My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
DEVOTION TO PRAYER
By Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra (Holy Mountain)
If we wish to devote ourselves to the Jesus Prayer, we must also recognize that we have a problem. We are imprisoned within the confines of our worries and concerns. We are always in a hurry. We get tired. We become disillusioned. We live with stress, we are troubled by disturbing thoughts, by our passions, by inner storms. In order to sleep, we need to be on the point of exhaustion; and in order to be happy, we have to listen to music, or find some other amusement. This is no life at all! It tires us out, and doesn't allow us to pray as much and in the way that we want.
This is why the Holy Fathers of the Church assure us that that the Divine words of God "refresh and strengthen the soul, as wine strengthens the body" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, cited in Paul the Monk, Evergetinos, vol. 2). Know that the word of God is to be found both in Holy Scripture and in the Holy Fathers. We must diligently study both; and among the latter, the ascetic Fathers particularly. We must likewise always be attentive to our work, not squandering our strength needlessly, but expending it responsibly on the duties which are before us. In this way our life will become a daily spiritual exercise, and, coupled with spiritual study, will smooth the ground of the soul, rendering it capable of rising upwards.
In order to pray, you need to cultivate one important quality. Just as we look after the health of our body, so too should we attend to the health of the soul. It is necessary that we should be joyful. When we become accustomed to pray, the joy of Christ is granted to us, along with much else besides. If you're sad when you're praying, if you are depressed, then something inside you is not right. You should look to it, give it your attention, because a person's character plays an important role in prayer.
Listen to what fine things were said about Saint Savvas of Vatopaidi, who underwent the greatest sufferings: He "was most joyful in conversation, and in appearance exceedingly gentle and charming." (Philotheos Kokkinos, "Life of Saint Savvas the Younger"). In his dealings with others, he always had a bright smile, the sweetest face, and the whole of him was filled with grace. How much more so in his dealings with God, when, during prayer, he became like a bright sun!
Another ascetic Holy Father, Saint Neilos, tells us "That prayer is a matter of joy and thanksgiving." Do you want to know if your prayer is true? Take note of this: does exultation spring from your heart, does it move you to thanksgiving? For "when you are at prayer, and it produces a joy beyond all else, then you have truly found prayer." (Philokalia, "On Prayer 15").
Prayer, then, because it is communion with God, brings joy. Of course, we need to struggle against sin, and against our passions. But this should not discourage us, since we have surrendered our life to Jesus Christ. However, struggle is necessary if our life is to be blessed. If we wish to succeed at prayer, we should not harbor any bitterness against anyone, we should not get mixed up in another person's life, create stress for them, or hurt anyone's feelings or upset them. Neither should we be upset by anyone else. All our social interactions should be natural and simple. We should feel that all people are one and the same, considering ourselves to be "one self with all, without, of course, denying our beliefs or departing from our proper conduct. Then prayer is easy. It is enough for us to let God work in us, just as the farmer sows the seed and waits for the gentle rain.
We will therefore continue to struggle. We will call to mind the Name of Jesus, some with the lips, others with the mind, still others with the mind in the heart, and others as divine grace grants them when it visits them, when their spirit flashes like lightning, and, crying out, they encounter God. If we do all these things, God will drop dew of Hermon into our soul and will make us joyful and true.
It is worth devoting much time, indeed as much time as we can, to putting into practice the Patristic saying: "compel yourself to pray much" (Abba Isaiah, "Discourse 4.1), leaving everything else to the Lord. And if we can say only one prayer, even this has value. Moreover, Saint Isaac the Syrian says, "consider every prayer which you utter in the night to be of greater worthy than, all the activity of the day" ("Ascetical Homily 64"). And thus our one, small prayer is even more precious when it is offered during the night.
Leave everything to God. Get on with your work and let your mind be on prayer! And choose a good guide, who can lead you by the hand to Christ. We must, however, stress that with respect to the spiritual life, all things are done for us by the grace of God, and thus we should be at peace.
The Holy Fathers of the Church tell us that the invocation of the Name of Jesus, the practice of the prayer of the heart, is like a flask of myrrh. You open it, you pour some out, and the place is filled with fragrance. When you cry out: "Lord Jesus Christ," the fragrance of the Holy Spirit is given off, and you receive a "pledge of the Divine Spirit." This is because the "Holy Spirit, suffering together with us, descends, and is moved to the desire for spiritual prayer." (Philokalia, "On Prayer 63"). Moreover, the Spirit prays instead of us, if we are able forget about ourselves. Then he takes on our failings, our impurities and the whole poverty of our existence. When we pray, we become temples of God, and priestly ministers of a great mystery. In the beautiful words of our Church Father, "take a censer and offer incense, because Christ is here in your heart, from which the words 'Lord Jesus Christ' rise like the sun." Elsewhere he says that "when we hear the sound of the censer, let us remember that we are a temple, and let us feel in our minds that we are offering incense to Christ, Who is within us, and thus let us venerate the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit." (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, "On the Life of Moses"). [Source: The Church at Prayer: The Mystical Liturgy of the Heart, Holy Monastery of the Annunciation, Ormylia, Greece (2005), pp. 54-63). (Orthodox Heritage)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sincere and unworthy servant of God
+Father George