Photo: liveinternet.ru
Commemorating today the appearance of the Mother of God who prayed in the Blachernae Church for the whole of mankind, what have we to talk about if not the meaning of prayer in our lives and every man’s need for prayer? If nothing is done in Heaven without prayer, then how necessary it is for us on earth. The Cherubim, Seraphim, and the saints, rejoicing in Paradise and participating in the glory of Christ, the Son of God, all pray unceasingly. The same can’t be said of those living on earth, who are destined to glorify their Creator.
Mankind is carried away by other aspirations and goals, created for its own detriment and ruin. There are people who don’t pray at all, who don’t feel the need for it, who don’t understand the point of praying and don’t believe in the possibility of being heard by God; and many people do pray, but rarely and always reluctantly, with compulsion and difficulty. Thus, there are very few people who live by fervent, strong, sincere, noetic, and unceasing prayer, according to the commandment of Christ and the instructions of the Holy Apostles. It must be assumed that these people are the righteous ones for whose sake countries, cities, and villages are saved.
Prayer is the breath of Divine life in man. The Holy Apostle says: The Spirit Itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom. 8:26), that is, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with ineffable sighs. Wherever there are at least the faint beginnings of prayerful sighs there are signs of life, and where there are no such sighs, there is no life. Therefore, just as natural life requires first of all the stimulation of breath, so for spiritual life the spirit of prayer must first of all be awakened. On this basis, the Holy Apostle wrote: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications … be made (1 Tim. 2:1). The work of prayer must come first of all, because no other good work can be done without it.
How can you find and truly walk the path of the Lord; how can you comprehend the truth, crucify the flesh with its lusts and passions through repentance, and purify yourself from the defilement of the flesh and spirit; how can you be resurrected through faith and be enlightened by the light of Christ in your heart without prayer? How can a man who doesn’t see or comprehend the truth find the path, or how can a man in whom there is no life walk the path? (St. Philaret of Moscow). Similarly, St. John Chrysostom says that whoever doesn’t pray to God is dead, soulless, and senseless. What could be holier than a man who converses with God; what more righteous, more glorious, more wise? If those who frequently converse with wise men themselves become wise, then what can be said of those who converse with God in prayer?
When Martha received the Lord and Mary sat at His feet, both sisters showed beautiful zeal, though their deeds were different. The Lord approved of both but preferred Mary. Martha is the image of active service to others; Mary is the image of contemplatively standing before God in prayer, but Mary chose the good part (Lk. 10:42). “If you wish to be a vessel of Christ,” writes St. Basil the Great, “sit at His feet and abide in prayerful contemplation of Him!”
In ancient times, people preferred prayer above all else, and whenever Holy Fathers met, they always asked each other about their prayer life. They considered the working of prayer a sign of spiritual life, but they didn’t regard every recitation and standing in prayer as true prayer. Thus, they considered prostrations before icons and reading from a book, memorizing prayers and listening to another’s reading, to be merely accessories of prayer. According to their definition, prayer itself is the feelings of self-abasement, devotion, thanksgiving, doxology, forgiveness, contrition, submission to the will of God, and so forth arising in the heart. As easy as it is to make prostrations and read prayers, it’s equally difficult to ascend to God in the heart. The flight of the spirit requires stirring, and this stirring requires strengthening, so that, as they say, a man may cultivate within himself a spirit of prayer.
Therefore, beloved, in order for prayer to become our necessity, our joy, a requirement of life, and our most precious gift, we must cultivate a spirit of prayer within ourselves.
From the very definition of true prayer given by the Holy Fathers, we can understand how important this cultivation of a prayerful spirit is. Indeed, prayer is the mother and head of all virtues, for it draws them from the source of all goods—God, with Whom the praying man abides in communion. Therefore, without prayer you can’t become a virtuous Christian. Only through prayer can we reach Almighty God, for it is the path to Him, and be quickened through communion with life. St. Philaret of Moscow explains the movement of the spirit of prayer thus: “The soul, immersed in sensuality, scattered in the world, darkened by sin, doesn’t feel its origin as the breath from the lips of God, but the power of this feeling arises from the depths without its knowledge and moves the heart toward God.”
But how do we cultivate this prayerful spirit? Where do we begin? Every important work begins with reflection and preparation. Whenever we begin to pray, we must always sober up our thoughts, drawing them away from earthly affairs and interests, and to this end, stand calmly, sit, or walk about the room. Then think about Who you intend to stand before and address, that you might have a sense of humility and self-abasement. After that, make a few prostrations and begin to pray, unhurriedly, penetrating into the meaning of every word and bringing them down to the heart. When you read: “Cleanse us from every defilement,” the Holy Fathers teach, you must sense your own defilement; when you read: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” forgive everyone in your soul and ask the Lord for forgiveness with your heart, and so on.
The ability to pray is first of all necessary for cultivating a prayerful spirit and it consists in a certain ordering of thoughts in prayer. This order was once revealed by an angel to a holy monk (Ladder of Divine Ascent 28.7). The beginning of prayer should consist of praising God, thanking Him for His innumerable benefactions. Then we must offer God a sincere confession of our sins in contrition of spirit, and in conclusion, we may express our petitions for our spiritual and bodily needs with great humility, reverently entrusting the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of these petitions to His will. Every such prayer leaves a trace of prayer in the soul; its daily continuation will root prayer deeply, and patience, without which nothing can be achieved in life, will undoubtedly instill a prayerful spirit.
One day the brethren asked Abba Agathon which virtue is most difficult of all. He replied: “Forgive me, I think the hardest is to pray to God. When a man wants to pray, the enemies try to distract him, because they know that nothing opposes them more than prayer to God. In any ascetic act, whatever a man undertakes, after intense labor he receives rest, but prayer requires a struggle to the last minute of our lives.” And what kind of struggle?! A very difficult and complex one, with the flesh that grows weak, with our own doublemindedness, doubt, unbelief, and with the machinations of the enemy of salvation. But the Lord said: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Mt. 21:22). Therefore, if you ask without faith or with doubt, you won’t receive. In order to obtain any blessing from God, you have to prepare yourself before prayer for unwavering, firm faith, for by doubting we offend God.
Oh, All-merciful Queen and Theotokos! Help us who are weak, feeble, foolish, defiled, incorrigible, sorrowful, despondent, grief-stricken, and despairing, and cover us from every evil with Thy honorable omophorion! Grant us the spirit of prayer! For to Thee alone, Most Holy and Most Pure Mother of God, it is given that Thine every petition be fulfilled. Help us, for Thou art our joy and gladness; Thou art our hope, refuge, confidence, and salvation unto the ages of ages!
Amen.
