of God, you will find peace, attain to

purity of spirit and body, and the Holy Spirit, the origin of all good things, will

dwell in you, and He will guide you to holiness, to all piety and purity.” Also, St

Gregory Palamas wrote (236) that when the person who is experienced in achieving and

maintaining communion with God frees his soul from every attachment and unites his

peaceful (thought-free) mind with unceasing prayer, he rises by mystical ascension

to heaven and surveys all created things from above, through stillness and silence:

“He unites his ‘’ with unceasing prayer to God. Through this, he is rapt within

himself, and finds a new and mysterious way to rise to the heavens: what one could

call the impenetrable darkness of the original silence. With joy indescribable, he

remains mysteriously enraptured in spirit, in veritable rest and in silence, full of

sweetness; and he flies over all created things.” In that same passage he also

wrote: “It is of this that the Fathers speak when they say, ‘The end of prayer is to

be snatched away to God.’ This is why the great Dionysius says that, through prayer,

the mind gradually abandons all relation with created things, ‘first with all things

good and bad, then with neutral things capable of conformity to either good or ill,

according to the intentions of the person using them…’” And, “Purity of the

passionate part of the soul effectively liberates the mind from all things through


impassibility, and unites it through prayer to the grace of the Spirit; and through

this grace the mind comes to enjoy the divine effulgence, and acquires an angelic

and God-like form.” The role that the Holy Spirit plays in our unceasing prayer is a

very significant aspect of the whole process, as was mentioned above, and is

presented in more detail in section IIIa.

Here again are some more of St Gregory’s words (R4 p409) about the process just

discussed, from a slightly different perspective: “When a man abides in this

collected state of mind and in this soaring to God, then, curbing his volatile

thoughts by intense effort of self constraint, he mentally approaches God, meets with

the ineffable tastes of the life to come, and knows by spiritual apprehension how

good is the Lord, as the Singer of Psalms says, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is

good.’ (Ps 33:8).” In order to achieve that threefold (guarding, being guarded and

praying at the same time) but still totally unified, simple state, which is a

prerequisite for uniting with the One God, it takes dedication, faith and

persistence. Understandably, only the most experienced aspirants are able to maintain

this transcendent state for long without being distracted by the indescribable waves

of heavenly bliss that pour out of their heart and tend to re-ground them on the

physical realm through “good” (but “multiple”) thoughts that emerge automatically.

This re-grounding process is somewhat reminiscent of Saint Peter’s experience of

losing faith (ie, a totally confident, single focus on the Divine) after only a few

seconds of walking on water towards Jesus, and sinking back down until He reached out

and pulled him up to safety (Mt 14: 24-31). Working on any other virtue is almost

trivial and easily accomplished as compared with reaching and maintaining securely

this transcendent state of union. For this reason, St Gregory and other Fathers

insist that those who do not focus on the virtue of prayer, miss their chance to

receive the best spiritual gifts available to humans (237). On the other hand, those

who work patiently with the Prayer of the Heart are given the greatest access to the

Divine (238) and are granted angelic, supernatural powers, eg, “But those who wait on

the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they

shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Is 40:31).

To summarize the above, in paraphrasing St Theophan’s (and other Fathers’)

classification, we all begin with fear of God, faithful commitment to His


commandments, and strong desire to detach ourselves from all external things,

either good or bad. We grow by trusting Christ and abiding in prayer, as pure and

undistracted as we can make it, cleaving to Him to the extent of our abilities

(239) and aligning our will to His. We enter into perfection through unceasing

Prayer of the Heart, and when it becomes securely established, warm and natural,

our involuntary thoughts become clean, tame and slow, until they disappear

altogether. Then, by grace, our mind remains still (240), full of God (241),

serene, bright and clear (242). At that point, the divine silence fires up our love

for God in our heart, where we find perfect peace, “”, fulfillment, ecstasy,

wonder, rapture, pure “”, and, ultimately, union with Him, the destination and

focus of all of our desires and spiritual movements. As shown in R40 p75, according

to St Isaac the Syrian, this is the condition of the future age where “the saints

will not pray in prayers, but their minds will be overflowed with the Holy Spirit,

and with wonderment they will reside in the ever-spreading glory of God.”

III. As Unceasing Prayer develops, it engenders a direct, clear and constant relationship with God, which

is a necessary and sufficient condition for our theosis.

Many Fathers have written extensively about the extraordinary role prayer plays in

deification. For example, Sts John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, Gregory Palamas, and

Gregory of Sinai stressed the primacy of prayer among all virtues (243), and how

indispensable it is to achieving theosis. Others, eg, Sts Symeon the New Theologian,

Macarius of Egypt, Gregory Palamas, and Seraphim of Sarov, spoke of the fact that

those who have excelled in unceasing prayer are inundated by uncreated light, the

same light that is mentioned in the Gospel passage on the Transfiguration. These

points are discussed in the following few paragraphs.

(a) The Prayer of the Heart engenders a direct, clear and constant relationship

with God.

It is a great privilege for humanity that those who wish to cleanse their heart

and soul, for their personal salvation and the glory of God, can get help directly

from Him (244). Unceasing Prayer of the Heart is a wonderful gift that brings with

it all of God’s blessings (245), as it purifies us and guides us closer to God,

helping us unite with Him. It leads us away from lust for things of this world, and


focuses our mind to think nothing but Him (246) – at which point we are firmly

grounded on memory of God alone (247). The more we become dead to the flesh and to

the trappings of this world through prayer, the more we become alive, free,

spiritually aware, and helpful in the workings of the Spirit (248). At the physical

and psychological levels, we experience well being, emotional balance, appreciation

of nature, love for others and for God. At the mental level comes sharper

attention, absence of passionate thoughts, and, eventually, silence. At the

spiritual level comes humility, repentance, mourning, tears, and a clear

conscience. As a result, a newfound love for our Lord emerges and engulfs us whole.

This pure, but human, love brings to us Divine Love (249) which fills us with deep

devotion to God, makes our mind spiritually wise and opens us up to the mysteries

of this world and of the heavens, as St Theoleptus of Philadelphia said (R3, p398):

“For God, the Word, invoked by Name in the praying heart, takes out discursive

reason like a rib, and gives knowledge. Putting right order in its place, He

bestows virtue, creates light-giving love, and brings it to the mind withdrawn into

ecstasy, asleep and at rest from every earthly lust.” Love for God helps detach the

mind from anything sinful (250), as it incites us to divine wisdom, and urges us to

demonstrate our innate disposition towards virtue (251).

In other words, according to the Fathers (252), the beginning of spiritual

perfection is purity of mind (absence of involuntary thoughts; start of silence)

combined with attention (253) and detachment, all based on strict adherence to God’s

commandments and a sacramental life within the Church. These virtues are driven by

relentless effort to pray diligently (254), culminating in unceasing prayer, which

sets the heart in motion (255) and produces in it warmth - like a furnace (256) – a

condition that eliminates passions, expels demons, and purifies the whole human

being (257, 258, 259, 260, 261). A deep spiritual desire for Christ arises that

brings about repentance, thankfulness, faith, hope and love, which further cleanse

and enrich our body and soul (262, 263, 264). As our heart becomes free from

passionate fantasies (265), it begins to manifest divine thoughts, continuous

remembrance of God (266), stillness and innocent, spontaneous prayer (267), subtly

introduced (268) and maintained by the Holy Spirit (269). As discussed later in this

section, He is then the one praying in us: “And because you are sons, God has sent


forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Gal

4:6). Endless peace and spiritual stillness follow, and from these comes, by divine

grace, bright illumination beyond all understanding pulling us towards union with

God, ecstasy (270) and dwelling in Him (271). This is the new, sacred relationship

with God (272) that we are all encouraged to pursue (273). Although this

relationship is just a preamble of a future glorious state, it is constant (ie,

stable) and direct (ie, immediate), unless we ourselves decide to abandon it. Its

onset means that we are now clearly invited to live in Heaven (after this life)

where we will be seeing God face to face and enjoying Him, forever.

Saint Gregory Palamas speaks (R4 p409) of our union with God, the Holy Trinity

in this way: “When the single mind is threefold, while yet remaining single, it is

united with the Divine Threefold Oneness, closes the door to all prelest, sin and

error and becomes above flesh, above the world and above the prince of this world.

Having thus escaped their snares, it remains wholly enclosed in itself and in God,

tasting the spiritual joy (274) which flows from within.” By the expression “single

mind is threefold while yet remaining single” he is referring to the process by

which our mind focuses within, becomes purified through prayer and transcends

itself. In other words, through prayer, our mind stops resisting the divine

impulses and becomes able to receive the message of the Holy Spirit and rise to God

(eg, St Isaac’s Q&A, next page). The first part, ie, the mind returning and

focusing on itself with extreme attention, is done so that our mental processes

quiet down and be guarded against thought-attacks by the demons. The second part,

ie, the mind accepting the silent impulses of the Holy Spirit and rising to God in

perfect happiness, which means achieving the level of “” and going beyond it

towards a direct, utterly enjoyable connection with God, is facilitated through

very gentle, almost silent Prayer of the Heart. This is the process of going above

all our familiar experiences, either outside or inside the mind, and receiving

union with God, with all the wonderful spiritual feelings that that entails (cf

note #326), aided by our continuous prayer which is being offered in the context of

our total acceptance of the Divine response.

In order to attain pure Prayer of the Heart, we must first pass through the

stage of purification of the intellect, as St Gregory Palamas wrote (R7 p141):


“Illumination appears to the pure intelligence to the extent that it is liberated

from all concepts and becomes formless.” And “All vision having a form to the

intelligence, that is to say, to act on the passionate part which is the

imagination… comes from a ruse of the enemy (275).” Many have attained pure prayer,

and helped others do the same (276) (also see St Gregory’s quote at the end of

section I of this paper), through “purity of heart (277)”, by eliminating

passionate thoughts. Here, St Gregory Palamas shows his closeness to the ascetic

tradition of St John Climacus. As evidenced repeatedly throughout this work, the

central pillar of St Gregory’s teachings, the acquisition of grace in Jesus Christ,

focuses on the “monological, uninterrupted prayer” (278) ,

). This prayer is a “memory of God”, a conscious, positive, personal,

continuous supplication addressed to God: “We supplicate with this continual

supplication” St Gregory wrote, “not to convince God, for He acts always

spontaneously, not to draw Him to us, for He is everywhere, but to lift ourselves

up towards Him.” In other passages, St Gregory mentions that continuous prayer is a

thanksgiving, always a communion with a personal God (279). This responsible and

active concept of unceasing prayer shows that Orthodox spirituality does not

advocate any mechanization of prayer, as was also discussed in section IIa.

Those of us who practice the Prayer of the Heart diligently for some time reach

the point where the individual words disappear and merge into the faint, prayerful

impulses of the Holy Spirit, which can now be clearly perceived because of the

spiritual silence that awakens within us. Through prayer we learn to descend into

our own nothingness, and, by calling out to Him, to also experience His protective

hand pulling us back to His side, over and over again - a rhythm that is similar to

continuous alternations between life and death. This can be seen as a kind of

healing dialog between us and God, which gradually convinces our ego-driven deeper

self to trust Him, open our heart, and let go of any last bit of resistance keeping

us apart from the Holy Spirit. In this way, we enter the new realm that opens wide

for us, the kingdom of God. According to St Ignatius Brianchaninov, R13 p61, when

we consciously accept God’s grace, our prayer becomes truly spiritual, superceding

the more common bodily prayer which is driven by our own efforts. And St John


Climacus taught that the onset of authentic spiritual prayer is marked by abundant

weeping, and, as we enter our heart, palpable joy and thankfulness.

Along these lines, for St Isaac the Syrian (280), the advanced Prayer of the

Heart is not so much “our” prayer (as if we were acting on our own) as it is the

Holy Spirit praying within us: “The disciple: what is the culmination of all the

labors of asceticism, which a person, on reaching, recognizes as the summit of his

course? The teacher: This happens when he is counted worthy of continual prayer.

When he has reached this point, he has attained the end at which all the virtues

aim, and henceforth he possesses a dwelling-place in the Spirit. If a person has not

received in all certainty the gift of the Comforter, it is not possible for him to

accomplish unceasing prayer in quiet. When the Spirit makes its dwelling-place in

someone, he does not cease to pray, because the Spirit will constantly pray in him.

Then, neither when he sleeps not when he is awake, will prayer be cut off from his

soul; but when he eats and when he drinks, when he lies down or when he does any

work, even when he is immersed in sleep, the perfumes of prayer will breathe in his

heart spontaneously. From this point onwards he will not possess prayer at limited

times, but always; and when he has outward rest, even then prayer is ministered to

him secretly. For as a man clad in Christ has said, the silence of the serene is

prayer, for their very thoughts are divine impulses. The motions of the pure mind

are quiet voices, secretly chanting psalms to Him who is invisible.” This point is

repeated often in this paper.

True Prayer of the Heart (281) involves the entirety of our body (282), mind, soul

and spirit, and focuses on the spiritual center of our being, what we call “the

heart.” This is what links us to God, the seat of our conscience, the place where the

Divine dwells in us. According to St Gregory Palamas, (R20 p7), unceasing prayer is

based on the center of our spiritual essence (283): “Heart is… The innermost body

within the body… The shrine of the intelligence… The chief intellectual organ of the

body… It is the ruling organ, that which gives to our human personhood purpose and

meaning… It is the throne of grace.” Therefore, those who are advanced in this kind

of prayer, in accepting His grace, experience the Holy Spirit praying for them from

inside their heart. As mentioned before, the Fathers insist that it is the whole

human being that is saved and not just the soul, as some heresies and other religions


postulate. For example, St Gregory Palamas, R7 p143, understood the difference

between our Gospel and Platonic philosophy, in that our body is not the cause of

evil: “This body united to us has been joined to us by God as our collaborator, or

rather put under our dominion; we must therefore suppress it, if it revolts, and

accept it, if it behaves as it should.” In essence, he believed that thoughts which

are associated with pleasure of the body are bodily in nature and are pulling our

mind and attention lower, into the physical and sensual realm. However, thoughts that

come from our soul when it is full of spiritual joy are spiritual in nature and do

not get corrupted even if they act on the body. Instead, they uplift us towards the

spiritual realm: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn 3:6-8). To

recapitulate this important point, how the body, mind and soul work together towards

theosis, St Gregory Palamas wrote (R7 p144) that “Following the Fathers, one can

easily purify the mind, but it easily relapses from purity. True prayer cleanses the whole of

soul and body in tandem, creating a condition where our mind can remain pure for long periods of time, which

makes us receptive of deifying grace.”

(b) In the context of successful unceasing prayer, this relationship with God is

a necessary and sufficient condition for our theosis. According to the Fathers,

deification is not an abstract concept, promised far in the future or limited to

some very few fortunate ones, but it is a concrete, mystical experience, whose

initial phases are available to all Christians during their lifetime on earth.

Theosis is granted to us by the Holy Spirit and takes place through God’s own

power. Although several Fathers discuss its various aspects in their writings, they

all consider it essentially indescribable, even unutterable. In essence, theosis

“can be identified only by those who have been blessed with it.” (St Gregory

Palamas, R23 p127). As discussed before, this ultimate human experience is linked

by many of the Fathers with the successful practice of unceasing Prayer of the

Heart, through which we establish a live communion with the Holy Trinity. In its

advanced stages, unceasing prayer leads to a state of fulfillment in God’s

presence, characterized by a purified (ie, devoid of passionate thoughts) mind,

which is, for the most part, silent (284), experiencing perfect joy, abundant love

for God (285) and all creatures (286), and a spontaneous vision of uncreated light.

This light is a manifestation of God’s energies, emerging out of His essence [which


remains forever unapproachable to us (287).] When this Divine Light is granted to a

saint, it serves as a concrete pledge of the life to come, which will be an eternal

coexistence with God (288). Therefore, theosis opens us to the ultimate, and most

fulfilling, knowledge of God (289) that we can have in this life (290).

St Gregory Palamas calls prayer the “divinizing virtue”, meaning that it is the

most we can do to prepare ourselves for deification (291), if and when God decides

to grant us this gift of gifts. Sin causes us to forget God and distance ourselves

from Him; while prayer helps us remember our divine heritage and draw near Him

(292), through spiritual desire, word and deed. Unceasing, or perpetual, prayer,

when it is achieved, can be seen as God’s presence in man, “in the sense of an

aptitude disposing him to receive God, and as bringing about the indwelling through

incessant petition.” (St Gregory Palamas, R23 p88). Through perpetual prayer, we

purify our intellect (293, 294) and integrate it with our heart, abandon all

passionate thoughts (295) and open ourselves to God’s grace. “This is the nature of

prayer: it raises man from earth to heaven and, surpassing every celestial name,

eminence, and dignity, it presents him to God (296) Who is above all things.” (St

Gregory Palamas, R23 p89). In this way, Prayer of the Heart is our best method and

most practical tool to enter into a real communion with God (297), and it is

enabled to operate at full force when He blesses our perseverance and heartfelt

desire, and grants us the gift of continuous prayer (298). Therefore, true prayer

is not just a human endeavor, but a living example of human-divine collaboration or

“”, where the Holy Spirit hears our supplication, sees our resolve, and

consents to pray for us, within us (299).

After our heart has been cleansed (300, 301) and passionate thoughts have been

removed, we are open to God’s grace through continuous prayer. At this point our

past has been purified through repentance and forgiveness, our present is sharply

focused on the Lord, and our future is joyfully anticipated with faith and hope in

Him. Therefore, we are finally ready to accept the workings of the Holy Spirit in

us, like Prophets of the New Testament (R43 p111), and receive His uncreated

impulses as they act beyond, or, across, time. This is a crucial level in our

spiritual development, because here our own efforts reach a plateau, beyond which

there is nothing more we can do but keep praying, more and more deeply as time goes


on. At this point of our relationship with God, two things usually happen: first,

our own, purified, thinking quiets down to a silent prayerful intention and the Holy

Spirit takes over our prayer (302); and second, we feel the onset of a powerful

mystical experience that leads us to theosis (303). This experience is characterized

by a sense of warmth of heart (304) and rapidly increasing (often exploding) love

for God (305, 306); and also by vision of the Divine Light (307, 308), accompanied

by great joy (309) and spiritual knowledge of God’s mysteries (310, 311).

God’s uncreated light is the symbol of the grace that is being poured upon us as

a gift from the Holy Spirit (312), and the main theme of our experience at this

stage (313). It is a symbol that is familiar to us from the Scriptures. For example,

divine light appeared several times in the Old Testament, as it guided the

Israelites away from Egypt, illumined Moses’ face after he came down from Mount

Sinai, and accompanied Prophet Elijah up to Heaven; also, King David addresses the

Lord in this way (Ps 36:9): “For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we

see light.” In the New Testament, God is called Light which is foreign to all

darkness: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend

it” (Jn 1:5). Also, Jesus said about Himself: “I am the light of the world. He who

follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” in Jn 8:12. Later

He said something similar to His Apostles “You are the light of the world. A city

that is set on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light so shine before men, that

they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5: 14-16). And:

"While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

(Jn 12:36). Light emanated from St Stephen’s face during his martyrdom; and light

stopped and rehabilitated St Paul on his way to Damascus. Later, St Paul wrote in 2

Cor 4:6: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has

shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the

face of Jesus Christ.” A few centuries after that, the Creed called Christ “Light of

Light; true God of true God…” Many other examples of the significance of light exist

in our Scriptures and Holy Tradition (314). Correspondingly, similar expressions and

paradigms have been incorporated in our hymnography (315), iconography (316) and

overall language about salvation, which, as St Gregory Palamas wrote, is “man’s

reassumption of his vestment of light, which he put off in disobeying God.”


Pure prayer leads us to this enlightened state of ultimate receptivity of God’s

will and grace, characterized by the vision of His uncreated light (317), the same

one that Sts Peter, James and John witnessed up on Mount Tabor (318) (Mt 17:1-8; Mk

9:2-10). According to the Fathers, the Prayer of the Heart leads us to the vision

of light in two ways: At the intellectual level, working hard to purify our mind,

we experience the created light of our humanity that becomes brighter as sinful

thoughts are abandoned and unceasing prayer takes its hold. After prolonged and

successful practice of the Jesus Prayer, a second vision of Light emerges (319),

that of the uncreated light that was perceived by the Apostles on Mount Tabor,

during Christ’s Transfiguration. This Divine Light is God’s energy and grace (320)

and illumines the Way for all humans (321), until, one day, after we have made the

requisite effort ourselves through prayer and accepted His will fully, it

enlightens us, ie, it permanently envelops us and dwells in us. While His divine

essence remains forever unapproachable to us (322), His energy, which is God

Himself, manifests as uncreated light and allows Him to unite with us (323), giving

us a small taste of the fullness of our union in the age to come (324). This is the

same Light that will shine upon Christ’s Second Coming (325), in which the saints

among us are allowed, by grace, to participate even during their life on earth

(326), here and now (327).

The fact is that most thoughts enter the heart through the imagination of

something sensory, with the result of diminishing the spiritual clarity of our

mental processes (328). Therefore, God’s uncreated light, whose perception depends

on total spiritual purity and receptivity, begins to be experienced mainly when our

mind is freed from thoughts and contains no pre-arranged representation of any

size, shape or form (329) - which means no anticipation whatsoever - but only pure

acceptance of the divine impulses (330). In other words, sacred illumination

manifests in a mind which is already purified, when all thought-based expectancy

has been eliminated and we remain in a state of innocent, newborn-infant-like,

openness, as Jesus explained “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born

again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3). From a subjective point of

view, praying unceasingly means that the words are thought, or listened to, all day

and night, automatically. In essence, praying consists of focusing our silent (from


other thoughts) mind on our heart, and then standing there in the presence of God

(331) with as much warmth and love as we can muster, with spiritual desire,

contrition and true humility. This new relationship with God is what we all aspire

to.

In other words, St Gregory Palamas and the other Fathers of the Church teach us

that there is a direct and personal communion between the Holy Trinity and us, which

is attainable by all, and which will be in its fullest expression at the Second

Coming and beyond. This union is preceded by a relationship with God (in this life)

which is dominated by unceasing Prayer of the Heart made constant by grace (pulling

us closer and closer to God) and is firmly grounded on impeccable Christian living

and absence of passionate thought. As our acceptance of the Holy Spirit takes hold

deeper and deeper (332), our relationship with God is characterized by silence and

spiritual vision of His uncreated light (333), with all the corresponding re-

creative and deifying results (334). This uncreated light, being God’s energy and,

therefore, God, is the divinizing means of the Holy Spirit, the divine grace with

which He blesses us. No one can reach theosis without going through this series of

experiences (335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341) while, the believer who follows this

path to successful fruition, meets, with God’s permission, the requirements for

deification (342, 343, 344, 345). Impeccable Christian living, crowned by faithful,

warm, and, ultimately, silent, continuous Prayer of the Heart, is our contribution

to this process (346) which the Holy Spirit takes over and completes for us.

St Gregory Palamas makes it clear that, although the Divine Light is everywhere,

we can only see it if and when the Holy Spirit makes us able to. When we are ready,

God empowers our spirit and physical eyes to perceive His Divine Light - and this

experience can be relatively subtle, or absolutely clear, or even totally

transcendent, depending on our degree of purification. This is what happened to Sts

Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor: the three Apostles were suddenly made

capable of seeing Christ the way He always is, in His all-luminous, uncreated

glory. At that time special dispensation had to be granted to them to be able to

see Christ’s light. However, baptized Christians who participate in the Sacrament

of Holy Eucharist are already empowered to enjoy this privilege when they are

prepared through prayer and willing to accept the Holy Spirit (347). What we need


in order to perceive God’s uncreated light, and divine visions, is purification of

our intellectual vision (which is then based on our dispassionate intellect) and an

illumination from God. This illumination is the spiritual equivalent of normal

light and is given to those who succeed in unceasing prayer, a gift that enables us

to see in ecstasy through the Holy Spirit (348). Ecstasy here is not an

intellectual, incorporeal phenomenon, but the transcendence of our normal

capabilities reached through our intellect’s purification (which generates abundant

love for God in us) and enlivened by grace through divine illumination (349) (an

expression of the infinite love that God has for us.) Therefore, according to St

Gregory Palamas, the ecstasy we experience is always coupled with a reciprocal

ecstasy experienced by God at the same time, just as physical action is always

matched by a similar reaction.

Through this repetitive process, which marks our close relationship with God at

this stage, powered by unceasing Prayer of the Heart, our intellect is gradually

deified and passes on the divine gift to the body, so that our whole being enters

theosis. Our unceasing prayer becomes silent, carried out by the Holy Spirit on our

behalf, and gradually evolves into a mystical communion with God, effected through

grace and allowing us to have direct and personal knowledge of His uncreated

energies. The more we accept our deification [a process infinite in duration and

scope, in this life and the next (350)] the more complete becomes our knowledge of

God. And as stated before, a faithful life within the Church, continuous prayer,

and the mystical vision of Divine Light, prepare us, through grace, for union with

God (351). Once this sacred process is established, we can say that we start to

understand, or at least appreciate, Theology.

Many Fathers taught that unceasing prayer leads to deification. In addition to

St Gregory Palamas, examples here include St Symeon the New Theologian (352, 353,

354) and St Macarius of Egypt (355, 356, 357). Another Father, St Seraphim of

Sarov, a well known adherent of the Jesus Prayer (358), had been granted the gift

of Uncreated Light, which, for him, was externally visible (witnessed on several

occasions), enlightening his face and body. Here (R8 p161) is the famous

“Conversation with Motovilov” where St Seraphim expounds our Orthodox mysticism of

light, as taught by St Symeon the New Theologian and St Gregory Palamas: “We are


both together, son, in the Spirit of God!” “…I cannot look, father, because

lightning flames from your eyes. Your face is brighter than the sun and my eyes

ache in pain!…” “…Fear not my son; you too have become as bright as I. You too are

now in the fullness of God’s Spirit; otherwise you would not be able to look on me

as I am. …Come son, why do you not look me in the eyes? Just look and fear not! The

Lord is with us!” “After these words, I looked at his face and there came over me

an even greater reverential awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling

brilliance of its midday rays, the face of the man who talks with you. You see the

movement of his lips and the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice,

you feel someone grasp your shoulders; yet you do not see the hands, you do not

even see yourself or his figure, but only a blinding light spreading several yards

around and throwing a sparkling radiance across the snow blanket on the glade and

into the snowflakes which besprinkled the great Elder and me.”

In summary, all of us Christians are called to become God-like (359), a process

in which prayer plays a dominant role. To that end, we need to keep Christ very

close to us (360), always obey Him (361), and work to unite with Him (362). In

return, Christ enlightens us with His glory, filling our whole being with the Holy

Spirit, through Whom we learn to pray (363) calling God “Father”. In this way, a

strong link is established between us and the Holy Trinity, through which we pray

and also listen to His words that He makes audible to those with a pure heart. This

is especially important as we cleanse our mind and make it still (364, 365), or as

we approach death and no other action is possible (366). In both cases, our silent

prayer becomes the sacred bond, a powerful spiritual connection, between us and God.

The Fathers insist that those who desire perfection should descend into the center

of their being, their hearts (367), and constantly (368) pray (369), purely and with

no distraction, without imagining that something spectacular should happen,

listening only to the words of the prayer and going deeply into them: “Lord Jesus

Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In this way, the mind is gradually

illumined in the heart, as St Diadochus of Photice says: “Those who constantly keep

this holy and glorious name mentally in the depths of the heart are able, in the

end, to see the light of their mind.” The Jesus Prayer, or Prayer Of The Heart, is


the best spiritual method we have to actualize this connection. It is a simple, but

extremely powerful practice, rooted deeply in our scriptures, commented on and

expanded broadly in our Holy Tradition. It starts by being a focal point of our life

in faith, and gradually becomes the means to approach God by subordinating our

actions and thoughts to His will. The ensuing close relationship with the Holy

Trinity becomes the divine bridge across which theosis is granted. St Nicephorus of

Mount Athos calls it “the art of arts and science of sciences,” since it provides us

with knowledge infused directly by the Presence of God. All other sciences give us

just human knowledge. Therefore, unceasing prayer is the highest school of real

Theology.

In lieu of an epilogue, I will close with a moving story of Abba Joseph of

Panephysis, from the “Sayings of the Desert Fathers,” as quoted in R20 p15: “A

monk came to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba, I try my best. I say a few

prayers each day, I make prostrations, I keep the fasts, I try not to lose my

temper with my brothers. What more can I do?’ And Abba Joseph rose to his feet,

and he lifted his hands to heaven, and his hands became like ten blazing torches

of fire. And he said to the monk, ‘If you will, you can become all fire.’ So may

each of us, through the Divine mercy, become a living flame of prayer.” Amen.


Bibliography - References

R1. The New Testament R2. The Philokalia, Volumes I, II, III, IV, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos WareR3. Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, translated by E. Kaldoubovsky and G.E.H. PalmerR4. Early Fathers from the Philokalia, translated by E. Kaldoubovsky and G.E.H. PalmerR5. St Gregory Palamas: The Triads, translated by Nicholas Gendle R6. Treatise on the Spiritual Life, by St Gregory PalamasR7. A Study of Gregory Palamas, by Fr John Meyendorff R8. St Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality, by Fr John MeyendorffR9. Unseen Warfare, by L. Scupoli, edited by St Nicodemus the Hagiorite and, later, by St Theophan the RecluseR10. Prayer in the Unseen Warfare, by Jack SparksR11. The Inner Kingdom, by Bishop Kallistus WareR12. On Prayer, by St Theophan the RecluseR13. On the Prayer of Jesus, by St Ignatius BrianchaninovR14. The Ladder Of Divine Ascent, by St John ClimacusR15. The Life of Moses, by St Gregory NyssaR16. In the Light of Christ: St Symeon The New Theologian, by Archbishop Basil KrivocheineR17. The Way of a Pilgrim, translated by R.M. French; The Way of a Pilgrim Annotated & Explained, translated. by G. PokrovskyR18. The Art of Prayer – An Orthodox Anthology, by Igumen Chariton of ValamoR19. The Macarian Homilies and Symeon the New Theologian, by A HatzopoulosR20. Merton on Hesychasm - The Prayer of the Heart, edited by Bernadette Dieker and Jonathan MontaldoR21. On Prayer, by St John Of KronstadtR22. The Jesus Prayer, by Fr David HesterR23. The Deification of Man, by G.I. MantzaridisR24. The Vision of God, by Vladimir LosskyR25. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, by Vladimir LosskyR26. In the Image and Likeness of God, by Vladimir LosskyR27. Byzantine Theology, by Fr John MeyendorffR28. Themes from the Philokalia, Volumes 1 and 2, by Fr IoannikiosR29. Letters from the Desert, by Barsanuphios and JohnR30. A Method of Prayer for Modern Times, by Bishop Eugraph KovalevskyR31. The Way of the Ascetics, by Tito CollianderR32. The Experience of God, Volumes I and II, by Fr Dumitru StaniloaeR33. Prayer and Holiness, by Fr Dumitru StaniloaeR34. How Are We Saved? by Bishop Kallistus WareR35. The Praktikos Chapters on Prayer, by Evagrius PonticusR36. The Syriac Fathers on Prayer, by Sebastian BrockR37. Orthodox Prayer Life, by Matthew The PoorR38. Beginning to Pray, by Archbishop Anthony Bloom


R39. Inner Way: Toward a Rebirth of Eastern Christian Spiritual Direction, by Fr Joseph Allen R40. Partakers of Divine Nature, by Fr. Christoforos StavropoulosR41. The New Testament Introduction: Mark And Paul, by Fr Paul TaraziR42. St Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite, by Metropolitan Ierotheos VlachosR43. A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain, by Metropolitan Ierotheos VlachosR44. The Burning Bush, by Fr Lev GilletR45. On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus, by Fr Lev GilletR46. Treatise on Prayer, by St Symeon of ThessalonikeR47. The Place of the Heart, by Elisabeth Behr-SigelR48. Philokalia – The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality, by Fr Anthony ConiarisR49. The Heart of Salvation, by Esther WilliamsR50. The Heart: An Orthodox Christian Spiritual Guide, by Fr Spyridon LogothetisR51. On Heresies: Saint John of Damascus, Writings, translated by F.H. Chase

Notes

1. For example, the Psalms are, essentially, a vast prayer offered to God from,almost, as many angles as there are human experiences.

2. Jn 16: 23 “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

3. Jn 14: 16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,”

4. Hebrews 7: 25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.”

5. The New Testament mentions frequently that Jesus prayed, eg, Mt 14:32 “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on a mountain by Himself to pray…” Also, Hebrews 5:7 “…in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications…”etc.

6. R14 p271 St John Climacus: “Faith is the wing of prayer, and without it my prayer will return to my bosom.”

7. Mk 11: 22-24 “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that thosethings he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore Isay to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

8. Hebrews 11: 6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those whodiligently seek Him.”

9. James 1: 6,7 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”

10. Mt 8: 13 “Then Jesus said to the Centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.'' And his servant was healed that same hour.”


11. Mt 9: 28-30 “And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

12. Mk 5: 36 “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to theruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe.’”

13. Mk 9: 23 “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’”

14. Lk 8: 48 “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’”

15. R21 p37 St John of Kronstadt: “The attributes of prayer must be love of God, sincerity and simplicity.”

16. eg, Mt 6: 5, 15 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward… But if you do not forgive men their trespasses,neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

17. eg, Mt 15: 7-9 “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips,but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'”

18. Jn 4: 24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

19. eg, Ps 4: 1 “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me when I was in distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.”

20. Lk 11: 5-13 “And He said to them, ‘Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves; fora friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, `Do not trouble me; thedoor is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and giveto you'? "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more willyour heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

21. Mk 7: 24-30 “And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, ‘Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ And she answered and said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the


little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.’ Then He said to her, ‘For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.’ And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.”

22. R14 p276 St John Climacus: “Prayer brings one sort of joy to those living in community, and another to those praying in stillness. Elation is sometimes characteristic of the former, but humility is always to be found in the latter.”

23. R14 p276 St John Climacus: “However pure you may be, do not be forwardin your dealings with God. Approach Him rather in humility, and you will be given still more boldness. And even if you have climbed the whole ladder of virtues, pray still for the forgiveness of sins. Heed Paul’s cry regarding sinners ‘of whom I am chief.’ (1 Tim 1:15)”

24. eg, 2 Chronicles 7: 14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

25. eg, 2 Chronicles 34: 27 “’because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words … and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,’ says the Lord.”

26. R21 p52 St John of Kronstadt: “When you pray, keep to the rule that itis better to say five words from the depth of your heart than ten thousand words with your tongue only.”

27. R3 p327 St Philotheus of Sinai: “If we sincerely wish to guard our mind in the Lord, we have need of great humility, first in relation to God, and, second, in relation to men.”

28. R3 p88 St Gregory of Sinai: “Obedience for the sake of humility is capable of all virtue.”

29. R3 p83 St Gregory of Sinai: “In keeping silence, there are three virtues we should practice strictly and verify each hour whether we constantly abide in them, lest we be robbed by forgetfulness, and move outside them. They are: abstinence, not talking, and self-belittlement, ie, humility. They support and protect one another; prayer is born of them and grows without ceasing.”

30. R3 p282 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “He who struggles inwardly must practice at every moment these four (doings): humility, extreme attention, resistance to thoughts, and prayer.”

31. R3 p324 St Philotheus of Sinai: “Where there is humility, remembrance of God with sobriety and attention, and frequent prayer directed against enemies, there is the place of God, or the heaven of the heart where the hosts of demons fear to enter, since it is the dwelling-place of God.”

32. eg, Deut 11: 13-15 “And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that


you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.”

33. Rom 6: 17 “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.”

34. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “Christ will stretch out His helping hand and we shall find the solution… building complete the oft praised house of spiritual architecture, that is, Divine silence, on the firm and immovable foundation of blessed obedience.”

35. Rom 6: 16 “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?”

36. Jn 14: 14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”37. 1 John 3: 22 “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep

His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”38. Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of

heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”39. Mt 26: 36-4640. Lk 15: 18-21 “`I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'”

41. R14 p276 St John Climacus: “Oil and salt are the condiments of food; chastity and tears give flight to prayer.”

42. R39 p15 St Isaac the Syrian: “Why do you increase your bonds? Take hold of your life before your light grows dark, and seeking help you do not find it. This life has been given to you for repentance; do not waste it in vain pursuits.”

43. eg, 1 Kings 8: 33-34 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.”

44. eg, Jer 36: 7 “It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way…”

45. eg, Acts 8: 21-22 “…for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”

46. eg, Nehemiah 1: 4-7 “So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said: "I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before


You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You.Both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.”

47. eg, Daniel 9: 4-11 “And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, ‘O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenantand mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those nearand those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord,to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.’”

48. Lk 18: 13-14 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

49. James 5: 16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

50. R14 p275 St John Climacus: “When you set out to appear before the Lord, let the garment of your soul be woven throughout with the thread of wrongs no longer remembered. Otherwise, prayer will be useless to you.”

51. Mt 6: 14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

52. Mt 5: 23-24 “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

53. Mt 5: 44-46 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the


just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward haveyou? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

54. Mt 6: 14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

55. Mt 18: 21-22 “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus saidto him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

56. Mk 11: 22-26 “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever thingsyou ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

57. eg, the parable of the ungrateful servant in Mt 18: 23-3558. eg, Lk 6: 20-49; as, for example, in the verse Lk 6:28: "bless those

who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”59. 1 Cor 13 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but

have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity,but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. Andnow abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

60. R14 p195 St John Climacus: “The truly obedient monk often becomes suddenly radiant and exultant during his prayers.”

61. Mt 6: 5-6 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door,


pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

62. eg, Lk 6: 12 “Now it came to pass…that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”

63. Mt 9:15 “And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

64. Mt 17: 20-21 “…for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

65. Mk 9: 28-29 “His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not casthim out?’ So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’”

66. Ps 35: 13 “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.”

67. Nehemiah 1: 4 “… I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I wasfasting and praying before the God of heaven.”

68. Lk 3: 37 “and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”

69. Acts 10: 30 “And Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,”

70. Acts 13: 3 “Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”

71. Acts 14: 23 “So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

72. 1 Cor 7: 5 “Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time,that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

73. R3 p40 St Gregory of Sinai: “Those who struggle, regain their original state by keeping two commandments – obedience and fasting; for all evil enteredinto the generation of mortals through practices opposed to them. Moreover, those who keep the commandments through obedience ascend to God more quickly, and those who keep them trough fasting – more slowly. Besides, obedience is more suitable for beginners, and fasting for those on the way, who possess courage and vision of mind. But in fulfilling the commandments it is given to very few always to obey God undeceived, and even for the most valiant this achievement is very difficult.”

74. R14 p280 St John Climacus: “Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knockwith patience. For so it goes that ‘Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.’ (Mt 7:8)”

75. Lk 18: 2-8 “…There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him,


saying, `Avenge me of my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily...’”

76. Acts 12: 5 “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”

77. eg, Eph 6: 18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”

78. R14 p281 St John Climacus: “Hold onto the staff of prayer and you willnot fall. And even a fall will not be fatal, since prayer is a devout coercion of God. (cf Lk 18:5)

79. eg, Lk 11: 5-13, quoted in a footnote #2080. eg, Ps 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not

hear.”81. eg, Mt 5: 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”82. 1 Thess 5: 16-23 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything

give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit... Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every… evil… may the God of peace… sanctify you… and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

83. I John 5: 14,15 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

84. R14 p271 St John Climacus: “In my prayer, I will offer up my will, andfrom God I will draw assurance.”

85. Mt 6: 13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

86. Philippians 2: 5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”

87. Acts 19: 13-16 “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

88. eg, Jn 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”


89. Mt 28:19 “…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

90. Jn 14: 13-14 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

91. Jn 15: 7,16 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you… whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

92. Jn 16: 23-24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

93. Acts 3: 6 “Then Peter said, ‘… In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’”

94. Eph 5: 20 “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

95. Rom 10:12 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.”

96. 1 Cor 1:2 “… with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord…”

97. 2 Cor 12: 8-9 “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

98. Acts 3: 16: “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

99. Eph 6: 18 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”

100. Jude 20 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”

101. Rom 8: 9,26,27 “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His… Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

102. Ps 46: 10-11 “Be still, and know that I am God; …The Lord of hosts is with us;… God… is our refuge.”

103. R5 p 57 St Gregory Palamas: “The essence of God transcends the fact ofbeing inaccessible to the senses, since God is not only above all created things but is even beyond Godhead. The excellence of Him Who surpasses all things is not only beyond affirmation, but also beyond all negation; it exceeds all excellence that is attainable by the mind.”


104. R20 p14 St Gregory of Nyssa: “The bridegroom is present but is not seen.”

105. R20 p14 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “Pray without images, shapes or forms, with an intellect, a nous and a soul that are entirely pure. Always keep your intellect free from color, form, shape and configuration, and fromany quality or quantity.”

106. R32, Vol II, p44, Fr Dumitru Staniloae: “By creating human beings, Godhas committed Himself to lead them to deification.”

107. R3 p245 St Nilus: “Blessed is he who has comprehended (God’s) incomprehensibility, inseparable from prayer.”

108. R14 p143 St John Climacus: “Enlightenment is something indescribable, an activity that is unknowingly perceived and invisibly seen.”

109. R32, Vol I, Forward, Fr Dumitru Staniloae: “The Trinity alone assumes our existence as persons… Salvation and deification are nothing other than the extension to conscious creatures of the relations that obtain between the divine persons.”

110. 1 Cor 12:3 “No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.”

111. Ps 51 10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

112. 1 Thes 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”113. Eph 6:18 “With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity

in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones.”

114. 1 Tim 2:8 “It is my wish then that in every place the men should pray,lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.”

115. Rom 12:12 “…be constant in prayer…”116. 1 Thes 2:13 “We constantly thank God for you.”117. 1 Tim 1:2 “Always I remember you in my prayers.”118. Mt 9:27 The two blind men: “Have mercy on us Son of David.” 119. Lk 17:13 The ten lepers: “Jesus Master have mercy on us.”120. Lk 18:13 The tax collector: “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”121. There has been some controversy about the precise authorship of

writings by several well known Fathers of the Church, eg, St Dionysius, St Hesychius of Jerusalem, St Nilus, St Isaac the Syrian, St Macarius of Egypt,et al. In this work, this issue has not been addressed and quotes are attributed to the exact name referenced in the source document, eg, The Philokalia.

122. Bishop Ierotheos in R42 p60: “St Dionysios the Aeropagite says in his writings that according to the holy Fathers the spiritual life has three stages: purification, illumination and perfection. We find this in the teachings of all the holy Fathers of the Church.”

123. R16 p80: Per St Symeon the New Theologian, the aims of prayer are humility, compunction and enlightenment in the Holy Spirit.

124. R21 p37 St John of Kronstadt: “Prayer breathes hope, and a prayer without hope is a sinful prayer.”


125. eg, Rom 12:12 “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;” and Col 4:2 “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”

126. There are several sets of similar instructions throughout our patristicliterature, eg, by St Symeon the New Theologian, (R8 p164), St Gregory of Sinai, (R13 p67, p68), St Nicephorus the Hesychast, (R8 p56), Sts Callistus and Ignatius, (R3 p192), and others.

127. R50 p17: “The heart is man’s feelings (affect). The heart is man’s volition (will). The heart is man’s mind (cognition). These three elements are together in one unbreakable unity. We… find … the same meaning in the… Scriptures and in the writings of the Fathers.”

128. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: “When the devil sees a soul protected by virtues, he dare not come near it, fearing the strength and power given to it by prayer.”

129. R3 p169 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “The beginning of every action pleasing to God is calling with faith on the life-saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as He Himself said: ‘Without me you can do nothing’ (Jn 15:5) together with the peace and love which accompany this calling.”

130. R3 p65 St Gregory of Sinai: “Grace is not merely faith, but also active prayer. For the latter shows in practice true faith, made living by Jesus, for it comes from the Spirit through love.”

131. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: “When during prayer your heart is overwhelmed with despondency and melancholy, be sure that these proceed fromthe Devil, endeavoring by every means to hinder you in your prayer. Be firm,take courage, and by the remembrance of God drive away this deadly feeling.”

132. R21 p52 St John of Kronstadt: “When you observe that your heart is cold and prays unwillingly, stop praying and warm your heart by representingvividly to yourself your own wickedness, your spiritual poverty, misery and blindness, or the great benefits which God bestows every moment upon you andall mankind, especially upon Christians; and then pray slowly and feverishly.”

133. R3 p238, St Basil the Great: “Right prayer is that which actively implants the memory of God in the soul. The dwelling of God in the heart means to have God planted firmly in oneself by memory, when this memory is never interrupted by worldly cares, and the mind is not troubled by accidental passionate impulses. A lover of God flees all things and goes to God.” St Basil also spoke of combining our prayer with mental and spiritual actions such as glorifying and thanking God, confessing our sins, and askingthat He bless our efforts to be saved.

134. R3 p196 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “Go to sleep and sleep with the prayer of Jesus.”

135. R3 p299 St Gregory the Theologian: “Let His most sweet name be joined to your breath; and then you will know the profit of silence.”

136. R8 p132 St Gregory Palamas: “At every hour invoke Him, Him Who is the object of our meditations, so that our mind may always be absorbed in Him and our attention concentrated each day on Him… invoke the name of God with your lips and also with desire and with thought so that the only saving


remedy may be applied to all by which we have sinned, for there is no other name by which we are saved, as stated in Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

137. R3 p193 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “A monk should always live with the name of Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one.” And: “Do not estrange your heart from God, but abide in Him and always guard your heart by remembering our lord Jesus Christ, until the name of the Lord becomes rooted in the heart and is ceasesto think of anything else. May Christ be glorified in you.”

138. R3 p193 St John Climacus: “May the memory of Jesus combine with your breathing; then will you understand the use of silence.””

139. R3 p193 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “If you truly wish to cover thoughts with shame, to keep silence as you should and to be sober in your heart without effort, let the Jesus Prayer cleave to your breath – and in a few days you will see it in practice.”

140. R3 p195 St Nilus: “Attention seeking prayer will find prayer; for whatmost naturally follows upon attention is prayer, and it is upon prayer that our greatest efforts should be directed.”

141. R3 p197 St Nilus: “He who always brings all his first thoughts like ripe fruit to God makes his prayer heard.”

142. In Letter 15, St Theophan The Recluse, instructs us that we have nothing more important than prayer to do, as it reflects our faith and accompanies and energizes our good works in the name of God. But we need to “stand with reverence before God, with the mind in the heart, and strive toward Him with longing.” When we choose to live according to St Paul’s instructions and example, everything we think, feel, say and do, our entire life, small and big plans and pursuits, and even common gestures, all motivation for and results from our activities, are meant to be an offering to God. The unceasing prayer holds us fast onto His Presence (1 Cor 10:30 “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.”) Praying unceasingly should not mean that we sidestep everything else and try to lead an exclusively contemplative lifestyle, but that we strive to live in such a way that we are constantly in the live presence of God while we do whatever we have to do on this Earth.

143. St Theophan the Recluse also quotes (in his 19th discourse) St Macariusof Egypt to have said: “’One must force oneself to pray, even if one has no spiritual prayer… in such a case, God, seeing that a man earnestly is striving, pushing himself against the will of his heart (that is his thoughts,) He grants him true prayer.’ By that, St Macarius meant the undistracted, collected, deep prayer that occurs when the mind stands unswervingly before God. In that exalted state, the mind discovers such peace and sweetness that it wishes to remain in the prayer forever, desiringnothing more.” St Macarius also believed that the goal of prayer is not the disincarnation of the mind, but a transfiguration of the entire person – soul and body – through the presence of the incarnate God, accessible to theconscious “certitude of the heart.”


144. According to St Dorotheus, R13 p51, we should be careful not to just pay lip service to prayer but pray with sincerity and warmth while guarding our heart and soul. The Prayer of the Heart needs gentle concentration and focus: “Do you wish to learn to pray with the mind and heart? I will teach you. At first you should make the prayer of Jesus with your voice, that is, with your lips, tongue and speech, aloud by yourself. When the lips, tongue and senses are satisfied with prayer pronounced vocally, then vocal prayer stops and it begins to be said in a whisper. After this, one should contemplate with the mind, and always regard and attend diligently to the feeling in the throat. The mental Prayer of the Heart constantly begins to rise automatically by the nod (of God – ie, by the action of divine grace) –begins to be carried about and act at all times, during every kind of work, in every place.”

145. R4 p412, St Philotheus of Sinai: “Let no one think, my brother Christians, that it is the duty only of priests and monks to pray without ceasing, and not of laymen. No, no; it is the duty of all of us Christians to remain always in prayer.” In the same vein, R11 p81, St Macarius of Egyptwrote: “Christians ought at all times to preserve the remembrance of God… inorder that they may show love to the Lord not only when they go into the place of prayer, but that also when they are working, talking, or eating, they may preserve the remembrance of God, and a sense of love and yearning towards Him.”

146. R21 p27 St John of Kronstadt: “Prayer is a golden link connecting the Christian man, the wanderer and stranger upon the earth, with the spiritual world of which he is a member, and, above all, with God, the source of life.The soul came forth from God, and to God may it even ascend through prayer.”

147. R14 p52 St Diadochus of Photice: “The human intellect cannot rest inactive; if it is to be prevented from dispersing itself among a multiplicity of sensory objects, it must be provided with some inner task tosatisfy its need for activity. For the complete fulfillment of its purpose we should give it nothing but the prayer ‘Lord Jesus...’ Let it continually concentrate on these words within its inner shrine with such intensity that it is not turned aside to any mental images.”

148. R3 p193 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “When we have accustomed our mind to enter within while inhaling, we shall have learnt in practice that at themoment when the mind is about to descend within, it forthwith rejects every thought and becomes single and naked, freed from all memory but that of calling on our Lord Jesus Christ. Conversely, when it comes out and turns towards the external, it immediately becomes distracted by varied memories.”

149. R3 p192 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “For the kingdom of God is within us, and for a man who has seen it within, and having found it through pure prayer, has experienced it, everything outside loses its attraction and value. It is no longer unpleasant and worrisome for him to be within. Just asa man who has been away from home, when he returns is beside himself with joyat seeing again his children and wife, so the mind, after being dispersed, when it reunites with the soul, is filled with unspeakable sweetness and joy.”


150. Gal 4:6 “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit that cries ‘Abba, Father!’”

151. R3 p88 St Gregory of Sinai: “Works are many but they are individual; Prayer of the Heart is great and all-embracing, as the source of virtues, because every good is acquired thereby. St Maximus the Confessor says: “Nothing is more terrible than the thought of death, and nothing more glorious than remembrance of God” showing the supremacy of this doing. But in our times some people do not even want to hear about the existence of grace, because through their insensibility and ignorance they are blind and of little faith.”

152. R9 p220 St Gregory of Sinai: “Grace abides in us from the time of our holy baptism; but through our inattention, vanity and the wrong life we lead, it is stifled or buried. When a man resolves to lead a righteous life and is zealous for salvation, the fruit of his whole labor is, therefore, the restoration in force of this gift of grace. It comes to pass in a two-fold manner: first, this gift becomes revealed through many labors in following the commandments; in so far as a man succeeds in following the commandments, this gift becomes more radiant and brilliant. Secondly, it manifests and reveals itself through constant invocation of the Lord Jesus in prayer. The first method is powerful, but the second is more so, so that even the first method gains power through it. Thus, if we sincerely wish to open the seed of grace concealed in us, let us hasten to train ourselves in this latter exercise of the heart, and let us have only this work of prayer in our heart, without forms, without images, till it warms our heart and makes it burn with ineffablelove of the Lord.”

153. R19 p215: “In all these passages the primacy of prayer is accepted, butthis never means that other virtues are dismissed as superfluous; prayer, as the fruit, is assigned pride of place on the tree, but it is integrally joined to the branches which produce it.”

154. R19 p215 St Gregory of Nyssa: “We must cleave as much as possible to prayer; indeed it is like a leader of the chorus of virtues through which weask God for the rest of the virtues. He who cleaves to prayer participates in and is united with it by mystical sanctity and spiritual action and ineffable disposition. For having here received the Spirit as his guide and ally he is kindled with love for the Lord and he is ardent in desire, never feeling satiety (s) of prayer; he always burns (s) with the loveof good and then waters () the soul with zeal.”

155. R3 p283 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “He who has no prayer free from thoughts has no weapon for battle. By prayer I mean the prayer which is constantly active in the innermost secret places of the soul, so that the enemy in his secret onslaughts is invisibly flogged and scorched by calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

156. R3 p212 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “If you wish while yet in your body to serve God as an incorporeal being, attain to constant secret Prayer of the Heart and your soul will become angelic even before death.”


157. R19 p215 St Mark the Monk: “Prayer is called a virtue, but in reality it is the mother of virtues: for it gives birth to them through union with Christ.”

158. R13 p66 St Nil Sorsky: “There are many virtuous actions, but they are all particular. But the Prayer of the Heart is the source of all blessings.”

159. R3 p227 St Barsanuphius: “If inner doing with God does not help a man,his external efforts are in vain. For inner doing with a contrite heart brings purity; purity brings true silence of the heart; this silence brings humility; humility prepares man to be the abode of God. By the power of God dwelling in a man, all demons and passions are cast out and man becomes a temple of God, full of sanctity, light, purity and grace. Blessed is he who contemplates the Lord in the innermost recesses of his heart and pours out his prayer with mourning to the loving kindness of the Lord.” (Answer 210)

160. R3 p238 St Maximus the Confessor: “The mind cannot be freed from passions solely through right activity, if it does not at the same time receive many and varied contemplations.”

161. R19 p215 Evagrius of Pontus: “As sight is superior to all the other senses, so prayer is more divine than all the other virtues.”

162. R25 p207 Lossky: “All the virtues together subserve perfection in prayer;while the virtues cannot possibly be assured if the spirit is not constantly turned towards prayer. Moreover, the greatest of the virtues, charity, that love of God in which the mystical union is accomplished, is itself the fruit ofprayer, s s, as St Isaac the Syrian says. For, in prayer, man meets with God personally – he knows Him and he loves Him. Knowledge (gnosis) and love are closely inter-connected in Eastern asceticism.”

163. As an example of a different source than the Fathers, to paraphrase the book “Unseen Warfare”, R9 p81, in order for us to reach Christian perfection, we need to wage and win an all-encompassing war against our spiritual enemies and our own sinful tendencies. For this to happen, we needto plant in our heart the following spiritual attitudes and activities, treating them like valuable weapons for the battle: (a) be humble, (b) trustonly God, (c) strive without ceasing, and (d) remain constantly in prayer. The first three are very important, but it is the fourth one that is the leading quality and primary weapon of the person who is after spiritual perfection. This is due to the fact that it is through prayer that the firstthree are acquired, used to maximum advantage and maintained in the first place. With prayer we both attract and receive all blessings for this extraordinary endeavor, given to us by the infinite love and generosity thatGod feels for us. By prayer we put in God’s hands both our weapons for spiritual battle and our concerns for spiritual safety per se, not to mention our hope for eventually being granted union with Him. But in order that it may reach its full potential in, it is imperative that prayer stay constantly active in us, as a natural function and extension of our spirit.

164. R3 p87 St Gregory of Sinai: “How then can you think and say that we assert that one can succeed in prayer without a life of action? It is not that we assert, but the fact is that, besides a life of action, another, a


mental activity is required, without which it is impossible to succeed in prayer.”

165. R14 p281 St John Climacus: “Always be brave, and God will teach you your prayer.”

166. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “The Savior says: "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Therefore, you also, well beloved, ifyour desire for Divine silence is not just bare words, but you love it in deed and in truth, strive not only to have orthodox faith but also to be filled with good works.”

167. R11 p82 St Basil the Great: “Prayer is a request for what is good, offered by the devout to God. But we do not restrict this “request” simply to what is stated in words… We should not express out prayer merely in syllables, but the power of prayer should be expressed in the moral attitudeof our soul and in the virtuous actions that extend throughout our life… This is how you pray continually – not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God through your whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted prayer.”

168. R14 p268 St John Climacus: “The first task of stillness is disengagement from every affair good and bad, since concern with the former leads on to the latter. Second is urgent prayer. Third is inviolable activity of the heart. And just as you have to know the alphabet if you are to read books, so if you have missed out on the first task, you cannot enterupon the other two.”

169. R3 p180 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “’Faith without works is dead...’ (James 2:26) just as works without faith are dead.”

170. R3 p297 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “It is the nature of these two things,sobriety and prayer to Jesus, to be in union one with the other. For sobriety is complete attention and constant prayer; and prayer in turn means the utmost sobriety and attention of mind.”

171. R3 p303 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Invocation of the name of Jesus and freedom from passionate thoughts is indeed a blessed practice, for it brings peace to the soul.”

172. R3 p333 St Philotheus of Sinai: “Sweet memory of God, that is, of Jesus, coupled with heart-felt wrath and beneficent contrition, can always annihilate all the fascination of thoughts, the variety of suggestions, words, dreams, gloomy imaginings and, in brief, everything with which the all-destructive enemy arms himself to sally forth, daringly seeking to devour our souls. Jesus, when invoked, easily burns up all this. For in no other place can we find salvation except in Jesus Christ. The Savior Himselfconfirmed this saying: “Without me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

173. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “As letters cannot be written in theair but should be engraved on some solid body to preserve them for a long time; so we must combine the Prayer of Jesus with the most laborious sobriety, in order that the beautiful virtue of sobriety should abide with Him in us, remaining for ever whole and so, through Him, become an inalienable part of us.”


174. R3 p337 Philotheus of Sinai: “If a man gives way to evil thoughts, it is impossible for his outward man to be pure of sin. Those who do not uprootevil thoughts from the heart cannot fail to manifest them in corresponding evil deeds.”

175. R4 p410 St Gregory Palamas: “In those who practice prayer, the action of mind, consisting of thoughts, is easily purified; but the soul which gives birth to these thoughts will not become pure unless at the same time all its other powers are purified.”

176. R14 p281 St John Climacus: “If you are always in dialog with your kingin regard to your enemies, take heart whenever they attack you. A long struggle will not be necessary for you, for they will soon give up of their own accord. These unholy beings are afraid that you may earn a crown as a result of your battle against them through prayer, and besides, when scourged by prayer they will run away as though from a fire.”

177. R3 p226 St Diadochus of Photice: “A man who always remains in his heart is far from all the allurements of this life. Walking in the Spirit, he cannot experience carnal lusts. Such a man proceeds under the protection of virtues, having these virtues as guards posted at the doors of his city of purity; so all the wiles of the demons fail against him.”

178. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “If you truly wish to cover thoughts with shame, to keep silence as you should and to be sober in your heart without effort, let the Jesus Prayer cleave to your breath – and in a few days you will see it in practice.”

179. R3 p310 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Invocation of the Lord is that which at once stifles and disperses every evil design of the enemy, every word, every fantasy, every idol and every pillar of malice.”

180. R3 p231 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “This warm and attentive prayer, thatis, prayer that is pure, gives birth in the heart to desire, to turning towardsGod, and to love towards the ever-remembered Lord Jesus Christ, as is written: “Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you.” (SoS 1:3); and “…I am lovesick.” (SoS 2:5)

181. R3 p84, St John Climacus: “With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no surer weapon against them, either on earth on in heaven.”

182. R3 p228 St John of Karpathos: “Long labor in prayer and considerable time are needed for a man with a mind which never cools to acquire a new heaven of the heart where Christ dwells, as the Apostle says: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Cor 13:5)

183. R3 p83 St Gregory of Sinai: “The beginning of the action of grace in prayer manifests itself differently, for, according to the Apostle, the Spirit divides His gifts severally “…distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Cor 12:11). To some, there comes the spirit of fear, rending the mountains of passions and breaking in pieces the rocks – hardened hearts – such fear that the flesh seems to be pierced by nails and numbed as in death. Others quake, being filled with joy – what the Fathers


called the leaping of joy. In yet others, pre-eminently in those who have achieved success in prayer, God produces a subtle and serene glow of light when Christ comes to dwell in the heart (Eph 3:17) and to shine mysteriouslyin the Spirit. Therefore, God spoke to Elijah on the mount of Horeb (1 Kings19:12) and said that the Lord is not in this or that – not in some individual actions of beginners – but in a subtle glow of light which shows the perfection of prayer.”

184. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: “A man who strives all his life to practice prayer and serving God, speedily becomes akin to angels in life, honor, estate, wisdom and understanding.”

185. R3 p238 St Nilus: “Not every man who has achieved passionlessness has true prayer; for such a man can still be occupied with simple thoughts (about things, without passionate movements being attached to them) and be distracted by their stories (perhaps their pictures and their various connections) and thus be far from God.”

186. R3 p237 St Nilus: “But even when the mind does not tarry on simple thoughts of things, it still does not mean that it has yet found the place of prayer. For it may be occupied with (philosophical) speculation concerning these things and pondering over their causal relationships. Although these are abstractions, yet, since they are speculations about things, they imprint on the mind their images and lead it far away from God.(The mind philosophizes rather than praying – this is the state of the savant.)”

187. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “As wax melts in the fire, so doesimagination disperse and disappear under the action of pure prayer through simple, imageless cleaving of the mind to God, self abandonment to Him and amost sincere union with Him.”

188. R3 p235 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Every thought reproduces in the mind the image of some sensory object; for the Assyrian (the enemy) being a mental power, can seduce us only by using something sensory to which we are accustomed.”

189. R3 p229 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “The Prayer of the Heart, pure andundistracted, gives birth in the heart to a certain warmth, as in Lk 12:49: “"I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”and in Lk 24:32: “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

190. R3 p229 St John Climacus: “He is the true and wise monk who has kept his warmth inextinguishable and to his death never ceased to add fire to fire, warmth to warmth, desire to desire, zeal to zeal.”

191. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “The direct effect of this warmth is to drive away everything which prevents perfect practice of pure prayer. For our God is fire, a fire which burns the evil wiles of the demons and of our passions.”

192. R3 p230 St Diadochus of Photice: “When the heart receives, with burning pain, the shooting of the demons, so that the victim seems to feel the very piercing of the arrows, this is the sign that the soul has begun tohate passions acutely. This is the beginning of its purification. For, if it


does not suffer great pain from the shamelessness of sin. It cannot later fully enjoy the beneficence of truth. A man who thereupon wishes to cleanse his heart should constantly inflame it by memory of our Lord Jesus, having this (that is memory of the Lord) as the sole object of his thoughts and hisconstant spiritual doing.

193. R3 p228 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “He who has no prayer free from thoughts has no weapon for battle. By prayer I mean the prayer which is constantly active in the innermost secret places of the heart, so that the enemy in his secret onslaughts is invisibly flogged and scorched by calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

194. R14 p278 St John Climacus: “War reveals the love of a soldier for his king, and the time and practice of prayer show up a monk’s love for God. So your prayer shows where you stand. Indeed, theologians say that prayer is a monk’s mirror.”

195. R5 p59 St Gregory Palamas: “The saints purify themselves of evil passions and transcend all knowledge by uninterrupted and immaterial prayer,and it is then that they begin to see God.”

196. R11 p110 Ammonas, disciple of St Anthony of Egypt: “Because they had first practiced profound hesychia, they possessed the power of God dwelling within them; and then God sent them into the midst of human society.”

197. R50 p30: “The Saints have placed the center, the basis of our minds and thoughts in the heart… cf Mt 9:4, 15:18-19; Mk 2:6, 2:8; Lk 1:51, 2:35, 2:51, 3:15, 5:22, 9:47; Jn 12:40; Rom 1:21”

198. For example, R13 p99 St Seraphim of Sarov: “Reverent care is needed here because that “sea” that is, the heart with its thoughts and desires which must be purified by means of attention, is “… great and wide… In whichare innumerable teeming things…” (Ps 104:25), that is, many vain, wrong and impure thoughts, the offspring of evil spirits.”

199. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: “Prayer is the cause of salvation, the source of immortality, the indestructible wall of the Church, the unassailable fortress which terrifies the demons and protects us in the workof righteousness.” And “Prayers are the nerves of the soul. If you deprive yourself of prayer, it is like taking a fish out of water.”

200. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: “Prayer and praying make men temples of God. As gold, precious stones and marble adorn the palaces of kings, so do prayers adorn the temples of Christ – the souls of believers. What greater praise can be said for prayer than that it makes us temples of God, and thatHe Whom the heavens cannot contain yet enters into the living soul in prayers?”

201. R3 p201 St John Chrysostom: “Prayer is a great weapon, a great protection.” And “It is more essential to remember God than to breathe.” And“You must think of God more often than you breathe.”

202. R3 p337 St Philotheus of Sinai: “If a man gives way to evil thoughts, it is impossible for his outward man to be pure of sin. Those who do not uproot evil thoughts from the heart cannot fail to manifest them in corresponding evil deeds.”


203. R18 p27 St Theophan the Recluse: “To stop the continual jostling of your thoughts you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of Oneonly – the thought of the Lord Jesus.”

204. R8 p166 St John of Kronstadt: “To resist the constant attacks of the evilspirit, keep the prayer of Jesus always in your heart: “Jesus, Son of God, havemercy on me.” Against the invisible one (the devil) – the invisible God; against the strong one – the strongest!”

205. R9 p220: “Prayer can become a victorious weapon in unseen warfare onlywhen it becomes real, that is, when it takes root in the heart and begins toact there unceasingly. From that moment it becomes an impenetrable, unconquerable and insuperable barrier, protecting the soul from the arrows of the enemy, the passionate assaults of the flesh, and the enticements of the world with its prelest. Its very presence in the heart cuts off the unseen warfare.”

206. R13 p62 St Gregory of Sinai: “Whoever adopts an excessively strenuous labor of prayer from hearsay or study, labors in vain through having no director.”

207. R39 p140 “The director is an instrument of the Holy Spirit, God’s surrogate. Unlike the ultimate director, he is not perfect…”

208. As discussed in R39 p 107, an Elder is marked by the image of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, Who give him “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)

209. R3 p288 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “For as the more the rain pours down upon the earth, the more it softens the earth; so too the holy Name of Christ, when it is invoked by us without thoughts, the more constantly we call upon it, the more it softens the earth of our heart, and fills it with joy and delight.”

210. R3 p234 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “ In some of their writings, our glorious Fathers point out the signs of illumination, free from prelest, andthe signs of illumination which is prelest. The thrice Blessed Paul of Latros… said: “The light of the enemy power is like the smoky flame of physical fire when a soul which has subdued passions and is cleansed sees it, abhors and abominates it. The light of the Spirit of good is good, pure and joy giving; its coming illumines a man with its light and fills the soulwith gladness and peace, making it gentle and compassionate.””

211. R39 p21: “The disclosure of thoughts in confession is essentially retrospective; it deals with sins that have already occurred. Spiritual direction, by contrast, is essentially preventative, even teleological – aimed at future spiritual development – by disclosing those “s” whichmight lead the person into sin if left unchecked.”

212. R3 p236 St Diadochus of Photice: “To purify the mind is the work of the Holy Spirit alone.”

213. R3 p236 St John Climacus: “To make the mind refrain from wandering is also the work of the Holy Spirit alone.”

214. R3 p84 St Gregory of Sinai: “The soul, if it has discernment, can discriminate by mental taste the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the fantasiesand illusions of Satan.”


215. R40 p71: “Prayer must be personal; it must be the personal concern of every human being; that is, it must be conscious and willed. Then its power is truly great. It genuinely becomes a means of union of the person with God.”

216. This is in stark contrast to other religions (eg, Buddhism) and their forms of meditation.

217. R4 p409 St Gregory Palamas: “Since God is goodness itself, mercy itselfand a limitless deep of benevolence, he who enters into union with Him, partakes in every way of His mercy. And union with Him is achieved by acquiring Godlike virtues, as far as this is possible, and by communion with Him through prayer and supplication. However, communion with Him through Godlike virtues renders the diligent doer capable of receiving the divine union, but does not effect it; it is intense prayer by its holy action that accomplishes the soaring of man to God and Union with Him; for in its essenceprayer is the union of intelligent beings with their Creator, when its actiontranscends passions and passionate thoughts through piercing of the heart andcontrition. For while the mind is passionate, it cannot unite with God. Therefore, so long as it remains such, it does not receive God’s mercy in prayer. But to the extent that it drives away passionate thoughts, it acquires mourning and contrition. And in proportion to contrition and the piercing of the heart, it is granted merciful comfort, and, after long remaining in these feelings with humility, it at last transforms the desiringpart of the soul.”

218. R20 p17 St Ignatius of Antioch: “Jesus Christ, the Word that came out of silence.”

219. R4 p414 St Philotheus of Sinai: “Angels have no physical voice, but mentally never cease to sing glory to God… When you pray thus always, you too are then like the holy angels, and your Father, Who sees your prayer in secret, which you bring Him in the hidden depths of your heart, will reward you openly by great spiritual gifts.”

220. R21 p27 St John of Kronstadt: “The foundation of prayer is the yearning of the image towards its prototype, as of like to like.”

221. R13 p55 St John Climacus: “Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience. In this way, every one that asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks shall it be opened.”

222. R19 p236 St Symeon the New Theologian: “There was this alone that heldme back – my ingrained propensities and evil habits of sensuality. By the persistent practice of prayer, meditation of God’s oracles and the acquiringof good habits, this fades away.”

223. R8 p166 St John of Kronstadt: “The Lord sent me trials; I fought against my enemies with the weapons of faith, prayer, penance and communion in the Holy Mysteries of Christ. In this warfare I learned what was sincere faith, hope, patience, prayer, purity of heart – the unceasing invocation ofthe name of Jesus Christ.”

224. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: “During prayer there sometimes occur moments of deadly darkness and spiritual anguish arising from unbelief in the heart (for unbelief is darkness.) Do not let your heart fail you at such


moments, but remember that if the divine light has been cut off from you, italways shines in all its splendor in God Himself, in His Church, in heaven and on earth, and in the material world, in which “His eternal power and Godhead” are visible.”

225. R14 p277 St John Climacus: “Those of us who are swept by passion must ceaselessly pray to the Lord, for all the passionate have advanced from passion to dispassion.”

226. R13 p60 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Spiritual vigilance or sobriety isa spiritual art which completely delivers a man, with the help of God, from sinful actions and passionate thoughts and words when fervently practiced for a considerable time. It is silence of heart; it is guarding of the mind;it is attention to oneself without any other thought which always, incessantly and unceasingly calls upon Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, which breathes by Him, with Him courageously takes up arms against the enemies, and which confesses Him.”

227. R14 p272 St John Climacus: “Wealth and numerous subjects constitute the power of a king. Abundance of prayer constitutes the power of the hesychast.”

228. R13 p100 St Paisius Velichkovsky: “As this divine prayer is the highest of all monastic labors, the summit of reparations according to the decision of the Fathers, the source of virtues, a most subtle and invisible activity of the mind in the depth of the heart, therefore correspondingly invisible, subtle snares of various delusions and fantasies scarcely comprehensible for the human mind are set by the unseen enemy.”

229. R3 p297 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “To call on Jesus perpetually with warm desire, full of sweetness and joy, fills the air of the heart with joyous stillness; and this comes from extreme attention. But He Who perfectly purifies the heart is Jesus Christ alone, the Son of God and God, the Cause and Maker of all good things. For He says: ”I make peace… I the Lord” (Is 45:7)”

230. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: “One love is the love natural to the soul; the other is the love which is poured into it by the Holy Spirit. The first is moved by our desire and is in proportion to it; so it is easily despoiled by evil spirits when we do not constrain our will to abide in it. But the second so inflames the soul with love of God, that all parts of the soul cleave to the ineffable delight of this Divine love with utter simplicity of purpose. For then the mind made pregnant by the action of spiritual grace, sends forth a rich torrent of love and joy.”

231. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian: “Love incited by something external is like a small lamp whose flame is fed with oil, or like a stream fed by rainswhere flow stops when the rains cease. But love whose object is God, is likea fountain gushing forth from the earth. Its flow never ceases, for He Himself is the source of this love and also its food which never grows scarce.”

232. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: “Let faith, hope and love stand foremost in your spiritual contemplation, brother, but most of all love; forthe other two (faith and hope) teach one only to despise visible blessings,


whereas love unites the soul itself with God through virtues, comprehending the Invisible One by mental perception.”

233. R9 p204 St John Chrysostom: “Prayer is a great blessing if practiced in a right inner state and if we teach ourselves to give thanks to God, bothwhen we receive what we ask and when we do not receive it. For when He gives, and when He does not give, He does it for your good. Thus when you receive what you ask, it is quite clear that you have received it; but when you do not receive it, you also receive because you thus do not receive whatis undoubtedly harmful for you; and not to receive what is harmful means to be granted what is useful. So, whether you receive what you ask or not, givethanks to God in the belief that God would have always given us what we ask were it not often better for us not to receive it.”

234. The Orthodox position on this issue differs greatly from the belief held by some Protestant groups who consider someone “saved”, for good, from the moment they acknowledge Christ as their Savior.

235. R14 p279 St John Climacus: “When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use words when he is praying, for the Spirit Himself will intercede for him with groans that cannot be uttered. (cf Rom 8:26)

236. As shown in R5 “St Gregory Palamas: The Triads”, pp 64-65, quoting St Dionysios Aeropagite

237. R3 p223 St John Chrysostom: “Seek nothing from the Lord of Glory except this one: mercy; and seek this mercy with a humble and warm heart, calling to Him from morning till evening and if possible all night: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me,” and forcing your mind to this work until death itself.”

238. R3 p201 St Nilus: “ Prayer is ascent of the mind to God.”239. R21 p54 St John of Kronstadt: “When during prayer your heart is

overwhelmed with despondency and melancholy, be sure that these proceed fromthe Devil, endeavoring by every means to hinder you in your prayer. Be firm,take courage, and by the remembrance of God drive away this deadly feeling.”

240. R14 p269 St John Climacus: “Stillness is worshipping God unceasingly and waiting on Him.”

241. R14 p270 St John Climacus: “Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with your every breath. Then indeed you will appreciate the value of stillness.”

242. R14 p272 St John Climacus: “Some who preside over the race of stillness always keep before them the words: “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” (Ps 16:8) Others keep the words: “In your patience possess your souls.” (Lk 21.19) Others: “Watch and pray.” (Mt 26:41) Others: “Prepare your works for your death.” Others: “I was brought low, and He saved me.” (Ps 116:6) Others: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18)”

243. eg, R3 p80 St Gregory of Sinai: “Remembrance of God, or mental prayer,is higher than all other works; as the love of God, it stands at the head ofall virtues.”


244. Jn 15:5-7 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyonedoes not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered… If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and itshall be done for you.”

245. R9 p 81: “And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Mt 21:22)

246. R3 p28 St John Climacus: “A hesychast is the one that says: “I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved!” (SoS 5:2)

247. R3 p213 St Isaac the Syrian: “ When a man attains constant prayer, it will mean that he has reached the summit of all virtues, and has become the abode of the Holy Spirit; for a man who has not wholly received the grace ofthe Comforter cannot keep this prayer in his heart with joy. Therefore, it is said that when the Holy spirit comes to live in a man, he never ceases topray, for then the Holy Spirit Himself constantly prays in him (Rom 8: 26 “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”) Then prayer never stops in a man’s soul, whether he is asleep or awake. In eating or drinking, sleeping or doing something, even in deep sleep his heart sends forth without effort the incense and sighs of prayer. Then prayer never leaves him, but at every hour, even if externally silent, it continues secretly to act within. This is why someone has called the silenceof the pure bearers of Christ – prayer; for their thoughts are Divine movements, and the movements of mind and heart which are pure are meek voices by which they secretly sing praises to the One Who is in secret.”

248. R3 p227 St Isaac the Syrian: “A man who keeps hourly watch over his soul has his heart gladdened by revelations. A man who concentrates the vision of his mind within himself, sees there the dawn of the Spirit. A man who abhors all dispersion of the mind, sees his Lord in his own heart.”

249. R3 p257 St Diadochus of Photice: “One love is the love natural to the soul; the other is the love which is poured into it by the Holy Spirit. The first is moved by our desire and is in proportion to it; so it is easily despoiled by evil spirits when we do not constrain our will to abide in it. But the second so inflames the soul with love of God, that all parts of the soul cleave to the ineffable delight of this Divine love with utter simplicity of purpose. For then the mind made pregnant by the action of spiritual grace, sends forth a rich torrent of love and joy.”

250. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian, when asked what constitutes the coming to maturity of the many fruits of the Spirit: “When man attains perfect love.” When he was asked how to know if anyone attained it: “When memory of God comes to life in his mind, man’s heart is immediately set aflame by love of God and his eyes shed copious tears. For remembrance of loved ones is wont to bring tears and so tears never cease to flow in such a man, for that which moves him to remember God never stops working in him. Therefore, even in sleep he converses with God, since it is natural for love to produce this effect and love is the perfection of men in this life.”


251. R3 p257 St Isaac the Syrian: “Love incited by something external is like a small lamp whose flame is fed with oil, or like a stream fed by rainswhere flow stops when the rains cease. But love whose object is God, is likea fountain gushing forth from the earth. Its flow never ceases, for He Himself is the source of this love and also its food which never grows scarce.”

252. eg, As quoted in R22 p13, St Hesychius of Jerusalem wrote: “Truly blessed is the man whose mind and heart are as closely attached to the JesusPrayer and to the ceaseless invocation of His name as air to the body or flame to the wax. The sun rising over the earth creates the daylight; and the venerable and holy name of the Lord Jesus, shining continually in the mind, gives birth to countless intellections radiant as the sun.” (On Watchfulness and Prayer, 196, as found in the Philokalia, Vol I, p 197.)

253. R3 p280 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Attention is unceasing silence of the heart, free from all thoughts. At all times, constantly and without ceasing, it breathes Christ Jesus, the Son of God and God, and Him alone, itcalls upon Him, and with Him bravely fights against the enemies, and makes confession to Him Who has power to forgive sins. Such a soul, through continual calling on Christ, embraces Him Who alone searches the heart; and it seeks to hide its sweetness and its inner attainment from all men in every way, lest the evil one should have an easy entrance for his wickednessand destroy its excellent working.”

254. R3, p30 St John of Karpathos: “Much labor and effort is needed in prayer in order to attain to an untroubled state of thoughts – that other heaven of the heart, where, according to the Apostle, Christ dwells: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Doyou not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Cor 13:5)”

255. R5 p91 St Basil the Great: “He who has been set in motion by the Spirit has become an eternal movement, a holy creature. For when the Spirit has come to dwell in him, a man receives the dignity of a prophet, of an apostle, of an angel of God, whereas hitherto he was only earth and dust.”

256. R14 p280 St John Climacus: “Some emerge from prayer as from a blazing furnace and as though having been relieved of all material defilements. Others come forth as if they were resplendent with light and clothed in a garment of joy and of humility.”

257. R3 p229 St Isaac the Syrian: “Intense doing gives birth to measurelessheat intensified in the heart by flaming thoughts, which arise anew in the mind. And this doing and guarding refine the mind by their heat and endow itwith vision. This heat produced by the grace of contemplation gives birth tothe flow of tears. Constant tears still the thoughts in the soul and purify the mind, and with a pure mind a man comes to the vision of the Divine mysteries. After this the mind attains vision of revelations and symbols such as the prophet Ezekiel saw.”

258. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “This warmth in us may have differentand varied origins and natures… Of these, the most genuine warmth is that whichcomes from pure Prayer of the Heart, with which it is always born, grows and in


essential enlightenment comes to rest on its Sabbath, that is, according to theFathers, it makes a man essentially filled with enlightenment.”

259. R3 p230 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “The direct effect of this warmth is to drive away everything which prevents perfect practice of pure prayer. For our God is fire, a fire which burns the evil wiles of the demons and of our passions.”

260. R3 p230 St Elias Ekdimos: “When the soul becomes free from everything external and is united with prayer, then prayer like a flame envelops it, asfire envelops iron and makes it all fiery. Then the soul, though still the same soul, like red hot iron, can no longer be touched by anything external.”

261. R3 p229 St John Climacus: “When (spiritual) fire comes into the heart,it resurrects prayer; after its resurrection and ascension on high, Divine fire descends to the chamber of the soul.”

262. R19 p248 St Macarius of Egypt: “There is indeed a burning of the Spirit, which burns hearts into flame. The immaterial divine fire () has the effect of enlightening souls and trying them, like unalloyed gold in the furnace, but of consuming iniquity, like thorns or stubble; “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:29)”

263. R13 p60 St John Climacus: “When the fire descends into the heart, it revives prayer. And when prayer has risen and ascended to heaven, then the descent of the fire takes place into the cenacle of the soul.”

264. R13 p61 St John Climacus: “The holy and heavenly fire scorches some onaccount of their defective purity; but others it enlightens as having attained perfection. The same fire is called a consuming fire and an illuminating light. For this reason some leave their prayer as if it were a hotly heated bathhouse, feeling a certain relief from defilement and earthliness; while others go out shining with light and arrayed in a double garment of joy and humility. But those who after prayer feel neither of these two effects are still praying bodily, and not spiritually.”

265. R3 p227 St Isaac the Syrian: “He who wishes to see the Lord within himself must use every effort to purify his heart by constant remembrance ofGod; in a mind thus illumined, he will see the Lord at all hours.”

266. R3, p38 St Gregory of Sinai: “It is ordained that man must put before all things the universal commandment – to remember God – of which it is said: “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” For, by the reverse of that which destroysus, we may be secure. What destroys us is forgetfulness of God, which shrouds the commandments in darkness and despoils us of all good.”

267. R3 p211 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “When through the benevolence and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ this (pray purely and without distraction) comes to pass in us, then, abandoning the many and the varied, we shall unite with the One, the Single and the Unifying, directly in a union which transcends reason, as the glorious Theologian says: “When God unites with gods (that is, God-like men) and is known by them, then the heart is filled


with radiance by the penetration of the Holy Spirit.” It is born from the pure and undistracted Prayer of the Heart, such as we have spoken of.”

268. R13 p58 St John Climacus: “God is the teacher of prayer; true prayer is the gift of God.”

269. R9 p205: “There also exists, through the grace of God, Prayer of the Heartonly, and this is spiritual prayer, which the Holy Spirit moves in the heart: the man who prays is conscious of it, but does not do it; it acts by itself. This prayer belongs to the perfect. The form of prayer accessible to all and demanded of all is the form where mind and feeling are always combined with the words of prayer.”

270. R25 p209 Lossky: “According to St Symeon the New Theologian, such ecstasies and ravishment are appropriate only to beginners and novices – whose nature has not yet gained experience of the uncreated. St Symeon compares ecstasy to the condition of a man born in a dark prison feebly lit by a single lamp, who can thus have no conception of the light of the sun orof the beauty of the outside world, who suddenly catches a glimpse of a landscape bathed in sunlight through a crack in the wall of his prison. Sucha man would be carried away, and would be “in ecstasy”; little by little, however, his senses would become accustomed to the light of the sun, and adapted to the new experience. In the same way, the soul which progresses inthe spiritual life no longer knows ecstasies: instead, it has constant experience of the divine reality in which it lives.”

271. R3 p239 St John Climacus: “The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming thoughts as soon as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we say or think. The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord.”

272. R19 p249 St Symeon the New Theologian: “ Blessed are those who incessantly have the eye of the intellect open and see the light in every prayer and talk with Him face to face. Blessed is that monk who stands in prayer in front of God, who sees Him and is seen by Him, and who feels himself as being out of the world.”

273. R3 p238 St John Climacus: “Men, whose mind has truly learned to pray, indeed converse with the Lord face to face, as those who have the ear of theking (that is his most close and trusted servants.)”

274. R8 p108: “When spiritual joy comes to the body from the mind, it suffers no diminution by this communion with the body, but rather transfigures the body, spiritualizing it. For then, rejecting all evil desires of the flesh, it no longer weighs down the soul that rises up with it, the whole man becoming spirit, as it is written: “He who is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

275. R3 p81 St Gregory of Sinai: “If you are truly practicing silence hoping to be with God, and you see something… even the image of Christ or anangel or some saint, … in no way accept it… a beginner should pay attention to the action of the heart, which is not led astray, and refuse to accept anything else until his passions are pacified.”

276. R20 p1 St Seraphim of Sarov: “Acquire inner peace and thousands aroundyou will find their salvation.”


277. R11 p110: “St Isaac the Syrian says that it is better to acquire purity of heart than to convert whole nations of heathen from error. Not thehe despises the work of the apostolate; he means merely that unless and until we have gained some measure of inner silence, it is improbable that wewill succeed in converting anybody to anything.”

278. R14 p276 St John Climacus: “The beginning of prayer is the expulsion of distractions from the very start by a single thought (s a repeated short prayer); the middle stage is the concentration on what is being said or thought; its conclusion is rapture in the Lord.”

279. R21 p55 St John of Kronstadt: “When you are praying alone and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Holy Trinity looks upon you with eyesbrighter than the sun; and so do all the angels, including your own guardian, and all the saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are all its rays. Try to understand what this means. Bear in mind with whom you are conversing. Men often forget with whom they are conversing during prayer, and who are the witnesses of their prayer.”

280. As quoted in Volume 1 of “The Inner Kingdom”, R11 p83.281. cf footnote 127282. R5 p52 St Gregory Palamas: “When the soul pursues this blessed

activity, it deifies the body also; which, being no longer driven by corporeal and material passions – although, those who lack experience of thisthink that it is always so driven – returns to itself and rejects all contactwith evil things. Indeed, it inspires its own sanctification and inalienable divinization, as the miracle-working relics of the saints clearly demonstrate.”

283. R20 p9 Bishop Kallistos Ware: “When the Philokalia uses the phrase “Prayer of the Heart” it does not mean affective prayer in the Western sense, prayer of the feelings and emotions. It means prayer of the total person, prayer in which the body participates as well as the soul and spirit. After all “the body is the messenger of the soul” As St Maximus the Confessor says, and we ought to use our physicality in the work of prayer.”

284. R20 p 30 St Isaac the Syrian: “Many are avidly seeking but they alone find who remain in continual silence… Every man who delights in a multitude of words, even though he says admirable things, is empty within. If you lovetruth, be a lover of silence. Silence like the sunlight will illuminate you in God and will deliver you from the phantoms of ignorance. Silence will unite you to God Himself… More than all things love silence: it brings you afruit that tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then there is born something that draws us to silence. May God give you an experience of this “something” that is born of silence. If only you practice this, untold light will dawn on you in consequence… after a while a certain sweetness is born in the heart of this exercise and the body is drawn almost by force to remain in silence.”

285. R3 p47 St Gregory of Sinai: “There are two forms of ecstasy in the spirit: one, of the heart (going deep into the heart, in forgetfulness of


all things), the other, enravishment (being carried beyond all limits of allthat is.) The first belongs to those who are still learning, the second to those who have attained to perfection in love. Both alike place the mind in which they act outside of senses (or the consciousness of outer relationships); for Divine love is an intoxicating forcing of thoughts by the Spirit towards the most excellent, which deprives a man of the sense (orthe consciousness) of outer relationships.”

286. R3 p222 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “Prayer practiced within the heart, with attention and sobriety, with no other thought or imagining, by repeating the words “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” silently and immaterially, leads the mind to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. By the words “have mercy upon me,” it turns it back and moves it towards him who prays, since he cannot as yet not pray about himself. But when he gains the experience of perfect love, he stretches out wholly towards our Lord Jesus Christ alone, having received actual proof of the second part (that is, of mercy.) Therefore, as someone has said, a man calls only: “Lord Jesus Christ!” his heart overflowing with love.”

287. R8 p116: “God is essentially apart from other beings by His uncreated nature. The proper condition of these beings is the created state, and when they transcend their own domain by communication with God, they participate in uncreated life: deification.”

288. R5 p 57 St Gregory Palamas: “This hypostatic light, seen spiritually by the saints, they know by experience to exist, as they tell us, and to exist not symbolically only, as do manifestations produced by fortuitous events; but it is an illumination immaterial and divine, a grace invisibly seen and ignorantly known. What it is they do not pretend to know.”

289. R5 p64 St Gregory Palamas: “Since the Reality which transcends every intellectual power is impossible to understand, it is beyond all beings; such union with God is thus beyond all knowledge, even if it called “knowledge” metaphorically, nor is it intelligible, even if it is called so”

290. R8 p116: Referring to the supernatural power to see God, given us by the presence of the Spirit, St Gregory wrote: “Since this power has no othermeans of acting, having gone beyond all other beings, it becomes wholly light in itself and like that which it sees; it is united without admixture,being light (itself), and seeing light through light. If it looks at itself,it sees light; if it looks at the object of its vision, it again sees light,and if it looks at the means by which it sees, again it sees light. That is what union means; all is so one, that he who sees can make no distinction either of the means or the end or the object; he is conscious only of being light and seeing light distinct from all that is created.” What he means in using these words is that, in Christ, we are given the power to “become Spirit” (cf Jn 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that whichis born of the Spirit is spirit.”) Even more, by participating in God’s uncreated grace, we become gods. As St Paul says: (Gal 2:20) “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”.

291. R4 p 414 St Philotheus Kokkinos: “The mental prayer is the light whichillumines man’s soul and inflames his heart with the fire of love of God. It


is the chain linking God with man and man with God… It allows a man constantly to converse with God.”

292. R4 p 414 St Philotheus Kokkinos: “Angels have no physical voice, but mentally never cease to sing glory to God… When you pray thus always, you too are then like the holy angels, and your Father, Who sees your prayer in secret, which you bring Him in the hidden depths of your heart, will reward you openly by great spiritual gifts.”

293. R3 p235 St Basil the Great: “As the Lord dwells not in temples built by human hands, neither does He dwell in any imaginings or mental structures(fantasies) which present themselves (to the attention) and surround the corrupt soul like a wall, so that it is powerless to look at the truth direct but continues to cling on to mirrors and fortune-telling.”

294. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius, quoting Evagrius of Pontus: “WhereGod is recognized as abiding, there He is known; this is why a pure mind is called the throne of God. The thought of God is not to be found in the thoughts which imprint images in the mind, but in the thoughts which make noimprints. Therefore, a man who prays, must strive in every possible way to repulse thoughts which imprint images in the mind.”

295. R3 p235 St Maximus the Confessor, in his commentaries on the great Dionysius: “Imagination is one thing, thinking or thought is another. They are produced by different forces and differ in the qualities of their movements. For thought is the action or the production of mind, and imagination is the fruit of passion, the imprint of an image representing something that is or seems to be sensory. Therefore, no imagination can be admitted in relation to God, for He exceeds all mind.”

296. R14p263 St John Climacus:“Those with a mind accustomed to true prayer talk directly with the Lord, as if to the ear of the Emperor.”

297. R5 p59 St Gregory Palamas: “The saints purify themselves of evil passions and transcend all knowledge by uninterrupted and immaterial prayer,and it is then that they begin to see God.”

298. R9 p 206: “There is yet another for of prayer, which is called standingin the presence of God, when the man who prays is wholly concentrated in his heart and inwardly contemplates God as being present to him and within him, with corresponding feelings – either of fear of God and the feeling of wonderand awe before His greatness, or of faith and hope, or of love and submissionto His will, or of contrition and readiness for any sacrifice. Such a state comes when a man becomes deeply immersed in prayer by word, mind and heart. If a man prays in the right way and for a long time, these states come to himmore and more often, and finally this state can become permanent; then it is called walking before God and is constant prayer. This was the state of David, who says of himself: ‘I have set the Lord always before me: because Heis at my right hand, I shall not be moved’ (Ps 16:8)”

299. R9 p 205: “There also exists, through the grace of God, Prayer of the Heart only, and this is spiritual prayer, which the Holy Spirit moves in the heart: the man who prays is conscious of it, but does not do it; it acts by itself. This prayer belongs to the perfect. The form of prayer accessible to all


and demanded of all is the form where mind and feeling are always combined with the words of prayer.”

300. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “That heart is pure which, always presenting to God a formless and imageless memory, is ready to receive nothing but impressions which come from Him, and by which is wont to desire to become manifest to it.”

301. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “A heart is called perfect when it is devoid of all natural impulse towards any thing or any image; a heart like a well polished tablet on which, being clean, God inscribes His laws.”

302. R3 p239 St Nilus: “The highest prayer of the perfect is the ravishmentof the mind and its total transcendence of everything sensory, when “…the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26) before God, Who sees our heart like an open book intimating its desire by the soundless signs written therein.”

303. R3 p61 St Gregory of Sinai: “The beginning of mental prayer is the purifying action of the power of the Holy Spirit, together with the mysterious officiating of the mind, just as the beginning of silence is withdrawal from all things of freedom from all cares; the middle stage is theilluminating power (of the Spirit) and contemplation, and the end – ecstasy, or the soaring of the mind towards God.”

304. R3 p388 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: “When the mind and thought stand before God through intense concentration of the eye upon Him and warmth of prayer, the heart is moved to tenderness. When mind, word and spirit (heart) press close to God, the first by attention, the second by invocation, the third by tenderness of feeling, then the whole of the inner man serves God, as the Lord ordains: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,…” (Lk 10:27).

305. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “That soul is pure which, freed frompassions, is ceaselessly made glad by Divine Love.”

306. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “That soul is perfect whose desiringpower is wholly directed towards God.”

307. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “That mind is pure which, freed fromignorance, is illumined by Divine Light.”

308. R3 p235 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Since every thought enters the heart through imagining something sensory (and moreover the sensory hinders the mental); so the light of the Deity begins to illumine the mind when it is freed of everything and totally empty of form (without representation of shape or form.) For this illumination is manifested in a mind already pure, on condition that it is free of all thoughts.”

309. R5 p90 St Gregory Palamas: “One recognizes this light when the soul ceases to give way to the evil pleasures and passions, when it acquires inner peace and the stilling of thoughts, spiritual repose and joy, contemptof human glory, humility allied with a hidden rejoicing, hatred of the world, love of heavenly things, or rather the love of the sole God in Heaven.”

310. R3 p236 St Maximus the Confessor: “That mind is perfect which, having received through faith the knowledge of Him Who is above all knowledge, and


having surveyed all His creatures, has received from God an all-embracing knowledge (in its general features) of His providence, and His judgment manifested in them – naturally as much as a man can understand.”

311. R3 p398 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: “As Adam was fashioned by God’shand out of clay and then God breathed into him a living soul; so the mind, recreated by virtues, through frequent invocation of the Lord with pure thought and warm feeling, undergoes a Divine change, gaining new life and creation by knowledge and love of God.”

312. According to St Gregory Palamas, R43 p111, the Light is “the beauty ofthe age to come”, “the substance of future good”, “the most perfect vision of God”, “the heavenly food.”

313. eg, R3 p 201 St John Chrysostom: “Zealous prayer is the light of the mind and soul, a constant, inextinguishable light.”

314. eg, R51 p161-163 St John of Damascus, On The Trinity: “Light is the Father, Light the Son, Light the Holy Ghost… The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.”

315. Here are three well known examples from our hymnography: “Come, receive the light from the unwaning Light, and glorify Christ, Who has risenfrom the dead.” “I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, o my Savior, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter therein; O Giver of Light, make radiant the vesture of my soul and save me.” And “Gladsome Light of the Father’s glory, Holy, Heavenly and Immortal; and Holy blessed Jesus Christ! As we come to the setting of the sun and see the evening light, we praise you withloud voices, O Son of God, and Giver of Life; for this the universe glorifies you.”

316. It has been the long time Orthodox practice that all icons depict Christ and the saints with luminous halos around their heads.

317. R13 p49 St Isaac the Syrian: “He who desires to see the Lord within himself endeavors to purify his heart by the unceasing remembrance of God. The spiritual land of a man pure in soul is within him. The sun which shinesin it is the light of the Holy Trinity. The air which its inhabitant breathes is the All-holy Spirit. The life, joy and gladness of that country is Christ, the Light of the Light – the Father. That is the Jerusalem or kingdom of God hidden within us, according to the word of the Lord. Try to enter the cell within you, and you will see the heavenly cell. They are one and the same. By one entry, you enter both. The ladder to the heavenly kingdom is within you. It is built mysteriously in your soul. Immerse yourself within yourself beyond the reach of sin, and you will find there steps by which you can mount to heaven.”

318. In speaking about the vision of light that accompanies progress in prayer, St Gregory Palamas wrote (R8 p107): “In His incomparable love for men, the Son of God did not merely unite His divine Hypostasis to our nature, clothing Himself with a living body and an intelligent soul, ‘to appear on earth and live with men’ but, O incomparable and magnificent miracle! He unites Himself also to human hypostases, joining Himself to eachof the faithful by communion in His holy body. For He becomes one body with us (cf Eph 3:6) making us a temple of the whole Godhead – for in the very


body of Christ ‘In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily’ (Col 2:9). How then would He not illuminate those who share worthily in the divine radiance of His body within us, shining upon their soul as He once shone on the bodies of the apostles on Tabor? For as this Body, the Source of the light and grace, was at that time not yet united to our body, it shone exteriorly on those who came near it worthily, transmitting light to the soul through the eyes of sense. But today, since it is united to us and dwells within us, it illuminates the soul interiorly.”

319. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Truly blessed is he who cleaves with his thought to the Prayer of Jesus, constantly calling to Him in his heart, just as air cleaves to our bodies or the flame to the candle. The sun, passing over the earth, produces daylight; the holy and worshipful Nameof Lord Jesus, constantly shining in the mind, produces a measureless numberof sun-like thoughts.”

320. R19 p253 St Symeon the New Theologian: “Light is the Father, light is the Son and light is the Holy Spirit… the three are one light, one and not divided.” (cf footnote #314… the Fathers often copied and quoted each other.)

321. R3 p388 St Theoleptus of Philadelphia: “When thought frequently invokes the Name of the Lord, and the mind gives intense heed to this invocation of theDivine Name, then the light of recognizing God, as His God, envelops man’s whole soul like a radiant cloud.”

322. R5 p66 St Gregory Palamas: “As St Maximus the Confessor says, he who is in God has left behind him all that is after God: ‘All the realities, names and values which are after God will be outside those who come to be inGod by grace.’ But in attaining this condition, the divine Paul could not participate absolutely in the Divine essence, for the essence of God goes beyond even non-being by reason of transcendence, since it is also ‘more than God.’”

323. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: “This is why the great Paul, after his extraordinary rapture, declared himself ignorant of what “it” was… But what was “he” himself? He was that to which he was united… Such then was his union with the light. Even the angels could not attain to this state, at least not without transcending themselves by unifying grace.”

324. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: “There is a difference between illuminationand a durable vision of light, and the vision of things in the light, whereby even things far off are accessible to the eye, and the future is shown as already existing.”

325. R22 p13, St Gregory Palamas: “This light at present shines in part, asa pledge, for those who, through impassibility, have passed beyond all that is condemned, and through pure and immaterial prayer have passed beyond all that is pure. But on the Last Day, it will deify in a manifest fashion “the sons of the Resurrection,” who will rejoice in eternity and in glory in communion with Him Who has endowed our nature with a glory and splendor thatis divine.”

326. R16 p364: “Using nuptial imagery, St Symeon the New Theologian describes his union with personified dispassion: ‘Impassibility, whose face


is always radiant, is and has always been joined to me… It brought to me theineffable pleasure of union, an immense desire for nuptial union with God. Having known the union, I likewise became impassible, inflamed with pleasureand burning with desire for it. I shared in the light. Yes, I became light.’”

327. R5 p67 St Gregory Palamas: “For it is in the glory of the Father that Christ will come again, and it is in the glory of their Father, Christ, the ‘the just will shine like the sun’; they will be light, and will see the light,a sight delightful and all holy, belonging only to the purified heart.”

328. R3 p235 St Basil the Great: “As the Lord dwells not in temples built by human hands, neither does He dwell in any imaginings or mental structures(fantasies) which present themselves (to the attention) and surround the corrupt soul like a wall, so that it is powerless to look at the truth direct but continues to cling on to mirrors and fortune-telling.”

329. R3 p235 St Maximus the Confessor, in his commentaries on the great Dionysius: “Imagination is one thing, thinking or thought is another. They are produced by different forces and differ in the qualities of their movements. For thought is the action or the production of mind, and imagination is the fruit of passion, the imprint of an image representing something that is or seems to be sensory. Therefore, no imagination can be admitted in relation to God, for He exceeds all mind.”

330. R3 p235 Sts Callistus and Ignatius, quoting Evagrius of Pontus: “WhereGod is recognized as abiding, there He is known; this is why a pure mind is called the throne of God. The thought of God is not to be found in the thoughts which imprint images in the mind, but in the thoughts which make noimprints. Therefore, a man who prays, must strive in every possible way to repulse thoughts which imprint images in the mind.”

331. R9 p206: “There is yet another form of prayer, which is called standingin the presence of God, when the man who prays is wholly concentrated in his heart and inwardly contemplates God as being present to him and within him, with corresponding feelings – either of fear of God and the feeling of wonderand awe before His greatness, or of faith and hope, or of love and submissionto His will, or of contrition and readiness for any sacrifice. Such a state comes when a man becomes deeply immersed in prayer by word, mind and heart. If a man prays in the right way and for a long time, these states come to himmore and more often, and finally this state can become permanent; then it is called walking before God and is constant prayer. This was the state of David, who says of himself: “I have set the Lord always before me: because Heis at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Ps 16:8)

332. R19 p248: “When a man is united with God, he experiences the light of His grace, for the Holy Spirit resides in and wholly transforms him, bestowing new senses upon him.”

333. R5 p91 St Gregory Palamas: “The prize of virtue, it is said, is to become God, to be illumined by the purest of lights, by becoming a son of that day which no darkness can dim. For it is another Sun which produces this day, a Sun which shines forth the true light. And once it has illuminedus, it no longer hides itself in the West, but envelops all things with its


powerful light. It grants an eternal and endless light to those worthy, and transforms those who participate in this light into other suns. Then indeed,the just will shine like the sun. What sun? Surely that same one which appears even now to those worthy as it did then.”

334. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “When, empowered by Jesus Christ, we begin to press forward in firmly established sobriety; then, first, thereappears in our mind a lamp, as it were, which the hand of our mind holds aloft to guide our mental steps; thereafter comes a full moon, circling in the sky of the heart, and, at last, like the sun, comes Jesus, radiant with truth like the sun, that is, both revealing Himself and illumining contemplation with His all-brilliant rays.”

335. R3 p200 Sts Callistus and Ignatius: “As the soul leaves, the body becomes dead and stinking; so the soul not urging itself to prayer is dead, damned and fetid.”

336. R3 p 201 St Isaac the Syrian: “ You cannot approach God without constant prayer.”

337. R19 p250 St Symeon the New Theologian: “There is no other way for anyone to know God, except through contemplation of the light sent forth by Him.”

338. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “As it is impossible for the sun to shine without light, so it is impossible for the heart to be cleansed of the filth of wicked thoughts without prayer in the name of Jesus. If this is true, as I have seen (by experience), let us utter this Name as often as we breathe. For it is light, and those others (wicked thoughts) are darkness. And He (the Jesus we invoke) is God and Almighty Lord, whereas the others areservants of the demons.”

339. R3 p316 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Just as it is impossible for us, as men, to chase birds in the air or to fly as they do, since it is contrary to ournature; so it is impossible for us to be free of the incorporeal thoughts of thedemons, and freely and attentively to direct our mental eye to God, without sober and constant prayer. If you have not got this, you are on earth and are chasing tings of the earth.”

340. R25 p206 Lossky: “Union with God cannot take place outside of prayer, for prayer is a personal relationship with God. Now, this union must be fulfilled in human persons; it must be personal, conscious and voluntary. “The power of prayer… fulfills the sacrament of our union with God” says St Gregory Palamas, “because it is a bond connecting rational creatures with their Creator.” It is more perfect than the practice of virtues, for it is “the leader of the choir of virtues”, says St Gregory of Nyssa.”

341. R25 p209 Lossky:“The mystical experience which is inseparable from the way towards union can only be gained in prayer and by prayer.”

342. R19 p236 St Macarius of Egypt: “The blessed Paul urges them to make haste to acquire through insistent prayer that from which it is no longer possible to fall away, that is perfect and unchanging love of the Spirit. The man who compels himself every day to persevere in prayer is enflamed with divine affection and fiery longing by spiritual love towards God, and receives the grace of the sanctifying perfection of the Spirit.”


343. R19 p236 St Symeon the New Theologian: “There was this alone that heldme back – my ingrained propensities and evil habits of sensuality. By the persistent practice of prayer, meditation of God’s oracles and the acquiringof good habits, this fades away.”

344. R3 p313 St Hesychius of Jerusalem: “Thus ceaseless prayer keeps our mental air free from the dark clouds and winds of the spirits of evil. And when the air of the heart is pure, there is nothing to prevent the Divine Light of Jesus shining in it, as long as we are not puffed up by pride, vanity, conceit and a boastful showing off, and we do not strive towards theunattainable and are not therefore deprived of Christ’s help. For Christ, being the image of humility, hates all those things.”

345. R5 p65 St Gregory Palamas: “This union of the mind with God is what the Fathers speak of when they say: “The end of prayer is to be snatched away to God.” This is what the great Dionysius says that through prayer, we are united with God… But it is not yet union, unless the Paraclete illuminesfrom on high the man who attains in prayer the stage which is superior to the highest natural possibilities, and who is awaiting the promise of the Father; and by His revelation ravishes him to the contemplation of the light”

346. R13 p53 St Seraphim of Sarov: “Those who have truly resolved to serve Godmust practice the remembrance of God and unceasing prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, saying with the mind: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By this practice, while guarding oneself from distraction and while maintaining peace of conscience, one can draw near to God and be united with Him. Other than by unceasing prayer, according to the words of St Isaac the Syrian, it is impossible to draw near to God.”

347. R19 p248 St Symeon the New Theologian (speaking of the vision of the young George): “He was wholly in the presence of immaterial light ()and seemed to himself to have turned into light… When the visible sun sets, this sweet light of the spiritual star takes its place, as a pledge and confirmation in advance of the unceasing light that will follow on it.”

348. St Gregory Palamas, quoted in R23, p102: “And that he sees supranaturallylight that surpasses light he is well aware; but with what he sees this light he does not then know, not can he scrutinize its nature, because the Spirit through which he sees is unsearchable.”

349. St Gregory Palamas, quoted in R23 p103: “When the intellect is rooted in its own energy, which constitutes its self-conversion and self-observation, it thereby transcends itself and communes with God.”

350. R3 p47 St Gregory of Sinai: “It is said that in the life to come the angels and saints shall never cease to progress in increasing their gifts, striving for greater and even greater blessings. No slackening or change of virtue to sin is admitted in that life.”

351. R3 p235 St Callistus: “Movements produced in the soul by the Divine Spirit, as a result of efforts, make the heart quiet and urge it to call outconstantly: “Abba, Father!” This is not accompanied by any imaginings but isdevoid of all images. But we ourselves become then transformed by the dawning of the Divine Light, which endows us with an image in keeping with


the burning of the Divine Spirit. More than that, it changes and alters us by Divine Power. How – He alone knows.”

352. R19 p 262 St Symeon the New Theologian believed that seeing the Divine Light in this life is a requirement to being able to see it in the next: “Indeed, since they did not seek with every effort to see the light of His glory while they were still in this world through purification and did not introduce Him entirely into themselves, with good reason He will be unapproachable for them also in the future.” His reasoning: “Because if thereis purification here, there will also be vision here; but if you say that vision will be after death, you will place purification also after death and so you will never see God, for after the departure there is no action for youthrough which you can find purification.” And he adds the rider: “Indeed, if He says that the Spirit is given to those who believe in Him, certainly thosewho have not the Spirit are not believers in their hearts.” What this really means is that when we progress sufficiently in our spiritual quest in this life and have been deemed worthy of significant spiritual experiences here, then we can be certain of the same in the next life. As far as the alternative is concerned, although he expresses a strong opinion (above) he is also cognizant of the fact that God has a specific plan for the salvation of each one of us and that He is the ultimate judge of what happens to us in the next life. At the same time, we should all be trying to get as purified as we can, as soon as possible.

353. R19 p 263 St Symeon also taught that if we strive with all our heart to reach God, the rewards for our efforts will certainly be there for us: “Blessed are those who seek with all their soul to come to the light (Jn 3:21) by disregarding everything else, for even if they do not succeed in entering into the light while they are still in the body, nevertheless they will pass away, perhaps in good hope and, albeit in a low degree, they will receive it all the same.” Therefore, our vision of light may not happen here, but after death, according to the will of God. If we are ready, he said, grace will be given to us, “either here or in the age to come.” We need to focus on working to purify ourselves to obtain grace, and not on thevision of the Divine Light; the result can happen “here” or in the “hereafter”. This, of course, is in agreement with the similar statement by St Macarius of Egypt, discussed above.

354. R19 p 268 St Symeon also wrote a significant amount about the faithfulbeing able to unite God as a reward for their continuous effort: “In proportion to their fervor and to their prompt and joyous work, sooner or later, more or less, they will receive the reward of the vision of God () and “will become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4); they will be gods by adoption and sons of God.” As St Gregory Palamas clarified about three hundred years later, what is meant here is that we will partake in God’s energies and not in His essence.

355. As quoted in R19 p263, St Macarius of Egypt believed that the experience of divine grace is not the absolute criterion for our salvation. To the question: “What will happen if I happen to pass away after a life of thirty or forty years without having received the divine power?” He responds:


“I answer you on this that God does not judge you as blasphemous, for you have displayed greater zeal. God can tell you, I do not judge you as blasphemous because you have come out behind me and you have lamented and sought night and day; and whereas before you felt secure in appearances and you were puffed up with conceit because of them, now you have made a greater effort in looking for the truth according to the Scriptures in order to receive divine power in yourself.” This, of course, does not mean that one can experience theosis in this life (our main topic here) without experiencing the effects of grace, but expresses the belief that St Macarius had that many of those who do not reach theosis in this life will also be saved by the power of the Holy Spirit.

356. R19 p263 According to Sts Macarius and Symeon, any tangible evidence of the “reception of the divine power” is not as significant as “the zeal and effort in looking for the truth.” They both taught that the vision of light is primarily a gift of God, offered to those who have succeeded in purifying themselves and have been deemed worthy of enlightenment. Our efforts to unite with God need to culminate in love for Him, leading us to aunion, in light, with our Creator.

357. R19 p258 Similarly, for both Sts Symeon and Macarius, those who have purified their minds can perceive the Divine Light in a new kind of spiritual experience. This is further supported by St Maximus the Confessor in his writings about the opening up of the heart to constant prayer: “At the very onset of prayer the intellect is so ravished by the divine and infinite light that it is aware neither of itself nor of any other created thing, but only of Him Who, through love, has activated such radiance in it.”

358. R13 p53 St Seraphim of Sarov: “Only those who have interior prayer andwatch over their souls receive the gifts of grace.”

359. eg, Eph 5:11; Cor 11:1 360. eg, Gal 3:27361. cf Jn 14:21; 15:16362. cf Rom 6:4; Col 2:12; 3:3363. cf Eph 6:18; Gal 4:6364. R14 p264 St John Climacus: “He who has achieved stillness has arrived

at the very center of the mysteries.”365. As in Ps 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God…”366. R3 p88 St Maximus the Confessor: “Nothing is more terrible than the

thought of death, and nothing more glorious than remembrance of God.”367. R13 p66 St Nil Sorsky: “The Prayer of the Heart… waters the soul like

gardens. This activity, which consists in the watching of the mind in the heart, outside all thoughts, is extremely difficult for those who have not been trained to it. (It is difficult not only for beginners, but even for those who have labored long but who have not yet received or retained withinthe heart the sweetness of prayer from the action of grace. It is well knownfrom experience that for the weak this work seems very wearisome and hard.) But when one obtains grace, them he prays without difficulty and with love,


being comforted by grace. When the “effect” of prayer comes, then it draws the mind to itself, fills it with joy and delivers it from distraction.”

368. R13 p60 St Maximus Kapsokalyvitis, as recorded by St Gregory of Sinai:“From my youth I had great faith in my Lady, the Mother of God, and besoughther with tears to grant me the grace of mental prayer. Once I came to her temple as usual and fervently prayed to her for this. I went up to her icon and reverently kissed her image. Suddenly I felt as if there fell into my breast and heart a warmth which did not burn, but bedewed and delighted me, and stirred my soul into compunction. From that moment my “heart” began to say the prayer within itself, and my “mind” began to delight in the remembrance of my Jesus and the Mother of God and to have Him, the Lord Jesus, constantly within itself. Since then the prayer has never ceased in my heart.”

369. R3 p223 St John Chrysostom: “The name of our Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, will subdue the serpent holding sway over the pastures of the heart, and will save our soul and bring it to life. Thus, abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so thatthe heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. But this work is not done in one or two days; it needs many years and a longtime. For great and prolonged labor is needed to cast out the foe so that Christ dwells in us.”


Unceasing Prayer

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