Saint
Theophan the Recluse gives us clear advice on Prayer in his four
homilies on prayer. He encourages us to work hard at our prayer because
its rewards are great. I like him particularly because he is not
writing to monastics, but to us working folks. Yet, he holds for us the
highest aims in our spiritual life. He talks about two kinds of
prayer. The first is where we begin - our morning and evening prayers.
Next, we need to reach out to call on God throughout the day. He sees
this as two logical steps in the development of our life of prayer.
Saint Theophan writes:
Do
not think that we are talking about something very lofty which is an
unattainable state for living people. No. It truly is a lofty state,
but attainable by all...
The work of prayer consists of a proper completion of the two types of prayer
...pious, attentive, and feeling completion of our usual prayers, and then
...training
of the soul to frequently ascend to God through divine contemplation,
turning of all things to the glory of God, and frequent crying to God
from the heart.
We
pray in the morning and the evening: there is a great distance between
them. If we only turn to God at these times, then even if we pray
whole-heartedly, during the day or night, everything will fall apart,
and when it is time again to pray, the soul will feel cold and empty, as
before. One can pray again whole-heartedly, but if you become cold and
fall apart again, what use is it? This is just building and destroying,
building and destroying; it is only labor.
If
now we resolve not only to pray with attention and feeling in the
morning and the evening, but also to spend every day in contemplation of
God, doing all things to the glory of God, and frequently calling to
God from our hearts with short words of prayer, then this long period
between morning and evening prayers and from evening to morning prayers
will be filled with frequent turnings to God and pure prayerful actions.
Although
this prayer is not yet unceasing, it is still prayer repeated very
frequently, and the more often it is repeated, the closer it comes to
being constant. All of this work is towards this final and necessary
goal....
From
frequent calling out to God, or from frequent pious movements toward
God in our hearts we will constantly call upon the name of God with
warmth and love. When these three things: the fear of God, the
remembrance of God, or walking before God, and this turning of the heart
toward God with love (loving repetition of the sweet name of the Lord
in the heart) then certainly the spiritual fire of which I spoke earlier
will catch in the heart, and it will bring with it profound peace,
constant sobriety, and living boldness. At that point, a man enters into
that state where he needs no longer to desire anything greater or
unnecessary on earth, and which is truly the beginning of the blessed
state which awaits all in the future.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
