Alexander Tamonikov
Secret agent

Prologue

Special forces major Andrei Moskvitin, who captured his immediate superior General Obolensky in the mansion, as well as his accomplices in selling weapons to Chechen militants, Air Force General Ostapov and official Bolshakov from the department officially selling weapons, waited for a message from Chechnya, holding high-ranking traitors at gunpoint. Finally, a call came through the satellite device. The special duty officer, who Moskvitin was in the special service, replied:

- Mosquito is in touch!

- Thank you! One question: did the Harpoon detachment suffer losses?

- Several wounded! At the moment, I have not received any reports of deaths. I hope they don't!

- This is good! Well, that's it! Farewell, Colonel!

- I would prefer a different phrase - goodbye!

- I would too!

Moskvitin turned off the device and threw it into one of the chairs near the coffee table. He looked around at the “hostages”:

- Well, gentlemen, traitors, as they say, finita la comedy! Turn off the lights, drain the oil! The cargo is intercepted, the gang is destroyed, Dzhura and Batyr are captured. And you, Obolensky, can be proud of “Harpoon”. The detachment carried out the operation without serious losses! And this is in the conditions of direct combat in the mountains! So you can be proud. But the special forces soldiers themselves won’t even want to think about you! I know these guys! But, finally, the guests have come to us,” said Andrei, who was controlling the entrance to the mansion through the window. – And apparently, this is the Curator himself – Lieutenant General Potapov! But we'll clarify this soon. They should contact us. Or rather, with me, you are now out of the game!

He turned out to be right. General Potapov's call came in a matter of seconds. Andrey turned on his mobile phone and introduced himself:

- Major Moskvitin!

The curator of the special service introduced himself:

- Lieutenant General Potapov!

– It’s very nice, General, I’m listening to you!

- Andrey Grigorievich! I just recently had a conversation with the commander of the Harpoon detachment, Colonel Kartsev. He reported to me everything related to the supply of weapons to the Mujahideen, organized by some of our government officials, and what role you played in stopping this deal. I would like to thank you for the work you have done!

Andrey grinned:

- Even so? Maybe you’ll also award him an order? Or will you introduce him to the Hero?

– Unfortunately, this is impossible, but now we are talking about something else. You have captured individuals whom you reasonably suspect of collaborating with terrorists. Professionals of your level do not do anything spontaneously; they calculate every step they take. So I would like to know: what do you intend to do next?

Moskvitin’s answer was simple and short:

– Judge these scum, General!

- Andrey Grigorievich, don’t do something stupid! I understand your condition and desire to deal with those who framed you! But you are not a prosecutor or a judge, or even an investigator. Therefore, I propose that Messrs. Obolensky, Ostapov and Bolshakov be handed over to me, and I promise that the most thorough investigation will be carried out against them. I also guarantee that any prosecution against you, I mean criminal, will stop. This issue has already been agreed upon with the Prosecutor General's Office!

“You’ll coordinate everything quickly, Mister General.” And your offer is tempting, there are no words, but there is one “but” that does not allow me to accept it.

Potapov asked:

– What is this “but”?

– The point, Nikolai Viktorovich, is that I don’t believe you! Not to General Potapov personally, but to the entire system that has developed in the state over the years of the so-called reform! I do not believe that the high-ranking werewolves I captured will receive the punishment they deserve. Punishment for thousands of ruined lives of innocent people! I do not believe that our corrupt and rotten government will fully and fairly evaluate the crimes of the scumbags Obolensky, Ostapov and Bolshakov! And he will pronounce a verdict of conscience on them! This will not happen, General! And do you know why? Yes, because my hostages are sure of this, let’s call the scoundrels that! They, already realizing that their activities had been exposed, offered me two million dollars and travel anywhere in the world, if only I would let them go. What does this mean? The fact that the traitor gentlemen very realistically expect to get away with it, in simple terms. They have everything for this - connections, money and, most importantly, the lack of direct documentary evidence of involvement in aiding terrorists. And you, Nikolai Viktorovich, can’t do anything about it! They would rather devour you and Colonel Kartsev than touch a hair on the werewolves! Or do you still think that I am mistaken and speaking nonsense?

The curator of the service thought for a moment, then said quietly:

“Perhaps you are right, Major, although I am of a different opinion.” But I see that I won’t be able to convince you otherwise! I’ll ask one thing: do you understand WHAT command I should give to the special forces assault group that has already surrounded the building?

Andrey answered calmly:

- Naturally! You will order an attack on the mansion! But it won't give you anything! Absolutely nothing, except maybe a line in the report that you tried to free the hostages! My advice to you is to take care of your people. I wouldn’t want the standing guys to die because of some creatures. They will be useful to you in other promotions!

-What are you going to do, Major?

– I have already answered this question.

– But you yourself will die?!

Moskvitin ignored the last remark of FSB Lieutenant General Potapov, saying:

– Enough talk, Nikolai Viktorovich! In exactly five minutes, dial Obolensky’s city number. Before that, don’t send your soldiers to their deaths! No need!

- Wait, Mosquito, don’t rush, I have a proposal for you!

- I've listened to you enough!

1. Prayer rule

You have to work hard on the prayer rule. In the monastery of St. Sava, at each Jesus prayer a bow is made from the waist, and after every tenth a bow is made to the ground. You can do the same. Put down - say a certain number of prayers while standing, without bowing. This is in the rule of Father Seraphim. By the way, apply yourself. You just need to bother yourself, at least in moderation. Otherwise, a small benefit will lead to a big one, and everything can be ruined. When you become a rule, but your head is scattered so that you can’t cope with it, you need to force it to order, first with some calming thoughts: for this means that the fear has gone away and the soul has become indomitable. If this does not help, begin to read some prayers, and read with attention until your mind gathers itself. When he is in order, then begin bowing. He who bows with his head scattered is a reed shaken by the wind. However, this blessed work itself will teach you how to act in which case.

(Issue 4, letter 719)

Keep the prayer rule as it is; Just be careful when turning into the mechanism. The form is empty - what is there? You have to put your soul into it. And don’t forget the thought of God, and reading, and physical labor. And you shouldn’t forget anything. There is a hard-working path. We must pay attention, be sober and stay awake. God help you in everything.

(Issue 4, letter 719)

I still have one question left... about your prayer rule. Before you asked an hour earlier to finish the rule. Not seeing through the enemy's cunning, I agreed to this. Now the enemy sat down with you and explained that you can shorten the prayer rule further by introducing handicrafts into it. So your usual prayer has completely collapsed. It's not good... Try to restore it as it was in the beginning.

If it is more convenient for you to finish the rule an hour earlier, then start it earlier. Throw away handicrafts completely... Where did you find such permission?... no, no... You need to overwork yourself, not invent benefits. This is a wide path... not kind...

(Issue 3, letter 528)

The way you decided to act regarding prayer is good. Take care to get comfortable and get used to it. The rule of prayer is a safe fence of prayer... Prayer is an internal matter, and the rule of prayer is external.

But just as without a body a person is not a complete person, so without a rule of prayer, prayer is not complete. You must have the strength to do both. It is an urgent law to pray internally always and everywhere. Prayer cannot exist without a certain “time, place and measure.” The definition of these three constitutes the prayer rule. And here the leader is prudence; when, where, how long to stand in prayer, and what prayers to use... everyone can determine according to their circumstances, increase, decrease, move the time and place... everything can be directed to ensure that internal prayer is performed as it should. Regarding internal prayer, there is one rule: “pray without ceasing.”

(Issue 6, letter 947)

What you replaced the Optina Rule with, I think, is better than it. In the Savvinsky Monastery, which is near Jerusalem, an hour before Matins they give a sign, and the monks, each in their own cell, bow with the Jesus Prayer 150 earthly and 1500 waist. Those who don’t make it in time will fill it up during the day. But strength does not lie in form, but in the spirit of prayer. What you try to feel in prayer is the most useful thing for prayer. To feel like a condemned person at the hour of prayer, one of the fathers put prayer in the essence. Somewhere, I don’t remember, the question is written: what is the best way to stand in prayer? And the answer: stand as if in court, fixing your gaze on the mouth of the Lord, from which the final decision is ready to come to you: come, or go away, and cry: Lord, have mercy. - That's what's going on with you. It also seems to me that with a single Jesus Prayer you can fulfill all kinds of rules, just so that it is not only in word, but also in power.

(Issue 3, letter 506)

God's mercy be with you!

Most Reverend Mother, as far as I could make out, it is advisable for you to shorten your cell rule of four hours, replacing it with a shorter personal prayer. And you ask how to position yourself?

I can’t answer this question directly for you, not knowing how your life went, and where you got your rule, and what your inner prayer is, about which you are so jealous. If you have determined your cell rule for yourself, then it is in your power to change it in every possible way. But if it was given to those with whom you previously consulted in your affairs, then you need to talk to him about changing this rule. It is possible to change, but the same order requires asking.

The rule is not an essential part of Prayer, but is only its external side. The main thing is the prayer of the mind and heart to God, offered with praise, thanksgiving and petition... and, finally, with complete surrender to the Lord.

When there is such a movement in the heart, there is prayer there, and when not, there are no prayers, even if you stood on the rule for whole days. This is exactly what you are paying due attention to. So keep trying to achieve this. "Seek and you will find. The Lord is near." You love the Lord, as you wrote, to Him and turn with all your needs, like a child to the Father. If you introduce me to your life, your internal structure and write what your rule is, then perhaps I could tell you something.

God bless you! Save yourself!

(Issue 3, letter 515)

As for the rule, I think about it this way: whatever rule anyone chooses for himself, everything is good, as long as it keeps the soul in reverence before God. Also: read prayers and psalms until your soul stirs, and then pray yourself, outlining your needs, or without anything. “God be merciful...” Also: sometimes all the time assigned for the rule can be spent reading one psalm from memory, making up your own prayer from each verse. Also, sometimes you can spend the entire rule in the Jesus Prayer with bows... Otherwise, you can take a little from this, the other and the third. God needs the heart (Proverbs 23:26), and as long as it stands in reverence before Him, then that is enough. This is what unceasing prayer consists of: always standing reverently before God. And in this case, the rule is only heating, or adding firewood to the stove.

February 21, 1881)
(Issue 1, letter 2)

Would you like to have a prayer rule? In the evening and morning, perform morning prayers and prayers for sleep... Attach short prayers to them - 24 of St. John Chrysostom, which are among the prayers for sleep, repeating each 5 times. Then call on all the saints: apostles, prophets, saints, martyrs, martyrs, reverend fathers and reverend mothers, and all those who please God in every way. This is in general, but by name: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel, the saint whose name you bear, the saints whose thrones are in the monastery, the saints you honor according to your circumstances, such as St. Tikhon... and others. Conclude by remembering the living and the dead for whom you pray.

Never pronounce prayers hastily, and not hastily, with thoughts and feelings that are expressed in the prayers being read. Before starting prayer, always prepare a little, collecting your thoughts and trying to pay attention to the Lord, to whom you are beginning to pray. Let the main attitude of prayer be one of repentance, for we all sin a lot... The spirit is contrite, God will not despise a contrite and humble heart. According to every rule, pray for your sins, in which you sin...

What should we try to achieve through prayer? So that the heart warms with love for God and the feeling for God does not leave... For this purpose the Jesus Prayer is prescribed: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Repeat this prayer more often and you will achieve the skill so that your tongue repeats it by itself.

Please know that to succeed in prayer, you must try to decorate your heart with all the virtues, especially humility, obedience and rejection of your own will.

We must establish faith that God sees and hears everything, and knows all our secrets. Why do you need to pay attention to yourself and tear away all the bad things, and as soon as they appear in thoughts or feelings, immediately spew them out and immediately repent and ask for forgiveness.

(Issue 3, letter 377)

Freedom to make rules

Never commit yourself to a rule or think that there is anything valuable in having such a rule or always following it. The whole price is in heartfelt surrender before God. The saints write that if someone does not leave prayer as a condemned man, worthy of all punishment from the Lord, then he leaves it as a Pharisee. Another said: “When standing in prayer, stand as if at the Last Judgment, when God’s decisive decree about you is ready to come: “Go away” or “Come.”

Formality and mechanism in prayer must be avoided in every possible way. Be the mistress of the rule, not the slave. She is only a servant of God, obligated to devote all the minutes of her life to pleasing Him.

(Issue 2, letter 249)

About the abbreviation rule

After you get tired, you don’t do the evening rule well... Before the rule, walk around a little, even outside, if it’s convenient, and lie down for a while until your head rests and the impressions you’ve experienced dissipate... Then follow the rule... Rules Never give yourself the freedom to do something How. Always fulfill it as the first thing... As a presentation before the Emperor... And if time does not allow, it is better to shorten the rule, and do not carry it out somehow. Reduce this yourself when necessary and be blessed to have it fulfilled by your spiritual father. Or, having shortened as needed, then fill in what was missing if it is of a general nature in content. Keep in mind and feeling that every compulsion and will for the work of God is seen by the omnipresent God and blesses the one who does it.

(Issue 3, letter 477)

When things do not allow you to fully fulfill the prayer rule, then perform it abbreviated. And you should never rush. God is everywhere. Say thanks to Him in the morning and ask for a blessing in your own words, a few bows and that’s enough! Never approach God haphazardly, but always with great reverence. He does not need our bows, nor our verbose prayers... A cry from the heart is short and strong - that’s what is profitable!.. And this can be done casually... And, therefore, you can pray unceasingly. Take care of this and direct everything here... They asked St. Basil the Great: how to pray unceasingly? He answered: have a prayerful disposition in your heart and you will pray unceasingly. Work with your hands, and lift your mind to God. The apostles walked around the whole earth, how much work?! Meanwhile, they prayed incessantly. And they wrote this commandment. The spirit of faith, trust and devotion to the will of God - this is what must be warmed in the heart.

You can figure out the prayer rule yourself, judging by what I wrote to your wife. Memorize the prayers you read and read them from memory with understanding and feeling. Insert your own prayer here and there; The less you depend on the book, the better. Memorize a few psalms, and when you go somewhere or do something else, but your head is not busy, read them... This is a conversation with God. The rule must be in your free will. Don't be his slave.

(Issue 2, letter 250)

How can you be bored with the Lord? And how can one even desire any entertainment?

And don't pray? So they were angry with the Lord... or did they become complacent? Full! - And you don’t want to ask.

When you get tired in the evening... start praying on your knees, or even sitting, then standing. And everyone needs to pray. Thank the Lord for the day, ask for good night, repent of the bad.

(Issue 8, letter 1269)

Because of the troubles for Dunya, you do not fully comply with the rule. There is no need to worry about this. These troubles replace the rule: for both are the same kind of work - work for one owner, pleasing to him. When the prayer inside is intact and stays with the very deeds; then prayers and work are two currents in the same river, in the same bed and in the same direction. We can also say that here action and reason go together... Reason is contemplation. Therefore, you have nothing to grieve because there is no contemplation. Inner prayer does not happen without contemplation, which is actually the contemplation of God before oneself. It is also combined with God-thinking. He is - God's revealed to us His holy mysteries of the world, the preservation of the world, providence, the incarnate economy, the salvation of each, and the demise of everything - a review, sometimes with reasoning and reflection, and sometimes simply.

(Issue 6, letter 1006)

The rule can be replaced with short prayers

Read. And when there is weakness or a lot of work - instead of “reading” the canon, offer a short prayer to it: “My holy Guardian Angel of God, pray to God for me, a sinner,” - 50 with bows at will (i.e. bow to the ground or from the waist) . This can (i.e., short prayers) replace all canons. But attention must be kept not on words alone, but with corresponding thoughts and feelings.

Work in prayer. She is a source of consolation, enlightened thoughts and affirmation of good character.

(Issue 3, letter 378)

Road prayer rule

You ask about the implementation of the rule. What's the rule now? Road! I had to put the fan down, okay; but it didn’t have to, so be it. Lying down, say something to the Lord. Where is the rule here, when you are tired? When you return to your place, then everything will go as usual.

(Issue 4, letter 699)

What to do when prayer doesn’t come to mind?

What to do when prayer doesn't come to mind? If this is prayer at home, then you can put it off a little, for a few minutes... If even then it doesn’t work... force yourself to fulfill the prayer rule by forcefully straining, and understand what is being said, and feel... similar to when a child does not want to bow, they take him by the forelock and bend him over.

The monastery and tonsure greatly excite, but not in themselves, but with those thoughts that are inevitable... For them, both do not leave any trace.

In church, sometimes neither what is sung nor read is heard or understood; in this case, stand before the Lord and say the Jesus Prayer... In the church, every action has its own meaning. Whoever follows this meaning with his mind and understanding will constantly receive nourishing influences for the spirit from another world... and at the end of the Divine service he will leave the church as if he were leaving a table richly and variedly served.

Bows during the Jesus Prayer are left to arbitrariness and zeal... On small knots, make a bow from the waist, and on large knots, bow to the ground. How many? As much as your heart desires, however, having determined this once and for all... It is better to determine the time for this prayer: a quarter of an hour, or more, or less.

Night is the best time for prayer, especially midnight.

You can refuse to eat meat, but you can also limit yourself to eating less.

Akathists and canons are good to read as expected. Look in the Followed Psalter, at the end. The psalmist will help you. But don't type too much. You can replace them with bows and the Jesus Prayer. And look at this too. And it happens better. You can, as a rule, pray with short prayers to St. Chrysostom, which stand in a row of prayers for sleep, saying each 5-10-15 or more times.

It is very good to fast more often, but see for yourself how to do it. Which church services your high school service allows you to go to, go to, and which ones you cannot go to, for those at home, correct your bows with the Jesus Prayer, as also prescribed in the Followed Psalter.

To read, subscribe to the magazine “Soulful Reading”. A very useful magazine and cheap - 4 rubles. with delivery. The Trinity and Athos leaflets are good. From my books, you have everything related to spiritual life... Read “The Path to Salvation” more often, especially the 3rd part.

What does it mean to have a clear conscience in relation to things? Do not abuse them, but use them wisely, storing them as long as possible. This is a monastic rule.

It’s good to talk during the Nativity fast. God bless. You can attend church at Vespers, All-Night Vigil or Matins and then take communion at Mass... And on other days of fasting you can replace all services with bows with the Jesus Prayer... Look in the Following Psalter and write it down for yourself. Read the lives of the saints every day. What sins have already been confessed and resolved, about those you say: they happened, but they repented and received permission.

Thought on God can be replaced by the Jesus Prayer, but what is the need for this? They are one and the same essence. God-thinking is the holding of some truth in thought: the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, omnipresence, etc. without any direction of thought.

(Issue 1, letter 113)

Haste in reading the prayer rule

Your conscience is disturbed by hasty prayers... And rightly so. Why are you listening to the enemy? It is the enemy who is driving you... quickly, quickly... Because of this, you do not feel any fruit from prayer... But make it a law for yourself not to rush... But pronounce your prayers in such a way that not a single word is pronounced without awareness of the meaning and if possible, and feelings... Take on this work with the determination of a commander-in-chief, so that no objections to this are generated at all... The enemy inspires, this is necessary and something else is necessary, and you answer: without you I know, go away...

Look how the prayer goes... Otherwise, you only have a prayer book, but no prayer. Prayer alone nourishes the soul... So you feel unsatisfied...

Check the clock to see how much time will pass if you don’t rush... and you will see that it’s a few minutes. And what damage from haste!!

(Issue 5, letter 763)

The rule must be read reverently and prayerfully

Are you going to read the rule... Good! When fulfilling your rule, do not have in mind only to subtract everything that is required, but to arouse and strengthen the prayer movement in your soul: so that this happens,

1. “never read hastily, but read as if in a chant... close to that. In ancient times, all the prayers read were taken from the psalms. But nowhere do I see the words: read, but sing everywhere...

2. “Pay attention to every word and not only reproduce the thought of what you read in your mind, but also arouse the corresponding feeling.

3. “to trigger the urge to hastily read, do not subtract this and that, but stand for a reading prayer for a quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour... how long you usually stand... and then don’t worry about how many prayers you read, but how the time has come, if you don’t want to stand any longer, stop reading...

4. “Having put this down to the clock, however, do not look, but stand in such a way that you can stand endlessly: your thought will not run ahead...

5. “to promote the movement of prayerful feelings, in your free time, re-read and rethink all the prayers that are included in your rule - and feel them, so that when you begin to read them according to the rule, you will know in advance what feeling should be aroused in the heart.

6. “When you don’t read prayers without interruption... but always break them up with personal prayer with bows, whether you have to do this in the middle of the prayers, or at the end. As soon as something comes to your heart, immediately stop reading and bow. This is the last rule - the most necessary and most necessary thing for cultivating the spirit of prayer... If sometimes, what feeling is very overwhelming, you be with him and bow down, and give up reading... so until the very end of the allotted time, do prayers not only in the morning and in the evening. , and during the day, often make several bows without setting the hours. Do what is indicated in the 5th and 6th paragraphs in advance for some morning and night prayers, perhaps it will not be necessary to read anything else.

(Issue 5, letter 773)

Instructions on prayer rules and soul-saving reading

God's mercy be with you!

I answer with pleasure... Your rule is good both morning and evening. Do you require a decision on how to read the Gospel and the Apostle - one chapter at a time, or, as is indicated in the church, one at a time? As you are already accustomed to reading in church, then continue like this... Try... to reflect and remember. Instead of Thomas a à Kempis, choose to read another book by our writer...what kind of books do you have? Let's make a choice together.

The lives of the saints in Chet-Minea are good to read; Although we cannot live like this, we are obliged to imitate them whenever possible and even through force. Each life offers a general outline of the life of the holy day... From the general overview of these essays you will see what all the saints had in common, and from this draw a conclusion: therefore, both are necessary.

One Akathist is enough... But it would be better to read the Akathist to the Mother of God. The canon on the outcome of the soul need not be introduced into the rule.

It has already been said about reading the Gospel and the Apostle... If you read according to the beginnings, then, having read what is prescribed in the morning, by the evening there will be nothing left; Is it possible to divide: In the morning read the concept from the Gospel, and in the evening from the Apostle. Reading chapter by chapter is a lot. Bows at will. If you did not have this in the rule, then before the beginning of the morning and evening prayers put 50 bows from the waist, small and 5 to the ground, on a large knot - a large bow on the rosary. The same is true at the end of the rule. When bowing, there are small prayers... Main Jesus. Then to the Mother of God, his Saint and other revered ones. Decide how many bows to each face, so that in total there are 50... Approximately - 30 to the Savior, 15 to the Mother of God, 5 to other saints.

Try to get used to the Jesus Prayer so that it speaks itself... both on the go and at work... And you can always repeat other prayers... “God cleanse me”... “God is merciful”... “Instruct me Lord God... and the like. Wear rosary beads as if you were wearing nothing... if you don’t have any superstitious riddles... Or better yet, have them under your images as a rule... It’s good not to read newspapers and novels, but don’t bind yourself to the law. You can only decisively decide not to read bad novels: for there are very edifying ones. Skim the telegrams from the newspapers... and that's enough.

But the main thing is to always try to remember that the Lord is near... and sees everything, and behave accordingly, both externally and internally. God bless you!

Anything you need, write... I will answer, at least sometimes lazily.

(Issue 3, letter 487)

How to read a rule

God's mercy be with you! Most Honorable Father N...! Due to weak eyesight, you can limit your prayer rule to time - and an hour, as you do, is enough for it. Instead of reading prayers in prayer books, you can pray with short prayers. This thing is as follows: collect yourself short prayers according to your needs... three, four, five dozen, memorize them and repeat them on the rule 5 and 10 times each, as they do with the Jesus Prayer, trying in every possible way to the prayers went inseparably from the thoughts and feelings expressed by the prayers. Work like this for an hour, and that’s enough. The main thing is that every prayer spoken comes from the heart. To do this, when memorizing you need to think deeply about them.

The content of prayers should be: doxology, thanksgiving, petition and especially repentance. Taqiyah and prayers need to be selected. Sit down, read the psalms... and whatever verse falls on your heart, write it down. Then take the Octoechos, which all consists of tender appeals to God, choose the appeals that suit you and write them down. You can also learn from prayer books. There will be a lot...

Choose from this the one that is most suitable for you, and pray these prayers.

(Issue 3, letter 379)

Rule reading time

(Issue 3, letter 503)

Prayer arrangement at the beginning of the day

Try to do this: in the morning, during your prayer rule, try to establish your attention before God so that then you can be before Him all day, no matter what happens. If you arrange yourself this way and begin with the prophet to always contemplate the Lord before you, with the corresponding feelings, of course, then you will always pray unceasingly. And then you won't be bored.

Do not depart from the prayer-rule until contrition is reborn in your heart in devotion to God. You are a wife, mother, housewife.

The responsibilities related here are your salvation.

(Issue 8, letter 1220)

2. Prayer

The essence of prayer

The essence of prayer is mental standing before the Lord with an invocation to Him in a feeling of thanksgiving, or glorification, or petition, or contrition, or fear, or hope, or some other feeling related to the Lord. So if there is no feeling for the Lord, then prayer is not prayer. When someone is feeling, he has no time to pay attention to the external position of both the whole body and its different parts - lips, tongue, fingers. In the heart one must pay attention, but not before the heart, but before God. If the Lord is not in your attention, then there is no prayer.

You bow a lot. This is good, but try to have both attention to the Lord and feeling. The most fitting feeling for us is contrition: “The spirit is contrite, the heart is contrite and humble, God will not despise.” This happens from the fear of God, and the fear of God comes to life from the memory of death and the Judgment of God. Every time you begin to pray, restore the fear of God and contrition in yourself, and then pray, not allowing these feelings to weaken. The most comfortable place to be in the fear of God and contrition is in the church. Take care to always be in church with these feelings. And then you’ll wear them at home too... And good for you!

(Issue 5, letter 899)

The work of prayer is the first task in Christian life. Prayer is the breath of the spirit. There is prayer - the spirit lives; no prayer - no life in the spirit.

Standing in front of an icon and bowing down is not prayer, but only an accessory to prayer; reading prayers from memory, or from a book, or listening to them is not yet prayer, but only an instrument of prayer or a way of discovering or inciting it. Prayer itself is the emergence in our hearts of one after another reverent feelings towards God - feelings of self-abasement, devotion, thanksgiving, glorification, petition, contrition, submission to the will of God, diligent prostration, and so on.

All our concern here should be that during our prayer these and similar feelings fill our soul, so that our heart is not empty. When he has all these feelings or any one of them directed towards God, then our prayer is prayer, and when not, it is not yet prayer.

Prayer or the aspiration of the heart to God must be aroused and the excited one strengthened, or, what is the same, one must cultivate a prayerful spirit in oneself.

The first way to do this is by reading or listening to our prayers. Read or listen to the prayer book properly and you will certainly arouse and strengthen the ascent in your heart to God, i.e. you will enter into a prayerful spirit. Great prayer power moves in the prayers of the holy fathers, and whoever penetrates them with all attention and zeal will, by virtue of the law of interaction, certainly taste the power of prayer as his mood approaches the content of the prayer. In order to make our prayer book an effective means of cultivating prayer, it is necessary to perform it in such a way that both the thought and the heart perceive the content of the prayers that make up the prayer book.

Here are the three simplest techniques for this: do not start praying without proper preparation, do not do it haphazardly, but with attention and feeling; Do not immediately after finishing your prayers go on to your usual activities.

Preparation for prayer

Whenever you begin to pray, wait a little, or sit, or walk, and at this time try to sober your thoughts, distracting them from all earthly affairs and objects. Then think about who it is to whom you turn in prayer, and who you are who now has to begin this prayerful appeal to Him, and arouse in your soul the corresponding mood of self-abasement and reverent fear of standing before God in your heart. This is all a small, but not insignificant preparation: to stand reverently before God in your heart. Here is the beginning of prayer, and a good beginning is half the battle.

Performing prayers

Having established yourself in this way internally, stand in front of the icons, cross yourself, bow and begin the usual prayer. Read slowly, delve into every word; bring the thought of every word to the heart, accompanying it with bows with a cross. This is the whole point of pleasing to God and fruitful reading of prayer. Listen to every word and bring the thought of the word to your heart, otherwise: understand what you read, and feel what you understand. You read: “cleanse me from all filth,” feel your filth, desire purity and with full hope ask it from the Lord. You read: “Thy will be done,” and in your heart you completely commit your fate to the Lord, with full readiness to graciously meet everything that the Lord sends you. You read: “and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors,” and in your soul forgive everyone everything, and thus ask yourself for forgiveness from the Lord. If you act this way with every verse of your prayer, then you will have a proper prayer. And in order for you to do it this way more successfully, here’s what you need to do:

1) have a well-known prayer rule - a small one, so that during your ordinary affairs you can fulfill it slowly;

2) in your free time, read the prayers of your rule, understand every word of the prayer and feel it, so that you know in advance what should happen in your soul and heart at what word; so that during prayer it would be easy for you to understand and feel;

3) if your flying thought during prayer runs off to other objects, strain to maintain attention and return your thought to the subject of prayer; runs away again - come back again; repeat the reading until you read every word of the prayer with understanding and feeling. By this you will wean your thoughts from distraction in prayer;

4) if any word of prayer has a strong effect on the soul, stop on it and do not read further, stand in this place with attention and feeling, saturate your soul with it, or with those thoughts that it will produce, do not ruin this state until it It will go away on its own - this is a sign that the spirit of prayer is beginning to take root in you, and this state is the most reliable means of cultivating and strengthening the spirit of prayer in us.

What to do after prayer

When you finish your prayer, do not immediately move on to any activities, but also wait at least a little and think that you have done this, and what it obliges you to, saving after prayer especially what had a strong effect on you. The very property of prayer is such that if you pray well, as you should, you will not want to quickly worry about business: whoever tastes sweet will not want bitter; and tasting this sweetness of prayer is the goal of prayer, and through this tasting the sweetness of prayer, a prayerful spirit is cultivated in prayer.

By following these few rules, you will soon see the fruits of your prayer work. Any prayer will leave a trace of prayer in the soul - its continuous continuation in the same order will root it, and patience in this work will instill a spirit of prayer.

Here is the first - the initial way to cultivate the spirit of prayer in us! This is the performance of our prayers in accordance with their purpose. But that's not all. Here lies only the beginning of the science of prayer. We need to go further.

Having become accustomed with your mind and heart to turn to God with outside help, according to prayer books, you must then make experiments in your own ascension to God - to reach the point where the soul itself, so to speak, with its own speech, enters into a prayerful conversation with God; she herself ascended to Him and revealed herself to Him and confessed what was in her and what she desired. And the soul must be taught this. What should one do to succeed in this science? And the skill of praying according to prayer books with reverence, attention and feeling leads to the same thing, for from a heart filled with holy feelings through prayers, its own prayer to God will begin to flow out of itself. But there are also special rules for this that lead to proper success in prayer.

The first way of teaching the soul to frequently turn to God is contemplation of God, or reverent reflection on the divine properties and actions - reflection on the goodness of God, justice, wisdom, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, on creation and Providence, on the arrangement of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ; about grace and the word of God and about the Holy Sacraments, about the Kingdom of Heaven. Whichever of these objects you begin to reflect on, this reflection will certainly fill the soul with a reverent feeling for God - it directly directs a person’s entire being to God and therefore is the most direct means of accustoming the soul to ascend to God. Having finished your prayer, especially in the morning, sit down and begin to think - now about one thing, tomorrow about another of God's properties and actions, and create a disposition in your soul corresponding to this. Speak to Saint Demetrius of Rostov: “Go, holy thought of God, and let us immerse ourselves in meditation on the great deeds of God,” thereby touching your heart and you will begin to pour out your soul in prayer. There is little labor, but much fruit. All you need is desire and determination. For example, begin to reflect on the goodness of God, you will see that you are surrounded by God’s mercies both physically and spiritually, and you will fall before God in an outpouring of feelings of gratitude; begin to reflect on the omnipresence of God, you will understand that you are everywhere before God, and God is before you, and you cannot help but be filled with reverent fear; begin to reason about the truth of God, and you will be convinced that not a single bad deed will go unpunished, and you will certainly decide to cleanse all your sins with heartfelt contrition before God and repentance; begin to reflect on the omniscience of God, you will realize that nothing in you is hidden from the eye of God, and you will certainly love to be strict with yourself and attentive in everything, so as not to somehow offend the all-seeing God.

The second way of teaching the soul to frequently turn to God is to turn every deed, large and small, to the glory of God. For if we make it a rule, according to the commandment of the Apostle (1 Cor. 10:31), to do everything, even eat and drink, for the glory of God, then we will certainly remember God in every action, and we will remember not just, but with fear, as it were. not to act wrongly in any case and not to offend God in any way. This will force you to turn to God with fear and prayerfully ask for help and admonition. And since we are almost constantly doing something, we will almost constantly turn to God in prayer, therefore, we will almost constantly go through the science of lifting up to God in prayer in our souls. In this way we will teach the soul to turn to God as often as possible throughout the day.

The third way of teaching the soul to turn to God frequently is to cry out from the heart to God frequently throughout the day in short words, judging by the needs of the soul and current affairs. When you start, say: Lord, bless! When you finish the job, say not only with your tongue, but with the feeling of your heart: glory to You, Lord! What passion will arise, say: save me, Lord, I am perishing! The darkness of confusing thoughts finds itself, cry out: bring my soul out of prison! Wrong deeds are coming, and sin leads to them, pray: guide me, Lord, on the path, or: do not let my feet become confused. Sins suppress and lead to despair - cry out in a publican’s voice: God, be merciful to me a sinner. So anyway. Or just say more often: Lord, have mercy! Lady Theotokos, save me! Angel of God, my holy Guardian, protect me! Or in some other word, cry out. Just make these appeals as often as possible, trying in every possible way so that they come out of the heart, as if squeezed out of it. When we do this, we will experience frequent mental ascents from the heart to God, frequent appeals to God, frequent prayer, and this frequency will give us the skill of intelligent conversation with God.

So, in addition to the prayer rule - to teach the soul to ascend to God in prayer - there are three more ways to introduce one into the spirit of prayer. This means devoting some time in the morning to contemplation of God; turn every deed to the glory of God and often turn to God with short appeals. When the thought of God is well accomplished in the morning, it will leave a deep mood for thinking about God. Thinking about God will force the soul to carefully carry out every action - both internal and external - and turn it to the glory of God, and both will put the soul in such a position that short prayerful appeals to God will often come out of it. These three: thinking about God, creating everything for the glory of God and frequent appeals are the most effective tools of mental and heartfelt prayer. Each of them lifts the soul to God. Whoever sets out to practice them will soon acquire the skill of establishing ascension in his heart to God. Having been torn away from the earth, the soul will enter its own region and will sweetly dwell in grief - here heartily and mentally, and there - and will essentially be honored to dwell before the face of God. (Issue 2, letter 227)

How to warm up prayer

A prayer that is not collected and the soul is cold should have no limit or end. Like the fallen, we have grown cold, and we need to endure ourselves for a long time in order to warm ourselves up. Labor is therefore inevitable. And if it continues constantly and wisely, then it is always crowned with success, not from us, from the mercy of God, of which there is no end.

The Jesus Prayer or some other short prayer is a good thing if it sticks on the tongue. Just take care not to pay attention in your head, but in your heart, and do so not only while standing in prayer, but at all times. Take the trouble to create something like a sore in your heart... Constant work will soon do this... There is nothing special here. It is a natural thing that the sore will appear. But this will also make you more focused. And the main thing is that the Lord, seeing the work, then grants His grace-filled prayer. Then things will come to their own hearts.

(Issue 8, letter 1233)

If your heart warms up when reading ordinary prayers, then in this way kindle the warmth of your heart towards God. The Jesus Prayer, if done mechanically, gives nothing, like any other prayer that is only spoken with the tongue.

During the Jesus Prayer, try to think more vividly that the Lord Himself is near and present to your soul and is listening to what is happening in it. At the same time, awaken in your soul a thirst for salvation and the confidence that apart from the Lord we have nowhere to expect salvation from. Then cry out to Him, mentally visible before you: “G.I.H.S.B. p.n.” or “Merciful Lord, save me in the image of fate.” It’s not a matter of words at all, but of feelings for the Lord.

The spiritual burning of the heart towards the Lord is love for Him. It lights up at the touch of the Lord on the heart. How He is all love; His touch on the heart immediately kindles love for Him. And from love - the burning of the heart towards Him. This is what you should be looking for. The creation of the Jesus Prayer is only a tool for this, or better yet, only work that shows the strong desire of the soul to find the Lord.

Let the Jesus Prayer be on your tongue, the contemplation of the Lord before you in your mind, and the thirst for God, or communion with the Lord, in your heart. When all this is constant, then the Lord, seeing how you force yourself, will give you what you ask for. Please understand all this and take it as a guide and read it often in order to refresh your memory of how you should act.

(Issue 8, letter 1338)

When a prayerful feeling comes to you, dwell on it and warm it up while it lingers in your soul. Call another when it moves away. So all day long. This will be unceasing prayer. Sometimes the feeling comes by itself, and sometimes it needs to be called upon. How? By thinking about God or thinking about all the sacraments of faith, especially about the economy of salvation... and the end of everything. Frequently think about all these subjects and something will certainly strike your soul. That's the feeling. God bless you.

(Issue 6, letter 1025)

It’s trouble when a person is full and content in his heart, but when he’s hungry and poor, it’s so good. A beggar, even in the cold, runs through the windows and begs. Would he go if he had a piece of bread?

When trouble is felt, then there is no end to a person’s troubles and labors. Same with the heart! When the feeling of misfortune, poverty and hunger touches him, it gives neither body nor soul peace. Do this and move on to the other. Then there is no place for self-pity, and all work is not work. And the Lord sends hunger and misfortune to those who pray and ask. This is a sign of health. The patient has no appetite; He’s full, even though he hasn’t eaten for weeks. Lord have mercy on us!

A bird tied with a short thread will flutter and fall, flutter and fall. When the thread is long, the bird will fly high and fly far, but everything will be attracted to the same place. If not for the thread, the bird would have flown away to the red meadows. And the birds fly in large cages, but they are not all free. How to break away?

When fire threatens someone tied, he will jerk so hard that it will break an iron chain, much less a weak thread. So it’s not a big deal: we need to spark trouble around.

You ask what does it mean: ignite trouble around you? This is a deep sense of the danger of one’s position and the extreme danger from which there is no other salvation than in the Lord Jesus Christ. This feeling will drive us to the Lord and make us cry out incessantly: help, protect! All the saints had it and never left them. Opposite to it is a feeling of contentment with one’s position, which calms a person and extinguishes in him all concern for salvation. I'm full, and what else? I didn’t mean only the memory of sins, but in general the feeling that there was nowhere to go except the Lord.

( , 3, 4)

Prayer must be accompanied by a feeling of repentance

That you have repentant feelings in prayer and tears is a real thing. Without repentant feelings, prayer is not prayer. So write her as not an ex. Prayer without these feelings is the same as a dead miscarriage. So do the holy fathers. And blow away your tears... Get used to howling over yourself as if over a dead person - and with lamentations... For the main thought, or the place where you should hold yourself mentally, is part of the Judgment, or the moment when God is ready to say: “Come ", or "Move away"! Oh Lord, save me! And how can one not cry, not being able to say affirmatively that He will not say “Go away”?!

(Issue 2, letter 256)

In prayer, the power is not in the form, but in the spirit of prayer. What you try to feel in prayer is the most useful thing for prayer. One of the fathers put the feeling of being condemned at the hour of prayer into the essence of prayer. Somewhere, I don’t remember, the question is written: what is the best way to stand in prayer? And the answer: stand, as at the Judgment, fixing your gaze on the lips of the Lord, from which the final decision is ready to come to you: “Come” or “Depart.” And cry out: “Lord, have mercy!” That's what's happening to you. It also seems to me that with a single Jesus Prayer you can fulfill all sorts of rules, just so that it is not only in word, but also in deed (in the mind and heart).

(Issue 1, letter 1)

Spiritual prayer does not depend on any physical tension, such as pressure of attention to the heart or tightness of breathing and the like. It is created in a smart way. It must begin by placing oneself in the presence of the Lord and then, having surrendered oneself entirely to the Lord and being inspired by faith and hope, turn one’s prayer to Him simply, like a child. Whatever feelings God sends, be content with those. The spiritual matter is not about ecstasy: its best manifestation is “a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart.” As you wrote that when you imagine the Lord as present, things get better, so always do it.

(Issue 5, letter 906)

About imagelessness in prayer

You are asking about prayer from the very worst prayer book.

How do I pray?! I try in every possible way during the hour of prayer to be in the conviction that God is omnipresent even here, where my consciousness is, and that He sees and hears not only the word - spoken or not - but also every movement of thought, and especially feeling. I avoid any image, no matter how difficult it is. When prayer comes with feeling, then there is no difficulty in keeping the ugliness in prayer. This makes it clear that ugliness in prayer is a real thing - and that in order to achieve this one must strive to the prayer of the heart - and began to descend from the head into the heart. How to achieve this is written in the letters regarding Speransky’s letters... (I asked Askochensky to deliver it to you. Did he deliver it?)

Also, you don’t need to imagine with your soul either the Mother of God, or saints, or angels. And they should pray in the same conviction that they hear. How do they hear? Why talk about this? They hear, and that’s all.

Suppose there is such a difference... that mental work requires images; they are in Scripture about God himself and all divine things. And imagination is a mental ability - a knowledgeable one.

Imagination - the ability to form and retain images - is a laboring ability... the lowest! Therefore, it is not a good idea to allow him to appear with his images in the highest region, which is prayer... Contemplative activity is high... and spiritual activity in prayer manifests itself even higher... Where can the imagination go there... This is where it is appropriate: "" friend, how did you come in?!!

So, when you get angry, imagine, and when you pray, drive away all images. If you allow images, then there is a danger of starting to pray to a dream. Can you say that the image you hold in your mind expresses the truth? So you can’t... Therefore, you need to get used to ugliness... but there is only one way - heartfelt prayer... The mind can hardly exist without images.

Compiling a book about prayer for the people is not bad... but this subject needs to be published. I think that when one of the people prays with feeling, he has no images... Anyway, it’s better not to talk about it. God enlightens minds, and when someone approaches Him in prayer, He Himself will teach how to keep the mind in prayer. I remember something said about the elder, who always figuratively represented God. When it was explained to him that this should not be the case, he said: you took God away from me... And it was not God that was taken away from him, but his dream.

(Issue 7, letter 1063)

You ask about prayer. I read from the fathers that when praying you need to expel all images from your head. I try to do just that, straining to stand in the conviction that God is everywhere... is here, where I am, where my thought and my feeling are. “I have not succeeded in completely freeing myself from images... but they are evaporating more and more.” That's right, there is a term for when they will completely disappear.

In ready-made prayers there are many images of the representation of God - judging by this, we must assume that, having such ideas, we do not sin. But it is better to strain yourself to think about God, closer to how He is. When the prayer of feeling appears, then the images disappear, and only one feeling is strong. Mental prayer has difficulty detaching itself from images and pictures. But work can overcome everything.

With the fact that my head can be heavy from prayer with feeling, I don’t know what to do. Prayer of feeling is refreshing... and this is something special for you. It will pass. But the prayer of feeling is a real prayer... To God - the heart, according to His command: “Son, give Me your heart!” The Lord provides everything we need. Pray to Him for guidance on how to deal with this or that. And He will give. God bless you! Save yourself.

(Issue 7, letter 1150)

Sobriety

When I pray, thoughts creep in. You have to drive them away, they climb in again, you have to drive them away again... and so on. Just don’t indulge him, but as soon as you notice him, drive him away. This is the feat of sobriety. Work to ensure that your heart is in some kind of religious feeling... when your heart is in feeling, thoughts do not bother you and everything goes around feelings. (Issue 3, letter 489, p. 159)

The meaning of prayer

Make sure that knowledge becomes action and the information received again also immediately enters life. Prayer is the test of everything; prayer is the source of everything; prayer is the engine of everything; prayer and director of all. As long as the prayer is correct, everything is correct. For she will not allow anything to be faulty.

(Issue 5, letter 796)

I am very glad that everything is going well for you, not in the monastery, but in your soul. For here, since there is prayer, then nothing better is required. It was noted somewhere that the ancient monks, when meeting with others - during mutual visits, or so where - first of all, inquired how the prayer was going. In real prayer, all our relationships with God, the highest ones, are in action and make sure that at that time our spiritual life stands in its order... Prayer is evidence of our spiritual existence and the measure of it! What wonder is there when we read that one of the Saints began to pray and sometimes did not retreat the whole night with an increase in the day.

Prayer lifted him to his home, where Father, Mother, brothers and sisters embrace him with complete love and console and delight him. May God grant you never to lose the prayer structure within.

You have so many concerns about your sisters, it is impossible that one of them is not included in what you offer. Others, in their own measure, assimilate this. But you still do not stop acting on them, to the extent possible, praying unceasingly that the Lord, Whose daughters they are, will visit them and enlighten their thoughts and hearts. Your prayer should not be limited to yourself... but you should bother God more than yourself about the progress of the sisters.

(Issue 3, letter 542)

You do well to throw yourself on your knees and pray. And do so. Again attacks - and again throw yourself on your knees. You wrote: “I’ll finally calm down.” This is how it always happens. Not suddenly, as soon as you call for help. Time passes and help comes. - So work hard. You are in a struggle, a struggle for life or death. According to how you come out of this struggle, your life will flow later. Grant, Lord, that you do not turn your back on the cause of pleasing God and salvation.

You don't pray enough. Take as your guide the Apostolic Rule: in prayer, remain vigilant in it. - The root of prayer is the memory of God with warm faith and feeling for God. It is in your power to initiate this, and it is your duty. From the moment you awaken, try to build this strength within yourself. How? Reflection on the mysteries of faith and salvation. When you sleep, it is as if you are not there, and when you awaken, you begin to be again, you enter the realm of conscious existence and into communication with everything that exists and happens. Everything that exists and happens is the kingdom of God.

Your first bow is to the King of kings, with the consciousness that everything is from Him, is held and directed by Him, both general and even the smallest particular. Here you are also in attention, and the present moment of your existence is determined from above. Place yourself at this point, and determine what is therefore required of you, with a firm determination not to deviate from it. I think that if you do this, then it is impossible for your soul to remain empty and wallow in vague thoughts and feelings. For here everything will be determined and will appear before you in orderly order. It is a big mistake for us to consider prayer an ordinary matter, something that there is nothing to think about, something that can be done in vain, in passing. The obligation to pray is felt, but how to perform it is not thought about, and it is forgotten that prayer happens as a sin.

Try to arouse in yourself a high reverence for prayer and always turn to prayer as the first and most important thing in life. Then prayer will be religion in action and movement, and from it then, like from a spring, everything good and holy will flow.

After all, you have a book: “Invisible Warfare.” Find the chapters on prayer there, this is from the 46th, and read it, not once or twice. Everything you need is listed there. If you follow what has been said, your prayer will be corrected, and everything else will follow.

I am giving you a comprehensive recipe. Its reduction is in the memory of God, the memory of death, and in the fear of God. When these take root in the heart, prayer and everything else will go well. - Do not neglect the work of God!

(Issue 6, letter 949)

Prayer work

Would you like to hear anything about prayer? What can I tell you that you don't know? There is a prayer that a person himself says; and there is prayer that God gives to the one who prays (1 Samuel 2:9). The first one who didn't know? You should also know the latter, at least in rudiments. First, when someone approaches the Lord, the first thing is prayer. He begins to go to church, and at home to pray with prayer books, and without them. But my thoughts are all running away. There's no way to deal with them. However, the more you work in prayer, the more your thoughts calm down, and your prayer becomes purer. However, the atmosphere of the soul is not purified until the spiritual flame in the soul is lit. This light is a work of God’s grace, but not special, but common to all. It appears due to a certain measure of purity in the entire moral structure of the person seeking. When this flame warms up or a constant warmth is formed in the heart, then the seething of thoughts stops. What happens to a soul is that which bleeds: “a stream of blood” (k. 8, 44). In this state, prayer, more or less, approaches incessant prayer. Its mediator is the Jesus Prayer. And this is the limit to which a prayer performed by a person himself can reach! I think that all this is very clear to you. Further, in this state, prayer is given that is found, and not done by the person himself. The spirit of prayer finds itself and draws it inside the heart, all the same, as if someone took another by the hand and dragged him by force from one room to another. The soul here is bound by an outside force, and willingly stays inside as long as the spirit that finds it is above it. I know two degrees of this finding. In the first, the soul sees everything, is aware of itself and its external position, and can reason and rule itself, can even ruin this state of its own, if it wants. And this should be clear to you.

The holy fathers, and especially Saint Isaac the Syrian, indicate another degree of prayer given or found. Above the one shown is his prayer, which he called ecstasy or admiration. And here, too, the spirit of prayer finds itself; but the soul carried away by it enters into such contemplation that it forgets its external position, does not reason, but only contemplates, and is unable to rule itself or ruin its fortune. Remember, in Fatherland books it is written that someone began to pray before his evening meal, but came to his senses in the morning. This is prayer in admiration or contemplation. In others, it was accompanied by a clearing of the face, light around; in others by lifting from the ground. The Holy Apostle Paul in this state was raptured into heaven. And the holy prophets were in it when the spirit took them.

Marvel at the great mercy of God towards us sinners. Few will bother; and what is worthy of? We can confidently say to all working people: work; there is a reason!

Get healthy as soon as possible, and strive to reach farther.

(Issue 4, letter 746)

Absent-mindedness during prayer and struggle with it

Try to be attentive in your heart and nowhere else. That the mind, after several prayers, runs away from the heart and lags behind the memory of God, is due to weakness of attention and indifference to prayer. The soul does not value prayer and is in a hurry to get rid of it as quickly as possible, muttering it somehow. Seek the fear of God and with it begin to pray and pray, keeping your attention in the sense of the words of prayer. Then short prayers and the Jesus Prayer are used to instill in the heart a feeling for God and thereby attract attention. But if we are careless about prayer, we will never succeed in it. Remember also that prayer alone is not perfect, but together with all the virtues. As one improves in virtue, prayer also improves. The most important ones are: fear of God, chastity, humility, contrition, mortification of the flesh, patience, love... When they are there, all the others will appear, and with them prayer.

“Should I define myself by the number of prayers and bows or should I care more about attention?” Without attention, prayer is not prayer. Therefore, this is the main thing. But at the same time, it is necessary to determine the number of prayers and bows as a rule. This is for home prayer. The best thing for success in prayer is to go to church for all services and try to be in reverent prayer there. Look in the “Philokalia” at the legend about Maxim Kapsokalivite and imitate him. When you receive what he received, then you will have a real prayer. Lying on your side won't gain anything...

(Issue 5, letter 898)

About the frustration of your prayer. I wrote to you about short prayers, and you replied that you typed them, as I indicated.

So, if you please, pray only with these prayers both in the morning and in the evening. In the morning, read with full attention “Rising from Sleep...” and so on. thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity. Then do those prayers, repeating each one at least three times (and if more, it doesn’t interfere), slowly, all with thought and feeling. Conclude an appeal to all the saints whom you commemorate... and by remembering your living and dead... and that’s enough. Do the same at night. And sometimes during the day, read everything at once..., especially when you go somewhere. Nothing contributes more to gathering attention before the face of God than these short prayers. Insert the Jesus Prayer into their midst, as you find convenient... - after three and five prayers.

(Issue 1, pas. 194)

So that the mind does not run away during prayer, we must try to remember God all the time, both at work, and while walking, and at home, and outside, and alone, and with sisters. When this happens, then during prayer the mind will adhere to the work being done..., remember God and reverently ascend to Him.

(Issue 8, pas. 1442)

The skill of prayer

The thought that not everything has been done regarding the matter of prayer is painful. This happens from the consciousness that it was not performed properly: thoughts ran away, unnecessary feelings came in, and worries about something. You must immediately repent of this, scold yourself and set the intention to be correct. We must try to acquire the skill of not considering the end of prayer the end of prayer... and even after that consider it a duty to be in prayer. This is fulfilled by constant remembrance of God, with reverence and surrender of oneself to the will of God. Then you will feel in your soul that when you leave prayer, you do not leave prayer, but only change one form of it to another. (Issue 1, letter 198, p. 248)

Having learned to pray according to ready-made prayers, you must begin to pray little by little in your own word, according to your needs - spiritual or external. Spiritual needs, as soon as they awaken, immediately direct to God. The urge to turn to God sometimes happens without a specific need, but simply because of the thirst for God. To whatever extent and in whatever form this urge manifests itself, one should never leave it unsatisfied, but immediately turn to prayer and pray in the position in which the urge occurs; if you are doing something, pray for it; if while reading, pray in the middle of it; if while walking, walk and pray. But, of course, it is better and more fruitful to stand in a prayer place and take a prayer position, if possible. The more diligently these appeals to God are fulfilled, the more often they will appear, the longer they will last, and the deeper they will take root. Don't forget this point. This technique is the best for improving prayer. Prayer is the main thing in our work.

(Issue 1, letter 187)

Remember that the point is not in words and bows, but in lifting the mind and heart to God. You can say everything that you have written and put down all the indicated bows, but not remember about God at all, or somehow with absent-minded thoughts and wandering of the mind. And, therefore, without praying, fulfill the prayer rule. It turns out that prayer is a sin before God. Deliver, Lord! We must do God’s work with fear and trembling; keep this in mind. Try in every possible way so that where there is a word, there is a mind, or, as Saint Climacus says, enclose the mind in the words of prayer. When starting to pray, one must establish one’s attention before God and not depart from Him.

“Reading” prayers from a book dispels a lot. It's better to memorize them. Flipping through the pages to find this or that ikos and kontakion should also distract attention. Try to do this: memorize the morning and evening prayers, understanding them and feeling what they say. Then read them as if they came from the heart. From the Psalter, also choose which psalms are understandable and closest to your heart and memorize them... Read them in order, too, from memory. Read them this way - going where and doing what... Read the day's Gospel after prayer with reflection and conclusions for yourself. Compose the memorial according to the model printed (in the Followed Psalter), according to your needs and circumstances, and say it from memory. Akathists turn everything into bows... don’t read from a book, but mentally address those to whom you are supposed to... and bow. If you don't read the words, add a fan. Everything else is fine.

The less you need a prayer book, the better. Learn, above all, to be in mortal memory. Sacrifice to God - the spirit is crushed. Then consider that you have prayed well when you leave prayer with contrition and complete self-abasement. And during the day, instead of fingering your rosary, try to be smart before God with the Jesus Prayer. Just as angels are always before the face of God, so we must try. They offer the sacrifice of praise, and we offer the sacrifice of contrition.

(Issue 1, letter 89)

But behind all of them there is one sin... they will bow, then another... and give them what you want... take it out and put it in. If it is not given according to their desire, they raise a murmur and blaspheme God’s Providence. So they don't get anything. This “take it out and put it down” means commanding God. It doesn’t need to be like this, but here’s how: “Lord, You see that I need this and that, this and that weighs on me. Help me and arrange me as Your holy will pleases, and not as my will desires!”...

Having set yourself up in this way, you need to pray for a long time, not for a long time at a time, but for a long time over time... now, tomorrow..., a week, a month, a year. Everyone scream and shout: “Lord, deliver! Lord, help! However, not mine, but Your will be done!..” Thus the Lord spoke in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the widow (in the parable) pestered fate and received what she asked. The saints have this word: we must bother the Lord and His saints.

(Issue 8, letter 1428)

Continuous Prayer

What does it mean to “pray without ceasing”? Be constantly in a prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together. The thought of God is the thought of His omnipresence, that He is everywhere, sees everything and contains everything. Feelings for God - fear of God, love for God, a zealous desire to please Him alone by everyone, with the same desire to avoid everything displeasing to Him, and most importantly, surrendering oneself to His holy will unquestioningly, and accepting everything that happens as if from His hands directly. A feeling for God can occur in all your affairs, activities and circumstances, if it is not only sought, but is already planted in the heart.

The thought may be distracted by various objects, but here the skill is possible not to deviate from God, but to do everything in the light of remembrance of God. It is about these two - about thought and about feeling towards God - that you need to have all the concern. When they exist, there is prayer, although there are no prayer words.

(Issue 6, letter 947)

God needs the heart (Proverbs 23:26), and as long as it stands in reverence before Him, then that is enough. This is what unceasing prayer consists of: always standing reverently before God. And in this case, the rule is only heating, or adding firewood to the stove.

I am writing all this to you in a bookish way. How many experiences do you have? Choose from them what you find attractive.

(Letter to Father Archimandrite of Zadonsk
St. Tikhon Monastery Demetrius.
February 21, 1881)
(Issue 1, letter 2)

You complain about the poverty of prayer. But you can pray without standing in prayer. Every lifting of the mind and heart to God is real prayer. If you do this between tasks, then pray. I remember that Basil the Great solves the question of how the Apostles could pray unceasingly in this way: in all their deeds they thought about God and lived in unceasing devotion to God. This mood of spirit was their unceasing prayer. Here's an example for you. I, it seems, have already written to you that you cannot demand the same from active people, to whom you belong, as from sedentary people. Their main concern should be not to allow wrong feelings when doing things, and to try in every possible way to dedicate them all to God. This dedication will turn deeds into prayer. It is written that the blood of Abel cries out to God. So deeds dedicated to God cry out to Him. One old man, when something edible was brought to him from someone... said: how bad it smells... but what was brought was very good in content. When they asked him: how is this possible? He explained that it was not sent with good feelings and out of bad feelings. Thus, every deed is anointed with the feelings with which it is done. And those who have purified feelings feel it. It turns out that just as good flowers emanate a good smell, so also from deeds done in a good manner, their incense emanates, and grief rises, like incense from a censer. Here's another prayer.

(Issue 4, letter 555)

When a prayerful feeling comes to you, dwell on it and warm it up while it lingers in your soul. Call another when it moves away. So all day long. This will be unceasing prayer. Sometimes the feeling comes by itself, and sometimes it needs to be called upon. How? By thinking about God or thinking about all the sacraments of faith, especially about the economy of salvation... and the end of everything. Frequently think about all these subjects and something will certainly strike your soul. That's the feeling. God bless you.

(Issue 6, letter 1025)

You remembered the short prayer... The priest of God told you kindly that you should not forget this. Try not to interrupt it, and it will become so established that it will repeat itself, and you will have “a brook babbling,” as Elder Parthenius of Kiev-Pechersk put it. And one of the ancients said: just as when thieves, approaching a house to sneak into it to steal, hear that someone is talking inside, they do not dare to crawl into it, so when our enemies creep up to the soul in order to rob it and They hear that a small prayer is murmuring there, then they walk around, but are afraid to go into the middle.

To a small single prayer, you can add 24 prayers that stand in a row of prayers for sleep, and, having solidified them, often say: they embrace the inner spiritual life in its entirety. We have a lot of short prayers scattered throughout our church services. Notice and confirm. And you will always carry a prayer book with you... which you can read in every place of the Lord’s dominion...

May the Lord bless you with great blessing.

I wish you all the best and happiness. Save yourself!

(Issue 6, letter 979)

Mental prayer

They wanted to learn mental prayer. Good! And before that, what kind of prayer did you have?! Prayer is essentially a mental action, and if you didn’t pray smartly, then you didn’t pray at all. “And I’ll tell you that there is no one who doesn’t pray intelligently.” Everyone is praying smartly. When everyone prays, they mentally imagine God as present and express their needs to Him. Even though they read prayers, everyone tries to mentally ascend to God. If anything should be said, it is that they do this not perfectly, not continuously, even during prayer, and most importantly, without feelings. Thus, your desire will be: how to achieve perfection in prayer - raised intelligently to God. The answer to this is: “Seek and ye shall find.”

How did you learn to write?! The labor of writing with the desire to write correctly according to samples. Do the same in prayer, and you will learn. She won’t come on her own; need to study. 1. Learn to walk in the presence of God, before the eyes of God with the corresponding feelings. 2. As soon as there is freedom, bow down in feelings of contrition and humility. 3. Read books all about prayer - and reflect on it. 4. Above all, try with all your might to conduct church services in the memory of God, and then conduct home rule. You need to rub your soul and it will warm you up. When the warmth comes, then the thoughts will subside, and the prayer will become pure. Still by the grace of God. That’s why we need to pray to the Lord to give us prayer.

(Issue 8, letter 1457)

Catholic view on mental prayer

I started translating something... It came to articles about prayer... Some kind of dark confusion! And he stopped... The Latins do not understand mental prayer the way we do. They have the thought of God, concluded by prayer... And although this is a very fruitful exercise, it is not prayer... Prayer is a special exercise from the thought of God.

(Issue 6, letter 985)

Feeling for God is prayer

God's mercy be with you!

The prayer that you perform internally, from the soul, from yourself, according to your sense of your spiritual needs and those of others, is real prayer. And please continue to work in this kind of prayer more than any other. The main thing in prayer is feeling towards God from the heart. Words of prayer for this, whatever ones you choose. Feeling towards God even without words is prayer. The word supports, and sometimes deepens the feeling. The prayer rules for church services must be followed as they are.

As for the prayer rule at home, it is not immutable, but can be changed in time, in duration, and in composition, one thing to keep in mind is that everything is not done to please laziness, and that the prayer comes from the soul. Whatever rule of prayer you have is good. You can add and change. Short prayers of St. Chrysostom are good: 12 for the night and 12 for the day.

But there is, mother, unceasing prayer, which incessantly comes to God from the heart. This is a gift of grace. Saint Macarius the Great says: “Pray and bother yourself in prayer, and God, seeing how earnestly you want to pray, will give prayer.” In the Slavic Philokalia, Elder Maxim Kavsokalivit says about himself that for two years he prayed to the Mother of God, so that She would give or ask for prayer. One day, he says, as I, having prayed, venerated the icon of the Mother of God, a sweet light instantly sank into my heart and has been glowing there ever since; this is the gift of prayer! Seek it, too, and cultivate it in prayer with words, keeping in mind the prayer that Maximus speaks of. Sometimes it happens that this light falls during the resolution of the priestly confession, sometimes during the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Look everywhere. Keep your prayer work as it is... trying in every possible way to warm up your feelings towards God.

It’s as if you don’t read anything, if there is anything, read everything about prayer. I have some books to give away. I am sending them, read them little by little. I wish you every success in drawing closer to God.

You can stop visiting altogether, citing being too busy...

(Issue 3, letter 566)

If you can be constantly with the Lord; then there is nothing else to look for. This is the whole point, so that our entire life will be hidden with Christ in God. Having now external peace, you get rid of a whole half of the obstacles to that. The other half is inside. And this immediately disappears by itself, as soon as any feeling for the Lord falls on the heart; and if such a feeling does not go away, then everything inside that interferes with being with the Lord recedes by itself. If someone asked: how to always be with the Lord, you can safely answer: have a feeling for the Lord, and you will be with the Lord. I think I wrote to you about this. What is it like to have a feeling? It seems that just the memory of the Lord already sets in motion the feeling towards Him. If we add to this the thought of what He is, and what He has done and is doing for us, then I don’t know whose heart will remain untouched. Therefore, the holy fathers very righteously reverence the thought of God, or the contemplation of the properties and actions of the Lord, as the key to prayer... and unceasing prayer. Because from this the feeling for God comes to life... and connects with the Lord.

(Issue 6, letter 1026)

Laziness in Prayer

This is laziness in prayer. Get angry with her and destroy her right now so that her spirit doesn’t smell...

If it breaks through, but is driven away every time, then that’s nothing, and there’s no need to talk about it. And if an indulgence is made to her, then the hostess is all to blame... for not sparing her goods... From frequent indulgences, prayer will completely weaken, and the prayer rule will turn into a lifeless form, and spiritual life will freeze. But I think that you are talking a little too much about yourself here. God gave you a willing heart, which happens and you have a source of active life according to the commandments regarding your neighbors.

Please have it as a law: to dedicate every work to God in its very embryo, to turn it to God during its production, and to ask God for strength to complete it; then, having finished, give thanks to Him for that... repenting, if something was pushed through that was crooked, or representing him in the eyes of God as insufficient in some way. By acting in this way, you will finally, through this laborious process, achieve what the hermits who renounce everything achieve. And if you don’t, then you will remain on the same level with the Jews, not today, but the ancient ones, who lived according to the norm prescribed to them.

Please keep this in mind. The obedience you imposed on me to pray for N.N. I perform. I just don’t pray: take this and give that, but like this: Lord, do with him what will be saving for him. Otherwise, prayer will look like a decree to God... which is not at all nice.

Perseverance in Prayer

You prayed to the Mother of God to arrange your transfer to another place, if Her permission be granted; and now you complain that She didn’t arrange it. She did not deign to arrange this, of course, because it would have been worse there than here. Therefore, this was done for your benefit. Convince yourself of this more firmly... and you will find consolation, and you will begin to thank Her for not listening to you. Maybe there were tears waiting for you there - and tears and tears. Thank God that the Mother of God delivered you from them. Tears are not from poverty alone, but from all the circumstances of life, both internal and external, which we are not given to foresee.

Add to this this: you should not have prayed as you prayed, namely: give and give without fail. Although it was said in words: if there is permission, it was in passing, but in the heart it was: be sure to give it. The enemy picked up on this wrongness and in the end so inflamed your confidence in receiving what you asked for that you, without hesitation, expected it... The failure to receive it had a strong effect on you.

So stop grieving, but on the contrary, thank the Lord and the Mother of God for not listening to you; for the same thing that you grieved and complained about so much, repent with contrition. For these feelings of repentance, the Lord will send you consolation. Revealing this to your spiritual father would also not be a bad thing.

God bless you and your husband. Save yourself!

(Issue 4, letter 587)

Prayer for needlework

It is the grace of God to generate prayer during needlework, and pray immediately while working. - You regret that the Jesus Prayer is not continuous, that you don’t say it incessantly - this is not required... what is required is a constant feeling for God, which can take place during conversation and when reading, and when observing and looking at something... But like the Jesus Prayer, when you pray it, it happens in its present form; then continue to act this way, and this prayer will expand its area.

(Issue 4, letter 694)

About the prayerful mood

You write that you have no self-worth because your whole soul strives to praise the Lord, and you feel how it is drawn to Him with your whole being. This is a very good state, normal... “The feeling that the soul is drawn to the Lord” is secret prayer, and it alone can replace prayers... For this is what “is unceasing prayer!”

Your conclusion from the entire Philokalia: “Dedicate every breath to pure prayer and vigilantly look at where the enemy is directing his arrows and act accordingly”... This conclusion is real... Please be so. For Anastasius of Sinai, this constitutes the first point of his ascetic instructions. You still remind your sisters about spiritual matters, despite their coldness towards this. So it follows: some do not listen, but some listen with zeal and have good intentions in their hearts. Handicrafts and prayer vigils should not be interfered with. There is a time for everything... When you are doing handicrafts in due time, then let your hands work and your soul pray... But when you are at prayer... all members must participate in this... Do you want to remember my parents! Thank you! My parent is Priest Vasily, and my mother is Tatyana.

When you are very tired, then lie down and pray... keeping a calm spirit... Whatever happens to you that draws you to the Lord... watch... With this alone you can live and be saved.

(Issue 3, letter 539)

Being with the Lord is a joy for the soul

God's mercy be with you!

How many times have you already realized the duty instilled in you by your conscience: to be with the Lord, not preferring anything to Him. The memory of this truly never leaves your mind! May this matter also be in your power. This, after all, is your goal. When we are with the Lord, then the Lord is with us. And everything is light. In the room, when all the windows are open and the sun is shining, it is light, light.

But close one window, it will get dark, and when they all close, it will become completely dark. So it is with the soul.

When she is turned to the Lord with all her strength and feelings, everything in her is light, joyful and calm. When he turns his attention and feeling to something other than the Lord, this lordship is diminished. More things occupy the soul, greater darkness enters... And there it is completely dark. Thoughts do not darken so much as feelings; a one-time passion for feelings, not so much as an addiction to something. What darkens sin most of all is deeds. May the Lord and the Lady of Heaven and the Guardian Angel protect you.

(Issue 3, letter 519)

My ruler whispers... It is not mine, but St. Chrysostom's... It gives many stimulating and protective thoughts. But when one thought about the Lord takes over, then it’s better to stay with it. Sweet bows to you... and taste this sweetness as soon as you have the opportunity. All prayer books praise them. Immerse yourself in humility!

(Issue 3, letter 531)

Keeping the Gifts of Grace

God's mercy be with you!

You made me very happy with the news of God’s mercy to you. God bless! I did not contribute to this in any way except for instructions. What has been given to you by your faith is all from the Lord and Mother of God. Go there with thanksgiving with all the fullness of your heart. Keep this gift. How? Most of all, humility, attributing all the graces, but nothing to oneself. As soon as your thoughts turn towards yourself, grace will diminish, and if you don’t come to your senses, it will completely stop working, then cry and cry a lot. Second - feeling like earth and ashes, be as you are now, i.e. without turning to anything unnecessarily either in thought or in heart. Everything is with the Lord. Little by little the inner burning diminishes; immediately hasten to restore it to strength. The Lord is near. Turning to Him with condolences and fear, you will immediately receive.

This is actually when the Jesus Prayer is useful, then it has real power. However, your condition can still be in its present form with one attention and feeling towards the Lord. Services in the temple of God are all about the divine, and try to be there unapologetically. Above all, watch out for the entertainment of thoughts and their breaking, and passionate movements. Dispersion of thoughts and any kind of carnal pleasure or rest with food and sleep are the first enemies, and with them in commonwealth there is always irritation. With the slightest movement of displeasure, run.

However, the very matter of storing this state will teach you the need to choose means and techniques for this. When the desire to read comes, read only about prayer in those books that you have... choose articles like these. I rejoice in you with all my heart!

You wrote: “bless you to live like this”... Are you already thinking about managing such a thing yourself? God forbid you... Grace-filled actions are all from grace... Know this and feel it. I ask for your holy prayers.

God bless you!

(Issue 5, letter 517)

Why God doesn't always fulfill our prayers

Prayer is never wasted, whether the Lord grants the request or not. Out of ignorance, we often ask for unhelpful and harmful things. Without doing this, God will give something else for prayer work, unbeknownst to us. - That’s why the speech: “So you pray to God, but what did you get?” - clueless. - The person praying asks for a benefit for himself, pointing to it. Seeing that what is asked will not lead to good, God does not fulfill the request and thereby creates good: for if he had fulfilled it, it would have been bad for the petitioner. Behold how dangerously you walk in the midst of this evil age!

(Issue 8, letter 1406)

The prayer of hope pleases God

God's mercy be with you! Cast all your sorrow on the Lord with all your heart, and He will do what is right for you. Pray yourself - do not bow to others - but earnestly and a lot, both at home and in church. Outside prayer is not at the forefront, but follows yours and serves as its support. If you previously prayed little about your fate - and there is a duty to do this - then the Lord puts you in distress so that you turn to Him, revive your trust in Him, and fulfill this duty. If you really prayed a little, thinking maybe, I suppose, or didn’t think at all, then now repent before the Lord and make a vow, forward to trust in Him alone in everything, let’s seriously, so that you can fulfill it diligently. Another aid to prayer is alms... Seeking mercy from the Lord, show mercy to others. And if you did not provide, or provided little and carelessly, repent of this too and let us vow to always be merciful to those in need. Armed with such dispositions, wait with full hope for what the Lord will determine about you. Wait for what you want, but do not predetermine what the Lord will determine, but surrender it to His will with complete humility to accept from the Lord whatever is pleasing to Him to send to you. The lack of such obedience distorts the prayer and deprives it of its power: for without it the prayer will have the following meaning: whether you like it or not, Lord, give it; or as the saying goes: “take it out and put it in.”

And I pray, but my prayer will not be strong, for I do not have the gift of prayer, which other men of God have, being many sinners and not having achieved the measure of true repentance. May the merciful Lord comfort you! Save yourself!

(Issue 3, letter 485)

Cooling

God's mercy be with you!

I've been late a lot. I apologize. Congratulations on your housewarming. Monastery - prayer; Saint Tikhon the grace of God is ready. Pray in the monastery and draw grace from this source. Thinking about your housewarming, I thought: this is your “business” to go to services or services in the monastery. But then he decided, pointing out this, to leave this to your will and your choice. Because it might interfere with your home routine, not your everyday routine...

My first letter was sent to the wrong place. I thought you were constantly cold... or dry and numb. But you don’t have this, but there is something that happens to everyone from time to time. Almost everyone who writes about spiritual life remembers this. Saint Mark, the ascetic, exposes three such enemies: ignorance with oblivion, laziness with negligence, and petrified insensibility. “Some kind of paralysis of all mental strength.” Saint Chrysostom did not forget them in his short prayers: “Deliver me from ignorance, oblivion, despondency (this is laziness with negligence) and petrified insensibility.” - The remedies indicated are not complex: endure and pray.

"Tolerate". It is possible that God Himself sends this to “teach” not to rely on oneself.

Sometimes we take on a lot and expect a lot from our efforts, techniques and labors. So the Lord takes grace and leaves him alone, as if saying: “Here, try to the best of your ability.” The more natural talents there are, the more necessary such training is. - Having realized this, we will endure. This is also sent as “punishment” - for outbursts of passions allowed, and not condemned, and not covered with repentance. These outbreaks are the same for the soul as for the body - bad food... which aggravates, or weakens, or recedes... It turns out that, when there is dryness, one must look around to see if there was anything like that in the soul... and repent before the Lord , and put forward beware. Most of all this happens for anger, untruth, annoyance, condemnation, pride, and the like.

Healing is the return of a state of grace again. As grace in the will of God, we can only pray... for deliverance from this very dryness... and from petrified insensibility. There are such lessons: do not abandon the usual prayer rule, but carry it out exactly, trying in every possible way so that the thought accompanies the words of the prayer, straining and stirring up the feeling...

Let the feeling be a stone, but the thought will be: even if it is half, it will still be a prayer: for there must be a complete prayer with thought and feeling. When you are cold and insensitive, it will be difficult to hold the thought while saying the words of prayer, but it is still possible. You have to do it in spite of yourself... this overexertion of yourself will be the means to bend the Lord to mercy and return grace. But you shouldn’t give up prayer. Saint Macarius says: the Lord will see how sincerely we wish for the good of this... and he will send it. Send a prayer against cooling in your word before and after the rule... and in continuation of it, cry out to the Lord, as if presenting a dead soul before His face: Lord, see what it is like! But “say the word and heal.” With the same word, and throughout the day, often turn to the Lord.

Someone says: “put yourself in the state of dying... Another adds: “even better, put yourself at the moment of judgment over you, when the final decision about you is ready to come from the mouth of God”... One cannot but agree that such techniques are really powerful - soften the stone heart.

I know someone who keeps his prayer rule in a special way. Namely: he left reading the prayers that were in the prayer books, and chose for himself several short prayers from psalm verses and appeals on litanies, which were more suitable for his condition, arranged them in his own way... and then, standing in prayer, he repeated each verse several times with attention and feeling. When everything is spoken to the Lord, the rule will end. - He assures that once he began to do this, attention does not wander throughout the continuation of the rule, and the feeling lasts. But, of course, it is not mechanical repetition that produces this, but the forces of thoughts that are in verse. - He says: “I begin the rule, laying before me all my sins, the judgment, shame and condemnation that are ready for them, and I cry out for mercy.” - Besides these poems, he no longer reads anything in prayer. You have a house rule for the whole family. This holy work does not need to be changed or cancelled. But then you can keep a special one - just a rule for yourself... if you want, according to the specified model. And this is what I wanted to point out to you as “the matter.” If you decide, type some rhymes... and the rule is ready.

Going to church is the best way to open the spirit of prayer, in which you do not dare to harden your heart. But you can hardly use it.

There are prayer books who pray the Jesus Prayer alone... But this is for the perfect; but for us beginners this unity of thought soon becomes boring. Therefore, the indicated method is better, diversifying the content of the prayer by indicating different spiritual needs. Meanwhile, the prayers are all addressed to the Lord. Therefore, the Jesus Prayer is in the spirit here too.

Here is the word of Saint Isaac the Syrian for you - in case of coldness and insensibility. “Don’t be embarrassed by thoughts and don’t give in to mental relaxation, but be patient, read the books of teachers, force yourself to pray, and wait for help. It will come soon, which you won’t even know.” Page 490.

(Issue 1, letter 129)

The cooling off you are talking about comes either from mental fatigue, or from the fact that the soul has been fed too much of what is spiritual (see the book “What is Spiritual Life” about this), or from the fact that too much has been given to the body peace and all contentment, or from conceit and other passions that worried and occupied the soul. All this is contrary to spiritual life (in which prayer is the queen), it clogs and blocks the key to prayer. But it happens both by God’s permission and by the withdrawal of grace. When your soul burns with zeal, this is the action of grace, God’s touch on the soul. It happens that when it lasts for a long time, the soul will begin to think what a master of prayer it is, forgetting that the liveliness of the prayer movement is not its work, but the work of the grace of God inherent in us. For such thinking, grace withdraws and leaves the soul alone... and it itself is motionless towards the spiritual..., so there is cooling and laziness... What can be done? The main thing is to try to eliminate the causes of this condition. And then act as you act: fulfill the rule, despite the disintegration, trying to collect thoughts and reproduce feelings for God. For patience and humility, grace will return... and will immediately disperse laziness, just as the wind disperses darkness.

(Issue 6, letter 947)

Prayer of repentance

But you have a (terrible) court program, not an answer. The answer you will need is: did you do it? - Why did you do it? How will you justify yourself? Saint Theodora made better decisions during her ordeal. Demons will attack... you did this, and you did that... She answered: yes, she did; but I repented, received permission, and bore penance... That’s how the torture ended... A good answer will be given to those who, although they are aware of many sins, have certification that they have been forgiven for the sake of repentance... This certification is the limit of penitential labors on earth... I forgot which saint came to the elder and told everything. He imprisoned her in a cell... dressing her like a monk... and gave her the rule of repentance... She repented for three years... and it was said to her: your sins are forgiven... And the elder also received a certificate. This is what we sinners need to strive for!... In the penitential psalm of Saint David - the words: “Give joy to my hearing” - means: let the ear of my soul hear Your word: your sins are forgiven you. Such a word will flash through my soul... The same thought is in the words: reward me with the joy of Your salvation.

(Issue 6, letter 1034)

Lenten prayer

God's mercy be with you! When the post arrives... your unloving one. Please hug, kiss, be nice. Congratulations. It’s good in church and good at home. The prayer is quiet, perhaps it will reach the sky sooner. And someone unkind will hear the noisy one and knock it off the road, or block it. Your tower is exactly like a deserted cell. You may not see or hear anything... Some reading and thinking, some praying, and some thinking again... That's all here. If only God would give warmth to the heart and it would not leave!! A clear conscience and an unceasing appeal to God in prayer should do just that. But everything is from the hand of God. As His holy will pleases, so it will be and happens, and He always pleases what is best for us. Oh Lord! Save us with your image and destinies!

I'm healthy! I don’t know yet how I will fast. But Lent is already underway. Should we add privacy?

I wish you all the best from the Lord.

(Issue 3, letter 395)

What to pray for your neighbor

Thank you for the fact that even though you didn’t write, you still didn’t stop remembering me. But what's the point of remembering? I ask you to remember me in prayer, and not to beg the Lord for anything for me in prayer, so that He would give me the spirit of repentance and show me as a good doer of His commandments - a sinner.

(Issue 4, letter 557)

Prayer tears

May the Lord preserve your tears in you forever, if this is possible. They add softness and tenderness. But you have to hide it. For vanity hangs around them like a dog around well-fed food. You need to have meaning in order to manage them properly.

(Issue 4, letter 731)

About prayer and treatment

God's mercy be with you!

Are you hesitating whether to go to Zakharyin? When your daughter is healthy and, as you believe, this is with the help of Saint Tikhon, then you should not go to Zakharyin. Have you heard the proverb: after a scrape with an axe? This is what will happen if you go to Zakharyin.

And the holy master says to you: God cannot be mocked. This is a reason of the highest level and stronger. Listen to your master and enter into the power of his faith. His path is safer.

As I have already written and now prescribe that there is no sin in turning to medicine, for the doctor is God, and the medicines are God, and the prescriptions are God.

Ask the humble doctors. They will openly say that they themselves do not know how healing recipes are written. So, if you, trusting in God and receiving help from Him, and not from doctors and drugs, turn to natural means of healing, then there is no sin. When these means are given by God, then one must turn to them. God was pleased to surround us with natural and supernatural means. And no one is denied access to these sources. The key to them is faith. And God, when He wants to heal in this way, He Himself invests the power of faith and draws us to where He deigns to give healing.

We are blind. And not knowing where healing is hidden by God for us, we go through all the means given by God, both natural and supernatural... all trusting in Him alone and betraying to Him the fate of ourselves and those we care about... God bless you! Bow to everyone we know. I will write to them too, but not now.

(Issue 3, letter 459)

About prayers to the saints

God's mercy be with you!

We have now found a calm shelter; stay in it. May the Lord protect you and make you wise. But don’t doze off yourself. It’s good that you notice what remains from your previous wisdom and don’t hide it. You are embarrassed by the way you write - prayer to the saints, and you are afraid that you will be condemned for idolatry. No, our prayer to the saints and their honoring has nothing idolatrous. It would be idolatry if we considered them gods; but we honor them as servants of God and intercessors for us before God. Your inner feeling should tell you that you do not consider them God, and do not consider them the primary reason for the benefits you ask for, but only an instrument for giving them. When we appeal to the saint, we say: “Holy One of God, pray for us; beg the Lord to give us this and that.” Take into account this: we, living here on earth, children of the church, ask each other to pray for us... Everyone does this. And no one thinks that there is anything idolatrous here. You write to me: “pray for such and such.” Are you afraid of being guilty of idolatry? I think that there was no one else in the world who thought so. How do you get the idea in your head that when the saints were here on earth, it was safe to ask them for prayer, but when they moved there - to the kingdom of heaven, it became impossible? Our departed fathers and brothers, despite this departure, remain in the Church of God, just as we who remained here...

Our mutual relations, as members of the church, remain the same and in force. So we pray to them, as we prayed before.

The essence of idolatry is that creatures appropriate divine properties, and for this reason they are honored... we do not attribute any divine properties to the saints of God... but we honor them as the most perfect of people, having reached the measure of the age of fulfillment of Christ... and Through this, those who came closer to God, more sincerely than others. Go inside yourself and consider: do you consider the saints to be gods... Your feeling should tell you this. If it turns out that you consider them to be so, then stop counting, and if you don’t count, there is no need to embarrass yourself with the thought of not falling into idolatry.

May the Lord give peace to your soul. I bring you a cure for such confusion. As soon as something similar comes to mind, pray to the Lord for admonition and enlightenment of thoughts will come. Equally, when some passionate movement comes, pray - it will please you... Such prayer is always preceded by rejection, the more strongly you reject a wrong thought and a wrong desire and attraction... The Lord is near and listens. May the Lord protect you from all evil... and bless you in family matters; May he receive your son into the blessed monasteries! Save yourself!

(Issue 3, letter 478)

Saints' prayer for us

I believe that all the saints in heaven are one body. They all pray for us together, although we extend our prayers to one or the other. And the Mother of God with everyone stands before God for us. When you ask the saints to add their intercession before the Lord to the prayer of the Mother of God, you do nothing special. This is always the case in heaven.

(Issue 1, letter 1)

On prayer at the holy relics of saints

To write notes and place them on the relics of the Saint, it seems to me, means great pretentiousness. Doesn’t Saint Tikhon have the hearing to hear prayers to him?

(Issue 1, letter 192)

3. Church prayer

Work hard. Labor overcomes everything with God's help.

When you fulfill the rule of Saint Pachomius, then only do this at home, but in church the rule already follows, i.e. service. And there’s no reason to mix it with yours. In church, pay attention to what is read and sung, and keep your thoughts and feelings in accordance with that. When they read it illegibly, say your prayer to the Lord, or just mentally lift up to Him with reverence, with bows. Try to warm up your heart during every service, and guard it after leaving church.

You are already doing all this. I'm just reminding you, saying that this is how it should be.

You mention bows. Bows must be made. They need to warm up the heart when it begins to cool. Bowing is bodily work. With them we must combine the thought of God and the feeling for Him.

(Issue 3, letter 903)

I’m very happy with how things are going in your church. May God help you to always feel this way. And what happens when you return home - at home, properly... Manage your inner not to give up to the will of the outer.

(Issue 5, letter 799)

In church, sometimes neither what is sung nor read is heard or understood; in this case, stand before the Lord and say the Jesus Prayer... In the church, every action has its own meaning. Whoever follows this meaning with his understanding and understanding will constantly receive nourishing influences for the spirit from another world... and at the end of the Divine service he will leave the church as if he were leaving a table richly and variedly served.

Bows during the Jesus Prayer are left to arbitrariness and zeal... On small knots, make a bow from the waist, and on large knots, bow to the ground. How many? As much as your heart desires, however, having determined it once and for all... It is better to determine the time for this prayer: a quarter of an hour, or more, or less.

Night is the best time for prayer... especially midnight.

You can stop eating meat; but you can limit yourself to eating a smaller amount.

Akathists and canons are good to read as expected. Look at “in the following psalter,” at the end. The psalmist will help you. But don't type too much. You can replace them with bows and the Jesus Prayer. And look at this too. And it happens better. You can, as a rule, pray with the short prayers of St. Chrysostom, which stand in a row of prayers for sleep, saying each one 5-10-15... or more times. You can read the Gospel while sitting, but without diminishing reverence. How long to read the psalms? As much as your heart desires... One kathisma - two or three... or several psalms... Singing psalms means “reading them in a chant”, as for example, in church they sing after: “The Lord has cried...” at Vespers. It is very good to fast more often, but see for yourself how to do it. Which church services your gymnasium service allows you to attend, go to, and which ones you cannot go to, for those at home, correct your bows with the Jesus Prayer, as is also required in the following psalter.

(Issue 1, letter 133)

Church prayer is higher than home prayer

The church is your consolation. Thanks be to the Lord, who allows you to experience the benefits of being in church. Saint Chrysostom often mentions that you can pray at home (to pray), but you cannot pray at home like in church.

(Issue 3, letter 448)

Church prayer for deliverance from sorrows

The Holy Church prays for deliverance from sorrows, because it learned this from the Psalter, which is filled with appeals about this. It turns out that this is the will of God. Pray for this too, fulfilling this will of God.

The Savior instructs that through many sorrows one must enter into the Kingdom of God. And please keep in mind, when sorrows occur, that the Lord is paving the way for you to His kingdom, or even more, taking you by the hand and leading you. Therefore, do not rest your feet and do not shout, but endure sorrows complacently and with gratitude.

(Issue 4, letter 565)

It is necessary for those who order to participate in prayer

You kindly organized a prayer for your daughter. Two prayer services a week and a commemoration at the proskomedia. It would seem quite enough. But who is praying painfully here? God listens to prayer when one prays with an aching soul about something. If no one takes a deep breath, then the prayer services will crackle, but there will be no prayer for the sick. The same is the proskomedia, the same is the mass. There is only your faith and hope here, the sign of which is your orders. But do you yourself attend prayer services? If not, then your faith is silent... You ordered, but, having given money so that others would pray, you yourself have thrown all worries off your shoulders... There is no one who cares about the sick one. It doesn’t even occur to those serving the prayer service to feel pain in their souls before the Lord for those whom they remember at the prayer service... And where can they feel pain for everyone?!

It’s another matter when you yourself are at a prayer service or in church at a liturgy, when N. is remembered at the proskomedia... Then your illness is taken up by the prayer of the Church and quickly ascends to the Throne of God... and the very prayer of the Church makes it painful, although the servants are not sick .

So you see what the power is?! Attend prayer services yourself and ache with your soul for the sick... And it will happen. In church during the liturgy, you feel pain during the proskomedia and especially when, after “We sing to you...” the hymn “It is worthy to eat” is sung to the Mother of God. Here the living and the dead are remembered again for the perfect sacrifice.

Mass is stronger than commemoration only at proskomedia, because it expresses your strongest condolences for the sick person and the strongest faith and hope that the Lord will not abandon us with His help. The main thing is to care for the sick yourself... And help the poor more, not just those who walk... Make it easier for the family burdened by poverty. His prayer will ease your heartache.

(Issue 3, letter 460)

About the Jesus Prayer in the Temple

You ask: should the mind be forced to say the Jesus Prayer in church, when the soul is peaceful, serene, and when the mind, in this silence, listens to what is being read and sung? You should stand in the presence of God and in feeling for God, no matter what you do... So it is in the temple. In another letter you wrote: “in church, while listening to prayers, the Jesus Prayer is better for me.” This prayer revives and maintains attention to God with appropriate feelings.

(Issue 3, letter 530)

Prayer for the Lost

Your grief for your relatives who are dying and your prayer for them are pleasing to God. If everything has not gone out for them and there is something to instill in them, both your prayer and God’s favor towards them, then they will come to their senses, see the light of God and follow the path of God. Pray more heartily... Your benevolent prayer will resonate in their souls and awaken crushing thoughts. For there is communion of souls.

(Issue 3, letter 382)

Prayer for suicides

Should we pray for suicides?! The Church does not command, how will sons and daughters pray? The idea that one can pray for those who are honored with a church funeral permits prayer, assuming that those who permitted the church burial did not recognize the murderer as having killed himself deliberately.

I sometimes think that you can pray at home in your private prayer. But here we see an attempt to show what is more merciful than the church and even God Himself... It is enough to limit ourselves to pitying him, consigning his fate to the immeasurable mercy of God.

(Issue 4, letter 583)

Should we pray for people of other faiths and suicides?

Are you asking whether to pray for people of other faiths? For suicides?..

Do as the Church commands. So answer those who ask about this.

(Issue 5, letter 901)

Commemoration of Gentiles

The Holy Church does not know people of other faiths and does not remember them, but while they are alive, it prays in general for their conversion. Gentiles have their own memorials. Let anyone who wants to remember them go there.

Private individuals - relatives, friends - can pray for them at home, doing this as a matter of love, and relying on something worthy in those being remembered.

(Issue 5, letter 903)

4. Home prayer

God's mercy be with you!

I thank the holy saints of God for the prayerful memory.

God bless your solitude. If you don't go to church, don't worry. For God, every prayer from the heart is of equal value, no matter where it is offered. Only one habit makes a difference here. And you can get used to churchless prayer. Read less from prayer books. Pray more on your own... and you can get by with just “Lord have mercy”... Switch the services to bows and be satisfied through them. All hermits and solitaries did this. And it's much better than reading.

God bless!

(Issue 3, letter 417)

It's like you can't go to church? Empty. When you want, manage it. It is impossible to pray as well at home as in church. But if you can’t go to church, pray at home, but don’t be lazy. And make a rule to stand at prayer in the morning and evening for an hour or more, and throughout the day constantly direct your believing and devoted thought and feeling towards God. So there will be ostracism and settling down. Otherwise, you will blab and go carelessly, saying whatever comes to your heart.

(Issue 1, letter 117)

It’s good to apply your home prayer book to church services: and at the same time, read a little, pray a little with your own prayer, but everything can be replaced with your own prayer, mental, or Jesus, except some short prayers recited from memory, like: “Behold the bridegroom is coming... “ “It’s a terrible day...” and the like... - And even this is better when, without words, there is a feeling for the Lord that brings peace in God. You can lie here all day and not lose your inner assurance that God’s service does not stop. However, during those hours when there is a service in church, it is better not to lie down, but to sit on the bed, leaning, if weakness overcomes, against the wall, and so pray intelligently and heartily, with full desire and cheerfulness of spirit.

(Issue 6, letter 1045)

Psalter service

According to the following Psalter, you can rule the service, and when it is required to serve. And you can shorten it by putting, for example, instead of kathismas, putting bows, as indicated in the same Psalter. All services can also be celebrated with bows, as again indicated in the same Psalter... There are two measures indicated there: for laity and lazy monks, and for zealous monks. If the last measure seems too great, you can take the middle between it and the first. There is no need to indulge laziness. Fervent prayer is never long, i.e. doesn't seem long.

(Issue 5, letter 907)

About reading psalms

If you want the Psalms not to entertain, read their interpretation and understand their meaning... Then, never read too much... and read slowly, pondering every word. When your heart warms up from this, you can leave the Psalms... Remember the legend about a certain old man, that he read only one glory, and then went into his heart and contemplation... and so he prayed.

(Issue 5, letter 908)

It’s good to memorize psalms. Choose which one suits you best and memorize it. Then, as you walk, read them thoughtfully. From the Gospels it is good to memorize the words of the Lord word for word, and remember the rest.

All without fussing, so as not to undermine attention. It's the main thing. And everything must be directed towards maintaining it.

(Issue 8, letter 1460)

Reading the Holy Gospel

Yes, after all, you can live a whole century with one Gospel or New Testament and read everything. Read it all and never finish it. Read it a hundred times, and everything will remain unread.

Remember, I wrote to you, to meditate on your daily readings, trying to bring the thoughts you encounter into feeling. This activity is endless. For no matter how hard you think, you will not reach the end of God’s thoughts.

(Issue 5, letter 783)

Reading akathists and canons

You ask, isn’t it ingratitude to stop reading akathists and canons? No. Ingratitude is to completely forget those to whom akathists and canons were read. And if, instead of printed words, mentally, or in your own words, you call on them and thank them, this is the same as reading prayers, canons and akathists, and isn’t it even better? Address everyone with your thoughts and bows. - The more personal, fervent prayer, the better.

(Issue 4, letter 713)

Akathist to the Holy Trinity

The entire Akathist to the Holy Trinity is composed in a special way. There was some old book of akathists; Ave. Innokenty cleaned them up, clarified them and put them into circulation. Why were there no imitators of composing akathists according to the model in which the akathist to the Most Holy Trinity was composed?

(Issue 4, letter 583)

Akathist before communion

I haven’t read the Akathist before Communion. If it edifies, you can read it. But whether it contains anything nasty - it seems that you can find out. When there is something, then it’s better to quit.

God bless you! Patience and work endlessly.

Save yourself!

(Issue 8, letter 1460)

Prayer at night, when we wake up, can be done lying down

When I wrote to you to pray more at night, I meant prayer before going to bed, and when you wake up and pray while lying down, this is not a bad thing, but a good replacement for empty dreams in the intervals of sleep. It is good to know a few psalms by heart so that you can read them at this time.

(Issue 8, letter 1378)

Sleeping while praying

That sleep overpowers you at home and does not allow you to finish as you should - what to do. Fight. We would sleep a little after lunch, as I said. If you don’t want this, endure attacks and fight. It’s not a big deal if you fall asleep right there on the rule. There will be something to reproach yourself for. In this case, we would try to walk in the fresh air. But everything is produced by the grace of God acting in the heart. Ask her for everything you do.

(Issue 4, letter 708)

Your Reverence, Most Honorable Father Archimandrite!

I’m sorry that I’m a little late in answering. Just as sleep overwhelms you, so does laziness overtake me.

What happens to you in a dream is a natural thing, and there is nothing sinful here. Regretting this, of course, is not a bad thing. But what will you do?!

Try, when they read to you, not to sit down, but to walk. Maybe sleep won't take you away. If it is difficult to walk due to previous fatigue, then it is better to sit up straight and then sleep. Sleep a little, and then force me to read. I allow you, after services, or early, to sleep for two hours or more. And then listen to the reading.

If this is also inconvenient, then there is nothing left to do but fight with strength. You fall asleep, scold yourself - and that’s all. It seems that we are already approaching old age.

(Issue 3, letter 508)

The Jesus Prayer drives away sleep

As for your infirmities, as you call them, then, as I already wrote, I do not know how to draw up a recipe for them. Be patient, fight, and reproach yourself when you don’t get tired, and that’s all. When sleep approaches, get up and walk around. When it starts to bother you, start talking with the reader about what you are reading.

In the books it is written that when the Jesus Prayer takes power and penetrates into the heart (it is imposed on the tongue - this is one thing), but when it penetrates into the heart - this is another; then it gives vigor and drives away sleep. Try this recipe. God is everywhere. If you realize this vividly, then there will be no place for sleep, just as it cannot be: the Tsar stands before your eyes. The essence of the Jesus Prayer is to stand before God with your mind and heart. The book we sent says a lot about this.

(Issue 3, letter 512)

5. About the Jesus Prayer

Warmth carnal and spiritual

Some special movements in the body and spirit come from prayer, but not all prayer books are the same, some have these, and others have different ones, therefore, there is no need to dwell on them.

Others have no special features at all, but pray quietly, even with all their might. And this is the best and safest destiny! What is prayer? Mentally standing before God in the heart with praise, thanksgiving, petition and contrite repentance. Everything here is spiritual. The root of everything is the reverent fear of God, from which faith in God and in God, surrender of oneself to God, hope, clinging to God in a feeling of love with oblivion of all created things... When prayer is in power, all these feelings and spiritual movements are inherent in the heart in corresponding strength. Read the prayers of the saints that have come down to us, delve deeply - and you will see that all this in them is an outpouring of their complete prayerful mood. I repeat again: everything here is spiritual, it comes from God and ascends to God.

How does this happen? The holy father enters the heart, deepens into the contemplation of the Sacraments of faith or all in general, or one particular delight, sets in motion the above-mentioned feelings and pours them out in prayer... We read these prayers, we come into a mood similar to them, either partially or completely and We are in the right mood. Through frequent repetition of this, constant spiritual prayer is cultivated in us and a constant prayerful mood is established, which is unceasing prayer. Everything here is spiritual, intelligent and comes down from top to bottom.

How does the Jesus Prayer, which is a verbal prayer, relate to this? Just like the warmth that spreads inside and around the heart from the action of this prayer. The skill of prayer is not formed suddenly... but requires long work and dedication.

It is in this work of developing the skill of prayer that the Jesus Prayer and the warmth that accompanies it help best.

Notice, father, that they are means, and not the thing itself. Perhaps there is a Jesus Prayer, but there is no real prayer. Strange as it may seem, but it happens!..

When we pray, we must stand with our minds before God and think about Him alone. Meanwhile, various thoughts are constantly interfering in the voice and distracting the mind from God. In order to teach the mind to stand on one thing, the holy fathers used prayers and learned to pronounce them incessantly...

This constant repetition of prayer kept the mind thinking about God and dispersed all extraneous thoughts. These short prayers were different. Saint Cassian said that in Egypt everyone had this sentiment: “God, seek my help, Lord, strive for my help.” Saint Ioannikios continually wrote: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, glory to Thee.” Someone else: “I, as a man who has sinned, You, as a generous God, have mercy on me.”

There is no doubt that other prayers were also used; Among us, the Jesus Prayer has especially become established and has become a common custom: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

So this is what the Jesus Prayer is. It is one of the short verbal prayers, like all other short prayers. It is prescribed to keep the mind on one thought about God.

One who has become accustomed to this prayer and acts by it properly, indeed, is constantly in the memory of God.

Since the memory of God in a sincerely believing heart is naturally accompanied by religious feelings of reverence, hope, thanksgiving, devotion to the will of God and others, which are spiritual, we call the Jesus Prayer, which produces and preserves the memory of God, spiritual prayer. And this is true when she is surrounded by those spiritual feelings. But when it is not accompanied by such actions, it remains verbal, like any other similar one. This is how you should think about the Jesus Prayer.

Now, what does the warmth that accompanies the use of this prayer mean?

In order for the mind to stay on one thing when using a short prayer, it is necessary to bring it with attention to the heart, because, remaining in the head, where the crush of thoughts occurs, it does not have time to concentrate on one thing... When attention descends into the heart, it will attract one point all the strength of soul and body...

This concentration of all human life in one place immediately responds with that special sensation; this feeling is the beginning of future warmth...

This feeling, at first light, intensifies, becomes stronger, deepens, and from the cold, as it is at the beginning, turns into a warm feeling and holds attention. And it happens in such a way that at first attention is held in the heart by tension of the will, and by its force it generates warmth in the heart. This warmth then holds attention without much strain. They then support each other and must remain inseparable, because distraction of attention cools warmth, and diminishing warmth weakens attention.

Hence the law of spiritual life: keep your heart in feeling towards God, you will always be in the memory of God. It was expressed somewhere by Saint John Climacus.

Now the question is - is this spiritual warmth? - No, not spiritual! And ordinary, blood. But as it holds the attention of the mind in the heart and through this contributes to the development there of the spiritual movements mentioned above, then it is called spiritual, however, in that case if it is not accompanied by lustful pleasure, even lightly, but keeps the soul and body in a sober mood.

It follows from this: as soon as the warmth that accompanies the Jesus Prayer is not accompanied by spiritual feelings, then it should not be called spiritual, but simply blood warmth; and, being such, it is not bad if it is not connected with lustful pleasure, although light, and if it is, then it is bad and should be subject to expulsion.

This wrongness happens when warmth goes below the heart. The second wrong is when, having fallen in love with this warmth, you limit everything to it alone, not caring about spiritual feelings, even about the memory of God, but only about the existence of this warmth. This wrongness is possible, although not for everyone and not always, but from time to time. This must be noticed and corrected, because in this case only blood warmth, animal, will remain... This warmth should not be considered spiritual or grace-filled... This warmth can be called spiritual only when it is accompanied by spiritual prayerful movements... Who is without them calls it spiritual, he admits it is incorrect. Whoever calls her grace-filled is even more wrong...

There is a special warmth of grace, and, accordingly, it is spiritual... It is detached from the flesh and does not produce noticeable changes in the body, and is evidenced by a subtle, sweet feeling.

By these feelings, anyone can easily identify and distinguish warmth... Everyone should do this: there is no business or place for an outsider here.

If sometimes there are bodily movements or sensations of any kind during prayer and warmth, do not pay attention to them; they do not relate to the essence of the matter and vary from person to person.

Still, pay attention to spiritual actions and feelings. They will pass through your soul and body, like a pleasant morning coolness.

(Issue 2, letter 244)

About the verbal Jesus Prayer, performed intelligently and heartily

1) “About the oral one. In the abbreviated word it says: “Lord have mercy.” “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and in the full word: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” At the beginning it is pronounced mostly forced and reluctantly, and as you practice and force yourself to it, if only there is a decisive intention through prayer with the help of God's grace to diminish all-round passions, from frequent exercise in it, as the passions diminish, from time to time it will become easier, It is more pleasant and desirable. When praying verbally, try your best to keep your mind in the words of the prayer, speak slowly, concentrating all your attention on the thoughts expressed in words, and when the mind gets carried away into extraneous thoughts, it is not easy to bring it back into the words of the prayer without embarrassment. , and not when we want, but when we humble ourselves and when God favors. This gift of God is not determined by time, not by the number of prayers, but by heartfelt humility and Christ’s grace and always by forcing ourselves to it. From oral, attentive prayer there is a transition to mental prayer, which is so called when we rush to God with one mind or see God...

2) “About mental prayer. During mental prayer, it is necessary to keep attention in the heart before the Lord. As our zeal and humble diligence in prayer God grants the first gift to our mind - composure and concentration in prayer. When attention to the Lord becomes persistent, then it there is grace-filled attention, and our own attention is always forced. From such mental prayer there is a transition to heartfelt inner prayer, if only there is an experienced teacher, very comfortable and free. When we connect with God with the feelings of the heart, and love for God complements the heart, then such. prayer is called heartfelt prayer.

3) “About inner heart prayer. The Gospel says: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross” (tf. 16:24). If we apply these words to the matter of prayer, they will mean the following: whoever wants to legitimately strive in the feat of prayer must first renounce his own will and his own understandings, and then bear the cross, that is, the mental and physical labor that is inevitable during this feat. Having surrendered oneself entirely to the vigilant care of God, one must humbly and complacently endure this labor. for the sake of the true good, which is given to the zealous prayer book from God in his own time, when God, by His grace, sets limits to our mind and sets it motionless with the memory of God in the heart. When such a state of mind becomes something natural and permanent, it is called by the fathers “. connection of the mind with the heart"; with such a structure, the mind no longer has a desire to be outside the heart; on the contrary, if due to some circumstances or a lot of conversation it is kept outside the heart’s attention, then it has an uncontrollable desire to return inside itself again with some kind of then with spiritual thirst, and with new zeal, begin again to build your own inner home. With such a heart structure in a person, everything moves from the head into the heart, and then, as if some intelligent light illuminates his entire inside, and whatever he does, says, or thinks, everything is done with full consciousness and attention. He can then clearly see what thoughts, intentions and desires come to him and willingly compels his mind, heart and will to obey Christ, to fulfill every God’s and father’s commandment; any deviation from them is smoothed over by a feeling of heartfelt repentance and contrition with unfeigned pity and with a painful, humble fall to God, asking and expecting help from above for one’s weakness. And God, looking at his humility, does not deprive him of His grace.

Let you know that heartfelt prayer comes to the heart of some quickly, and not so quickly of others. I know three people: one came as soon as it was said at this very hour; another one arrived in six months; the third - after ten months; and for one great elder - in two years. And only God knows why this happens.

Also know that before the destruction of passions, prayer is different and different after cleansing the heart from passions: the first is an assistant in cleansing the heart from passions; and the second is, as it were, a kind of spiritual guarantee of future bliss. Do this: when you feel the entry of the mind into the heart and the impact of prayer: then give complete freedom to such prayer, removing everything unfavorable to it; and while it lasts, don’t do anything else. When you do not feel such an attraction, then pray verbally with bows, trying in every possible way to keep your attention in your heart before the face of the Lord. This way of praying will also warm your heart. Be sober and watchful, especially during heartfelt prayer. No one is more pleasing to God than one who engages in correct, heartfelt prayer. When it is inconvenient for you, or there is no time to practice prayer, then in every possible way keep within yourself the spirit of prayer, i.e. keep God in your memory and strain in every possible way with your intelligent eyes to see Him before you with fear and love, and, feeling Him existing before you, with reverent submission in all your deeds, surrender yourself to His omnipotence, omnipotence, omniscience and omniscience so that in all your deeds God and His holy will were remembered in word and thought.

This is what the spirit of prayer consists of in short. It is necessary for a lover of prayer to have this spirit, and, as far as possible, with constant heartfelt attention, bring his understanding under God’s will and completely surrender himself to God’s mind and God’s will.

In every possible way we must stand against the spirit of arbitrariness, or the desire and urge to act without being embarrassed by anything. This spirit whispers: I can’t do this, I don’t have enough time for this, or it’s not time for me to take on this yet, I have to wait, or the duties of obedience are interfering, and much more like that. Whoever listens to him will never learn to pray. - In collaboration with this spirit is the spirit of self-justification, which begins and begins to act after someone, carried away by the spirit of arbitrary self-indulgence, does something for which his conscience bothers him. Then the spirit of self-justification uses various twists and turns to deceive the conscience and make its wrongness appear to be right.

May God protect you from these evil spirits.

(Issue 5, letter 937)

You have a good idea of ​​doing the Jesus Prayer properly. Diligence and work will overcome everything. Pray to the Lord to help you with this. You yourself, through your own efforts, can only learn to constantly repeat this prayer. And the Lord will introduce it into the very heart. This last is the main thing, and the first is only the threshold.

(Issue 8, letter 1265)

Of course, it happened to you that sometimes you would want to pray to God uncontrollably. Remember what was in your soul at the same time, and try, every time you stand up for prayer, to reproduce that in your soul and thus pray to God with the Jesus Prayer. This reproduction will stimulate the Jesus Prayer, and this prayer will support that prayer structure... This is the whole secret of success in creating the Jesus Prayer.

To practice the Jesus Prayer, set a special time between morning and evening prayers. Stand up twice before lunch, twice after lunch, each time saying one hundred Jesus prayers - with bows from the waist for small knots and bows to the ground for large ones.

Having put it this way, do it urgently every day, without making any excuses. When you begin to pray, immediately remember that the Lord is near and sees, and hears, and wants to give you what is saving for you...

Consistency in execution is the main condition for success. Success will not suddenly appear. This will take months and years. Therefore, there is no need to despair of success when the fruits of labor do not appear soon. There is no need to fill your stomach with food, let it feel empty there, and you should not indulge in sleep. Entertainment should not be allowed either - laughter or jokes. Always behave as if you were in the presence of a king. If you do everything carefully, the task itself will teach you a lot.

(Issue 5, letter 825)

Your skill in the Jesus Prayer is the same as armor or armor.

This prayer alone is a spiritual weapon, suitable against any attack... Clothe this prayer with humility and strong trust in the merciful God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who wants to save everyone, and who will soon save everyone.

When trust in God is strong and prayer is strong, then there is no approach to the enemy. Saint Isaac the Syrian in one place depicts such a state as an impregnable heavenly overshadowing, which the enemy is afraid to approach, because he will be scorched. God bless your efforts on yourself with good success.

In the psalms it is sung: all “the glory of the princess’s daughter is within.” There may there be all joy and all consolation for you!

(Issue 4, letter 690)

The essence of the Jesus Prayer

Nowadays you don’t know how to handle the Jesus Prayer. How many jokes they came up with! - But they completely forget about the essence of the matter. That is why it turns out that they stop at words alone, repeating: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” but without any thought or feeling. I call them whisperers, or whisperers. Others stop breathing through their nostrils and sniffle. These are sniffers. Some other people appeared who, as if unable to stop the internal movement, began to shout: “Jesus... Jesus... Ee... Ee...” These are hecklers.

But the point of this prayer is simple: stand with your mind in your heart before the face of the Lord and cry out: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” or only: “Lord, have mercy”... “Merciful Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner”... or in other words... Strength is not in words at all, but in thoughts and feelings... Stay on this, and reject all jokes, and teach yourself and others this.

(Issue 5, Letter 910)

The prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” is a verbal prayer, like any other. In itself it has nothing special, but borrows all its power from the mood with which it is created.

All the techniques that are written about (sit down, bend over)... or the artistic creation of this prayer are not useful to everyone and without a real mentor it is dangerous. It’s better not to take on all that. One technique is universally obligatory: “stay with attention in the heart.” The other is all extraneous and not leading to the matter.

They say so much about the fruits of this prayer that there is nothing higher than this in the world. Illegal. The talisman has been found! Of the fruits, nothing belongs to the verbal composition of prayer and its speaking. All fruits can be obtained without this prayer, and even without any verbal prayer, through one aspiration of the mind and heart towards God.

The essence of the matter is “to be established in the memory of God or to walk in the presence of God.” You can say to everyone: whatever you want, just achieve it... Whether to say the Jesus Prayer, bow down, go to church, do whatever you want, just achieve to be always in the memory of God.

I remember in Kyiv I met a man who said: “I didn’t use any techniques and didn’t know the Jesus Prayer, but everything that is written here was and is. But how? I don’t know it myself. God gave it!..”

This - what God has given or will give - must be kept in mind so as not to confuse self-made work with the gift of grace.

Artistically doing the Jesus Prayer, doing it simply, with attention in the heart, or walking in the memory of God, is our work, and in itself has its own natural, ungraceful fruit. This fruit is: a collection of thoughts, reverence and fear of God, mortal memory, pacification of thoughts and some warmth of heart. All this is the natural fruit of inner prayer. You need to solidify this well so that you don’t blow your trumpet in front of yourself and don’t exalt yourself in front of others.

As long as we have only natural fruits, we are not worth a penny, both in the essence of the matter and in the Judgment of God. The price is for us when grace comes. For when she comes, it will mean that God has looked upon us with a merciful eye. Until he comes, no matter what we do, no matter what feats we perform, it means that we are worthless individuals that God doesn’t even want to look at.

In what exactly this effect of grace is revealed, I cannot tell you, but it is certain that it cannot come before all the above-mentioned fruits of inner prayer appear.

The word “inner prayer” came to me by chance, but it expresses the matter very well. And it must be placed where they began to say the Jesus Prayer. They say: “Acquire the Jesus Prayer,” i.e. inner prayer. The Jesus Prayer is a good means of internal prayer, but in itself it is not internal, external prayer. Those who get used to it do it well. But if they stop at one point and don’t go further, then they stop halfway.

Reading the rules of Saint Anthony and many others, memorize the psalms and whether you go somewhere or sit at work, read them. This means that when we read the psalms, we reflected and developed inner prayer. Nowadays they say: “Whatever you do, say the Jesus Prayer and you will achieve the same.” During the Jesus Prayer, contemplation of God is still necessary, otherwise it is dry food. It’s good for anyone who has the name of Jesus stuck on their tongue. But at the same time, you can not remember the Lord at all and even hold thoughts that are contrary to Him. Consequently, everything depends on a conscious and free turn to God and the work of maintaining oneself in this with reasoning.

(Issue 1, letter 12)

The Power of the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is like any other. It is stronger than all only by the omnipotent name of Jesus, the Lord, the Savior, when it is called upon with full, warm, unwavering faith - that He is nearby, sees and hears everything, and listens wholeheartedly to what is asked and is ready to fulfill and grant what is asked. Such hope does not disgrace. If fulfillment sometimes slows down, it depends on the unwillingness of the person asking to accept what is asked.

(Issue 5, letter 827)

The Fruit of the Jesus Prayer

The monk of the monastery P. does well by working in the Jesus Prayer. But doesn’t he forget that the point is not in words or the number of Jesus prayers, but in the skill of always being in memory of the Lord. It’s good to maintain the quantity so as not to become lazy, but the main thing is that your thoughts and feelings should be holy. The main fruit of prayer is not warmth and sweetness, but the fear of God and contrition. They must be constantly warmed up, lived with, and breathed in.

(Issue 5, letter 902)

Feeling unworthy before God and prayer

You wrote that you stand up for prayer, begin to say the Jesus Prayer, and then give up, considering yourself unworthy to stand wisely before the Lord... I don’t understand what’s the matter. It is necessary not only when we stand in prayer, but always to walk before the Lord as if looking into His eyes or being under His eyes. For this is how it is... And look how you... As soon as your thought comes before the Lord, you run away.

If the Lord forbade appearing before Him, of course, there would be something useful in your action; but when the Lord Himself is the one who draws closer, demands that everyone draw closer to Himself, then what is the point in your action? This is the second time you write. If you please, give it up... And try to acquire the skill of constantly standing before the Lord... As soon as you wake up, before you fall asleep, and all the time with fear and trembling and with all attention to both yourself and the Lord.

(Issue 6, letter 774)

About the number of Jesus prayers

The monk from the monastery P... does well by working in the Jesus Prayer. But doesn’t he forget that the point is not in words or the number of Jesus prayers, but in the skill of always being in memory of the Lord. It’s good to maintain the quantity so as not to become lazy, but the main thing is that your thoughts and feelings should be holy. The main fruit of prayer is not warmth and sweetness, but the fear of God and contrition. They must be constantly warmed up, lived with, and breathed in.

This brother said that he did not even understand what kind of reverence and fear of God this was. This is very bad. Who can stand before the King without fear?! Not even more so before God! - In Kyiv, in the Lavra, there was a brother who used to say: “Look, with God, don’t become a familiar brother.” Is this not the problem with that brother? - It’s not surprising when the fruit of his prayer is determined only by warmth and sweetness. This is spiritual voluptuousness. The main thing is the fear of God and a crushed spirit... Warmth and sweetness are good in spiritual matters; but it is not by them that the price of spiritual works should be determined.

You say that you sometimes forget the count of your rosary prayers. The trouble is not great. When one falls to the Lord, as if present, with fear and hope, this is better than any number of prayers.

(Issue 5, letter 902)

About artificial methods of performing the Jesus Prayer

The question, rightly, related to the Jesus Prayer. How many jokes have they made about this holy prayer?! - But the point is simple: do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is your only Savior? - If you believe, cry out to Him: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” But the wise men forgot about faith, and focused all their attention on words; here they started telling tales about the tongue, and about the lips, and about breathing, and about the head with a beard, and about sitting.

(Issue 5, letter 908)

Artificial doing leads to delusion

Place a wet towel on the chest...someone makes it out of those currently struggling. And he wrote to me. This does not apply to the matter of prayer, but to those cases when the blood of the heart heats up during artificial prayer in order to diminish the heat of the blood. This heat is not a spiritual phenomenon, but a blood one, and comes from the excessive use of artificial techniques during the Jesus Prayer. It also lies in the fact that they consider the artificial performance of the Jesus Prayer to be the main thing and the bloody warmth of the heart with this real spiritual Jesus Prayer. Anyone who thinks so is delusional.

(Issue 5, letter 921)

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Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) left an extensive and truly precious spiritual and literary heritage: numerous works on Christian morality, works outlining the foundations of patristic psychology, translations of ascetic writing (including a translation of the Philokalia), the deepest interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, essentially enriched Russian biblical studies. He accomplished a real creative feat, and one of his biographers could rightfully claim that in its fruitfulness the works of St. Theophan are comparable to the works of the holy fathers of the 4th century - the golden age of Byzantium.

At the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', Theophan the Recluse was canonized. The decision of the Council noted: “A deep theological understanding of Christian teaching, as well as its experienced implementation, and as a consequence of this, the height and holiness of the saint’s life allow us to look at his writings as the development of patristic teaching while maintaining the same Orthodox purity and enlightenment.”

A special place in the spiritual and literary heritage of Saint Theophan is occupied by his letters to various persons who asked him for advice or spiritual help, solutions to perplexed questions, consolation in grief, relief in troubles...

From all sides of Russia, these requests flocked to the Vyshinsky hermitage, where His Grace Theophan remained for the last 28 years of his life, and for 22 of them he was in strict seclusion. Before this, they had already traveled a significant life and spiritual path, devoted to serving the Church of God in various fields and in different places.

Saint Theophan was born in the world Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov on January 10, 1815 in the village of Chernavskoye, Yeletsk district, Oryol province, in the family of a priest. He studied at the Livensky Theological School, the Oryol Seminary, and the Kyiv Theological Academy. In 1841, in Kyiv, he took monastic vows with the name Theophan, and in the same year he was ordained as hierodeacon and hieromonk. Then he served as an inspector in several theological educational institutions, as rector at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy; trips to Palestine as part of the Russian spiritual mission and to Constantinople as rector of the embassy church (during these trips there is an in-depth study of the ascetic writing of the Orthodox East). On June 1, 1859, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the consecration and naming of St. Theophan as bishop of the Tambov diocese took place, followed by a transfer to the ancient, more extensive Vladimir see... This is a brief outline of his external life path, full of tireless versatility and always successful and fruitful activities for the benefit of the Church and the Fatherland. The inner path that followed the hidden spiritual life of the saint led to the fact that in 1866, being at the very “takeoff” of practical activity, Bishop Theophan unexpectedly submitted a petition to the Holy Synod for his dismissal with the right to remain in Vyshinskaya hermitage of the Tambov diocese. The request was granted, and he finally received what he had long felt his main spiritual calling to: complete detachment from everyday affairs, solitude, undistracted “inner work.” In his letters, he testified that he was truly happy in Vyshe: “Vysha can only be exchanged for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Having gone into seclusion, he set up a small church in his cells in the name of the Baptism of the Lord and spent his life in worship and prayer, in physical and spiritual exploits, in careful self-observation, in sobriety and wakefulness, in intense reading and contemplation of God, in the works of writing...

All this greatest and truly invaluable experience, accumulated in various fields of life, and especially during the years of seclusion, was mobilized by the saint in his enormous correspondence with numerous correspondents, among whom were representatives of all classes, from dignitaries to peasants. Every day the mail brought from 20 to 40 letters, and Bishop Theophan always answered each of them, sensitively guessing the state and needs of the writer and finding for each the necessary word that went straight to the heart. He had the rare gift of speaking simply, clearly, concisely about the most complex subjects, about the most profound and wise things.

Here, for example, are just some of the diamonds of theological thought that can be found in abundance in the inexhaustible treasury of his correspondence:

“God does not leave anyone. He has all the children. There are no stepchildren. And difficult accidents and conditions - everything is sent to us for good.”

“Attention to what happens in the heart and comes from it is the main task of a Christian good life...”

"We must take care of ourselves..."

“... Pay attention to your heart, stand there before the Lord and do not allow anything sinful there. This is the whole point of internal warfare.”

“Ruthlessness towards oneself, readiness for any service to others and surrendering oneself entirely to the Lord with prayerful abiding in Him - these are the producers of spiritual life...”

“The egoism (of the villain) must be killed. If you don’t kill yourself, then the Lord will send hammer after hammer (all sorts of failures) to break this stone.”

“Self-indulgence and self-pity testify that it is I, and not the Lord, who dwells in the heart.”

“It’s not the deeds that make up the mind, but the way of doing them. When one thing is being done, and hundreds are crowding in your head. You need to drive away all those things, and do one thing, and do it with your hands, and be in the right place with your mind.”

The saint spoke about spiritual zeal this way:

“She is fire. The fire is supported by firewood. Spiritual firewood is prayers...”

In the letters of the saint there is not even a shadow of boring edification or dry moralism. They are warmed by selfless love, heartfelt attention to people - and that is why they are written in such a lively, figurative, artless style.

You can often find sparkles of light humor in the saint’s letters. So, for example, he notes with a playful sigh the frequent attempts of the arrogant human mind to penetrate the ineffable and unsearchable secrets of Divine life: “Nowadays there is no restraining ourselves from interrogating ourselves. Our mind is a mosquito, and everything squeaks!” But what characterization does our unbridled tongue receive in one of Bishop Theophan’s letters: “Language?! There is no more evil thing under heaven. It would be desirable to arrange it in such a way that for every impermissibility on his part, something would prick him (even a pin). Then it would be he was more subdued, otherwise he was like a machine that sings songs... how they started it up and let it go and... it started to chat."

As you know, a good joke in a battle situation can lift the spirit of soldiers and strengthen their will to win. No less important is a cheerful, invigorating word on the field of the most difficult and severe spiritual battle...

Saint Theophan the Recluse, translator of the remarkable work “The Invisible War,” and in his extensive correspondence did not leave without attention a single area of ​​the spiritual struggle of a person who set foot on the narrow and thorny, but saving path leading to the Kingdom of Heaven. What topics, what questions does he not consider and reveal in spiritual conversations with his correspondents! Here are everyday troubles, and illnesses, and family and civil life, the true purpose of art, and the correct attitude in relation to various circumstances of external life, and the endless problems of internal life: the struggle with thoughts, with self-indulgence, with despondency, the acquisition of humility and patience, crying and warmth of heart, and guidance in thinking about God, and teaching about correct prayer, about the various stages of prayer (the saint paid special attention to prayer in his letters, since he considered it the queen of spiritual life, the fulcrum of which is humility).

All these and many other important topics, depending on the questions and spiritual needs of the addressees, are dispersed across different letters, inevitably repeating, varying, and combining with each other in different ways.

And so, in order to orient modern Orthodox people in this truly boundless epistolary heritage of St. Theophan the Recluse, His Eminence Vladyka John, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, carried out significant and extremely useful work, the need for which is undoubtedly ripe: he identified and titled the main topics of correspondence, identified the main, most capacious and complete statements of St. Theophan on these topics and systematized them, arranging the names of the topics in alphabetical order. Thus, a kind of guide to the collection of letters of the saint has been created.