Pestov N. E. How to do the Jesus Prayer

MIND-KEEPING AND JESUS' PRAYER

“In my name they will cast out demons” (Mark 16:17).

“Take care of your mind...” (Fr. John S.).

As St. Macarius the Great writes: “As soon as you withdraw from the world and begin to seek God and talk about Him, you will have to fight with your nature, with your former customs and with the skill that is innate to you.

And during the struggle with this skill, you will find thoughts that oppose you and fight with your mind ... "Since:" The souls that remain in their nature, crawl along the earth with thoughts, think about the earth, and their mind has its own residence on earth.

By themselves they think that they belong to the Bridegroom, but having not received the oil of joy, they were not reborn by the Spirit from above...

For the prince of this world, being a kind of mental darkness of sin and death, with some kind of hidden, harsh wind agitates, fills and whirls with fickle, material, vain thoughts every soul that has not been born again, and has not moved in mind and thought to another age, according to what has been said: "Our life is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). And these thoughts will lead you and begin to circle you in the visible, from which you fled. Then you will start wrestling and fighting, restoring thoughts against thoughts, mind against mind, soul against soul, spirit against spirit.

This is what distinguishes true Christians from the human race. For the difference between Christians does not lie in outward appearance and not in outward images, as many people think, that this is the whole difference.

The new creation, the Christian, differs from all people in the world: by the renewal of the mind, the pacification of thoughts, love and heavenly commitment to the Lord ...

All pleasing God and serving God depends on thoughts.

Rev. Hesychius adds to this: “The mind and the mind invisibly cling to the struggle - the demonic mind with ours, and then we have a need every moment from the depths of the soul to cry out to Christ the Savior, so that He drives away the demonic mind that corrupts our mind with a dream, and gives us victory. like a philanthropist."

“Be careful, take care of your mind,” said Fr. John S.

And N... in his work "On Internal Christianity" writes as follows:

“The soul, having taken the grace of the Holy Spirit into its nature, cannot whirl with thoughts, this is unusual for it, it constantly immerses its mind in the waves of prayerful grace and does not rush about in a whirlwind of whirling.

The mind enters the heavenly silence of blessed thoughts. But this is not given immediately: the labor of attentive prayer is needed.

Such is the enlightened teaching of St. fathers about the rebirth of the soul from above, and such is the grace-filled, indisputable sign of the reborn soul ...

Because St. the fathers rushed with such zeal from this mortal darkness of mental whirling onto the path of the rebirth of their souls from the Spirit of God, onto the path of repentance, rushed from whirling in thoughts into the grace-filled silence of the mind, rushed with sobriety, attention and mental prayer.

Attentive prayer worked wonders with them: it helped them find their mortified soul, revived it, removed from it the veils of passions, led them out of the darkness of mortal demonic whirling, illuminated them with the flickering light of the Divine and led their minds into Divine silence, made them heavenly, immortal angels from earthly people. ".

Thus begins our struggle with the incorporeal, evil, insidious spirits, which are waging a relentless struggle with us, through thoughts, desires and dreams.

As Ep. Theophan the Recluse: “In the movements of a vicious heart and thoughts, the means to destroy all this is the unceasing memory of the Lord and prayer to Him.”

So, for the rebirth of the soul, attentive, intelligent and, obviously, unceasing prayer is necessary.

For this purpose, according to the centuries-old experience of the numerous host of St. Fathers, the most perfect form of prayer is the short Jesus Prayer:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." In the most abbreviated form, it is pronounced: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

And prp. Seraphim of Sarov advised in the second half of the day to add to it a prayer to the Mother of God: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, with the prayers of the Mother of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

At the same time, you should know that it is easier to accustom yourself to unceasing prayer if you constantly repeat only one of its forms, never changing it.

The creation of the Jesus Prayer brings liberation from vain thoughts to those who have mastered it - pacification of the mind, abundant spiritual fruits and cleanses the soul from passions. Here is how Rev. Barsanuphius the Great: “Ceaselessly calling on the name of God is a healing that kills not only passions, but their very action.

For from the invocation of the name of God, the enemies become weak; and knowing this, let us not cease to call on the name of God for help.

Just as a doctor seeks (decent) healing or a plaster for the wound of the afflicted, and they act, and the patient does not know how it is done, so exactly the name of God, being invoked, kills all passions, although we do not know how this is done. .

“The name of Jesus Christ is terrible for demons, for spiritual passions and ailments. Let us decorate with them, we will protect ourselves with them,” says St. John Chrysostom.

Schema-Archimandrite Sophrony writes: “Through the Jesus Prayer, the grace of the Holy Spirit comes into the heart, and the invocation of the Divine name of Jesus sanctifies the whole person, scorching passions in him.”

As St. Athanasius of Alexandria: “The name of the Lord Jesus Christ of all names - of everything loved under heaven - is the most beloved both on earth and in the heavenly world, for in it we have come to know Him Who loved us with eternal love and inscribed us on His hands, adorned His God created our humanity, our mind created by His throne (St. Macarius the Great) and the body - by His temple (Apostle Paul - 1 Cor. 6, 19).

The meaning of the Jesus Prayer is characterized by Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica: “She is the confession of faith, the giver of the Holy Spirit and Divine gifts, the cleansing of the heart, the expulsion of demons, the indwelling of Jesus Christ, the source of spiritual understanding and Divine thoughts, the remission of sins, the healing of souls and bodies, the mercy of God source, the only savior, as the name of the Savior of our God, bearing in itself.

“To bear with attention unceasingly in one’s mind is not idle thought, but the great and holy name of God,” writes N ... “means to be a clever cherubic chariot, where God the Word sits. To bear the holy Name of the Holy God means to be sanctified and to be sanctified by His Name. To bear the Name of the immortal and blessed God means to partake of God's immortality and bliss yourself.

* * *

Like any other, the Jesus Prayer, according to its method of creation, can be divided into oral, mental and heartfelt, with transitions between these three of its steps.

The parable of the Kingdom of Heaven and the leaven, which “a woman put into three measures of meal” (Matt. 13:33) of St. fathers explain it like this:

The Kingdom of Heaven, which is "within us" (Luke 17:21), is achieved by transforming us through unceasing prayer also in three steps.

At the first stage, a Christian masters the habit of unceasing Jesus Prayer only with his lips.

At the second stage, prayer is affirmed already in the mind with continuous attention to it.

At the third step, the heart is softened and touched, and prayer is unceasingly going on, nourishing the Christian with peace and joy.

Of course, it is best to accustom yourself to the Jesus Prayer under the guidance of prayer books experienced in it. But these are so hard to find. Then, in the absence of them, one can be guided by the relevant literature on it, which is quite extensive.

Much space is devoted to the Jesus Prayer in the 5th volume of the Philokalia. The doctrine of it is also expounded in the writings of the Right Reverend Ignatius Brianchaninov and Fr. Valentin Sventsitsky. There is a fascinating story about her in two parts of "Frank stories of a wanderer to his spiritual father."

The first part was published in several editions by the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cheremis Monastery; the second manuscript was found in the papers of the elder Fr. Ambrose of Optina and published by Optina Hermitage.

Usually, for a start, prayers are recommended to include 100 Jesus prayers in the evening, and whoever can, in the morning rule, counting them by the rosary. In the future, their number is gradually increased. In the Optina Hermitage and in some other monasteries, the monks were obliged to read the “five hundred” in the evening prayer in their cells, that is, to perform it 500 times. At the same time, it is always recommended to read a prayer during the day, when there is an opportunity for this - at work, on the go, in bed, etc.

In Frank Stories, at first, the wanderer, at the direction of his elder, performed 3,000 prayers daily. Then the elder increased this number to 6000 and, finally, to 12000.

The Stranger was completely free from all worldly duties and was able, albeit with difficulty, to perform these 12,000 prayers orally. Thus, at first he mastered oral prayer, and in the end he also received the gift of uninterrupted heartfelt prayer.

How to get used to the Jesus Prayer? To this question, ep. Theophan the Recluse gives this advice: “Stand in front of the icons in a prayer position (you can sit down) and, bringing your attention to where the place of the heart is, slowly say the Jesus Prayer, while remembering the presence of God.

So half an hour, an hour or more. At first it is difficult, but when the skill is acquired, it will be done as if naturally, like breathing.

For Christians living in the world, as a guide when starting to read the Jesus Prayer with the lips, you can have the following instructions about it by the elder Fr. Alexei M. (St. Right. Alexy Mechev - ed.): “The Jesus Prayer - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner (sinner) - you need to read, but it's easy to read. Quite, quite simply. Simplicity is all its strength. One cannot think of any "creation" or "working of the heart" of prayer, as was the case with St. fathers and hermits. The latter is indeed a difficult and great feat, dangerous for beginners and impossible in the world.

The feeling comes from the simple repetition of the great words of prayer, and through it a prayerful mood also appears. The name of Jesus alone, pronounced with fervent love, will by itself purify everything external and inner man and to create a prayer in his soul, regardless of the surroundings.

Just as a person always thinks about a beloved object, so he should think about the Lord, carry Him in himself, be in His face and, as it were, in constant conversation with Him.

At first, the greatest attention should be paid to the words: "Have mercy on me, a sinner." These words must be read in repentance; the simplicity with which the prayer should be read, and the feeling of repentance will protect the soul from various and sometimes very subtle and dangerous temptations (charms).

Prayer should be read without counting - as often as possible, wherever possible: on the street, at home, at a party, while eating, in bed, at work, etc. The point is not in the setting, but in the feeling with which the great the name of Jesus Christ. You can read a prayer to yourself or in your mind. It is necessary to read it in the temple, when you can not hear what they are reading, or it is not clear what they are singing.

Over time, attention shifts from the words "have mercy on me a sinner" to the words "Lord Jesus Christ", pronounced with love. The Lord Jesus Christ - the second Person of the Holy Trinity - is the closest and most understandable to us.

After a long time, feelings and thoughts pass to the words "Son of God." These words acquire in the soul a feeling of confession and love for Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

In the end, all these feelings are combined into one and the entire Jesus Prayer is obtained - in words and feelings.

Through the Jesus Prayer, all worldly affairs will be illuminated by Christ: how good and joyful it is when the sun is shining - it will be just as good and joyful in the soul when the Lord, with unceasing prayer, illuminates the whole heart.

These instructions were given by Fr. Alexei M., one of her spiritual daughters, who, due to her situation at home, could not read a prayer aloud. For beginners to get used to the Jesus Prayer, it is necessary (whoever can) speak it orally, in an undertone, or at least in a whisper.

Rev. Barsanuphius the Great was asked: “How can a person pray without ceasing?” The elder replied: “When someone is alone, he should pray with his mouth and heart. But if someone is at the market and in general together with others, then one should not pray with the lips, but with one mind. At the same time, it is necessary to observe the eyes in order to avoid scattering the thoughts and networks of the enemy.

According to the archbishop Varlaam Ryashentsev: “The Jesus Prayer, like any other prayer, receives strength not from the mechanical pronunciation of holy words, but from a feeling of humility and contrition, from repentant falling down to the Lord for mercy.”

Bishop Veniamin Milov writes about the same: “The pronunciation of the name of the Lord by every person should be intensely attentive, warm, pure, sincere, God-fearing and reverent.”

As can be seen from all that has been said, the feeling with which the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is pronounced is of particular importance during the Jesus Prayer.

The elder Fr. Alexey Zosimovsky. To one spiritual daughter, he said this: “Say the Jesus Prayer always, no matter what you do.”

According to the Optina Elder Barsanuphius, it is so important to accustom oneself to the unceasing Jesus Prayer that he recommended that his spiritual children from the monks never go to bed without a rosary.

It should also be mentioned that, according to the testimony of the same elder, the Jesus Prayer is the surest medicine for healing the soul from strong emotional agitation.

His novice once asked the elder - how does he act when darkness and sorrow from all sides seize the soul.

“But,” answered the elder, “I will sit on this chair and look into my heart. And there is complete darkness and storm. I will begin to repeat: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." And what? Half an hour will not pass, you look into your heart, and there is silence... The enemy hates the Jesus Prayer.”

We can assume that not only monks, but also laity can accustom themselves to the creation of the Jesus Prayer. It is known that, for example, Constantinopolitan courtier Konstantin, the father of St. Gregory of Thessalonica and the Russian statesman of the beginning of the last century Speransky, succeeded in creating it.

At the same time, everyone should be warned that reading the Jesus Prayer does not exclude the usual morning and evening prayers, the efforts of a Christian to fulfill all the commandments of God, timely repentance for every sin and the acquisition of love, humility, obedience, mercy and all other virtues. If there are no such efforts, then one, even the unceasing creation of the Jesus Prayer will be fruitless.

* * *

And one more warning needs to be made. It is impossible to desire sweet, grace-filled experiences through the creation of the Jesus Prayer, and this is not what you should set as your goal, accustoming yourself to unceasing prayer.

The archbishop writes about it this way. Varlaam Ryashentsev: “To enjoy exploits, even if it is the Jesus Prayer, is spiritual voluptuousness and sinful, since the source of voluptuousness lies in lust.

The correct path is this: strive in every possible way, seek through this not sweetness, but peace and cleansing of conscience from sores and wounds. Ask God for healing, contrition, tears, but not joy, not high ecstasies, like sectarians.

Tremble in communion with the Lord in the Holy Mysteries and pray to Him to grant you the knowledge of your infirmities, saving fear, love for your neighbor, patience, etc., but not high joy, saying to yourself: I am not worthy of this. Moreover, all these humble feelings in themselves contain joy...

Seek enlightenment of the mind and heart through spiritual life, but not pleasant sensations, even in prayer... do not dwell on them, if they exist, but hide yourself from them.”

* * *

“The quantity of prayer turns into quality,” says St. Maxim the Confessor. In other words, the application of the spiritual law takes place here too - "through the external to the internal."

Therefore, with our diligence regarding the amount of prayer, we can expect from the Lord and grace-filled help regarding the quality of prayer - the attention of the mind in it, that is, a gradual transition from oral to “intelligent” prayer.

With this form, the mind is already able to pray with concentration, without being distracted from prayer by extraneous thoughts. Thus, the opportunity is achieved to pray without opening one's mouth, that is, silently, in every situation and in the presence of others.

As you practice in such a prayer, the last, grace-filled form begins to gradually unfold - "heartfelt" prayer. The one who prays begins to notice the growth in himself during prayer of reverence, fear of God, warmth of the heart, tenderness and warm, gracious tears that warm the heart.

About the transition from the “smart” to the hearty Jesus Prayer, St. Seraphim of Sarov:

“First, for a day, two or more, say this prayer with one mind, separately, paying attention to each word separately.

Then, when the Lord warms your heart with the warmth of His grace and unites it in you into one spirit, then this prayer will flow in you unceasingly and will always be with you, delighting and nourishing you.

This form of unceasing prayer, however, requires preliminary strenuous work, concentration, and a solitary environment.

In the words of one great elder: “He who has inner (heart) prayer, prayer is as characteristic and natural as breathing. Whatever he does, his prayer proceeds spontaneously, inwardly. So, after the service in the church, he goes on praying, although at the same time he listens to what they sing and read.

And here is how he characterizes the state of St. Isaac the Syrian: “Then, both in the sleepy and in the waking state of a person, prayer does not stop in his soul, but whether he eats, drinks, does anything, even in deep sleep, the fragrance and evaporation of prayer are easily emitted by his heart.

Then prayer does not depart from it, but every hour, although it is not revealed in it outwardly, at the same time performs in it the service of God in secret.

For the silence of the pure one of the Christ-bearing men calls prayer, because their thoughts are Divine movements, and the movements of a pure heart and mind are meek voices with which they secretly sing of the Hidden One.

* * *

It is quite obvious that those who have the opportunity to live in solitude (praying, however, not only for themselves, but also for the sick, neighbors, suffering and perishing in sins of the world).

For those living in families, of course, it will be much more difficult. They, of course, cannot avoid caring for their neighbors, from serving them and from experiencing with them all the events of their lives.

But if a Christian, living in the world, still strives with all his heart to dominate his thoughts and to partake to some extent in unceasing prayer, then he will need to develop in himself the virtue of abstinence.

He will need to exercise the greatest possible abstinence in the following respects:

1) from reading, if possible, secular literature, magazines, newspapers;

2) from visiting public places of entertainment (possibly more), watching TV, if it is completely impossible to refuse it;

3) limit yourself when listening to the radio (again, if it is impossible for some reason to completely abandon it);

4) from predilection for science and secular art in all its forms, which does not exclude, however, work in the field of science and art without predilection for them;

5) from visiting relatives and friends, unless his conscience requires it, - as the fulfillment of his duty as a Christian;

6) if possible, avoid receiving those relatives and acquaintances whose visits are not caused by spiritual and worldly necessity and are not connected with the community of spiritual interests.

It is obvious that far from all Christians living in the world will be able to fulfill these rules of abstinence to the right extent. Here we apply the commandment of the Lord: "Whoever can accommodate, let him accommodate" (Matt. 19:12).

In conclusion, we should also mention the following warning of the archbishop. Arseny (Chudovsky) to the doers of the Jesus Prayer.

“Is it true that some, because of the Jesus Prayer, have upset their minds and fallen into spiritual delusion?

According to the testimony of the Holy Fathers and as life experience tells us, this is also possible.

Any spiritual activity can have an incorrect course and development. The same must be said about the Jesus Prayer.

So, when you engage in this prayer, you can acquire a habit in it, and bad thoughts and desires will stop in you. And here comes the danger of imagining oneself as a doer of the Jesus Prayer, as a pure, sinless person.

To prevent this from happening, one must always keep in mind that not acquiring the skill of the Jesus Prayer and not ending the internal struggle should be the goal, but the achievement of perfect results from the Jesus Prayer, which can be called - a quiet, touching union of our heart with the Lord, with deep, repentant, humble opinion of himself. Without this, there can always be the danger of spiritual self-deception. In other words, one should always be afraid of spiritual pride, because it brings to nothing all our inner work, all our exploits.

The Wanderer's Unceasing Prayer

(From his Candid Tales, Part I)

An interesting description of the consequences of the creation of the unceasing Jesus Prayer, which is given by the wanderer mentioned above.

The Stranger at first mastered the skill of only verbal and intelligent unceasing creation of the Jesus Prayer. Here is how he describes his condition at that time.

“I spent the whole summer in unceasing oral Jesus prayer and was very calm. In my sleep, I often dreamed that I was doing a prayer, and on the day, if it happened to meet someone, then everyone, without exception, seemed to me so kind, as if they were relatives, although I did not study with them.

Thoughts of their own accord completely subsided, and I did not think of anything except prayer, to which my mind began to incline, and my heart itself at times began to feel warmth and some kind of pleasantness.

When it happened to come to church, the long desert service seemed short and was no longer tiring for the forces, as before.

This is how I walk now, and continually say the Jesus Prayer, which is more precious and sweeter than anything in the world to me. I sometimes walk seventy miles or more a day, and I don’t feel that I am walking; I only feel that I am praying.

When a strong cold grips me, I will begin to pray more intensely, and soon I will warm up all over. If hunger begins to overcome me, I will often call on the name of Jesus Christ and forget that I was hungry. When I become ill, my back and legs begin to ache, I will listen to prayer and do not hear the pain.

When someone insults me or beats me up, I just remember how delightful the Jesus prayer is, then immediately the insult and anger will pass away and I will forget everything ... I have no worries about anything, nothing interests me; I would not look at anything fussy and would be all alone in solitude; only out of habit I want to pray incessantly, and when I do it, I am very happy. God knows what is happening to me."

And here is a description by the wanderer of the sensations of the period when he began to succeed in the creation of prayer from the heart.

“I began to feel different temporal sensations in my heart and mind. Sometimes it happened that somehow delightfully boiled in my heart, I felt such lightness, freedom and consolation in it, that I was completely changed and indulged in delight.

Sometimes there was a fiery love for Jesus Christ and for all of God's creation. Sometimes sweet tears of thanksgiving flowed by themselves to the Lord, who had mercy on me, a cursed sinner. Sometimes my former foolish notion became so clear that I easily understood and thought about what I could not even think of before.

Sometimes the sweet warmth of the heart spilled over my whole being, and I tenderly felt the omnipresence of God with me.

Sometimes I felt within myself the greatest joy from invoking the name of Jesus Christ, and I realized what it means that He said: "The Kingdom of God is within you..."

Finally, I felt that prayer itself, without any prompting on my part, is produced and uttered in my mind and heart, not only in the waking state, but even in a dream, it acts in exactly the same way and is not interrupted by anything, not stops for the slightest second, no matter what I do.

My soul gave thanks to the Lord and my heart melted in unceasing joy.”

Schemamonk Hilarion on the Jesus Prayer

Below is an explanation of the essence and effect of the Jesus Prayer, which was given by the hermit schemamonk Hilarion:

The memory of God and prayer are one and the same. For almost 15 years I was only doing oral prayer, then it itself turned into mental prayer, that is, when the mind began to hold itself in the words of the prayer.

And then, by the grace of God, the heart was also opened, the essence of which is the closest real connection of our heart or the merging of all our spiritual being with the name of the Lord, or, what is the same, with the Lord Himself.

The name of the Lord is, as it were, incarnated, and instead of a bare, meaningless word, as is usually the case between us, a person clearly feels with the inner feeling of his soul in the name of God the Lord Himself, more precisely, in the name “Lord, Jesus Christ”, with his own heart he touches, as it were, to the very nature of Christ, His essence and His divine nature; there is one spirit with Him, it partakes of Christ's properties: His goodness, holiness, love, peace, bliss, etc.; perceptibly tastes that the Lord is good.

And from this, no doubt, he himself becomes, in the image of the One who created him, good, meek, humble, carries in his heart indescribable love for everyone. And this is natural and in order, as it should be, because such a person has communed with the holiness of God and tasted His goodness with his own feeling, and therefore knows by experience the dignity and bliss of these most heavenly qualities.

In this sense, of course, it is said that we are partakers of the Divine nature.

According to the holy fathers, there is no unity closer than that between God and the soul.

Man, bearing in himself the name of God, or, what is the same, Christ Himself, in the proper sense has eternal life in himself, by the very act of drinking it from the inexhaustible source of the Life-giver, the Son of God, and is the God-bearer.

The mind at this time is entirely inside the temple of the heart, or still further - in the Divine nature of the Son of God, and being restrained by a terrible event, does not dare to think anything earthly, but is spiritual and enlightened by God's light.

It is difficult to imagine what honor and what greatness is given to a person, and he neglects, and often does not have little care for this: in the highest, the Living, Almighty Lord, terrible in power and infinite in mercy, has in him a place of His rest, sits in his heart, as on the throne of glory, is incomprehensibly mysterious, but nevertheless essential and tangible.

The effectiveness of the Jesus Prayer consists in a sincere union of the heart with the Lord, when the Lord Jesus Christ creates His abode in us, tangibly and effectively dwells in the heart, and His Divine presence is heard clearly and tangibly, which is called, according to the holy fathers, living communion with God.

Then Christ our Lord ... descends into a person with His gift of grace, unites with him with His Divine powers, giving "everything necessary for life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1, 3), and, as it were, creates in him a permanent abode for Himself ( John 14:23), so that a person becomes a temple of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 3:16), a church of the Living God (2 Cor. 6:16), “one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17 ), “and what lives, lives for God” (Rom. 6:10), “does not live for himself, but God lives in him” (Tal. 2:20).

It is in this truly blissful and worthy state that prayer is felt in the heart, like a rock, it occupies a dominant position and subdues all other inclinations and spiritual dispositions; a person clearly passes to the spiritual side, and everything earthly becomes a subordinate state; he enters the freedom of the spirit and rests in God, carries in his heart the source of life - the Lord God Himself, and this is the undoubted hope of eternal salvation.

With such an inner disposition, a person comes under the power of prayer and becomes, as it were, its slave, always praying to his Lord, even if he does not want to, because he cannot resist the prevailing power of prayer.

The Spirit Himself prays in him with inexpressible sighs, and He will obey his spirit, as if he were a child of God...

The fruit of prayer is the fruits of the Holy Spirit - “love, joy, peace”, etc. (Tal. 5:22), and most importantly, the hope of salvation, for in the feeling of the heart one can hear the undoubted beginning of eternal life ...

When prayer, by the grace of God, takes root in our hearts, we will first of all notice that it powerfully stops the flow of impure thoughts.

As soon as our mind touches the Lord Jesus Christ, in His most holy name, the fermentation of thoughts and the uncontrollable swiftness of the mind immediately stop, which, as everyone knows from experience, confuses the ascetic most of all.

The Jesus Prayer places in the heart an unspeakable love for God and neighbor - or rather, it is the very essence of love, its property and quality. It burns the whole heart with the fire of God, transforming its natural stoutness into a spiritual nature: according to the word of Holy Scripture - "Our God is fire."

For such a person, the greatest misfortune in this life is that if he has to, willingly or unwillingly, offend his neighbor. Until then, he will not find peace for his soul, until he really pacifies this brother of his.

The exercise of the Jesus Prayer separates a person from everything earthly, so that he would not want to think anything related to this life, and he would not want to stop doing this prayer forever.

The clearest sign of the fruit of prayer, felt more than others, is precisely the feeling of eternal life, heard by the heart in the divine name of Christ, the Savior of the world.

Feeding on prayer and, if possible, trying to stay in it for as long as possible, I sometimes really tasted heavenly joy and was, as it were, at a royal meal, calming down in inscrutable silence, spiritual joy and rapture of the spirit in the heavenly world ...

The enemy-devil has no opportunity even to approach that person, and not only to put in a bad thought. He is scorched by the Divine power, emanating from the name of Jesus, like an unbearable flame. Not being able to start on his own, he arms people with hatred, and therefore prayer books are for the most part persecuted and hated.

PRAYER OF JESUS

It has been noticed that the enemy most of all attacks those people who pray in the name of Jesus.

The Holy Fathers explain this by the fact that the Jesus Prayer has great power, capable of leading a person to paradise. Of course, if someone goes through this prayer and leads a lawless life himself, then it will not save him, but if he leads his life at least a little attentively, then going through the Jesus prayer, he will feel in his heart love, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

But in order to pass this prayer with benefit, it is necessary to have a leader, without him it is easy to fall into the networks of the enemy, who, for this, arms a person with a whole cloud of thoughts. He attacks both on the right side and on the left side. That tries to bring a person to despondency, suggesting the thought that it is impossible to be saved. He begins to reveal to him his sins in all their ugliness, wanting to completely confuse the soul. “Is it really possible for you, a sinner, to follow the narrow path, it is extremely inconvenient, and being on it, you will receive nothing but suffering. Yes, finally, you will still have time to repent; enjoy life, go down a convenient path for the time being: you see, everyone suits them, why should you stand out?

But if a person does not listen to enemy advice, then he begins to attack from the right. “Here, how good you are, far from being like others, they are dead sinners, and you are saved, everything is fine with you, you are worthy of divine visions and revelations for your holy life.” Woe to the person who believes the enemy, but sometimes it is very difficult to recognize his intrigues, and hence how important it is, how necessary it is to have a spiritual leader.

It is dangerous to pass the Jesus Prayer without guidance

This prayer is terrible, Satan does not like it very much and tries with all his might to take revenge on those who perform it. It is dangerous to go through this prayer without guidance. If you want to start, start small. Take a rosary, [...] 100 prayers of Jesus a day with bows, whether you want earthly ones, you want waist ones, it doesn't matter.

Demons don't like the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is the most indispensable weapon in the work of our salvation. But whoever undertakes it must expect temptations and prepare for an inner struggle, for a struggle with thoughts. Demons do not like the Jesus Prayer and in every possible way take revenge on the person who beats them with this scourge. [...] But although the Jesus Prayer gives a person labor, it also brings high consolations with it.

The Cross of Christ and the name of Jesus drive the enemies far away, and therefore how important, how necessary it is to unceasingly say the Jesus Prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” In the people of the saints, it is going on incessantly in the heart. One ascetic, Paisius (Velichkovsky), founded a monastery in Bessarabia called Nyametsky. In addition to the hostel, at some distance from the monastery, a cell was set up for the monks who labored in silence. Once, demons appeared to Paisius in a sensual way and told him: “Take away these monks, what kind of autocrats they are, they live separately, let them live together with you in a monastery!” - "Yes, what do they interfere with you?" Paisios asked. “They burn us,” the demons answered. They burn, of course, not sensually, but with the unceasing Jesus Prayer, which is a fiery flame on adversaries. It is always necessary to hit the enemy with this weapon, and just as a dog that is hit on the head with a club finally lags behind a person, so the enemy, scorched and scourged by the name of Jesus, will flee from us if we say this prayer.

For the saints, it was self-moving, that is, it was performed in the heart uninterruptedly, but we sinners, although according to our strength, we will perform this prayer, and the Lord will not leave us and save us from the networks of the enemy.

The Psalm word, the threefold repetition of the words: “I went around me, and resisted them in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 117:11), is fully understood by all those who do the Jesus Prayer, even if no one explains it to them. They understand that this is about the Jesus Prayer. This is one of the clearest passages about the Jesus Prayer, of which there are many in the Psalms...

Is it possible to lose the Jesus Prayer to someone who has already achieved inner prayer? - Yes, I think that it is possible from negligence in the surrounding fuss. And it happens that the Lord, due to His unknown destinies, takes away this prayer, as it was with the schemamonk Fr. Cleopaus, for 2 years he felt in himself the loss of heartfelt prayer, after which she again returned to him. Maybe the Lord sent him to test his faith. Therefore, in such cases, do not despair ...

The languid, often bleak state that precedes the receipt of the Jesus Inner Prayer does not necessarily happen to everyone. For a king can immediately enrich a beggar. But the general order of acquiring the Jesus Prayer is that which achieves it through labors and sorrows, among which there is a languishing state of mind...

In Kazan, when I was still in military service, Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg sent me a book that had just been published: Frank Stories of a Wanderer. I read it and I say to myself: “Yes, here is another way of salvation, the shortest and most reliable - the Jesus Prayer. We must take note of this.

I took out my rosary and started the Jesus Prayer. Soon various sounds began, rustling, staggering, hitting the wall, window, and so on. phenomena. They were heard not only by me, but also by my orderly. I was afraid to spend the night alone, I began to call a batman to me.

But these insurances did not stop, and after 4 months I. could not stand it and gave up the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Then he asked about Ambrose about this, he told me that he shouldn't have quit.

Here is a brief summary of the conditions for my admission to the Skete: in the world, the enemy did not let me do this prayer, so I thought, I will do it in the monastery. And here the enemy raised the brethren against me, even leave the Skete. This is how he hates prayer. And now I don't see anything. All dismantled there by the coming people. Of course, I’m babbling a prayer from time to time, I don’t know if the Lord will remove me from this post, or I’ll have to die here ...

The Jesus Prayer drives away enemy thoughts

Cast out all images from your head and from your heart so that there is only one image of Christ. But how can this be achieved? Again, the Jesus Prayer!

The other day, one of our wanderers-schemnik came to me.

“I’m getting discouraged, abba, because I don’t see a change for the better in myself, and yet I wear a lofty angelic image. After all, the Lord will strictly exact from the one who is a monk or a schemer only in clothes. But how to change? How to die to sin? I feel completely helpless...

- Yes, I answer, - we are modern bankrupts, and if the Lord judges by deeds, then, of course, we have nothing good.

But is there any hope for salvation?

- Of course have! Always say the Jesus Prayer and leave everything to the will of God.

“But what is the use of this prayer if neither the mind nor the heart participates in it?

- Huge benefit. Of course, this prayer has many divisions, from the simple pronunciation of this prayer to creative prayer, but for us to be at least on the last step - and that is saving. Enemy forces flee from the one who says this prayer, and sooner or later, he is saved.

- Resurrected! - exclaimed the schemnik, - I will no longer lose heart.

And so I repeat: say a prayer, even if only with your lips, and the Lord will never leave you. To pronounce this prayer does not require the study of any science.

And yet the lips are sanctified by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once I met a cassock monk in the Skete, Fr. George.

- Well, what? How are you? Do you miss Moscow?

“Thanks be to God, Father, I commend you.

- Yes, I didn’t remember Moscow for 2 years, but now I remember it, sometimes you even think about it. Help you Lord.

Only in a heart free from attachment to the world can the Lord dwell

What angelic language can express the full meaning of the Jesus Prayer?

It is not human language to speak of her. But what is this angelic language? Is there such a language? Of course have. But we cannot imagine its properties, because it does not consist of sounds, because there will be nothing sensual there.

We know that people often understand each other without words; there is a language and an eye - people look at each other and understand, although nothing has been said between them. There is a sign language used to communicate with the deaf and dumb.

What the angelic language will be, we do not know. And only the angelic language will be enough to express the meaning of the Jesus Prayer. It is clear only to those who have experienced it.

The effect of this prayer is all covered with the greatest secrets. It does not consist in just saying the words "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner," but it reaches the heart and mysteriously settles in it. Through this prayer we enter into communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray to Him, we merge with Him into one whole. This prayer fills the soul with peace and joy in the midst of the most difficult trials, in the midst of all the crampedness and bustle of life.

I received a letter: "Father, I'm suffocating! Sorrows are pressing in from all sides; there's nothing to breathe, nothing to look back at... I don't see joy in life, its very meaning is lost." What do you say to such a grieving soul? What must be endured? And sorrows, like millstones, oppress the soul, and it suffocates under their weight.

Note that I am not talking about non-believers and atheists; I am not talking about those who yearn when they have lost God. No, believing souls who have embarked on the path of salvation, souls under the influence of Divine grace, lose the meaning of life. They do not know that this state is temporary, transient, which must be waited out. They write: "I fall into despondency, something dark surrounds me."

I am not saying that such grief is legal, I am not saying that this grief is the lot of every person. This is not a punishment - this is a cross, and this cross must be borne. But how do you carry it? Where is the support? Others seek this support and joy from people, they think to find peace in the midst of the world - but they do not find it. From what? Because they are not looking there. Peace, light and strength must be sought in God, through the Jesus Prayer. It will become very difficult for you, darkness will surround you - stand in front of the image, light the lamp if it has not been lit, kneel down if you can, or even so say: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Say it once, twice, a third time, so say it so that it is not only the lips that say this prayer, but that it reaches the heart. However, it will certainly reach the heart. The sweetest name of the Lord, and little by little longing and sorrow are removed, will enlighten the soul, quiet joy will reign in it.

This miraculous effect of the Jesus Prayer can be understood only by those who have experienced it. Some person has never tasted honey and will ask what it is, how to explain it to him? You tell him: "It's sweet, cooked by the bees, they take it out of the hive, cut it into pieces..." - and yet he won't understand. Wouldn't it be easier to say: "If you want to know honey, then try it. Have you tried it? Is it sweet?" - "Sweet." "Do you now know what honey is?" - "I know". Did you need to resort to any scientific explanations? The man tried and he understood. So it is with the Jesus Prayer. And many, knowing its sweetness and significance, gave their whole lives to it in order to become related to it, to merge with the sweetest name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is impossible for you, during your studies, educational or otherwise, to fill your whole life with the Jesus Prayer, but each of you goes through some 20, some 50, and some even 100 prayers a day. Each, according to her strength, gets used to it. Let one succeed by an inch, the other by an arshin, the third by a sazhen, and the other, perhaps, by a mile ahead, it is important that at least an inch has gone, and God be thanked for everything.

To engage in this prayer, people go to the monastery. True, at present monasteries, especially women's monasteries, are placed in such a position that all the time is spent on the fulfillment of obediences: on chores, on work. It is difficult for nuns, but nevertheless they are gradually imbued with prayer and get used to it. I remember when I entered the monastery, I imagined that the only thing they knew there was this (Batiushka raised his hands in prayer). Well, when I did, it turned out to be quite different. There is little prayer, there is little work of prayer, you cannot live on one prayer, you also need the work of obedience. If the work of prayer and the fulfillment of obedience alternate, replacing one another, then it is good, and in this way it is easy to achieve salvation.

Prayer can only be comprehended by one who has removed all worldly attachments from the heart; only in a heart free from attachment to the world can the Lord dwell.

For a long time I could not understand what the connection of the mind with the heart is. In essence, this means the union of all the forces of the soul together for the aspiration of them all to God, which is impossible when they are separated. I see this law of unity not only in this case - in the Jesus Prayer, but everywhere. For example, when in a war with the enemy we do not have a cohesive force, then the enemy, attacking first one detachment, then another, will soon defeat the entire army, destroying one detachment after another. Similarly, the sun, shining on the earth, cannot ignite anything, for its rays are scattered over the entire surface of the earth and, in particular, of any place. But if we take a magnifying glass, and with this glass we concentrate all the rays at one point, then the wood, paper or something else placed there will ignite. The same can be said about music. What beauty does a note or sound have, taken alone or in disorder? You can say none. But these same sounds in the works of brilliant artists-poets perceive great power and beauty. I won't talk about painting, etc.... In such conversations with you, I will not limit myself to this, I will go further. This is such a knot that no matter how much you untie it, it will still be a knot. The Jesus Prayer has no limits... The mind, when it is exercised in reading Holy Scripture and prayer and the like, is cleansed of passions and enlightened. When, however, he is immersed only in the earthly, he becomes, as it were, incapable of understanding the spiritual.

I knew 2 brothers, one was then a doctor, and the other a professor at the Theological Academy (now Metropolitan Anthony of Petersburg). The two brothers chose different paths for themselves, and after many years of separation came together and started a conversation. Of course, the conversation also touched on the spiritual side. Everything the doctor said was clear to the professor of the Academy, and what the professor said, the doctor could not understand, not that he did not want to, no, he could not, no matter how hard he tried - and asked his brother to start talking about something else. Therefore, it is necessary to train in the spiritual and conquer all passions, while they are not yet deeply rooted in us. It is easy to overcome passions in thoughts, but when they pass into words and deeds and take root, it is very difficult, almost impossible...

Can the Jesus Prayer be in a passionate person?

Maybe, maybe, but here's how: in the first period of prayer, Jesus' passion, acting in a person, overcomes him, and in the second period, with any arousal of passion, a person overcomes passion.

Passion remains in a person until death, and dispassion can only be relative. We can see this from the fact that many ascetics, such as St. Jacob, having spent his whole life in exploits, fell into sin. Whoever labors in the feat of prayer, he undoubtedly feels the movement of passions in himself, but in a person who has achieved inner prayer, passion is like a dead person, it can no longer torment him domineeringly, and the more prayer acts in a person, the more it is affirmed in the heart of the ascetic, the quieter and quieter the passions act, they seem to be sleeping.

I remember that Blessed Nikolushka was in Kazan. He said, addressing people of a good life: “What, like the dead? sleeping?" At that time I did not understand the meaning of these words, and understood them only here, in Skete, and was surprised at the depth of their meaning. He called the passions the dead. The dead man lies, which means that he exists, and has not disappeared, for we see him. Similarly, passion in a person who is undergoing a prayerful feat and has already reached inner prayer is like a dead person.

One should always have the memory of God

That's the whole point, to always have the remembrance of God. That's what the Jesus Prayer is for. But do not be surprised that you forget everything, you just have to try. After all, you didn’t immediately go to university, but first you learned the alphabet, right? As Abba Dorotheos says, he looked at books as if they were animals, and then he became very addicted to reading books. At first I read, probably not spiritual, but secular books, and then switched to spiritual ones. Yes, it always happens... There was schemamonk Cleopas in the Solovetsky Monastery. He spent 40 years in seclusion on a desert island, where food was brought to him from the monastery and the spiritual father traveled there. Then he expressed a desire to return to the monastery. No one knew how he struggled, what horrors he endured from demonic power, what his feat consisted of. When he returned, Fr. The archimandrite, with his confessor, asked him: “What was your main activity, and how much did you succeed, tell us, me and your spiritual father?” He answered that in the Jesus Prayer. He replaced all the akathists, all the services, everything with the Jesus Prayer: “And I begin to understand, to slightly disassemble the initial letters of this alphabet.” That's how deep.

And we have no idea what effect the Jesus Prayer has. So you shouldn't be surprised. This is acquired over the years and not immediately. It is impossible to acquire this in one day, although there are exceptions, but this is the general rule.

What to do, it’s good that you read, you can’t do anything right away; I said that this is a science of sciences, but still start little by little, although you cannot do it all at once.

The Importance of the Jesus Prayer in the Life of a Christian

The Jesus Prayer brings us closer to Christ.

“Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” every believing soul should cry out to the Lord, the Lord is waiting for us to call on Him, and rejoices at this calling. Whoever does the Jesus Prayer will certainly be saved, the Lord will not allow him to perish. He is ready to help anyone, and if we sometimes notice that the Lord seems to leave us, then the reason for this lies in the person himself.

The Jesus Prayer is of great importance in the life of a Christian. This is the shortest way to the Kingdom of Heaven; although this path is long and, having embarked on it, we must be prepared for sorrow. True, other prayers are of no small importance; and a person who goes through the Jesus Prayer, listens to prayers and hymns in the church, makes obligatory cell rules; but the Jesus Prayer rather than others brings a person into a repentant mood and shows him his infirmities, therefore, brings him closer to God. A person begins to feel that he is the greatest sinner, and that is all God needs.

Let's take an example: in Optina there is a hotel about. Michael. How to get to it from the Skeet? And it's very simple. Go straight down the alley, then past the church, through St. gate and to the right, and then go up the stairs - so you will go to your room. But you can go the other way. Reach Zhizdra, take a ferry to the other side, reach Kozelsk, cross Zhizdra across the bridge and go through the forest to the hotel. Of course, anyone who is in any way familiar with Optina will easily tell which path is closer.

The enemy tries in every possible way to divert the Christian from this prayer; he fears and hates it most of all. Indeed, the power of God preserves the person who always makes this prayer unharmed from enemy networks; when a person is completely imbued with this prayer, then it opens the gates of paradise for him, and even if he does not receive special gifts and grace on earth, his soul will boldly cry out: “Open the gates of truth to me” (Ps. 117, 19).

And so the enemy inspires various thoughts to confuse the foolish; saying that prayer requires concentration, tenderness, etc., and if this is not the case, then it only angers God; some listen to these arguments and throw a prayer to the delight of the enemy.

The one who begins the Jesus Prayer is like a high school student who entered the first grade of a gymnasium and put on a uniform. One might think that he would later graduate from the gymnasium, and perhaps go to the university. But now the temptations of the first lesson pass; for example, the student did not understand arithmetic, and his thought says to him: “You didn’t understand the first lesson, all the more you won’t understand the second, and then, look, they’ll call you; it’s better to tell the sick, but stay at home.” If the student has wealthy relatives, then there is even more temptation, the same seductive voice says: "Your grandfather and uncle are rich, why should you study; stay with them." He listens to these speeches of high school students, stops studying, wastes time in vain; and several years have passed - the dunce has grown up and is worthless. Time has passed, what kind of teaching is there - and they exclude him from the gymnasium.

So it can happen here too. One should not heed tempting thoughts, one should drive them away from oneself, and without embarrassment continue prayer work. Even if the fruits of this labor are imperceptible, even if a person does not experience spiritual delights, tenderness, etc., - nevertheless, prayer cannot remain inactive. She silently does her work.

When the famous elder Fr. Leo, a monk who had been going through the Jesus Prayer for 22 years, fell into despondency because he did not see any favorable results of his labor. He went to the Elder and expressed his grief to him.

“Here, Father, I have been praying the Jesus Prayer for 22 years and I don’t see any sense.

- And what kind of sense do you want to see? the Elder asked him.

“Well, father,” continued the monk, “I read that many, while performing this prayer, acquired spiritual purity, had wondrous visions, and achieved complete dispassion. And I, accursed, sincerely realize that I am the greatest sinner, I see all my filth and, thinking about this, walking along the road from the monastery to the Skete, I often tremble so that the earth does not open up and swallow such a wicked person like me.

Have you ever seen how mothers hold their children in their arms?

“Of course I saw it, father; but how does that apply to me?

- And here's how: if a child is drawn to the fire, and even cries so that they give it to him - will the mother allow the child to burn herself for the sake of his tears? Of course not; she will carry him away from the fire. Or women with children went out in the evening to get some air; and here one little one reached out to the moon and cries: let him play it. What should a mother do to comfort him? After all, you can not give him the moon. She must take it to the hut, put it in the hut, shake it: "Don't squeal, don't squeal, be quiet!" So does the Lord, my child. He is good and merciful and could, of course, give a person any gifts; but if it doesn't, it's for our own good. A feeling of repentance is always useful, and great gifts in the hands of an inexperienced person can not only bring harm, but also completely destroy him. A person can become proud; pride is worse than any vice: "God opposes the proud" (1 Peter 5:5). Every gift must be endured, and then own it. Of course, if the king gives a gift, then you can’t throw it back in his face; should be accepted with gratitude, but also try to use it with benefit. There were cases when great ascetics, having received special gifts, for pride and condemnation of others who did not have such gifts, fell into the depths of perdition.

“Still, I would like a hotel from God,” continued the monk, “then it would be both calmer and more joyful to work.

“But do you think it’s not God’s mercy to you that you sincerely recognize yourself as a sinner and work, performing the Jesus Prayer?” Continue to do the same, and if the Lord wills, He will give you a prayer of the heart.

A few days after this conversation, through the prayers of Fr. Leo did a miracle. One Sunday afternoon, when that monk, out of obedience, was serving food to the brethren and, putting the bowl on the table, said as usual: “Receive, brethren, obedience from me, the wretched,” he felt something special in his heart, as if some kind of the blessed fire suddenly set him on fire, - from delight and trembling, the monk changed his face and staggered. The brethren, noticing this, hastened to him.

- What's wrong with you, brother? they asked him with surprise.

Nothing, I have a headache.

— Are you burned out?

- Yes, it’s true that he was mad; help me, for the Lord's sake, to reach my cell.

He was carried out. He lay down on the bed and completely forgot about food, forgot everything in the world; and only felt that his heart was aflame with love for God, for his neighbors. Blissful state! Since then, his prayer has become no longer oral, as before, but smart-hearted, i.e. one that never ceases, and of which the Holy Scripture says: "I sleep, but my heart watches" (Song 5, 2).

However, the Lord does not always send mental-heart prayer: some people pray with oral prayer all their lives, and they die with it, not feeling the delights of heartfelt prayer; but even such people should not lose heart; for them, spiritual delights will begin in the future life and will never end, and all will increase with every moment, comprehending more and more of the perfection of God, pronouncing in trembling: "Holy, Holy, Holy."

The acquisition of inner prayer is essential. Without it, one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Outward, mental prayer is not enough, for it happens even in a person in whom passions are present. One smart is not enough, and very few get the inside. Here are some who say: “What is the point of praying? What's the use? Great, for the Lord, giving a prayer to the one who prays, gives the person a prayer either before death itself, or even after death. Just don't leave her. Hieromonk Michael was with us in the Skete. He did a prayer. This I know, although I did not enter into any relationship with him. When he died and everyone left his cell, I turned to him and said: “Father, Father, pray for me.” And suddenly I see: he smiled. At first I was scared, and then nothing. And it was such a smile that I will never forget... He read the Psalter. I went to the lectern, took the Psalter and unfolded it, where it had a bookmark, i.e. where he finished. The last psalm in his life he read the 117th. It says: “Open for me the gates of righteousness; let us confess to the Lord when we enter” (Ps. 117:19). This is how a soul that has found inner prayer can speak...

The secret of the trinity of the Persons of God was revealed to the Holy Prophet David, so St. Prophet David also knew about the Jesus Prayer.

Stages of the Jesus Prayer

While praying the Jesus Prayer, we may not feel the holy raptures in this life, but we will feel them in full force in the next.

The Jesus Prayer is divided into three, even four steps.

The first step is oral prayer; when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood.

The second step is mental-heart prayer; when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time; then the prayer is performed uninterruptedly, no matter what a person does: eat, drink, rest - the prayer is still performed.

The third step is already a creative prayer, which is able to move mountains with a single word. Such a prayer had, for example, the Monk Hermit Mark of Thrace. Once a monk came to him for edification. During the conversation, Mark asked: "Do you now have prayer books that can move mountains?" (Mt. 17:20; 21:21; Mk. 11:23). As he spoke, the mountain they were on trembled. St. Mark, addressing her as if she were alive, said: "Stand still, I'm not talking about you."

Finally, the fourth step is such a high prayer, which only angels have, and which is given only to one person for all of humanity.

The late father, Fr. Ambrose had an intelligent-hearted prayer. This prayer sometimes placed him outside the laws of nature. So, for example, during prayer, he was separated from the earth. His cell-attendants were honored to see this. In recent years, Batushka was as if ill and was always reclining in bed, so that he could not go to church. All services, except Mass, were performed in his cell.

Once they were serving a vigil, the Father was reclining, one cell-attendant stood in front of the icon and read, and the other behind the Father. Suddenly this latter sees that Fr. Ambrose sits on the bed, then rises ten inches, separates from the bed and prays in the air. The attendant was horrified, but remained silent. When it was his turn to read, another, standing in the place of the first, was granted the same vision. When the service was over and the cell-attendants went to their rooms, one said to the other.

- You've seen?

— What did you see?

- I saw that Batyushka separated from the bed and prayed in the air.

- Well, then it's true, otherwise I thought that it only seemed to me.

They wanted to ask about. Ambrose, but be afraid: the Elder did not like it when they said anything about his holiness. He used to take a stick, slap it on the questioner and say:

“Fool, fool, why are you asking the sinful Ambrose about this? - and nothing more.

This essential prayer has been abandoned almost everywhere, especially in women's monasteries. Its performers in some places burn out like candles.

Previously, not only monks passed the Jesus Prayer, it was also obligatory for lay people (for example, the famous historical figure Speransky, the publisher of laws, practiced the creation of the Jesus Prayer, and was always joyful, despite his many different works).

Now even the monks are distrustful of this feat. One, for example, says to the other:

— Heard?

— Yes, oh. Peter began to say the Jesus Prayer.

— Really? Well, that's right, it's crazy.

There is a proverb: "There is no smoke without fire." Indeed, there were cases when people went crazy; but from what? Yes, they took up this prayer arbitrarily, without blessing, and, having begun, they immediately wanted to get into the saints; climbed through the sky, as they say; well, they broke off.

All the servants of God, both in the monastery and in the Skete, go through the Jesus Prayer, only labor, i.e. 1 step.

However, even at this level there are up to 1,000 divisions, those who pass this prayer rise, so to speak, from one ruler to another. But a person cannot determine for himself which line he is on; counting one's virtues would be pharisaic pride. One must consider oneself as standing below everyone and strive to receive from the Lord those gifts that the Jesus Prayer undoubtedly brings with it - this is a feeling of repentance, patience and humility.

Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), later a bishop, was a novice at the Optin Skete, once asked a monk: "Tell me, father, for the good of my soul, is your prayer self-propelled?" He, seeing that the question was not proposed out of curiosity, said: "Glory to the Lord, who has vouchsafed me this gift, with which I now never part; but I received it suddenly, as if lightning had lit up me one day after many years of laboring prayer."

There are monks in the Skete who have been praying for 40 years, but it is still laboring for them; thoughts diverge.

Someone asked Fr. Ambrose: "Which word in the Jesus Prayer should be emphasized? Isn't it on the word Jesus?" “This is the great word of the Lord,” answered the Elder, “but for us, the weak, it is more useful to emphasize the word “sinful.”

The lowest step of the Jesus Prayer is its simple pronunciation, the highest is creative prayer, capable of moving mountains. Of course, there is a huge difference between the lower and higher levels. The saints reached the pinnacle of this prayer, which opened the gates of paradise to them. The Monk Seraphim, the creator of the Jesus Prayer, achieved high fame: bypassing all the ranks of the angels, he was able to praise God in the rank of the Seraphim. With them he now calls to the Lord: Holy, Holy, Holy.

The Jesus Prayer enlightens even the simple, making them great spiritual sages.

Prayer is firstly - oral, secondly - internal, heartfelt; third, spiritual. Very few have inner prayer of the heart, and those who have spiritual prayer are even rarer. Spiritual prayer is incomparably higher than inner, heartfelt prayer. Those who have it begin to learn the secrets of nature, they look at everything from the inside, at the meaning of things, and not at their outer side. They are constantly seized with high spiritual delight, tenderness, from which their eyes often shed tears. Their enthusiasm is incomprehensible to us. The delight of the greatest artists accessible to us, in comparison with their spiritual delight, is nothing, for it is spiritual. Scientific enlightenment can be assimilated by all peoples without distinction, but moral enlightenment and purity are peculiar only to a Christian...

It is more convenient to achieve moral perfection in a monastery than in the world... As in the world, so in a monastery, a person is excited by passions, but in the world they indulge in passions with pleasure, if not in deed, then in word and thought, but in a monastery there is a struggle against attraction of passions, for which the Lord receives a reward and moral purification ...

Rev. Seraphim of Sarov says that whoever doesn't say the Jesus Prayer in a monastery is not a monk... and it's scary to think that he adds: "That one is a burnt firebrand." Yes, it is necessary to have some kind of prayer, even the smallest...

This state - the transition to inner prayer in the heart - cannot be conveyed in words the way it really is. It will be understood and can be understood only by those who have experienced it themselves... The path of the Jesus Prayer is the shortest, most convenient path. But do not grumble, for everyone who walks this path experiences sorrows. Once you decided to go this way, - you went, then do not grumble if you encounter difficulties, sorrows - you need to endure ... You need to go to Kozelsk. There are two ways: one through the forest, the other through the fields. There is a dry road through the forest, but it goes around, and in the fields, although much closer, there are swamps. You decide to go through the fields, wanting to come as soon as possible, then do not blame yourself if you come to Kozelsk with one ear and wet. So here, you have to be ready for anything. The poem says:

And you will see, full of amazement,

another country shining far...

Yes, it is “the whole”... The whole being of a person will, as it were, change... He will be completely filled with amazement, seeing a shining distance from another country...

“Everything is fine here,” someone said. Kliment (Zederholm) or Leonid (Kavelin), everything is fine, only one thing is missing - this is music. It would be nice, for example, to play serious pieces by Beethoven or others on the piano. What do you say?

- Why not?

“Tell me, why are you so categorical?”

- Well, all right, I'll tell you, only I myself know about it, and my spiritual father, father Fr. Macarius: I received an inner prayer.

Yes, it's wonderful music. It doesn't matter how you enter the house: by the back or front porch.

- I decided the front, - he answered the one who questioned him.

This state is indescribable, it can only be understood by those who have experienced it themselves. Such a person can be despised by the whole world, everyone can offend, scold, vilify, insult, laugh at him - he does not care, he only repeats: "Thank God ...". The state before receiving inner prayer is described by me in a poem.

FOREWORD

It would not be superfluous to say that spiritual teaching in the course of its development does not need to obey scientific rules, because this will have to fetter its unlimited freedom and restrict its spiritual fullness of life by the narrow framework of literary law. The spirit cannot be bound. Bishop Theophan the Prelate expresses a similar opinion on this: “The doctrine of prayer should not be subject to any system, because the spiritual work, submitting to the system, must necessarily endure truncation - constraint, be deprived of its unlimited freedom, characteristic of the prayerful spirit, which is under the control of the Spirit of God, not human legitimation." Starting this work, with the help of God, we pursued the following goal - to come to the aid of fathers and brothers and in general those who wish to follow the shortest royal path to the kingdom of heaven through the humble and unceasing creation of the "Jesus Prayer". We offer the Teaching not from our own stupidity, but for the sake of brotherly love collected from the works of St. fathers and modern ascetics of piety. Although there are already collections about prayer, they talk about prayer in general, and we have collected material mainly about the Jesus Prayer, those most important elements of the teaching of St. Fathers, with the help of which anyone who wants to follow the path of self-affirmation can learn how to constantly correctly pray the Jesus Prayer with his mouth, mind and heart. There is a detailed instruction in the Philokalia, in the writings of Bp. Ignatius Brianchaninova, Ep. Feofan and many others, but not everyone will have sufficient funds to acquire those precious books in which the teaching on prayer, like fragrant flowers, is scattered over the boundless spiritual field, which we have collected in a single place, so it turned out, as a fragrant bouquet, our small brochure.

There is a lot of spirit, life and light in it for those who seek to learn the Jesus Prayer. Although, strictly speaking, it is impossible to learn prayer by book reading alone, since it requires many years of practical work and patience, patience and diligent work, and at the head of everything is God's help, which is also requested by fervent, humble prayer; however, book teaching is necessary, firstly, to test oneself in the exercise of the Jesus Prayer, since it is not so easy to find an experienced mentor for this sacred action, as it used to be in the old days, and secondly, to maintain the prayerful spirit.

We are convinced that the amiable readers of our little book will not be bored with reading where the same thought about prayer is repeatedly mentioned, but in different verbal forms, for we have described prayer comprehensively. Therefore, we think that for a heart that loves the name of the Sweetest Jesus, the repeated repetition of His name should be sweeter than honey and honeycomb. If someone is God-loving, then it will not be boring and not difficult for him to repeat day and night, and all his life the name of the Sweetest Redeemer of our Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, because this name is kind to the Christian heart and constitutes its joy, peace and imperishable food.

I.M.

HOW TO LEARN THE JESUS ​​PRAYER

For a satisfactory answer, I quote the teachings of many teachers: St. Fathers and modern ascetics of prayer, ahead of all the Eternal Teacher of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The first teacher of the "Jesus Prayer" is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself; the second is our own experience; as well as diligence, diligence, diligence, then questioning experienced (or you need to have a unanimous brother-counselor); St. Gregory of Sinai calls prayer God. Consequently, prayer itself will teach the one who prays, as St. Ladder: "Prayer is given to the one who prays without laziness." St. Macarius the Great says: “To pray somehow (but often) is in our will, but to pray truly is a gift of grace.” Saint Hesychius says that the frequency of prayer becomes a habit and turns into nature (habit), and without frequent invocation of the name of Jesus Christ it is impossible to cleanse the heart from passions and sinful inclinations. Sts. Rev. Kallistos and Ignatius advise: “Before all feats and virtues, begin in the name of Jesus Christ often, uninterruptedly, for frequency and unclean prayer leads to purity.”

Blessed Diadochus asserts that if a person called on the name of God as often as possible, he would not fall into sin. How wise these experiments are, and how close to the heart are these practical instructions of St. Fathers, especially for beginners to follow the path of prayer!

St. Ladder writes: “When the soul is darkened by impure thoughts, defeat adversaries in the name of Jesus, often repeating the Divine verbs: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” You will not find a stronger and more successful weapon either in heaven or on earth. St. Gregory of Sinai teaches: “Know that no one can control his own mind, and therefore, when thoughts are impure, call on the name of Jesus Christ more often and repeatedly, and thoughts will subside by themselves.”

Considering these experienced instructions, St. Fathers, we come to such a true conclusion that the main, only and most convenient way to gain works of salvation and spiritual perfection is the frequency of unceasing prayer, no matter how weak it may be at the beginning. Almighty God Himself, by His grace, healing infirmity and replenishing impoverishment, will correct and confirm in this matter.

The frequency of prayer will certainly become a habit and turn into nature, leading the mind and heart in time to proper instruction. Imagine at the same time: if a person strictly fulfilled this one commandment of God about unceasing prayer, then in it alone he would fulfill all the commandments. For if you unceasingly at all times, in all your affairs and occupations, prayed, secretly called on the Divine name of Jesus Christ, although at first without spiritual warmth and zeal, only under compulsion, and then you would not have had time for vain conversations, to condemnation of neighbors (especially bosses, that they build everything not in our way), to idle pastime in sensual sinful pleasures: every criminal thought and sinful deed would not be thought over as fruitfully as in an idle mind not busy with prayer; every deed would be immediately cleansed by the grace-filled power of the frequently invoked name of Jesus Christ; frequent exercise in prayer would distract the soul from sinful deeds and would attract it to union with God. Now you see how important and necessary quantity is in prayer. The frequency of prayer is the only way to acquire pure and true unceasing prayer.

To further convince of the necessity and fruitfulness of frequent prayer, as firmly as possible, note:

1) that every excitement, every thought about prayer is the action of the Holy Spirit and the voice of St. Angel, your guardian. St. Ladder says: "Whoever has acquired the Lord, then the Holy Spirit prays for him, and in him sighs are inexpressible" (Rom. 8:26). Therefore, we must fervently pray to the Holy Spirit for granting us a sincere desire to pray, for it is said: humble himself, and the heart will come to contrition and tenderness.

2) That the name of Jesus Christ, invoked in prayer, contains a self-existing and self-acting beneficent power, and therefore do not be embarrassed by the impurity or dryness of your prayer and patiently expect the fruit from the frequent invocation of the name of God. Do not listen to the inexperienced, senseless suggestion of the vain world, as if one cold cry, though relentless, is useless verbosity... No. The power of the name of God and the frequent invocation of it will bring forth their fruit in their time...

The pseudo-spiritual, super-wise philosophers constitute for themselves some kind of science of prayer on the shaky foundations of natural reason. Is it necessary to have much teaching, intelligence or knowledge to say sincerely: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”?...

Were not such frequent prayers praised by our Divine teacher Himself? Was it not these laconic, but frequent prayers that were asked for and performed miracles? Ah, the Christian soul! Be awake and do not be silent in the unceasing calls of your prayer. Even if this cry of yours comes from a heart that is still scattered and half filled with peace, there is no need. It is only necessary to continue it (this cry), not to be silent; and don't worry, it will clear itself of increased prayer. So, after these convictions that the frequency of prayer, with all its weakness, is so powerful, unconditionally accessible to a person and consists in his full will - decide to try, as far as possible for you at least one day for the first time, to spend in observing yourself and the frequency of prayer in such a way so that much more time during the day is used for prayerful invocation of the name of Jesus Christ than for other activities, of course, whoever has time at his disposal and this advantage of prayer over the affairs of life - in time will certainly prove to you that this day is not lost, but acquired for salvation; that on the scales of God's justice, frequent prayer pulls the scales of your weaknesses and transgressions and makes amends for the sins of this day in the memorial book of your conscience, puts you on the level of righteousness and gives you hope to receive sanctification and eternal life. Solitude from people and scattering objects is the main condition for attentive unceasing prayer; however, if it is impossible to take advantage of this, i.e., solitude - silence, you should not excuse yourself for rarely turning to prayer, because the quantity and frequency is available to everyone - both healthy and sick - and obeys his will. Convincing examples are those who, being burdened with duties, entertaining positions, worries and work and troubles, always called on the Divine name of Jesus Christ, and through this they learned and achieved unceasing inner prayer of the heart. St. Patriarch Photius learned this sacred prayer while on the Patriarchal throne. St. Callistus, passing through the troublesome obedience of a cook, also learned the unceasing Jesus Prayer. The simple-hearted Lazarus, burdened with many jobs for the brethren, performed the Jesus Prayer in all his studies and calmed down.

St. John Chrysostom spoke about prayer: “No one should present the answer that it is impossible to always pray to one who is busy with life's cares, or who cannot be in the temple, or because of illness, or because the temple is far away. But wherever you are, you can set up an altar to God in your mind through prayer. And so you can pray in the markets, and on travels, and sitting at the craft; you can pray anywhere and in any place.” If you take up the reading of prayer more resolutely, then you will know that the frequency of prayer is the only quickest means to salvation, it is convenient to ascend from frequent oral prayer to mental prayer, and from that prayer to heartfelt prayer, which reveals the kingdom of God within us. An external, that is, an oral exercise, as experience shows and practical workers of unceasing prayer assure, happens like this: those who decide to unceasingly call on the sweetest name of Jesus Christ, or, which is the same, to continuously repeat the Jesus Prayer, it is true, at the beginning they experience labor and struggle with laziness, but the further and more they practice this, the more sensitively they become akin to this occupation, so that subsequently his mouth and tongue acquire such mobility that, without the help of effort, they move irresistibly by themselves and say a prayer without a voice. Oral at first, but frequent prayer cry, insensitively performed by a true cry of the heart, deepens inward, becomes most pleasant, delighting in the name of Jesus and nourished by it, leads his follower to union with God.

How powerful is prayer! Prayer, as it were, regenerates a person: its action is so powerful that no force of passion can withstand it. Ep. Ignatius Brianch. says about prayer: “The Jesus Prayer is divided into two types: oral and mental. The ascetic passes from oral prayer to mental prayer by himself, provided that oral prayer is attentive. First, one must learn the oral Jesus Prayer.”

When performing the Jesus Prayer, attention is necessary - concluding the mind in the words of the prayer, extreme slowness in pronouncing it and contrite spirit.

Although these conditions are necessary for any prayer, they are more conveniently preserved and more required when performing the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer is the most fruitful of all spiritual actions. The power and dignity of this prayer lies in holy name Lord Jesus Christ. The Jesus Prayer should be said very slowly. Take a short rest after each prayer and thereby help the mind to concentrate. The non-stop recitation of the prayer disperses the mind. Take your breath with care, breathe quietly and slowly, this protects against absent-mindedness. Bowing down to sleep, say the Jesus Prayer and fall asleep with it. Accustom yourself so that when you wake up from sleep, your first thought, first word and deed is prayer. Try to accustom yourself to the Jesus Prayer so that it becomes your unceasing prayer, for which it is very convenient due to its brevity. The Holy Fathers said: “Every Christian, especially a monk, must, whether he uses food and drink, whether he stays in a cell, or is in obedience, must constantly cry out: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The newly-appeared saint of God, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, says: “A monk who does not have the Jesus prayer is a burnt firebrand.” Therefore, according to his holy mind, he is not at all a monk who does not engage in the Jesus Prayer, which really shone, according to Elder Paisios, in ancient monasticism, like the midday sun in its strength. But now this is gone... Now, they will say, there are no elders! Yes, where can they come from, when there are very few good novices now. St. Simeon the New Theologian says that those who practice the Jesus Prayer in a monastery should be compared to precious stones and beads. The elders of Athos said that such people attract God's blessing to the monastery, and for their sake they flourish with glory, wealth, peace, love and unanimity. And the rest, alien to the creation of prayer, are called only a pile of simple stones. But even those should not be disheartened, for even simple stones have their own value and are needed in their places: whoever cannot be the blessed Mary, who always sits at the feet of Jesus, be the prudent Martha, whose hard work and love God did not despise, as and the widow two mites. Rectors and superiors, if you notice in your monastery those who are engaged in the Jesus Prayer, then you should rejoice in this and by all means contribute to their reaching St. goals - doing prayer, defining them by cohabitation with more reverent and attentive to their salvation monks and nuns. Abbas of St. monasteries are obliged to inspire their brethren - by all means to remain in the doing of the Jesus Prayer, for for this we also have the commandment of God: “Watch and pray, lest you lead into misfortune” and the Holy Spirit speaks through the Apostle: “Pray without ceasing.”

In the book of St. Hesychius the Presbyter, containing the doctrine of purity of heart, mind and prayer, shows the entire path of internal spiritual self-education. This is attention, watching or keeping the mind, a feeling of repentance, humility - in a word, purity of heart, in which only the Jesus Prayer can settle, or what is the same, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Without repentance, we will never be able to form our spiritual forces, and therefore we will not achieve purity, and we will never see the Lord God in ourselves, for it is said: “... blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mat. 5: 8) ; this internal self-education of the forces cannot be replaced by any other work: it requires personal labor - namely: in the direction shown. Perhaps some will say that we humiliate and give no importance to holy obedience, by which all monasticism is saved. No, we do not humiliate, but only into the inside of it we introduce the power of God, Christ himself. Will obedience suffer any harm or belittlement when the Jesus Prayer is read during its production, especially bodily labors? On the contrary, here the person himself will be resurrected, he will receive vigor and strength for his work, and the grace of God, inherent in the name of Christ, pouring out tangibly with streams of heavenly joy, will cover the entire society of people working in the matter of obedience. Why, for example, those who bear the greatest responsible duty of guiding human souls, should not inspire their brothers or sisters when they, in the matter of monastic obedience, go to their work, so that during work, whatever they may be, each of workers secretly read the Jesus Prayer to himself?! After all, everyone can see that it is easy, and possible, and soul-saving.

They say: now prayer is impossible, perhaps it was in former times, when there were many saints!... That is why then there were many holy saints of God, that the prayer exercise was their main, essential thing, as can be seen in the creations Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. Now it is overgrown with thorns, worthless grass, that is, this most sacred work is vanity, and therefore the holy fathers have become impoverished. Ep. Ignatius says: “Unceasing prayer cannot be the property of a novice monk, but in order to become capable of unceasing prayer in due time, he must become accustomed to frequent prayer. Did you get the shortest free time do not kill him in idleness, use him for exercise in prayer. Whoever does not accustom himself to frequent prayer, delving into every word with his mind, will never receive unceasing prayer. Unceasing prayer is a gift of God, bestowed by God "on a servant and servant tested in fidelity." Whoever wishes to infallibly engage in the Jesus Prayer, Bp. Ignatius advises testing oneself by reading patristic writings, teachings, which are collected in the Philokalia, mainly in the 5th volume of the Russian edition of Ep. Feofan. As for our view, it will suffice to confine ourselves to this small brochure of ours, in which, as we said in the preface, everything that is necessary for learning the Jesus Prayer is collected from many patristic creations and modern ascetics. There are good collections about prayer, but they talk about common prayer, while we have collected mainly about the Jesus Prayer, which leads the humble worker by the shortest path to the holy mountain monasteries, of which there are many, many with the Heavenly Father.

ON THE POWER OF PRAYER

From the book "Stories of the Wanderer"

1. Prayer is strong and powerful; pray and do what you want, and prayer will lead you to right and righteous doing. Pray, and think whatever you want, and your thought will be cleansed by prayer. Prayer will give you enlightenment of the mind, console you and drive away all inappropriate thoughts. This is stated by St. Gregory of Sinai: “If you want,” he advises, “to drive away thoughts and purify your mind, drive them away with prayer, for nothing can hold thoughts apart from prayer.” This is also mentioned by St. John of the Ladder: "By the name of Jesus, conquer your mental enemies, except for this weapon you will not find another."

2. Pray and do what you want, and your deeds will be pleasing to God and useful and saving for you. Frequent prayer, no matter what it is, will not remain without fruit (says Mark the Ascetic), for in it itself there is grace-filled power. "Holy is His name, and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

3. Pray and do not try to conquer passions with your own strength. Prayer will destroy them in you. St. John of Karpathy teaches: “If you do not have the gift of temperance, then do not grieve. God requires you to be diligent in prayer, and prayer will save you.”

4. Pray and do not be afraid of anything, do not be afraid of troubles, do not be afraid of adversity; prayer will protect, turn them away. Remember the drowning - unbelieving Peter; Paul praying in prison; a monk delivered from temptation by prayer, etc. cases, this confirms the power, power and comprehensiveness of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

5. Pray, at least somehow, only always, and do not be embarrassed by anything, be spiritually cheerful and calm; prayer will arrange everything and enlighten you - remember that the saints speak about the power of prayer - John Chrysostom and Mark the Ascetic; the first asserts that “prayer, even if offered from us filled with sins, immediately cleanses us!”..., and the second says about it this way: “...somehow it is in our strength, and praying purely is a gift grace." But without the first it is impossible to achieve the second. So, sacrifice to God what is in your power, it is possible for you, and God's power will be poured into your heart, and prayer is dry and scattered, but always pure, having acquired the skill and turning into nature, it will become a pure, bright, fiery and due prayer. . “To please God, nothing more is needed than to love - love and do whatever you want,” says Blessed Augustine, and prayer is an outpouring and action of love, then truly it can be said about it that nothing more is needed for salvation, like a constant prayer. Pray and do what you want: the saints worked in various monastic obediences and achieved their desired goal - prayer. Pray and do what you want, and you will achieve the goal of prayer: if you sincerely want to bear the yoke of Christ, then you will also acquire sanctification ... Now you see how many deep thoughts are concentrated in this wise saying: “Love and do what you want. Pray and do what you want..." How gratifying and comforting is all that has been said for a sinner weighed down by weaknesses, for one groaning under the burden of warring passions!... Prayer - everything is given to it, as a comprehensive means to the salvation and improvement of the soul... So! But with the name of prayer is closely connected here and its condition: "... to pray without ceasing," the word of God commands. Consequently, prayer will then manifest its omnipotent power and fruit when it is performed frequently - unceasingly - as one Solovetsky ascetic "Melzi" beautifully put it, i.e. “Kill the milk well and there will be butter,” say a longer prayer, although with your lips, then the heart itself will speak. For the frequency of prayer, that is, the continuity of speaking for a certain time, belongs unconditionally to our will; while purity, diligence, and perfection of prayer is a gift of grace. And so, my friends and sisters in Christ, let us pray as often as possible, let us dedicate our whole life to prayer, although full of distraction at the beginning. Frequent exercise in prayer will teach mindfulness, quantity will certainly lead to quality. To learn to do something well, one must do it as often as possible, said one experienced prayer. Many confessors offer various means to combat laziness and to arouse diligence in prayer. For example:

1) we must firmly convince ourselves that God unconditionally requires prayer from us and His Word speaks of this everywhere.

2) We must constantly remember that through laziness and neglect of prayer, one cannot succeed in matters of piety and acquire peace and salvation; and therefore it will inevitably have to undergo both punishment on earth and torment in eternal life.

3) You must inspire your determination with the examples of the saints of God, who all through unceasing prayer achieved perfection, sanctification and salvation. And firmly remember that we will be punished for laziness in prayer, for all those who pleased God fervently and unceasingly prayed. How to learn to pray? Work hard and pray: prayer itself will be born, but only recognize its necessary accessories, without which it is useless, and can harm by the generation of disastrous pride; First of all, you need humble knowledge about yourself and contrite about your sins, a heart that is long-suffering, weeping, looking forward to Christ's consolation. Prayer should come from repentant feelings and a deep consciousness of one's sinfulness and one's constant guilt before God.

This is a fence for prayer and the soil on which it can only grow, that is, on humble feelings of self-abasement and self-reproach for our salvation; do not strive for high measures: for this desire comes from pride (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit themselves will come when your heart is pure, through unceasing, right - in the humble and repentant feelings of prayer).

“The Jesus Prayer is the very life of our soul - the true, essential, quenching its eternal thirst. Prayer places heavenly peace in our heart with its grace-filled presence; it gives us light, joy, bliss, gathers together our thoughts, sanctifies our feelings, pours vigor into our souls and draws us on the path of Divine life. It is also necessary to show the very path to acquiring this highest gift - prayer. The very acquisition of prayer is already the greatest gift, and, as you know, not everyone can receive gifts, but it is destined for them: that is, whoever diligently works on cleansing his heart is worthy to contain this greatest gift, and, therefore, acquisition is up to us. Work without laziness in reading the prayer to the end, and you will have light and eternal life. But above all and most needed is God's help, without which, as you know, we cannot do anything good. But the help of God will not come if we do not seek it in doing our proper deeds; and so, in order to acquire what we want to have as our property - St. prayer, you need to enter by the deed into the work of this deed. You need to read the oral Jesus Prayer in every deed, and in every place, trying to arouse deep repentant feelings in yourself; to see one's sinful guilt before God, and among people to consider oneself the worst, and to be compassionate towards all. The true dignity of a person lies in having a humble opinion of himself even in his great deeds, covering everyone with love, and most of all with the desire of the poor, the poor, the oppressed.

Let's turn to heartfelt prayer. She, according to St. fathers of teaching, is called the mother of all virtues. This is because it gives rise to every virtue, or rather, it gives strength to its fulfillment. For its essence is union with the Lord, who, being in our hearts, gives us His grace-filled power to do every good thing.

Question: What is the essence of prayer?

Answer: Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal. 5:21).

When prayer, with the blessing of God, brings grace into our hearts and thereby unites us with the Lord, we will immediately notice that it powerfully stops the flow of impure thoughts. And this, of course, is in accordance with the Gospel story, that when the woman who was bleeding touched the Lord Jesus, the source of blood immediately dried up in her. (Mark 5:29). So it is here: as soon as our mind touches the Lord Jesus in His most holy name, the fermentation of vain thoughts and the uncontrollable impetuosity of the mind immediately stop, which, as everyone knows from experience, confuses the ascetic of prayer most of all. The Jesus Prayer instills inexpressible love for God and neighbors in the heart. Rather, it is the very essence of love, this is its power, property and quality of prayer. For the one who prays, the greatest misfortune in this life is that if he has to, willingly or unwillingly, offend his neighbor, until then he will not find peace in his soul until he pacifies his brother by all means depending on him. The exercise of the Jesus Prayer separates a person from everything earthly, and this is required by the very essence of prayer, which, according to the teaching of St. fathers, there is an alienation of the visible world, a rejection of cares and every thought, and an approach to God. In addition, the Jesus Prayer, having penetrated into a person, rejects his mind to a deep, extensive and precise understanding of Holy Scripture, and this action comes from the union of our spirit with the spirit of Christ.

All zealots in their salvation, no matter who they are, can begin to engage in the Jesus Prayer. At first, the Lord gives everyone a taste of its spiritual sweetness, but then it also happens that spiritual consolation recedes; the heart becomes cruel, cold and even hostile to the occupation of prayer, and the mind is filled with all sorts of thoughts. The condition is grave and hopeless. Here is a touchstone, and many of those who began the Jesus Prayer do not endure, but leave it and, as before, begin to be the sons of their age, devoted to vanity and earthly care. But this difficult state of the spirit must be experienced by the ascetic. The stronger you decide to endure this temptation, the sooner you can be the winner of a hostile spirit. With time, labor and diligence, little by little the spiritual treasure of prayer is obtained, which unites us with God. And without prayer, as the Divine Fathers write, it is impossible to unite with God. I heard a lot, they say: “Is a prayer scattered, inattentive and full of all kinds of thoughts pleasing to God?”... But we all need to know and firmly remember that it is impossible to do any work at once.

Everyone knows from experience how much time, labor and care it took for each of us to learn our business, which we do in our lives. And even more so to learn prayer - the highest science - heavenly Divine. It is necessary first to go through the first stages of training and skill in prayer in an extremely weak state, which does not correspond to its great dignity; but this should not serve as a reason for us not to accept prayer. For everywhere gradual development is necessary. And a baby cannot be an adult right away, but it takes time, waiting and patience. This sequence must also be passed by those who strongly wished to learn the Jesus Prayer. When, with the help of God, we are diligent and diligent, as far as it is possible for us, in its first degrees, then by this we will open the way for ourselves into its further paths, which are preserved in its highest degrees. But it is not necessary to desire and seek these lofty measures prematurely, since this will be an encroachment on God's sanctuary and an illegal intrusion into the treasury of spiritual blessings that are given by God at His discretion and righteous reward for labors and purification of oneself from passions and for diligent exercise in the first steps of prayer. Great evil happens to those when inexperienced prayer books, who have not established themselves in feelings of repentance, without fully realizing their state corrupted by sin and the weakness of the forces for doing good, rush without experienced guidance, arbitrarily and presumptuously into the spiritual realm. They are comprehended by the wrath of God, and they fall into the so-called "demonic delusion" in the monastic language, which is self-delusion, i.e., that which is a sheer lie is revered as the truth. Not to need, but even to despise the advice of elders... What is worse than that? Such self-conceit is alienated from the life of God. It is necessary for everyone to start the work of prayer from the very first and initial stage, invariably following the law of gradualness, which, if necessary even in the affairs of this age, then even more so in the spiritual maturation of a person. Here leaps are impossible, and by some kind of cunning it is impossible to steal a single gift from God, therefore it is necessary to bow your neck under the yoke of obedience and humility; to follow the path that the former reverend fathers, leaders and our mentors have walked before us, leaving their precious writings for our edification. So, with all reverence, joyfully and willingly pronounce with your lips, in every occupation, at all times, day and night, these sacred words: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

The name of God is holy and even the source of holiness, and therefore from the pronunciation of Him the air is sanctified, your mouth, tongue and body are sanctified; the demons, because of the terrible name of God for them, do not even have to approach the place where you are, proclaiming the name of God. This is the whole science of this sacred work. In addition to God's help, first of all, diligent diligence and diligence is needed. Do not be lazy, stay in this exercise as much as it depends on you, even if you spent your whole life until your death in the oral exercise of the Jesus Prayer, only in this case you will acquire great things, because your intention is holy and pleasing to God, your occupation is honest and venerable, and labors are fruitful and salutary. And blessed are you, and you will be well. God will give you a taste of the fruits of your labors either at death or after death, when your soul is freed from the flesh and ascends to heaven in the midst of airy ordeals, that prayer action in which we are not lazy, until the end of the exodus of the soul, will surround it and, like a fiery flame, it will be inaccessible to the torturers - demons, for the sake of the all-powerful name of Jesus Christ.

At this stage, the Jesus Prayer is called labor, work, bodily, oral, as it is pronounced by bodily members - with the mouth and tongue. We will call the next degree the second, because at this second degree the Jesus Prayer is called "intelligent" and in its action it is "spiritual", because it acts with the participation of spiritual strength - reason or mind. The method of prayer is the same, i.e., it is produced by the mouth, but only the mind is included - it fits or enters - into the word of prayer. This conclusion is because it keeps the mind from wandering. The mind cannot be kept from wandering in any other way, except by the almighty name of Jesus Christ. Pronouncing the sacred words of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,” and enclosing the mind in these words, it is not enough to be limited and content with this alone, although even this cannot even be expressed in words; how useful, joyful and saving: but at this stage it is still impossible to feel the full power of the name of Jesus Christ. It is necessary that the mind, immersed in the name of Jesus Christ, see Christ Himself in it. But how to see?... In all the writings of the Holy Fathers, it is strictly forbidden to compose with the mind any image or outline - a form or a figure.

The essence of Jesus Christ is indescribable and by no means invisible to us. No matter how we imagine, we will completely and certainly sin, instead of the truth we will hold the false. Therefore, it is necessary that the mind be held in the words of prayer, be completely naked, that is, alien to any image and thought. The very name of God and the infinite grace-filled power contained in it will produce its characteristic effect. It will sanctify the mind, keep it from soaring, enlighten its understanding - especially in Divine Scripture, drive away its natural darkness and blindness, in other words, the mind will be illuminated by the light of Christ. These are the two degrees of the Jesus Prayer - verbal and mental, as produced by external forces of the soul, they cannot harm a person, unless he is proud and despise others. For pride is the root cause of all prelest, and humility is the attraction of the grace and power of God. Of course, prayer can be difficult, especially at the beginning of its production and getting used to it. But be that as it may, it is absolutely necessary in the work of our salvation, and nothing can replace it. We regard prayer as a feat, which in fact should be our rest, peace, enjoyment and joy. When we sit at the table and eat food, then we don’t call this a feat, and prayer is also the food of our soul, the breath of the spirit. But let prayer be a feat, nevertheless, it is absolutely necessary in the matter of salvation, all success in this matter depends on prayer, and without prayer there is no salvation of the soul. Without it, our spiritual life hungers, thirsts and dies like a fish without water. And how could it be otherwise?... Our spiritual life is nourished and supported solely by the Holy Spirit and is exalted by the purity of the soul, but we ourselves do not have the beginning of this life, just as we do not have the beginning of bodily life either, but through food we borrow it from outside. How is the life of the spirit drawn from the Holy Spirit? Just like bodily food - from food: by lifting up hands, saying prayers with the lips, “I opened my mouth and attracted the spirit”, with a hearty sigh “from the depths I cried to Thee, Lord, Lord, hear the voice of my prayer.” If a person, according to his strength, uses the labors possible for this and prays to the Lord for granting him this priceless gift, then he really becomes the owner of a heavenly blessing. And the beginnings of this bliss are based here precisely in our prayerful service to God, which at the beginning of its getting used to it does not promise such unimaginably high fruits, but as prayer is introduced into the heart, the Divine light gradually begins to flare up in it, transforming its natural fullness into a spiritual quality. . Prayer is an ascent to God in our heart. Prayer is the key to the treasures of all heavenly blessings. There is no such thing that could not be received by prayer, if only what was asked was good and asked as it should; to those who pray in faith, all things are possible. History of St. The Churches of the Old and New Testament presents us with miracles of prayer. One thing can already be called a miracle, that a small creation - a person can always freely talk with the great and omnipotent Creator of heaven and earth, the King of the Archangels, the Lord of the Universe ... What an honor for the one who prays! This is an angelic honor, an angelic occupation! Without teaching himself to pray here on earth, such a person cannot enter heaven and dwell in it, as he is not at all ready and capable of going there, for heavenly life, its very essence, is prayer. All celestials are perfected by prayer, i.e., the glorification of His Creator.

Everyone needs to know that the Jesus Prayer needs the guidance of experienced mentors and sufficient preparation in the first stages, which is its main strength. But since now there are almost no mentors, and although, perhaps, where they are, it is difficult to find them, the guidance of this Godly and saving work can be sought in the spiritual writings of St. fathers. If, however, this may be difficult for someone due to a lack of understanding of Holy Scripture and due to the underdevelopment of mental abilities, then it is best and safer for such a person to read the Jesus Prayer only with his lips, in simplicity of heart, not to accept and not believe in any manifestations, for even Satan is in the form of a holy angel. Read freely, do not rush to chase one prayer after another, try to hear every word yourself, then God will hear you. One must have an undoubted hope that the Lord, for the good command of the heart, will eventually help one to stand on the true paths of heartfelt prayer. The holy fathers said: “Pray, as you can, with your impure prayer at the beginning, and in time the Lord will give you pure prayer,” for it is written: “... give prayer to the one who prays” (Psalm 93). The one who prays also needs to know what often happens, especially at the beginning, when engaging in the Jesus Prayer: a person reads it without any attention and without any prayerful feeling of pleasantness, whole clouds of various thoughts, and between them both stingy and blasphemous, break the mind like sea waves, and at the same time, the persistent nasty barking is the suggestion of the enemy: “Is your prayer pleasing to God? life and more experienced than you. Are you better than others, that you take up unceasing prayer. There was a time when St. fathers, "but now the difficult time has come and the impossible, quit and live as everyone else lives" ...

And then it also happens, out of nowhere, and the adviser is the same, which just says the same thing that we have in our thoughts, which we ourselves, perhaps, are ready for. And here there is a touchstone for everyone and a crucible of temptation, which is necessary for each of those called to this divine service to pass into the number of the elect.

God willing, this mournful time will pass and you will see the joyful morning of Christ's Resurrection. The light of Christ will shine with time and in your heart and will illuminate your entire inner being with the morning rays of heavenly joy, and you will see the dawn of eternal life undoubtedly in the feelings of your heart, only, having begun this Divine work, do not leave it at all. It happens that occupations are suppressed by fuss, which, of necessity, will have to be left for a day or two, but this will not be an embarrassment for you, and as soon as you recover, immediately continue the prayer that you have begun, gladdening your heart and feeding your soul with heavenly bread. A truly great and glorious deed, pleasing to God and saving us, is to pronounce the Divine name of our Savior with only one mouth. We seem to see no benefit from this, but meanwhile the oral pronunciation of the name of Jesus Christ frightens the demons, they are scorched by the fire of the Godhead, and they flee from the place where they hear it.

The Name of God, being holy in itself, sanctifies our lips, tongue and air, and everything around us. The Holy Fathers also noticed that when practicing the Jesus Prayer, especially at the beginning of it, a person sees himself incomparably worse at a time when he was not engaged in prayer; and hence another, out of inexperience, comes into doubt about her shrine; this happens naturally according to the order of necessity, i.e., the light of prayerful grace, proceeding from the Divinity of Jesus Christ and penetrating into the darkness of the soul, frightens and drives away the evil force that has been calmly staying there until then, and it, alarmed, sets in motion all the passions that were at rest . Bishop Ignatius Bryanchaninov speaks about it this way: “... let this be a sign that our prayer has begun to produce its characteristic effect, therefore, let us not be afraid, but be encouraged by the hope that our prayer is proceeding in due order and has entered into its legal rights, to exile evil spirits". The Divine Chrysostom says: “... I beg you, brethren, never to abandon the rule of prayer, or neglect it, for I heard some fathers who said: what kind of monk is he if he neglects the rule of prayer!” He: “Abide unceasingly with the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart of the Lord and the Lord swallow up the heart, and the two become one. However, this matter is not a matter of one day or two - but of many years and a long time, for a great feat is required and many years, so that the enemy will erupt and Christ will dwell. St. Ladder says: “... let us not be surprised if we see that at the beginning of our monastic life we ​​are more overcome by passions than when we lived in the world. First, all the causes of diseases must arise, and then follow the healing. It is necessary that this sea be agitated, roared and vomited out everything that was inside of what belonged to the old man. The enemy, not enduring the name of Jesus Christ, proceeds, but proceeding produces rebellion and indignation, therefore, one should not pay any attention, but read and read the Jesus Prayer, even if only verbally, for the inability of a better one, and try to fill the entire course of one’s life with it. life, in all the activities of monastic life. Labor, time, and, in particular, God's assistance will overcome sinful properties, and over time, this labor prayer will shine, like a smart sun in its strength. The Jesus Prayer first cleanses our mind from vain thoughts, sanctifies the heart with holy grace, rejects it from addiction to the world and directs it to the next age, to the primordial light of Christ, the Son of God, in whom there is eternal life.

There is no doubt that it is possible to pray to the Son of God besides the so-called Jesus Prayer, even without words - with one aspiration of the mind and heart. But this, firstly, is the property of those who have succeeded in spiritual life, which is by no means inaccessible to most people; secondly, even in such contemplative, subtle and immaterial prayer, the name of Jesus Christ cannot be excluded. Otherwise, what will prayer be based on?

Question: Why does a person get pleasure when reading a prayer?

Answer: Pleasure or displeasure is received not from prayer, but from pride and high opinion of oneself, disobedience to the authorities and disobedience to elders, who seek spiritual rewards and other sins. Whoever, in humility, humility, deep feelings of his sinful state, exercises himself in divine action, such one finds what he is looking for - the kingdom of God, which is within us. Those who do not advise anyone to engage in the Jesus Prayer are wrong, believing that, for example, young age can be an obstacle. But we admit that there is no such time in a person’s life when this sacred occupation would be inconvenient, and the earlier in age, the better, because at this time our heart is not yet struck by earthly passions, the vanity of the age, and the passions of the flesh are still they did not rise up and take possession of the soul: as long as the heart is pure, the word of God completely takes possession of it - and produces fruit 60 and 100.

The story from the book of the Stranger gives us an example of how one pilgrim accustomed a 12-year-old boy to the Jesus Prayer. “The boy was so accustomed to prayer that he almost always did it in every case without any compulsion from me. I asked him about prayer, and he replied that I had an irresistible desire to always pray.” And the young man George of Constantinople learned perfect prayer precisely as young men, which means that at any age one can create and improve in prayer.

There are especially essential methods for inner prayer, and there are three of them among the Holy Fathers.

1st) The frequency of invoking the name of Jesus Christ.

2nd) Attentiveness to this invocation.

3rd) Entry into oneself, or, as the Fathers of the Holy Church express it, "the entry of the mind into the heart."

“If quantity leads to quality, then the frequent, almost uninterrupted invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, although scattered at the beginning, can lead to attention and warmth of the heart; for human nature is able to assimilate a certain mood through frequent use and habit. To learn to do something well, you need to do it more often.

Whoever wants to achieve inner prayer must decide to often, almost continuously, call on the name of God, that is, orally pronounce the Jesus Prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” without being embarrassed if at the beginning this invocation is impure from thoughts. It must first be pronounced loudly, so that your ears can hear, in a touching tone, so that the soul is aroused, so that the heart softens and brings tears of contrition.

When the larynx gets tired, then in a whisper and only after the thought, as St. Dorotheus.

Says St. Gregory of Sinai: “In order to be further aroused to the unceasing creation of prayer, the student should make it a rule for himself, depending on the time, to call on a certain number of times several times, that is, so many hundreds, or thousands of prayers with a rosary”; for example, the elder appointed the wanderer to start with three thousand, and then he could make 12 thousand a day or more; determine yourself according to your strength - well, at least one thousand a day and then add a thousand a month later. The aforementioned wanderer learned to make 12 thousand a day after 10 days, but this image is not feasible for everyone, but for a clear example there is a lot of use here, because the wanderer has been preparing for many years or, better to say, God's grace itself prepared this chosen one of God for the way of true prayer. And so, the experienced elder pointed out the right direction to the cause, which for a long time bore the abundant fruit of the Jesus Prayer. Prayer should be read both day and night, who has how much spare time for this business outside of class, but as we said above, that during every lesson one should say a prayer, and outside of class give it time with greater attentiveness and observation of the mind and heart in which order they act. Extreme slowness is needed in prayer: you need to pronounce the words stronger - more clearly, straining your mouth and tongue. After some time, the lips and tongue of the practitioner acquire such a habit and, as it were, self-movement, that without any special effort they will move by themselves with the utterance of the name of God, even without a voice. Further, the mind will begin to listen to this movement of the tongue and gradually clear itself of scattering and come to the heart, where they will mutually beg the Lord for permission from foreign bonds, according to the saying of the Savior Himself: Az". When the mind makes friends with the heart, then the flesh will submit to them, and, consequently, then all three will begin to work for the one Creator - God.

Whoever wants to achieve inner prayer through attention should keep to solitude as much as possible, avoid conversations with people, pray slowly and not a lot suddenly, but with some arrangement, deepen the mind into prayer words in the way that happens when reading a book carefully, drive away as much as possible thoughts and in every possible way listen to Jesus, whom he calls, sometimes, having made one prayer, be silent a little, as if waiting for God's answer, try to keep your attention and in case of distraction, always remember that you have decided for the Lord to remain in unceasing attention, prayer, while purifying your mind from thoughts.

Let us create oral prayer, although in the beginning absent-minded; cherishing the hope of receiving grace-filled prayer, and if we do not have oral prayer, then how can we hope to receive grace-filled prayer? Whoever has not sowed in his own field, there can be no expectation of harvest, for oral, correctly performed prayer is in feelings of repentance, the same sowing on good land; there is an undoubted hope for the gathering of fruits in due time, when it pleases God.

Prayer is a ray of heavenly peace, shining with its grace-filled light in the darkness of the soul; at the same time, it both fills us with great joy and gladdens us with the hope of eternal life, showing its spark in the radiance of prayerful light. The Oral Jesus Prayer is precious to us because, with its brevity, you can always read it, no matter what we are doing (except sin) at any time and in any place; but despite its brevity, it contains divine, almighty power in the name of Jesus Christ. Spiritual power in the Jesus Prayer can at times be felt by anyone who does it, even if he is weak. Let those of us not be embarrassed who, in this occupation, feel dryness, heaviness, reluctance, laziness, and other accumulations contrary to prayer, plunging into hopelessness, despondency, and despair. Every deed done in this world cannot be good all at once. How much labor and time it takes to learn a craft, art, to achieve a high science, on which one works almost all one's life, and all this care is only for temporary benefits; to achieve these goals, they do not even spare life itself. If it is difficult to achieve earthly sciences, then shouldn’t heavenly science, the inner prayer to the Lord, be so much more difficult? Anyone who embarks on the feat of the exercise of the Jesus Prayer, even if he does not see any fruit, even for many years, let him not be embarrassed and not come to hopelessness that his labor is vain. Those blissful times of silence and joy will come when the sun of truth will illuminate the mind of the one who prays with the morning rays of eternal light. Let the leader of the prayer patiently abide in the oral exercise of prayer, not bored and not burdened, even if only with his tongue and lips he could pronounce the Divine name of our Savior. There is no attention, no zeal, no heart. Don't be embarrassed! This is so at first, and then it will be easier, just don’t quit, but stay in humility and patience, work hard and you will certainly reach a blissful state. The work of practicing the Jesus Prayer, no matter how a person engages in it, is beneficial to the soul, saving and inexpressibly gracious, because it shows its beneficial effect of being by the aspiration of one’s soul in the highest work, which gives him honor and praise. The impact is accepted, and weakness is our natural property, healed only by the Lord's grace - therefore, let us not be embarrassed that we cannot pray with a pure mind and a burning heart, but as we can. Let us read the Jesus Prayer, even if a sea of ​​thoughts overwhelms us and our hearts boil with vile passions. God willing, everything will pass and disappear, inborn evil will be expelled from our souls, and God's holiness, peace and love will be infused, and we will see the light of eternal life. Those who speak not quite exactly are those who teach first to continually acquire various virtues, cast out passions from oneself, purify the heart, and then begin the Jesus Prayer. You can not do it this way. For by our own strength we absolutely cannot do anything good, as Holy Scripture teaches us. "Without Me you can't do anything." But it is necessary to carry out all your affairs with the help of prayer, while doing it. And this is in accordance with the true position of our earthly life, in order to ask God's help for every matter - through prayer, therefore, prayer should be ahead of all occupations, like the Apostle. says: "First of all, pray." So, with prayer within oneself, one should go to every work that is proper for us and, having done it, give thanks to the Generous God.

If we, which God forbid, spend the time of our lives without prayer, then at the time of death great evil will befall us. St. Hesychius the Presbyter says: “Without prayer, the soul cannot go through aerial ordeals, but will be restrained and taken by demons, because it does not have the cover of prayerful grace.” And here is our zealous word: to remain in obedience, love to God and neighbor, humble yourself in every possible way, keeping your heart pure, especially from fornication thoughts, for it is said: “... grace will not enter into an evil-artistic soul”, without judging anyone, everyone Forgiving, may you improve forgiveness, and we shall be saved. St. Ladder says: "... no matter how great deeds we go through, but if we do not have a sad and painful heart, then they are vain and useless." One can say without embarrassment, and this: is it not now that spiritual prosperity in humanity is going on so coldly and sluggishly, that this most necessary and God-pleasing and saving knowledge of one’s poverty, disorder, when the lesser began to rule over the higher, has receded from it, for the reason our pride and spiritual aspirations and movements are buried in the sensual realm of life. Although each of us can observe ourselves and notice our weakness, for the most part we justify ourselves in our own eyes and in front of our consciousness - because of this we do not have truth, truth, sincerity and God's action in spiritual blindness - “blind them for malice." A person does not see the need for God's help, does not seek it, does not ask, and it does not come to him.

Let us point out here, as far as possible on our part, the truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God. Philaret of Moscow says: "God is in Jesus." They will say: Jesus is a human name, there is Joshua, Jesus, the son of Sirach. Such a conclusion must be recognized as heretical; such a saying is offensive to the truly orthodox Christian heart. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity is the true God. We cannot possibly allow a true Orthodox Christian to confuse the name of Jesus the God with the names of Joshua and others. Those, as people, were limited; Jesus did not commit a single sin, and without sin there is only one God - Jesus Christ - the hypostatic person of the Holy Trinity. When we pray, we read an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,” then can anyone think or mentally turn to another Jesus, and not to the Divine Sweetest Jesus Christ? .. Says: “Sweetest Jesus, save me and together humiliate and belittle this Divine Name - Jesus? It’s scary for us to think that someone would dare to belittle this great terrible and glorious name, which the saints themselves uttered with fear and trembling. Look, look, you who doubted the divinity of Jesus, what preachers, holy apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit and illumined by the truth of Christ, are telling you, they proclaimed throughout the world that “Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of God, and everyone who believes in Him, shall not perish, but shall see eternal life” (John 3:13). All the prophets testify that the remission of sins can be accepted in His name - Jesus Christ, and that He is the appointed of God Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42-43). You see, how God Himself exalted His Only Begotten Son Jesus, called Him Judge, and gave the power to judge the living and the dead, but who can judge the living and the dead, as soon as there is only one God - Jesus Christ. Be afraid of Jesus, the righteous Judge, so that you do not fall under His righteous wrath for belittling His Divine name - Jesus. The names belonging to the Son of God are all equivalent, one name cannot be diminished and another can be exalted, and one name cannot be taken away or separated from another, just as the head is taken away from the body, so is the name of Jesus from the Son of God, who is God.

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov says: “In prayer, you need your own practice and the development of your own spiritual forces.” Books do not teach, they are only needed to increase diligence and verification and guidance, but you need to go on your own and make your way into prayer by all means with your own work - long, uninterrupted and many years. You need to make the acquisition of the Jesus Prayer the main goal of your life, a fundamental and essential matter. Modern monks are mistaken when they want to replace prayer with deeds of obedience... Obedience itself is valuable if it is imbued with prayer. And, although it is useful for the sake of humility and humiliation of one's will, it does not feed souls with immortal food. That is why, almost everywhere in the monasteries, monks and nuns mourn, grumble, become cowardly, suffer negligence, fall into despondency and laziness. The soul is spiritually hungry, and nothing will satiate it, as soon as prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, as soon as it contains an infinite fullness of spiritual blessings and unites us with the Son of God Himself, Who is the One Face of the Holy Trinity. Without prayer, one cannot be united with God, and without this, what kind of salvation can there be?.. How fervently St. Apostle Paul: “I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He will give you, according to the riches of His glory, be firmly established by His Spirit in the inner man. By faith Christ dwell in your hearts” (Eph. 3:14,16). The property of the Jesus Prayer is such that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ itself can exist, live, and move forward only through prayer, and without it, i.e., without prayer, it, i.e., faith, is at rest. Faith without an engine-prayer is dead. A layman who withdraws from personal or public-church prayer removes himself from communion with God and, like a foreigner who does not know God, perishes, and such a person is not a Christian, but a pagan. Moreover, a monk who does not have a monastic seal - a prayer: this is not a monk, but a commoner.

Nowadays, one can often hear the words of ancient wisdom that apply specifically to the monks: "Save, save your soul." This means: do not yawn yourself, but look into both eyes under your feet and do not look around, but delve into the performance of the Jesus Prayer and stay inside yourself, as if there is no one around you, only you and God. A difficult time has come, especially for God-loving souls; everywhere they are cramped; from mental enemies, incessant assault with all sorts of obscene suggestions of thoughts and movements, and from others - ridicule, contempt and slander, and this is true according to what was said: "... and his enemies are his household." Perhaps the end of the world is not far away, and therefore we must hasten to engage in prayer, which is indispensable for those who seek salvation. But writing about it is not enough for this whole life, read where it is explained in more detail. Unless you are satisfied with a small booklet, then look at Paisius Velichkovsky, Nil Sorsky, Bp. Ignatius Brianchaninova, Ep. Theophanes and more...

Just as a bee collects honey from everywhere for food, so you think great works, for after rest, it is said, no one will ascend to heaven. Without prayer to Jesus Christ, we cannot have anything good, but it rests on a humble feeling and contrition for our sins in our hearts. It is necessary to weep and sob about our corruption, in which we all find ourselves, but, unfortunately, we do not want to realize this through our pride. From this there is no progress in the spiritual life. And now, if you really want to acquire eternal salvation, then you must primarily strive to acquire two things: firstly, the unceasing performance of the inner Jesus Prayer and, secondly, in order to acquire a heart that is sad, painful and weeping over your sins. And from here naturally a humble opinion about oneself and a vision of oneself should come; on this basis, only one can plant - plant the Jesus Prayer. The Lord says: "I have come to bring fire into the earth" of our hearts. It comes from the Lord and is acquired by us through love for Jesus Christ and prayer, which secretly works in the heart in His name. And in order to acquire the Jesus Prayer, personal labor is needed; many books have been written to test this action. All of us, monks, can really be condemned for the fact that, having such means, we do not worry about acquiring a priceless good, and therefore our whole life is not sanctified by the inner light of Christ, which usually pours out in the heart in the name of Jesus Christ, passes in darkness and canopy mortal. The monks try to replace the Jesus Prayer with something, not enduring the difficulties of doing it, which happens at the beginning, but in vain; it is an obligatory law on every monk, and there is no means by which it could be replaced. Usually they comfort themselves with the words: "... obedience is higher than the pestle and prayer", not understanding the meaning of these words. According to the Holy Fathers, true obedience necessarily serves as the basis of the Jesus Prayer, but we accept this opposite meaning. The blessed leader of the Jesus Prayer, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, says the following about prayer: “It is natural for the poor to ask, but it is natural for a person who has become impoverished by the fall to pray.” The path to God is prayer, the measurement of the path being made - various prayer states, into which the one who prays correctly and constantly gradually enters. Learn to pray to God correctly; having learned to pray correctly, pray constantly and you will inherit salvation. Salvation comes from God in its own time. For the correctness of prayer, it is necessary that it be pronounced from a heart that is in a sense of poverty of spirit, a contrite and humble heart. Prayer is the communion of life. Leaving it brings an invisible death to the soul. What air is for the life of the body, the Holy Spirit is for the life of the soul. The soul breathes this holy, mysterious spirit through prayer. If you are busy with public duties, and if you are a monk, and are busy with monastic obedience and do not have the opportunity to devote as much time to prayer as much as you want, do not be embarrassed by this: the legitimate and conscience-passed service prepares a person for fervent prayer. How about this and St. The Ladder says: “... brother, having been in obedience all day, and at the end of it, getting up for the cell rule, he is immediately filled with prayer” (Lest. 4, Word on the last). “Quality is replaced by quantity. Nothing contributes so much to success in prayer as a conscience satisfied with God-pleasing activity. The soul of prayer is attention” (St. S. N. Theologian). Just as a body without a soul is dead, so prayer without attention is dead. “Attention is the initial gift of Divine grace, sent down to the worker and patiently suffering in the feat of prayer” (Dobrotol. part 4, ch. 24). “If, during your prayer, the appearance of Christ, or an Angel, or some kind of saint, in a word, to say any image, appeared to you sensually or was depicted by itself in you mentally, do not accept this phenomenon as true and do not enter into with it into conversation ”(St. Grig., Sinait Dobrotol. ch. 1), otherwise you will certainly be deceived and severely damaged spiritually, which happened to many. “Delight in prayer is the exclusive lot of the elect of the saints of God, renewed by the Holy Spirit. The feelings generated by prayer and repentance consist in relief of conscience, peace of mind, reconciliation with one's neighbor, contentment with one's life, mercy and compassion for humanity, abstinence from passions, obedience to God; be happy with these feelings. Hurry with prayer, thirsty soul for salvation, hasten in the footsteps of the Savior, endure generously and humbly the sorrows and humiliation that He will allow you on the path of prayer. For success in prayer, help from temptations is certainly needed. Tempting us from without, the demons also work evil within us with various thoughts; here every spiritual warrior must wage a fierce battle, here is the victory of one side or the other, here is the acquisition of art for a good warrior, and victorious crowns for art. An apparently insignificant predilection, an apparently innocent love for some object, animate or inanimate, and this already brings down the mind and heart from heaven and casts them down on earth. Saint Ignatius invites the servant of God to choose a prudent, daily, short rule, constantly fulfilled, in accordance with the forces and type of life; this is a great help to those who are zealous for their salvation. Having acquired this blessed habit, he always fulfills the rule at certain hours, as soon as the prayer time approaches.

St. Barsanuphius V. says: “The unceasing invocation of the name of God is healing, killing not only the passions but their very action” (answer 421). St. John of Lestwich. advises to enclose the mind in the word of prayer, and no matter how many times “it is removed from the words, bring it in again” (word 28, ch. 17). This mechanism is especially useful and convenient in our time when true mentors are scarce. When the mind is in this way in attention, then the heart will enter into sympathy with the mind with tenderness - prayer will be performed together with the mind and heart. The words of the prayer must be pronounced very slowly, even protractedly, so that the mind has the opportunity to penetrate the words.

Consoling and instructing the monks living together who are engaged in monastic obedience, encouraging their zeal in prayer, Ladder says: “From monks engaged in obedience, God does not require prayer completely pure from entertainment. Do not lose heart, being concealed by absent-mindedness, be merciful and constantly force your mind to return to yourself, for perfect freedom from absent-mindedness is the property of Angels ”(word 4, ch. 93). “We, who are enslaved to passions, will pray to the Lord constantly, relentlessly, because all passionate people have passed through such prayer to a state of impassibility. If you unremittingly train your mind so that it does not go anywhere from the words of prayer, then it will be with you during your meal. Concerned more about the quality of prayer - about attention by enclosing the mind in words - let us pray a lot. Quantity is the cause of quality. The Lord gives pure prayer to those who pray lazily, a lot, and constantly by their prayer, which is defiled by entertainment. Novice monks need a long time to learn to pray. It is impossible, soon after entering the feat of prayer, to achieve this supreme virtue. Both time and gradual achievement are needed for the ascetic to mature for prayer in all respects, as the flower and fruit of zealous prayer workers who work for a long time and do not achieve spiritual prayer: “Cheer up, good laborers!”

In the preface of Philotheus of Sinai it is said: “But for the ancient, and not the present, tochi, the death is multiplied, who are not yet granted visual prayer in the stomach, there should not be doubts about this: it’s not true that God has no place, but in every possible way for their labors, having worked hard in the true paternal way of practical prayer, it gives them action at death, or after death, a visual one prayer, with it, like a fiery flame, air ordeals come. Paisiy Velichkovsky Art. 95 explains this in a simplified speech as follows: “In our weak time, spiritual workers should not be perplexed and embarrassed that they do not see the fruits of their doing mind-heart prayer. But the ancient fathers had a more lofty deed, deed prayer, that is, oral prayer, correctly performed in feelings of humility, contrition and repentance throughout their lives, and many during their lifetime were not worthy of speculative prayer of grace and did not doubt in receiving God's mercy for their labors , although after death to see salvation. And indeed, untruth has no place with God, but in every possible way he vouchsafes his diligent humble workers with great gifts of grace, others at the end of this life and a few days or hours before death reveals His Divine presence, or the Mother of God, St. Angels and Saints, in these heavenly manifestations giving to see with conviction that the labors they endured, humility and finite patience were in vain; but has a part with the saints. And the Righteous Giver vouchsafes others already after the exodus of the soul from the body with such grace that, ascending from the earth and passing through the air spaces, like a fiery lightning, with its ascent, this soul scorches the air tormentors - demons, and does not linger on any ordeal, for the grace of St. The Jesus Prayer, or better to say, the Sweetest Jesus Christ Himself, lifts up a pure soul; As Scripture says, God is the bridge from earth to heaven. Seeing the faith and patience of the saints, we will also endure to the end, although in oral, but correctly performed prayer, and the Gracious Giver will not deprive us of a part of these saints.

BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE PRAYER OF JESUS ​​OLDS OF THE OPTINA DESERT

Elder Leoanswers to student questions.

“When no holy thought acts on an irritated or insensible heart, what should one do to soften oneself?”

One must retire, force oneself to prayer, to the outpouring of the soul before God by the word of God, prayer, humility, a grateful feeling of the heart to God in all changes, not only in the external state, but also in the internal.

“If, on the occasion of some obedience, I cannot have another time for the cell rule, what should I do?”

If you were absent, exhausted, calm down, leave the rule, humble yourself, and do not worry about it. And when obedience is moderate, try to fulfill your rule.

“How to get rid of the distraction of thoughts in prayer?”

Praying with your mouth, pray with your mind, that is, close your mind in the power of the words of prayer.

Elder Hieroschemamonk Macarius writes: “From your letter, I understand that you are looking for from me not the rules of prayer, but the constant mental Jesus prayer. This is a high and beyond my dignity. The Holy Fathers wrote each according to their own discretion, how one reached. However, do not just say the Jesus Prayer, and you will receive all that is good; many books have been written about this prayer, how to go through it and what kind of plantings from the enemy, and how the unskilful are overthrown and destroyed by him.

Elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose . “The Jesus Prayer is good to use, especially when wrestling with thoughts.”

“Which is better, to follow the usual rule or to go through the Jesus Prayer?”

Better to do both. While standing in church, you need to carefully listen to the reading and singing, but whoever can, it’s good to do the Jesus Prayer with humility, especially when it’s indistinctly heard.

As for intelligent and heartfelt prayer, I will say that our spiritual enemy does not rebel against any virtue so much as against prayer; with all his might moves a person to anger and enmity. Elijah Ekdik writes: "When you pray as it is proper, wait for those who are not." And Patriarch Kallistos writes: “If you want to know how to pray, then look at the end of the prayer. But its end, beloved, is eternal tenderness, contrition of the heart, love for one’s neighbor.”

Those who are zealous for monasticism should always remember the word of the Lord Himself: "... not everyone who says Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God, but do the will of My Father." Rev. Mark the Ascetic, in the Word on Repentance says: “The first thing for beginners is prayer, the purification of thoughts and the patience of sorrows that befall. Without these three, other virtues cannot be performed. Yes, and prayer itself cannot be performed without purification of thoughts and the transfer of sorrows.

Elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly. “Until a person tastes that the Lord is good, it is difficult to constantly have Jesus in your heart. But as long as the prayer lasts, do not leave it. And most importantly, during prayer, reproach yourself as unworthy to pronounce the name glorified by the angels. And collect sorrows like a treasure - for this greatly contributes to the Jesus Prayer, therefore the enemy incites everyone he can annoy us.

“Keep more fervent prayer; no one falls into delusion from fervent prayer, and it is dangerous to go through smart prayer of the heart without instruction. Such a prayer requires silence, silence and humility with self-reproach in any unpleasant case. Therefore, it is safest to hold on to oral prayer.”

Elder Hieroschemamonk Joseph says: “The Jesus Prayer is, as it were, a simple thing, but irresistible, he said several times and forgot, remembered, spoke a dozen more times and again scattered. You say one hundred a day, and you imagine that you are going through a prayer. Therefore, in the beginning it is imperative to have a quantity in prayer, that is, to pass with a count until you get a habit in it. With the strict fulfillment of at least the outer rule at the beginning of the cell rule, over time there will be a desire to engage in the creation of the Jesus Prayer in addition to the rules. The Jesus Prayer must be said at every lesson - obedience continuously and not in a hurry in the pronunciation of words; pronounce each word separately and clearly to the end, especially the words: "have mercy on me a sinner." That's what he said about. Ambrose: “Every word should reach your ears, and when it happens, that is, you listen carefully to the prayer, then God will hear your prayer, and you will receive what you want, what you ask for in prayer, of course, in due time pleasing to God. During prayer, whole clouds of various thoughts pass by; this is usually evoked by the devil in order to divert attention from prayer. But here it is necessary to deepen the mind more diligently and for a longer time in the words of prayer and thoughts, i.e. the devil himself, scorched by the terrible name of Jesus, flees with all the slanderers. The elder also says in his instructive conversation, mainly with his close disciples and pupils, about prayer: “The Jesus Prayer is of great benefit to those who do it incessantly, and you must definitely get used to doing it all, for it will comfort especially during times of sorrow and illness” . Some said: “Batiushka, what is the true intention when praying?” The elder answered: "Salvation: to ask for mercy, not consolation." In the church, during the Jesus Prayer with a count, you can’t listen carefully to what is read and sung? The elder’s answer: “No, it means you can, when you have enough time for various thoughts. Of course, even in ancient times, the venerable fathers prayed by counting, and for this they also invented the rosary.” If a person, being healthy, does not engage in prayer, then when he falls ill, he will not be able to pray, as he does not have the skill and it is hard for him. And therefore, while you are healthy, you need to learn and get used to prayer, to do it continuously, even if it is impure from other thoughts, you said, but you will still say with humility: “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

The non-permissive fulfillment of the cell rule leads his follower to an incessant desire to perform prayer, and in addition to a certain rule.

Note: The cell rule in Optina Pustyn is obligatory for everyone, starting from the rector.

The secret rule is divided into three degrees: for beginners, intermediate and advanced; about the last degree, perhaps someone will object that a perfect man cannot be bound by any external rules, he must be guided not by the bonds of human law, but by free will, according to the operation of grace from above. This objection is fair, but we had in mind not the spiritual perfection, but the external perfection of the monk, that is, his tonsure into the mantle. In the first degree, the novice performs 1 five hundred (See the detailed rule of the five hundred in the printed sheets of the Optina Pustyn edition.), And who is zealous of the saints and imitates them, he can add some more prayer to the five hundred, as well as from reading; or determines a certain number of Jesus prayers; However, at the beginning, do not put a large amount on yourself, so that from an overwhelming burden you will not weaken on the way and not throw off everything from yourself. No one dares to impose any obligatory rule of prayer on his will, but without fail with the advice and blessing of his elder, or spiritual father. Every novice needs to distribute his daily time, which is dependent on him, that is, the time that is free from monastic obediences, so that every hour of our earthly life has its own meaning and power, which, although slowly, but gradually, would move forward along the path. to salvation. We will all, without laziness, visit the temple of the Lord without fail, to whom it is possible and free from the studies of St. obedience. Divine service in St. Church of Christ for us in an inconspicuous way mysteriously renews the soul, perfects and fills with blessed hope for salvation. As St. King David: "Let's go to the house of the Lord, for it is good for me to be in the house of my God." However, let those who are temporarily diverted from frequent going to the temple by holy obedience not be discouraged and not embarrassed. For in obedience to St. the monastery is the work of God. It is only necessary to go through obedience with reason, i.e., with a diminution of one’s will, unconditionally subordinating one’s will to the will of the rector and the elder in one’s obedience, for this gives rise to humility, which serves as a solid foundation for the God-minded building of the Jesus Prayer. And the cover of this building is immortal love. And so, I repeat, let us use our time prudently, mainly for church services, otherwise for bodily reinforcement, which, according to the mind of the saints, should only serve as entertainment from despondency, even for reading Holy Scripture and more for prayer, says St. Tikhon Zadon. So, determine for yourself, to help your salvation, the order of the cell rule, and in order for the right pastime to be useful and holy, for this I repeat again, for the fulfillment of every virtue, you must have St. the elder's blessing. And then, as if for obedience to the elder, decide to go forward along the chosen and blessed path.

In the 2nd degree, the cassock monk adds 2 more kafiz to the five hundred, and also determines the rule for himself in the above order, if he wants.

In the 3rd degree, the mantein monk adds to the shown rule 2 ch. St. Apostle, ch. 1 St. Evangel; if they find it difficult to read due to weakness of vision, or some other weakness, or by personal desire, they replace reading with a new five hundred, or determine a certain number of Jesus prayers, but without fail with the advice and blessing of their elder. Some say that today there are no elders, such an opinion is erroneous. The Lord will clothe the rightly chosen elder with grace-filled power, and this power produces its effect according to the faith of the questioner. This truth is confirmed by the Divine Teacher Himself: "According to your faith, be unto you." “Like believers, tacos they say,” it is also said. But if some do not get what they want, then they ask incorrectly, that is, with lack of faith and duplicity; such, it is said, will not be directed to the kingdom of heaven. Some of the curious will ask: “What rule should a hierodeacon, hieromonk, etc., fulfill? "Aren't they already monks?" Let's answer them with a question. "Having ears to hear, let him hear."

The moderately unhurried rule of one five hundred should take about an hour, but, as I have heard, some do it in half an hour, such a mechanical prayer can hardly propitiate the Righteous Judge in order to receive pardon for their sins. It is said: “Work the Lord with fear” - let us be afraid, brothers, of the righteous wrath of God, punishing for the careless execution of the work of the Lord with a curse; but those who are attentive to their salvation and for more than an hour use for one five hundred. Elder Fr. Joseph himself performed prayer with a count, and the total amount came out to be approximately one thousand per hour. He also taught others this good deed by word, example and wise explanation in doubts on the path of prayer.

One of the disciples of the elder, Fr. Joseph, moved by a feeling of brotherly love and trust, told us the following soulful tale, which we pass on to the seals for edification: “I read St. lines about the Jesus Prayer, and my desire was kindled to pray, whenever possible, always and unceasingly with an account. I had a strong love for my sweetest Jesus Christ. Then I began to go through the prayer with such thirst and tension that from the inner prayer action my whole body was incandescent, as if filled inside me with burning coals. In ecstasy from such excitement, I contemplated heavenly visions, that is, I imagined figuratively, as they write on the icons of the Savior, the Mother of God and the holy Angels, and from such touching vision I wept a lot. For some time I did not speak to the elder about my visions. Reading St. Simeon, Nov. Theologian, about the three types of prayer, I saw that my doing was wrong. I go to the old man, I explain in detail. The elder assured me of my error with his wise and patristic explanations. Then I began to go to the elder more often and open everything inwardly, for which I always received satisfactory instruction. Reading St. fathers and the instructions of the elder, the inner action in me changed. The blood heat cooled down, the visions were gone, the tears dried up. And now, a lot of time has passed, as I am in the creation of a prayer, slowly, quietly, slowly, with attention, that is, by concluding the mind in the divine omnipresent presence, which is contained in the words of the prayer, I strive. At this time, foreign thoughts no longer have a place in the smart area; but from such an attentive action, the still infantile mind soon gets tired and irresistibly runs into the Hellenic clefts. At this time, one should suspend prayer and give reinforcement to the mind, one should read min. 15, the mind is strengthened by reading and is kept with new strength in prayer; the more you remain in prayer, with intervals in reading, the more the mind acquires the power to keep attention in prayer longer. And what kind of mental states there are, it is impossible to express this with a human word. Only those who have experienced it themselves can fully understand how impossible it is to describe the breath of the wind, the appearance of mental power, this can only be felt by everyone on oneself, and the state of the soul from the action of prayerful doing. You can partially describe how the mind can unite with the heart during attentive prayer: usually the head bows to the chest with closed eyes, from a long stay of the mind in the words of prayer, then the mind naturally, freely descends into the heart, through the mediation of a kind of spherical light cloud. And there the mind and heart collectively see their co-founder, Jesus Christ, crucified for our salvation, but this vision is not the same as was described at the beginning. Here the vision of the Creator's soul is spiritual, by faith and feeling of the soul of the omnipresent God. From this vision, the soul comes into great tenderness, contrition and sweet lamentation for sins, here is an indescribable peace of the soul, here is a fiery love for everyone, so it would embrace the legs of everyone. Jesus Christ, dwelling in the tomb with pure flesh, together in hell with the soul, like God, in paradise with the thief and on the throne with the Father and the Holy Spirit, can also dwell on the throne of the pure heart of man. For He fulfills everything: heaven, earth, man, and the underworld, as the church sings in the Paschal song: “Now all that is filled with light, heaven and earth and the underworld.” And what a thirst there is, a need for prayer, this can be compared with the state of a person after eating the most salty food and being deprived of water. After that, imagine what a thirst this person might have... But a person who walks the path of humility and attentive prayer has an even greater need to be satisfied with water flowing into eternal life. Yes, not everyone experiences this, but it was given to them by the grace of God! And who comprehends the temptations of these slaves on his way! “Have ears to hear and hear,” that is, whoever follows the path of prayer can only understand the actions of temptation and oppression of demons in this matter. Saint Ignatius Brianchan. advises reading an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus in order to more conveniently get used to the performance of the Jesus Prayer: “I loved this with all my soul and began to read according to the need of desire, but before reading, immediately before the opened akathist, I knelt down to perform several Jesus prayers in order to read the akathist was more attentive and sometimes, after a hundred prayers, he began reading. But more remained for a long time with prayer, for the Jesus Prayer delighted me more and did not want to be parted from this heavenly work, and the akathist was no longer read. It is highly desirable that the readers of these lines also take into account the soulful advice of Bishop Ignatius. Yes, all his teachings about the Jesus Prayer and other virtues are very good and soul-saving. With a long time and exercise in prayer with the help of Christ and my feasible participation, I had to learn the skill in prayer, to perform from 5 to 10 thousand Jesus prayers a day, and during the monastic all-night vigils 4 thousand or more. At the end of the 5-hour vigil, the brethren usually go to their cells, and I would also like to continue the vigil. This is how prayer delights its humble follower.” Here ends the story of this brother.

For this reason, we announced this legend, so that the fathers and brethren would also find a good example for themselves to follow in order to follow the path of prayer, diluted with humility, repentance, not only patience, but also long-suffering of everything to the end, and only he who endures to the end will receive joy eternal. Let us also repeat the above-mentioned word of that brother that every good undertaking must certainly begin with the advice and blessing of the elder.

They will say: "Now there are no elders." I will answer this unjust conclusion of those who think that this is so, with the words of St. Fathers: "Look more diligently through prayer, humility and tears for yourself a mentor." St. Simeon, the New Theologian, says: “God will in every possible way show you a knowledgeable person, according to your spiritual age and grace and according to your faith, he will show you the path to salvation. Secondly, the way to salvation is: a) God Himself, as the word of God says: “I am the way, the truth and the life”, and b) his life-giving commandments: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Mat. 11:29). Without these divine qualities of meekness and humility, it is impossible to acquire salvation and unite with Christ by any good deed, for without humility the highest feat - the Jesus Prayer - can turn out to be a barren fig tree, the end of which is cutting and burning.

So, let us build the building of our salvation not on the sand of an uplifting opinion, but on the rock of God's truth, peace, love and humility, and this most precious stone is Christ.

This article contains: a short prayer to Jesus - information taken from all over the world, the electronic network and spiritual people.

Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ

Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother and all the Saints have mercy on us. Amen.

The short form of this prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.

Explanation of the detailed text of the prayer. Have mercy on us - be merciful to us, that is, forgive us. Prayers for the sake of - because of prayers, by prayers. Jesus is the Savior. Christ is the Anointed One.

Explain the meaning of prayer. The main person to whom we address in this prayer is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Remaining God, He incarnated in human flesh and became the God-man. By His martyrdom He suffered for our sins, He saved us and gave us eternal life. The mother of the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Most Pure Mother for the special purity and holiness of her soul. The Mother of God prays to God and does this especially when we sinners ask Her about it. The Mother of God has a special grace to save us sinners by her intercession and intercession before the Lord. Saints are people who eventually achieved a righteous life and served God without violating His commandments. For this, the Lord honored these people with the Kingdom of Heaven. Holy people, being in heaven with God, pray for us sinners, they can help us with their prayers. This happens because the Holy people are close to the Lord and their prayer has more power before God than ours. Conscious of our sinfulness and feeling the weakness of our prayer, we ask the sinners to pray for us, the Most Pure Mother of God and the Holy People. In this prayer, we ask that the Savior have mercy on us sinners for the sake of the prayer of His Most Pure Mother and all the Saints.

Explanation of the short form of prayer. In his epistles, the Apostle Paul tells Christians to be:

“Constant in prayer” (Rom 12:12).

“pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

Unceasing prayer is a prayer that a believer always repeats. In the form of unceasing prayer in Orthodoxy, a short form of prayer to Jesus Christ, which is also called the “Jesus Prayer”, is most often used. The words of the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner!” are not accidental and have a deep theological meaning and justification. The center of this prayer is the name of Jesus, given to Christ by God Himself. And as the Bible says

The Jesus Prayer is considered one of the most revered and strong prayers because it contains the Name of Jesus. The Bible does say

“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

The fact that we pray with the words "Jesus Christ, the Son of God" means that we consider ourselves children of God. According to the ideas of the church, the Jesus Prayer, when performed with sincerity and firm faith, brings the Spirit of God into the heart of the praying person. The words “have mercy on me a sinner” are the publican’s prayer, which in another version reads like this: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” This part of the Jesus Prayer expresses the deep humility of the praying person, his sincere repentance of his sins and the request that the Lord show his mercy because a person more than anything needs God's mercy. All prayers are permeated with a petition for God's mercy.

Meaning of the Jesus Prayer. The meaning and essence of the Jesus Prayer lies in the constant striving of a praying person to God, in the fact that a person, for the sake of love for Christ, renounces his egoistic existence in order to build his life according to the commandments of God. As they say, "for the sake of life in Christ." Therefore, a person constantly repeats this prayer, making it the unceasing prayer of his life, thereby showing that he wants to live any and every moment of his life with the name of Christ, in order to invite Christ in his life as an Adviser - Teacher and Helper - Intercessor.

Under what circumstances is the Jesus Prayer read? As unceasing, this prayer can be read at any moment of life, and the more often, the better. But in most cases, this prayer is read at especially difficult moments in life and before important things are done. This prayer is also read in order to protect oneself from temptation and not commit a sin. St. John Letvichnik spoke about this situation as follows: “Beat the adversaries with the name of Jesus; for there is no strongest weapon either in heaven or on earth” (Ladder, Word 21). The power of Christ, which is in our heart, through prayer helps a person to stand in the fight against sin. Because "whoever abides in Christ does not sin" (1 John 3:6).

Note. Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, like its short form, is called a petitionary prayer because in it we express our request for mercy. This prayer should be read before all other prayers because before asking the Lord to send us His mercy, we sinners must first ask God for forgiveness for our sins.

Orthodox icons and prayers

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Jesus Prayer, text in Russian

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The Jesus Prayer is one of the initial steps in the process of believing. The power of the Jesus Prayer is very great. It is aimed at asking for mercy from the Lord God through His Son. In addition, prayer can become a daily amulet for any life difficulties.

Jesus Prayer How to Pray

In order for the appeal to the Almighty to be most effective, you should study the recommendations on how to learn the Jesus Prayer . To read the test correctly, you need to follow a few simple rules:

• focus on the statement itself;
• abandon the mechanical memorization of the test, and try to understand the meaning of the spoken words;
• it is better to ask for the mercy of the Lord in a calm and quiet place;
• when faith penetrates deep into the consciousness, it is possible to pray even during vigorous activity;
• thoughts should be directed to faith, love for the Lord and worship before him.

In addition to pardon, a prayer is also read to remove the evil eye and recover.

Prayer text

The text of the Jesus Prayer in Russian has both a long and a short form. The text describes a person's request for health, mercy and salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

Prayer is read a certain number of times, for which a rosary is used. The liturgies begin and end with the words of such a sacred text.

They use the Jesus Prayer to remove corruption and the evil eye. To do this, they read the test for a month in complete silence in a whisper in the early morning.

Small children are especially susceptible to damage. To remove the negative impact, the mother should take the baby in her arms and say:

Then you need to spit through the left side and complete the text with the words:

They turn to the Son of God with a request for recovery. Prayer helps to get stronger not only spiritually, but also physically, balances the emotional state and directs on the right path. You can pray for a loved one who has a serious illness. In this case, the sick person must be baptized.

Baptized people read the prayer. But even those who have not received baptism, but deeply believe, can resort to the help of the Lord, while the fulfillment of the will will be a little longer.

The Jesus Prayer can become miraculous only if it is said with love, faith and sincere repentance. Those who performed the sacrament of petition with the help of this prayer speak of quick action and the achievement of the desired.

The Lord is always with you!

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I don’t know if it helps from corruption and the evil eye, but if you incessantly pray the Jesus Prayer, cardinal changes occur in life, and in the person himself

Jesus Prayer

Here are the words of the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." A shorter form is also used: "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me." Bishop-martyr Ignatius incessantly repeated the name of Jesus. The Jesus Prayer is also meant to be recited continuously. This is how the direct call of the apostle is carried out: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

How does the Jesus Prayer become an unceasing prayer? We begin by continually repeating the words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." We can repeat them out loud, very quietly, or just to ourselves. From experience, we will soon notice that it is not at all so easy to make unceasing prayer. This needs to be practiced with purpose. We can set aside a certain time of the day for the creation of the Jesus Prayer. It is also good to include the Jesus Prayer in our prayer rule. So, when reading morning prayers, we can read it ten times before each prayer. Sometimes, immediately after the opening prayers, you can read the Jesus Prayer instead of the morning prayers and repeat it, for example, for 5 or 10 minutes, that is, during the time that is usually necessary for reading the morning prayers. During evening prayers, we can also practice the Jesus Prayer.

But the Jesus Prayer is exceptional in that it is not a prayer intended only for a certain time. The Orthodox prayer book says about her: “During work and during rest, at home and during the journey, when we are alone or among others, always and everywhere repeat in your mind and heart the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ, saying this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

But is it possible? Can anyone so devote himself to prayer that he will actually carry out this instruction?

The best answer to this question can be found in the book “Wanderer's Tales”, which has been published in many languages, and since 1979 also in Finnish. In the next chapter we will return to a practical exercise in the Jesus Prayer, but now we will take a deeper look at the prayer itself.

If we include the Jesus Prayer in our prayer rule, we will notice, even after a brief exercise, that when we say it, it is easier for us to concentrate our thoughts than when we read other prayers. The advantage of the Jesus Prayer and other short sighs of prayer is that they are better than others containing a variety of thoughts, give the opportunity to concentrate. Saying the Jesus Prayer between other prayers helps us to read them with more concentration.

The Jesus Prayer is said to be a perfect prayer, since it contains the same basic truths of our salvation as the sign of the cross, namely, our faith in the Incarnation and in the Holy Trinity. By pronouncing the words “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” we confess that our Savior is both man and God. After all, the name “Jesus” was given to Him as a man by His Mother, and the words “Lord” and “Son of God” point directly to Jesus as God. The second basic truth of our Christian faith - the Holy Trinity - is also present in prayer. When we refer to Jesus as the Son of God, we are referring to God the Father and the Holy Spirit at the same time, because, according to the apostle, “no one can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The Perfect Prayer of Jesus is also called because it contains two aspects of Christian prayer. When we say “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God”, we seem to raise our thoughts to the glory, holiness and love of God, and then humble ourselves in the feeling of our sinfulness to repentance: “Have mercy on me a sinner.” The opposition between us and God is expressed in the word "have mercy." In addition to repentance, it also expresses the consolation given to us, that God accepts us. The Jesus Prayer, as it were, breathes with the confidence of the apostle: “Who condemns? Christ Jesus died, but also rose again: He is also at the right hand of God, He also intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:34).

The heart of the Jesus Prayer – the name of Jesus – is precisely the saving word: “And you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus Prayers

One of the first steps on the path to faith is the Jesus Prayer, the essence of which is an appeal to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. However, to achieve the goal, it is not enough just to read the text, serious preparation is necessary.

Training

The Jesus Prayer implies a complete concentration of physical and spiritual forces, its text is aimed at love, worship of the Lord, without distracting thoughts to alien objects.

The Jesus Prayer is read under any circumstances: when a person is moving or working. However, it is recommended to perform the sacrament in a quiet place, preferably sitting. This remark applies, first of all, to novice ascetics. When the mind learns to penetrate deep into the heart, without even briefly touching on external topics, then they already pray, simultaneously performing some kind of physical action.

Remember! Mechanical memorization of the text without proper reverence, humility, fear of God's wrath will not bring any benefit. The Jesus Prayer is transmitted to the Almighty - by the heart (an emotional call).

Varieties of treatment

The Jesus Prayer is pronounced in different ways, having both a long and a short form. But in essence it is an appeal to God through his son Jesus Christ. Contains a prayer for health, salvation and mercy on one's own or the soul of one's neighbor.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God, prayers for the sake of Your most pure Mother, have mercy on me, a sinner

Prayer is spoken mentally or in a quiet voice, no more than a certain number of times (for which a rosary is used). Often they begin or end liturgies or other lengthy prayers with it.

From evil spells

In addition to the traditional formula, there is a prayer to Jesus Christ for deliverance from corruption. They do it early in the morning in complete silence, in a whisper. The action takes place within a month.

“Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ! Protect me with holy angels, holy helpers, prayers of the Mother of God, Mother of all, the Life-Giving Cross. Protect me with the power of St. Michael and the Holy Prophets, John the Theologian, Cyprian, St. Nikon and Sergius. Deliver me, the servant of God (name), from the slander of the enemy, from witchcraft and evil, Sly mockery and sorcery, so that no one could cause evil. By the light of Your radiance, Lord, save me in the morning, evening and afternoon, By the power of grace, turn away all that is bad from me, Remove wickedness at the parting word of the Devil. Who did evil to me, looked with envy, wished bad things, Let everything come back to him, famously leave me. Amen!"

This method helps baptized people faster and more effectively than everyone else. However, a person who is not baptized, but sincerely believes in the Lord, will be rewarded according to his merits, just like the Orthodox, only it will take a little more time.

In the second method of the purification rite, consecrated water is used, creating the following words over it (repeat 7 times):

“On a distant island, on a green island, in the middle of the sea, across the ocean, A huge oak grows, a strong tree grows, and under this tree there is a Spring with holy water. In the spring, the water-voditsa is pure and healing, It heals from all diseases and ailments. Jesus Christ himself collects it for us mortals, to help us. He charges that water with His strength, accompanies it with goodness and all good things. I, the servant of God (name), will collect that pure water, To cleanse my body, my soul, Yes, all of me from damage and the evil eye, To protect myself from envious people, from eyeful eyes, From black witchcraft, from bad hands. As I wash myself with that water, so everything unclean will leave me, It will sink into a black hole, it will return to those who wished. And in my intentions, the Lord God Himself will help me, He will be my Defender, assistant and mentor. Amen!"

After the consecrated water has been spoken, they wash themselves with it, saying the following:

“As it is said, so it shall be done!”

The most unprotected from damage are children. Moreover, damage may come not necessarily from the envious, but also from loving person. The strength of the message plays a significant role, so it does not matter if it is positive or negative, the result is important.

To remove damage, and at the same time ask for health, we recommend the following method.

Take the child in your arms, saying the following formula three times:

“I send my word to Jesus Christ, Protect my dear child from the eyes of the bad, From strong praise and envy, Save the child from strangers, Give him peace and quiet. Amen!"

Spitting over your left shoulder, finish with:

“I spit out spoiled damage, I remove the evil eye. Amen!"

About the health of the body

Many wonderful things have been said about the Jesus Prayer. It helps to embark on the path of faith, saves from the unclean, pacifies a violent temper, enlightens the soul, and strengthens the physical body.

Jesus' strong prayer for the health of the sick:

“Oh Lord, our Creator, I ask for your help, grant full recovery to God's servant (name), wash her blood with your rays. Only with Your help will healing come to her. With the miraculous power, touch her and bless all her roads to the long-awaited salvation, healing, recovery. Give her body health, her soul - blessed lightness, her heart - your divine balm. The pain will recede forever and the strength will return to it, the wounds will all heal and Your holy help will come. your rays from blue skies they will reach her, give her strong protection, bless her for deliverance from her illnesses, strengthen her faith. May the Lord hear my words. Glory to Thee. Amen"

They work with her both in the temple and at home. Words to the Lord through his son Jesus Christ ascend for themselves or any person who needs help from above. There is, however, one important condition : the one for whom they pray must be baptized by the priest in the temple. The same goes for the formula below.

A terrible burden falls on the shoulders of the parents of the illness of their child. Prayer for the health of the baby will be a great relief and help.

“Lord Almighty, may Your mercy be on my child (name) (if there are 2 or more children, then you need to say “on my children”), save and protect him under your cover, protect my child from all evil, give away from him of all enemies, open his eyes and ears, give humility and tenderness to a little heart. Lord God, we are all Your creations, have pity on my child (name) and direct him to repentance. Save, God Most High, and have mercy on my child (name) and shine through his mind with the bright light of the mind of Your Gospel, and guide him on the path of Your commandments, and teach him, Lord, to do Your holy will. Amen"

For the fulfillment of a wish

Prayer to St. Martha is considered one of the most powerful tools we turn to fulfill our desire. If the desire of the asker is pleasing to the Lord, it will be fulfilled much earlier than the expected time. They do it every Tuesday for 9 weeks, without interrupting the cycle. Skip at least once, start over; fulfilled earlier - still continue what you started.

“Oh Holy Martha, You are Miraculous! I turn to you for help! And completely in my needs, and you will be my helper in my trials! I promise you with gratitude that I will spread this prayer everywhere! I humbly, tearfully ask, comfort me in my worries and hardships! I humbly, for the sake of the great joy that filled your heart, I tearfully ask you to take care of me and my family so that we keep our God in our hearts and thereby deserve the Saved Almighty Mediation, first of all with the care that now burdens me .... (further desire, for example, help me find a well-paid job; help me meet my beloved and create a happy family; etc.) ... ... I tearfully ask you, Helper in every need, conquer hardships the way you defeated the snake, until I lay at your feet!”

The order of the ritual:

• On the right side of the table, place and then light a small candle bought in the temple;
• It can be smeared with bergamot oil from the base to the filter;
• A desirable attribute is the presence of fresh flowers on the table;
• The ritual of turning to St. Martha is performed in bright clothes, put on a clean body immediately after taking a shower;
• There should be no one in the room except the questioner;
• Write down your desire on paper so that there is full compliance with the text of the prayer;
• For one cycle (9 weeks) they ask Saint Martha to fulfill only one wish;
• Let the church candle burn out to the end, if the candle is not consecrated, then it should burn for no more than 20 minutes;
• The ceremony is performed at your discretion in the morning or in the evening.

Saint Martha from us offers a wish to Jesus Christ, and he then passes it on to the Almighty.

People who have practiced the Jesus Prayer for Health and other prayers, as well as the appeal to St. Martha and the prayer to the son of God Jesus, are amazed at their speed and effectiveness. However, they all say that they spoke the sacred words from the heart, sincerely and with complete humility.

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December 19, 2017 2 lunar day - New Moon. Time to bring good things to life. Jesus Prayer

PRAYER OF JESUS

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

There is an opinion that the Jesus Prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" - can be done only by monks, and this spiritual work is not useful for the laity. Is it so? Can lay people pray the Jesus Prayer? And how to do it with the greatest spiritual benefit?

What does the Jesus Prayer mean to us?

INSTRUCTION OF THE OPTINA ELDERS

Jesus Prayer

Pray fervently to the Lord God and warm up your cold heart with His sweetest name, since our God is fire. This calling also destroys impure dreams, and warms the heart to all His commandments. And therefore, the prayerful invocation of His Sweetest Name should be the breath of our soul, should be faster than the beating of our heart (St. Anthony).

Some mistakenly think that the Jesus Prayer is only for monks. However, the Optina Elders also instructed the laity to engage in the Jesus Prayer. The Monk Barsanuphius (Plikhankov) taught:

"In order to always have the memory of God, this is what the Jesus Prayer is for."

The monk wrote about the different stages of prayer:

“The Jesus Prayer is divided into three, even four stages. The first stage is an oral prayer; when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood.

Second step- smart-heart prayer, when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time; then the prayer is performed continuously, no matter what a person does: eat, drink, rest - the prayer is still performed.

Third step- this is already a creative prayer, which is able to move mountains with one word. Then such a prayer had, for example, the Monk Hermit Mark of Thrace.

Finally, the fourth step- this is such a high prayer, which only angels have and which is given only to one person for all mankind.

For a better understanding of what gifts the Lord sends to prayer books and what kind of prayer corresponds to the level of spiritual growth of the one who prays, St. Barsanuphius explained in detail:

“The first gift from the Lord in prayer is attention, that is, when the mind can hold on to the words of prayer without being distracted by thoughts. But with such attentive, undistracting prayer, the heart is still silent. This is the point, that our feelings and thoughts are separated, there is no agreement in them.Thus, the first prayer, the first gift, is a prayer undistracted.

The Psalm words, the threefold repetition of the words: “Going around me, and resisting them in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 117, 11) are fully understood by all those who do the Jesus Prayer, even if no one explains it to them. They understand that this is about the Jesus Prayer. This is one of the clearest passages about the Jesus Prayer, of which there are many in the Psalms... (St. Barsanuphius).

The second prayer, the second gift, is an inner prayer, that is, when feelings and thoughts are directed towards God in harmony. Until now, every fight with passion ended in the victory of passion over a person, but from now on, when the mind and heart pray together, that is, feelings and thoughts in God, passions are already defeated. Defeated, but not destroyed, they can come to life with negligence, here the passions are like the dead lying in coffins, and the prayer book, a little passion stirs, beats and wins.

The third gift is spiritual prayer. I have nothing to say about this prayer. Here in man there is nothing earthly. True, a person still lives on earth, walks on earth, sits, drinks, eats, but with his mind, thoughts he is all in God, in heaven. Some even opened the ministries of the angelic orders. This prayer is a prayer of vision. Those who have achieved this prayer see spiritual objects, for example, the state of a person's soul, just as we see sensual objects, as if in a picture. They are already looking with the eyes of the spirit, the spirit is already looking at them.

HOW TO CORRECTLY MAKE THE JESUS ​​PRAYER

Saint Leo taught to pray with simplicity of heart, expecting God's mercy: only the Lord knows what is good for each individual person:

“Pass the Jesus Prayer as you do, and the time will come when the very work and mercy of God will enlighten and instruct your soul, how and whom to ask, and what you seek and desire will be sent.”

The elders advised to say the Jesus Prayer as often as possible, but not to look for any special pleasant feelings, spiritual consolations and pleasures.

Saint Ambrose explained:

“No matter how one went through oral prayer, there were no examples of falling into the charm of the enemy. And those who pray through the mind and heart incorrectly often fall into the charm of the enemy. And therefore, first of all, one should hold on tighter than oral prayer, and then smart, with humility, and then, to whom it is convenient and to whom the Lord favors, move on to heartfelt, according to the instructions of the holy fathers, who have gone through all this experience.

To the question of how to achieve heartfelt prayer and what it means to “lower the mind into the heart,” the Monk Anatoly (Zertsalov) answered, warning:

“You should not look for a place in the heart: when prayer grows, it will find it itself. Our effort is to enclose the mind in the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

During the Jesus Prayer, there is often a storm of thoughts planted by the enemy.

The Monk Hilarion taught not to contradict the thoughts of the enemy, since only experienced prayer books can do this, but simply to continue to pray in simplicity of heart, trusting in the mercy of God:

“And if, against desire, the mind is captivated, then continue the prayer, and not contradict - it’s not yet your measure to contradict.”

The Optina elders warned of the need for humility in prayer. Once a spiritual child of Fr. Ambrose complained to him that when she said the Jesus Prayer, she stumbled over the words “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” The old man replied:

“You write that in the Jesus Prayer you have some kind of stutter at the words “Have mercy on me, a sinner”; this shows that before this prayer was performed by you without proper humility, without which our prayer is also unpleasant to God. Therefore, force yourself to hit the word “sinful” with the proper understanding.”

The Monk Barsanuphius reminded that those who follow the path of the Jesus Prayer can endure sorrows, which, however, must be accepted without grumbling:

“The path of the Jesus Prayer is the shortest, most convenient path. But do not grumble, for everyone who walks this path experiences sorrows.

On the danger of "begging" for spiritual gifts and prayer of a high degree

The Optina elders warned against self-willed striving to achieve a higher level of prayer or seek spiritual gifts, whether it be tears at prayer or purity and dispassion.

The Monk Leo wrote that without purifying the hearts, without conquering the passions, it is impossible to preserve spiritual wealth without harm to oneself:

“You, having tasted the sweetness and consolation of prayer by the mercy of God, now not finding this in yourself, are embarrassed, discouraged, consider yourself the culprit of this loss, and your negligence is the true truth. But I also find here the Providence of God, which has taken away this consolation from you. Without conquering the passions and without purifying one's heart, is it possible to preserve this wealth without harm! And it will not be given to you for your benefit, lest you fall into delusion.”

The Monk Barsanuphius also warned about the danger of “begging” for gifts and prayer of a high degree:

“It is possible to pray for the granting of attentive prayer, but praying for the granting of high prayerful states, I believe, is sinful. This must be completely left to God. Some beg for a high degree of prayer; The Lord gave them according to His boundless mercy, but she herself was not for the future ... "

Prayer in the name of Jesus is a covenant, a command of Christ Himself. When taking vows as a monk, a vow of the Jesus Prayer is given. A vow remains a vow and requires its fulfillment. According to the vow, the monk must always have the name of Jesus on his lips, mind and heart, or, so to speak, fill his whole life with the Jesus Prayer. It is quite insufficient if the monk in the matter of prayer confines himself to reciting or preparing a certain number of prayers and prayers. It is necessary to consecrate every deed with prayer, so as not to lose the prayerful mood during everyday affairs and duties, to which we pass of necessity after prayer, and which fill the time of the day and night from one prayer rule to another, for the most part two: morning and evening. Whoever leaves prayer, does not resort to it, forgets it, after completing the prayer rule immediately goes into fuss, he quickly loses his prayerful mood, his mind and heart are filled with emptiness. So that this does not happen, and you need to say the Jesus Prayer in every case, at least force yourself to do this. The Holy Fathers have said much and beautifully about this...

They (these articles on prayer) should be paid attention to. The work of prayer is the first work. Prayer will console you in sorrow, prayer will not allow you to become despondent, prayer will protect you from sin, and you cannot count all its fruits and actions. St. Mark the Ascetic says: “Shall we say something, or do something, without asking for help God's prayer everything will later turn out to be either sinful or harmful, we are subjected to mysterious denunciation by experience ”(Chapter 108. About those who think to be justified by works). Such is the meaning of prayer!.. During the monastic all-night vigils, it was especially convenient to get used to the Jesus Prayer. ... One must think humbly of oneself and with humility dissolve all one's doing, but false humility, put forward as an excuse for my unwillingness and laziness to strive, is far to drive away: “Where are we sinners to do this. They were saints... This is how we hear those who do not want to work for their salvation. You can answer them: yes, this is true, but the saints, very often, before they were great sinners, became saints, ascetic, therefore consider yourself a sinner - consider yourself, but force yourself to do good.

It will be useful. Self-justification is the root of evil (Rev. Nikon).

Elder Macarius wrote an article “A Warning to Those Reading Spiritual Fathers’ Books and Who Want to Go Through the Intellectual Jesus Prayer,” where he warned that the Jesus Prayer should be read simply and that the main thing should be a feeling of repentance, and not the search for high spiritual gifts.

Saint Macarius taught:

“Remember: the gift of prayer is not your property; one must deserve this gift not only by prayer, but also by other good deeds: humility of mind, simplicity, patience, innocence, and without these virtues, although it seems that someone who allegedly acquired prayer, is tempted: this is not prayer, but the mask of prayer.

JESUS ​​PRAYER IS NOT MEDITATION

Is it true that spontaneous human combustion can occur if the Jesus Prayer is read incorrectly? Have there been such cases? How to read this prayer to a simple person? Is there a reading technique? Is it true that without an experienced elder it is dangerous to try to read it using a change of breath?

Priest Vladimir Rinkevich, rector of the Church of Saints Constantine and Michael in Vilnius, Lithuania, answers:

Prayer, according to the advice of the Apostle Paul, should be done without ceasing (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17). And the most convenient form of prayer is precisely the Jesus Prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many saints advised to pray the Jesus Prayer - as the shortest and at the same time surprisingly capacious. For example, Saint John of the Ladder: "Do not try to talk too much, so that the mind does not scatter in search of prayer."

om, but also with the heart, that is, with the consciousness of the content. Do not just repeat in a circle, as mantras are repeated, do not try to achieve some special “meditative” state with its help, but turn to the One Who hears you with every word of prayer - thoughtfully and concentratedly.

Strange as it may sound, the wrong creation of the Jesus Prayer can harm a person's soul. No, a person will not light up, of course, but he can become very proud or stop feeling his real sinful state, thinking that he has already reached a certain holiness. If a person, while doing this prayer, does not leave his sinful habits, then because of the discord inside, he can fall into madness.

In order not to bring harm to your soul, in doing the Jesus Prayer, as in any spiritual work, it is necessary to consult with a confessor. The holy fathers have instructions on how to sit, how to hold your head while praying, how to coordinate prayer with breathing, but they are by no means suitable for everyone. It is extremely dangerous for the laity to use such practices without the special blessing of a confessor. Even monks who, already at their tonsure, receive a rosary so that they can continually say the Jesus Prayer, learn this prayer until the end of their lives - making mistakes and analyzing their mistakes.

You, M.M., complain about yourself that whenever you begin to say the Jesus Prayer, you fall asleep and are embarrassed about it; no need to be embarrassed, it is better to fall asleep with prayer than with some bad thoughts. When you want to correct it more soberly, then go early. Beware of looking for a high dispensation in yourself, but be humble, believing yourself to be scum<ненужные ос-татки, сор>... (St. Macarius).

It is possible to continuously say the Jesus Prayer not only to monks, but also to the laity, but only by consulting a priest, using sound reasoning, reading the teachings of the saints, who wrote primarily to people in the world.

And it is better than all crosses and crusaders, all portraits and their originals - to draw on a soft young heart the Sweetest Name, a luminous prayer: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Then there will be the height of joy, endless joy. Then, when, i.e., Jesus is established in the heart, you will not want either Rome or Jerusalem. For the King Himself with His all-sung Matter and all the Angels and saints will come to you and live with you. “I and the Father will come to him and make our abode with him” (Compare: John 14, 23) (St. Anatoly).