The Art of Prayer

A spiritual anthology drawn from the Greek and Russian traditions, con-
cerned in particular with the most frequently used and best loved of all
Orthodox prayers--the Jesus Prayer. Texts are taken chiefly from the let-
ters of Bishop Theopan the Recluse, along with many other writers.

"Let no-one think, my fellow Christians, that only priests and monks
need pray without ceasing, and not laymen. No, no: every Christian
without exception ought to dwell always in prayer. How can this be
done? Thoughts jostle one another like swarming gnats, and emotions
follow on the thoughts." (from The Art of Prayer)

In this modern and restless world is it even possible to always be in

prayer? The cell phone is ringing, the computer dinging, the iPod sing-
ing - is there ever even a moment of silence in which to be in prayer? If
you despair of ever having a moment of peace to pray, and are discour-
aged that, with your busy schedule, you cannot find a moment with the
Lord, take heart. This little book (just 279 pages) can teach you how to al-
ways be in the presence of God.

Although at times repetitive, the points this book makes are worth re-
peating. Best taken in "niblets", or small bites, so as best to absorb the
wisdom contained in it, it is ideal for just-before-bed reading, or to use
for meditation. I highly recommend it for those who are serious about
their prayer life, or who want to be.

I believe this book has universal appeal no matter what the faith back-
ground. What is prayer?" Standing before God with the mind in the
heart." Removing your mind from the cares, worries and fears of this
world and immersing it in nothing but God. This is the summation of the
book. Prayer need not be verbal. Most think prayer is asking God for this
and that. This book takes prayer to the its deepest level, which is com-
muning with God in the heart, not asking for favors. The book also talks
about the power of the Divine name of Jesus. This book is a tremendous
aid on the spiritual path. It's my personal bible. It reminds us of our true
purpose here on this earth.

If you want to learn how to pray or know what the Jesus prayer is, this
book is for you. It doesn't have one author. It's rather a collection of writ-
ings that belong to several Orthodox saints whose spiritual life was a liv-
ing proof of their communion with God.

Speaking about prayer, I want to share a few points that St Isaac the Syr-
ian considers the most important.

St Isaac the Syrian says we should:

* Pray with attention - so that we can have a true encounter with God.
* Pray with humility - because this sort of prayer goes straight to God's
ear.
* Pray with affection and tears - with joy and thanksgiving, but also with
true repentance and purity.
* Pray with patience and ardor - `to deny oneself' is courageously to per-
severe in prayer.
* Pray from the depths of the heart - even if we pray using `the words of
another' they should be uttered as if they are our own. St. Isaac says this
is especially true of the Psalms.
* Pray with faith and absolute trust in God - because He knows our life.

Please remember that a true prayer is not a vain repetition but a cry from
the bottom of the heart, with attention, humility, reverence, and repent-
ance.

If you want to know more about the Orthodox Church and Orthodox
spirituality, you may also get these books:
1 Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware.
2 Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder
by Thaddeus of Vitovnica
3 Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom
4 The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation by St.
Theophan the Recluse
5 On the Prayer of Jesus by Ignatius Brianchaninov
6 The Arena: Guidelines for Spiritual and Monastic Life by Ignatius Bri-
anchaninov
7 The Search for Truth on the Path of Reason by Alexei I. Osipov

The following extract is from the introduction written by Kallistos Ware,

who was only a Hieromonk at the time.

"What is prayer? What is its essence? How can we learn to pray? What
does the spirit of the Christian experience as he prays in humility of
heart?
Such are the questions which this book sets out to answer. It presents a
picture of prayer in its various degrees, from ordinary oral prayer to un-
ceasing prayer of the heart; above all, however, it is concerned with one
particular prayer, known in the Orthodox Church as the Jesus prayer.
One of the simplest of all Christian prayers, this consists in a single brief
sentence, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me' Ten words
in English, in other languages it is even shorter - in Greek and Russian,
no more than seven words. Yet around these few words many Orthodox
over the centuries have built their spiritual life, and through this one
prayer they have entered into the deepest mysteries of Christian
knowledge. The present Anthology helps to explain how men have come
to discover so much in so short a phrase."

When I bought it I assumed it was simply a compilation of texts from the

English translation of the Philokalia. The reason I still went ahead and
bought it was that my main interest in the Philokalia comes from a desire
for a deeper prayer life and thus through that to a deeper experience
with God. I was surprised that this book is a book in its own right. It was
compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo and was published in 1936.

Here is what Kallistos Ware has to say about it, again from the introduc-
tion:
"On the whole, however, he does not include many extracts from the
Philokalia, perhaps out of a desire to keep his anthology as simple and
intelligible as possible: he may have feared that the Philokalia would
have proved too difficult for many readers. He turned, therefore, to the
works of Theophan and Ignatii, which contain precisely the same basic
teachings as the Greek texts in the Philokalia, but present it in a form that
can be more easily assimilated by Christians of the twentieth century. In
Bishop Ignatii's own words (of course he is not in fact speaking of him-
self, but what he says applies also to himself and Theophan): 'The writ-
ings of Russian fathers are more accessible to us than those of the Greek
authorities, owing to their particular clarity and simplicity of exposition,
and also because they are closer to us in time'"

So, I happily discovered that this book is not just a selection on prayer
from the Philokalia as I thought, but a book in its own right.

I will finish with this last quote from Kallistos' introduction:

"The basic definition of prayer laid down in Father Chariton's anthology
is exceedingly simple. Prayer is essentially a state of standing before
God. In the words of St. Dimitri of Rostov (17th century): 'Prayer is turn-
ing the mind and thoughts toward God. To pray means to stand before
God with the mind, mentally to gaze unswervingly at Him and to con-
verse with Him in reverent fear and hope.'"

Simply said, but not simply practiced as the monks and fathers of the Or-
thodox Church testify in their lives and writings! Let us attend to this
one thing: to pray unceasingly. This book is the place to start.

Igumen Chariton's book is meant for daily reading. A guide is invalua-

ble, but lack of one is no reason for not starting to practice the Prayer of
the Heart; at some stage God will help!

A very exiting book for everyone concerned with prayer. My favorite

quotation:
"Prayer is essentially a state of standing before God. The principal thing
is to stand with the mind in the heart before God, and to go on standing
before Him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life. (Teaophan)

To be able to understand this, some more explanation and quotations:

They find that the body is might be divided into three parts:
Soul/mind: "The founding principal" -makes the man to a living creature.

Spirit: Gives us the possibility to a contact with the divine reality. The
"highest" quality of man since it makes it possible for us to have commu-
nity with God. Our spirit is close (but not identical) to The Holy Spirit.

Body: "The body is made of earth, yet it is not something dead bur alive
and endowed with a living soul. Into this soul is berthed a spirit -the
spirit of God, to reverence Him, to seek and taste Him, and to have its
joy in Him and nothing else." (Theopan)

Each of these parts has its own quality. The body has five senses. The
mind has intellect and thought. About the spirit they say: "Through the
conscience, through a mystical proportion that trancedens man's ordi-
nary rational processes".

They also look closely upon the matter of the heart. The definition of the
Bible, and of ascetic orthodox texts.

"Primary organ of mans being, whether physical or spiritual; it is the

centre of life, the determining principle of all our activities and aspira-
tion. As such, the heart obviously includes the affection and emotion, but
it also includes much else besides: it embraces in effect everything that
goes to comprise what we call a 'person"

In other words, the heart is much more than the centre of our emotions.

"The heart governs an reigns over the whole body organism; and when
grace possesses the ranges of the heart, it rules over all the members and
the toughs. For there, in the heart, is the mind, and all the thoughts of the
soul and its expectations; and in this way grace penetrates also all the
members of the body..." (The Homilies of St. Makarios)

Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart

The Philokalia is an important collection of writings by Fathers of the

Eastern Church dating from the fourth to the fourteenth century. It exists
in three versions: the Greek, complied in the eighteenth century; the Sla-
vonic; and the Russian.

The Russian text, translated by Bishop Theophan the Recluse in the nine-
teenth century, and consisting of five volumes (with which a sixth is
sometimes associated), is the most complete of all three versions. It is the
Russian text that has been used in translating into English this selection,
which presents a range of Philokalia writings concerning the Jesus Prayer.

This excellent selection of writings from 'Dobrotolubiuye' (St. The-

ophan's Russian translation of the Philokalia) was made by the transla-
tors and first published in 1951 in English. E. Kadloubovsky and G. E. H.
Palmer were both students of P. D. Ouspensky, known for his presenta-
tion of G. I. Gurdjieff's early teachings in Russia. The connection is inter-
esting, because Gurdjieff is known to have been a very 'unorthodox'
teacher.
The Prayer of the Heart was 'unorthodox' when it first came to Mt.
Athos. The Hesychast movement, which has the Prayer of the Heart as
its basic 'technique', was started there by St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th
century. Those who practiced the prayer were known as 'naval gazers'.
After some time the Church authorities accepted the practice of the
prayer and kicked those who opposed it out of the church.
A description of the four stages of the Prayer of the Heart:
1. bodily prayer - reading, standing and prostrations
2. attentive prayer - collecting thoughts saying the words with awareness
3. prayer of the feelings - thought with attention becomes feeling of the
heart
4. spiritual prayer - ceaseless prayer without words
The advice in the book is to seek a guide to learn the Prayer of the Heart
so that your prayer does not become just 'talking to the wind'. That does
not mean that to start practicing the prayer should be put off until to-
morrow!

The four volumes (soon to be five) of the Philokalia in English have been
justly hailed as a great publishing event, making widely available the
greatest and most profound compendium of spiritual writings in the Or-
thodox Christian Tradition. This volume, Writings from the Philokalia
on Prayer of the Heart, was published early in the Fifties, and is un-
doubtedly the spark that set off the whole Philokalia enterprise. Also a
translation from the Philokalia, only from the seven volume Russian
translation of the renowned starets, Theophan the Recluse, Writings
from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart is a one-volume compilation
from the much larger collection, and this can be said to be its chief virtue:
the selections were clearly chosen with an eye to texts that are of the
most immediate and practical use by the reader. There is every indica-
tion that the selection may have been made by a wise spiritual elder for
one of his disciples, creating a "portable" Philokalia, as it were. Readers
of the Philokalia are probably all acquainted with the wonderful little
book, The Way of the Pilgrim, which tells an outwardly charming but
deeply serious story of the search by an unnamed Russian pilgrim for a
method of prayer that will fulfill the Scriptural command to pray with-
out ceasing. A volume like this one, possibly even the very same texts as
contained herein, is said to be the Philokalia that the Pilgrim himself car-
ried on his travels through 19th Century Russia. As such, for all those
with an insatiable spiritual hunger for communion with God, Writings
from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, will be a spiritual treasure to
return to again and again.

The Philokalia is a collection of Patristics from Eastern Orthodox Monas-

ticism. Starting from the 2nd to 3rd century to just after the historical
break between the Western Roman Catholic & Eastern Orthodox, the
many writings were arranged by St Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain
(Mt. Athos) & Theophan the Recluse in the 19th century. A few years ago
when I was buying this series, there were 4 books with a 5th being pub-
lished. This book, "Prayer of the Heart" is but an edition from the 4 books
about the Jesus Prayer or Prayer of Attention. The prayer came into BE-
ING during the early Egyptian Monastic period of the 3rd or 4th century
when the One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church became legal in the Ro-
man Empire, but was in a state of BECOMING until the finished prayer
was defended by St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th century. The highlight
for me was the writings from St. Symeon the New Theologian, about the
4 methods of prayer (Using Images, Fighting Thoughts, Silence, & Disci-
pline under an Abbot) which helped me remove imagination during
prayer. These are not the 4 methods as in bodily prayer, attentive prayer,
prayer of the feelings, or spiritual prayer, which are explained by other
Church Fathers within this fine book. An introduction or easier book to
read about this subject matter is "The Way of the Pilgrim"

This is one of my favorite books. It is very profound. My feeling is that if

God wills this book will find its way to you. If it is in your hands, then
you have been blessed. I dont come from an Orthodox Tradition. Some
people think this matters, I disagree, if anyone is a genuine seeker of
truth, this book will benefit them in many ways. Let me point something
out, The Chanting of the Divine Name to realize God is an ancient tradi-
tion going back long before Christianity. The means and philosophy may
be different but the goal is the same. The sum of this book is that the Di-
vine Name of Jesus if repeated with faith and love has the power to
eventuality bring you into a state of grace or in some cases a state simil-
iar to Christ. The Divine Name will wipe out sins and bad thoughts, it
will free you from the shackles of worldliness. When one is ascending
the spiritual path all kinds of obstacles approach that person external
and internally. One must push aside these obstacles and persist with the
prayer. Many people will not agree but chanting any Divine name
wether it be Jesus, Rama, Adonai etc. will bring you to the same goal.
What's beautiful about the Philokalia, Prayer of the Heart, is it is like a
owner's manual to guide you along the way, especially if you do not
have a Teacher, Spiritual Master or Guru. However even if this book falls
in your hands, whether you will actually dive deep will be in God's
hands. If your intention is anything other than becoming one with the
Christ, this prayer will fly away from you.

Definitions:
a. Philokalia (Greek: 'Love of the Good, the Beautiful'), is an anthology of
Christian monastic texts in Greek, that became part of a movement for
spiritual renewal in mount Athos monastic life. Compiled by the monk
Nikodimos and bishop Makarios, of Corinth, the Philokalia was pub-
lished in 1782.
b. Jesus prayer: in Eastern Orthodoxy, and recently readopted by Catho-
lics, is a mental invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, alleged to be the
most effective mystical method, when repeated continuously. The tradi-
tional form of the prayer is 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy
on me, a sinner', reflects the biblical teaching by the Lord Himself in the
Pharisee and the publican parable. The firm Judeo-Christian belief that
the name of God is so sacred, that its invocation implies a direct meeting
with the divine, is at the core of this practice.
c. The Hesychast movement, which has the Prayer of the Heart as its
basic 'technique,' was started there by St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th
century. The Jesus Prayer (of the Heart) was considered 'unorthodox'
when it first showed up on Mt. Athos, but later the Greek Curia were to
adopt this Hesychast practice.

PhiloKalia on Prayer:
The Byzantine Canon of spirituality, according to Fr. A. Schmemann, in-
tegrated into one vision the writings of the fathers, with the monastic ex-
perience of prayer, that sprung from an ascetic way of life, whose
summa is the Philokalia.
The selection of texts in the philokalia, in bishop K. Ware's words, 'was
no doubt made in part for programmatic reasons. Nevertheless the book
as a whole, without being systematic, presents a specific and coherent
view of the Christian life.' Relying on both 'Abbas', it is evident that the
following issues started in spirit but yielded eventually to blessed rituals;
a. Although the sayings of the desert fathers, following Macarius the
great on the arrow prayer in thrice invocations of the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, their Byzantine disciples changed it to the mechanical repe-
tition of Jesus name, based on a dyophysite dogma, for use in defense
against the Miaphysite Trisagion.
b. Accordingly, it became more effective to edit the writings of the philo-
kalia, whose text was no doubt, adapted from the sayings of the desert
fathers initially intended for their monastic disciples, to a book for all
Eastern Orthodox, laity and monks alike, although the necessity of a
spiritual counselor is repeatedly emphasized.
c. The evident drawback which became characteristic of Byzantine lit-
urgy in general, was the intentional inclusion of dogma and closely link-
ing it to spirituality. Setting the life of prayer firmly in context of Trini-
tarian theology and Christology, misperceived the intentions of its great
defender, Cyril of Alexandria, from doctrine into daily practice.
d. The philokalia, for obvious dogmatic reasons, shied from the Maca-
rian writings by paraphrasing them, but directly quoting two of his dis-
ciples on prayer; Evagrius Ponticus, and St. Basil, and some later stu-
dents in the desert fathers' school of prayer, Denis Areopagite, G.Pala-
mas, Symeon the New theologian, and Maximus the Confessor.
e. Now, ascetic rules were imposed, as an outward observation, contra-
dicting a main central theme of inner spiritual way. The key concepts be-
came attentiveness, vigilance, to stillness if it ever matures this way, but
the continuos remembrance of the Lord stayed there.

Conclusion:
In spite of any drawbacks, due to dogmatic intrusions, the Philokalia
stays a collection of beautiful sayings, apart from if its overall theme is
clear, and how can you apply them.
To achieve its goal, you need to have the guidance of an experienced el-
der, from the Macrian tradition of the unceasing prayer. Examine and
compare an update of the original tradition of ecumenical Alexandrian
Orthodoxy when you study and apply;
+ Orthodox prayer life, The interior way+, By the Abbot of St Macarius,
in Skete, Mattew the Poor.
If you have any interest in the Philokalia at all, you should start with this
book. It is not the entire text, by a long shot - the complete text of the
Philokalia in English is still being produced, although I believe that most
of it has been published. This book deals with those portions of the
Philokalia that discuss the Jesus Prayer.
If your interest is in the Prayer, this book belongs on your bookshelf. As
it is also a representative sample, this book will also help you decide if
you want to tackle the entire Philokalia. The book was first published
quite a few years ago, and it has been quoted in so many sources that if
you're interested in the subject at all you will probably find that you
have already read sizable portions of it.

This is truly the authoritive guide to anyone wanting to enter into the
journey of contemplative Christian prayer via the Jesus Prayer..

The text's language can at times be archaic due to when it was written,
but the consciousness, the heart and the spirit of this powerful spiritual
practice leaps out at you from the pages..

These excerpts from the Philokalia will be a true guide and teacher to an-
yone who decides to enter this form of Prayer Life..

As one of the writers in the text advises: Sit in your room ..the (Jesus)
Prayer will teach you everything. These writing will help you listen to
the lessons of the prayer..