October
21, 2001
"The
Hermitage of the Heart:
Different Kinds of Feelings in Prayer"
-- St. Theophanes the Recluse
In this issue, we will look at a very nice text
from St. Theophanes the Recluse, a 19th century Russian father who
became steeped in the early Desert Fathers during the seven years he
spent in Palestine as a monk in the middle of that century. Although not
strictly a Desert Father in the chronological sense, St. Theophanes is
very much in their tradition in the spirituality of his teachings. These
teachings are usually in the form of letters written to disciples.
Our text today is about prayer; or, as St.
Theophanes puts it --
THE HERMITAGE OF THE HEART:
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FEELINGS IN PRAYER
You dream of a hermitage. But you already have
your hermitage, here and now! Sit still, and call out: "Lord have
mercy!" When you are isolated from the rest of the world, how will
you fulfill the will of God? Simply by preserving within yourself the
right inner state. And what is this? It is a state of unceasing
remembrance of God in fear and piety, together with the remembrance of
death. The habit of walking before God and keeping Him in remembrance --
such is the air we breathe in the spiritual life. Created as we are in
the image of God, this habit should exist in our spirit naturally: if it
is absent, that is because we have fallen away from God. As a result of
this fall, we have to fight to acquire the habit of walking before God.
Our ascetic struggle consists essentially in the effort to stand
consciously before the face of the ever- present God; but there are also
various secondary activities, which likewise form part of the spiritual
life. Here too, there is work to be done, in order to direct these
activities to their true aim. Reading, meditation, prayer, all our
occupations and contacts, must be conducted in such a way as not to blot
out or disturb the remembrance of God. The seat of our consciousness and
attention must also be concentrated on this remembrance of God.
The mind is in the head, and intellectuals live
always in the head. They live in the lead and suffer from unceasing
turbulence of thoughts. This turbulence does not allow the attention to
settle on any one thing. Neither can the mind, when it is in the head,
dwell constantly on the one thought of God. All the time it keeps
running away. For this reason, those who want to establish the one
thought of God within themselves, are advised to leave the head and
descend with their mind into their heart, and to stand there with ever
present attention. Only then, when the mind is united with the heart, is
it possible to expect success in the remembrance of God.
This, then, is the aim which you should now set
before yourself, and towards which you should begin to advance. Do not
think that this task is beyond your strength; but also do not think that
it is so easy that you have only to wish it, and it will be immediately
accomplished. The first step in attracting the mind to the heart is
essentially to be moved with sympathy, entering with your feelings into
the meaning of the prayers which you read or hear; for it is the
feelings of the heart which usually dominate the mind. If you take this
first step as you should, these feelings will change according to the
content of the prayers. But besides this first kind of feelings there
are others, far stronger and more overwhelming -- feelings which take
captive both our consciousness and heart, enchaining the soul and giving
it no freedom to continue reading, claiming its attention wholly for
themselves. These are special feelings; and as soon as they are born,
the soul too gives birth to prayers which are their very progeny. You
must never interrupt these special feelings and prayers which are born
in the heart - - do not, for instance, go on reading, but stop at once
-- for you must leave them freedom to pour out until they are exhausted
and emotion returns to the level of the more usual feelings during
prayer. This second form of prayer is more powerful than the first, and
sends the mind down into the heart more quickly. But it can only act
after the first form, or together with it.
From "The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox
Anthology," by Igumen Chariton of Valamo, trans. By E.
Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer, (London: Faber and Faber, 1966), pp. 185
- 186
Although this book has long been out of print,
you may find a used one on Amazon.com.
However, the best book by St. Theophan that is
now on the market is "The
Path to Salvation" -- just click on the title and order it
on-line.
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