February
11, 2001
"Teachings
of the 'Startsi' of Valamo Monastery on Prayer"
Although this newsletter was supposed to begin a
study of the writings of St. Isaac the Syrian, I want to share with you
another small collection writings I came across in my readings on
prayer, which I think are especially good. This small collection is not
from the Desert Fathers, but rather from more recent fathers of the 18th
and 19th century who lived at Valamo Monastery in Russia. As was usually
the case with the monastic fathers of Russia before the revolution of
1917, these fathers lived very much in the traditions and spirit of the
ancient Desert Fathers, even though they lived in "modern"
times in the "desert" of the Russian north. The readings in
today's passage give a very nice overview of prayers, both internal and
external, and I think they are a nice follow-up to the teachings of Abba
Dorotheus we have been reviewing.
------------------------
ORAL PRAYER
------------------------
BEGIN: [Schema Monk Agapii] -- In the
beginning the Jesus Prayer is mostly uttered with unwillingness and
constraint. But if we have a firm intention to subdue all our passions,
through prayer and with the help of divine grace, then with frequent
practice of the Prayer and perseverance, as the passions grow less, the
Prayer itself will become gradually easier and more attractive.
In oral prayer we must try in every possible way
to keep our mind fixed on the words of the prayer, saying it without
haste and concentrating all our attention on the meaning of the words.
When the mind becomes distracted by alien thoughts, we must bring it
back undiscouraged to the words of the prayer.
Freedom from distraction is not given to the mind
quickly, nor whenever we wish it. It comes when we have first humbled
ourselves, and when God chooses to grant this blessing to us. This
divine gift does not depend upon the length of time we pray or the
number of prayers we recite. What is needed is a humble heart, the grace
of Christ, and constant effort.
From oral prayer recited with attention we pass
over to inner or mental prayer. This is so called because in such prayer
our mind is swept towards God and sees Him alone.
---------------------------------------------------------------
INNER PRAYER (PRAYER OF THE MIND)
---------------------------------------------------------------
To practice inner prayer, it is essential to keep
our attention in the heart before the Lord. In response to our zeal and
humble striving in prayer, the Lord bestows upon our mind His first gift
-- the gift of recollection and concentration in prayer. When attention
is directed towards the Lord effortlessly and without interruption, this
is attention given by grace, whereas our own attention is always forced.
This inner prayer, if all goes well, in due time passes into prayer of
the heart: the transition is easily made, provided we have an
experienced teacher to guide us. When the feelings of our heart are with
God and love for God fills our heart, such prayer is called prayer of
the heart.
--------------------------------------
PRAYER OF THE HEART
--------------------------------------
It is said in the Gospels: "If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me" (Matthew 16:24). When we pray, then, we must first give up our
own will and our own ideas, and then take up our cross, which is the
labor of body and soul that is unavoidable in this spiritual quest.
Having surrendered ourselves entirely to the never- sleeping care of
God, we should joyfully and humbly endure the sweat and labor, for the
sake of the true reward God will grant to the zealous when the right
time comes. Then God, imparting His grace to us, will put an end to the
wanderings of our mind and will place it -- together with the
remembrance of Himself -- immovably within the heart. When this dwelling
of the mind in the heart has become something natural and constant, the
Fathers call it "union of mind and heart." In this state the
mind has no longer any desire to be outside the heart. On the contrary,
if outward circumstances or some long conversation keeps the mind away
from its attention to the heart, it experiences an irresistible longing
to return within, a craving and spiritual thirst: its one desire is to
set to work once more with renewed zeal in building its inner house.
When this inner order is established, everything
in a man passes from the head into the heart. Then a kind of inner light
illumines all that is within him, and whatever he does, says, or thinks,
is performed with full awareness and attention. He is able to discern
clearly the nature of the thoughts, intentions, and desires that come to
him; he willingly submits his mind, heart, and will to Christ, eagerly
obeying every commandment of God and the Fathers. Should he deviate from
them in any respect, he expiates his fault with heart-felt repentance
and contrition, humbly prostrating himself before God in unfeigned
sorrow, begging and confidently awaiting help from above in his
weakness. And God, seeing this humility, does not deprive the suppliant
of His grace.
Prayer of the mind in the heart comes quickly to
some people, while for others the process is slow. Thus of three people
known to me, it entered into one as soon as he was told about it, in
that same hour; to another it came in six months' time; to a third after
ten months, while in the case of one great staretz it came only after
two years. Why this happens so, God alone knows.
Know also that before the passions are destroyed
prayer is of one kind, and after the heart has been purified of passions
it is of another kind. The first kind helps to purify the heart of
passions, while the second is a spiritual token of future bliss. This is
what you should do; when you can actually feel the mind entering the
heart and are consciously aware of the effects of prayer, give full sway
to such a prayer, banishing all that is hostile to it; and so long as it
continues active within you, do nothing else. But when you do not feel
thus carried away, practice oral prayer with prostrations, striving in
all possible ways to keep your attention in the heart before the face of
the Lord. This manner of praying will also enable the heart to acquire
warmth.
Watch and be sober, and especially during the
prayer of the mind and heart. No one pleases God more than he who
practices the prayer of mind and heart aright. When outward surroundings
make prayer difficult, or when you have no time to pray, at such times,
whatever you may be doing, strive to preserve the spirit of prayer in
yourself by all possible means, remembering God and striving in every
way to see Him before you with the eyes of your mind, in fear and love.
Feeling His presence before you, surrender yourself to His almighty
power, all-seeing and omniscient, in worshipful submission laying all
your activities before Him, in such a way that in every action, word and
thought you remember God and His holy will. Such, in brief, is the
spirit of prayer. Whoever has a love for prayer must without fail
possess this spirit, and, as far as possible, must submit his
understanding to God's understanding by means of constant attention of
the heart, humbly and reverently obeying the commands of God. In the
same way he should submit his wishes and desires to God's will, and
surrender himself completely to the designs of God's providence.
In all possible ways we should combat the spirit
of arbitrary self-will and the impulse to shake off all restraint. It is
a spirit that whispers to us: This is beyond my strength, for that I
have no time, it is too soon yet for me to undertake this, I should
wait, my monastic duties prevent me -- and plenty of other excuses of
like kind. He who listens to this spirit will never acquire the habit of
prayer. Closely connected with this spirit is the spirit of
self-justification: when we have been carried away into wrong-doing by
the spirit of willful arbitrariness and are therefore worried by our
conscience, this second spirit approaches and sets to work on us. In
such a case the spirit of self-justification uses all kinds of wiles to
deceive the conscience and to present our wrong as being right. May God
protect you against these evil spirits.
[Igumen Varlaam] -- The Apostle writes:
"For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience"
(II Corinthians 1:12). Simeon the New Theologian says: "If our
conscience is pure, we are given the prayer of mind and heart; but
without a pure conscience we cannot succeed in any spiritual
endeavor."
[Igumen Nazarii] -- With reverence call in
secret upon the Name of Jesus, thus: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of
God, have mercy upon me, a sinner."
Try to make this prayer enter ever more deeply
into your soul and heart. Prayer the prayer with your mind and thought,
and do not let it leave your lips even for a moment. Combine it, if
possible, with your breathing, and with all your strength try through
the prayer to force yourself to a heart-felt contrition, repenting over
your sins with tears. If there are no tears, at least there should be
contrition and mourning in the heart. END
From "The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox
Anthology," compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo, translated
by E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer, (London: Faber & Faber, 1966,
pp. 275 - 279
As most of readers know by now, the
"Philokalia" (currently published in four volumes in English)
is the best overall source of spiritual guidance on prayer and
spirituality that is available. However, this one-volume collection from
the Philokalia is, in our opinion, the best book to get if you can only
purchase one book.
Also, there is an audio tape series on the
Philokalia available which you might enjoy for those long morning drives
to the office to get your day off to a good spiritual start!
Another good way to enrich your spiritual life.
|
View Shopping Cart / Checkout