In order to purify the heart, great labors and sorrows are needed; frequent tears of repentance, unceasing inner prayer, abstinence, reading of the Word of God, the writings and lives of the holy saints of God; but above all—frequent repentance and Communion of the Most Pure Mysteries, and daily self-examination.
One must reflect on how pure man was created in the beginning and how the defilement of sin entered the world; on the image and likeness of God within us and on our duty to become like the Prototype—the Most Pure God; on our redemption by the priceless Blood of the Son of God; on our adoption as sons in Christ Jesus; on the commandment given to us to be holy in all manner of conversation (1 Pet. 1:15); and also to reflect on death, on judgment, and on the fire of Gehenna.
Great sorrows are needed because they heal the sickness of sin and burn away the thorns of sin. All the saints endured great sorrows and labors in order to acquire purity of heart, and no one was crowned without suffering. Some endured many kinds of torments from persecutors; others voluntarily afflicted and humbled themselves with fasting, vigil, and bodily labors; they watched unceasingly in prayer and by its fragrance repelled every impure assault of sin. They frequently partook of the Holy Mysteries as the most powerful means for the purification, sanctification, and renewal of soul and body; they constantly studied the Word of God and were continually occupied with contemplation of God.
Some of the saints were preachers of tearful repentance, for example St. Ephrem the Syrian. Sincere and deep tears are especially necessary for us, for they cleanse the impurity of the heart and greatly contribute to its peace and blessedness. With them, sin flows out of our souls, as it were. After them comes the quiet and peace of conscience, and a certain spiritual fragrance and joy. One beholds with the eyes of the mind God within oneself, Who cleanses all our iniquities and shows us ineffable mercy.
—Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
On purity of heart
I consider the heart to be pure in one who is not only free from being troubled or burdened by any passion, but who does not even think of anything evil or worldly, even if he wished to; but rather keeps within himself only the remembrance of God with irresistible love. For when nothing hinders the eye of the soul—the mind—from its contemplation, it clearly beholds God in that pure light. A heart is pure and is called pure when it finds within itself no worldly thought or imagination, but is wholly joined to God and united with Him, so that it remembers nothing worldly, neither sorrowful nor joyful, but dwells in contemplation, rising to the third heaven, being caught up into Paradise and beholding the inheritance of the blessings promised to the saints. And afterward, as far as is possible for human weakness, contemplating the eternal good. This serves as a sign of purity of heart and a sure mark by which anyone may determine the measure of his purity and see himself as in a mirror.
—St. Symeon the New Theologian
Along with earnest and frequent prayer, abstinence and fasting also serve for the purification of the heart.
By the pure in heart Jesus Christ means those who have acquired perfect virtue and who are conscious of no deceit within themselves; or those who live a life of chastity. For in order to see God, we need no virtue so much as this one.
The heart is made pure not by one virtue, nor by two, nor by ten, but by all of them together, united, as it were, into one virtue.
—St. Symeon the New Theologian
Purity of soul is the original gift given to our nature. Without purity from the passions, the soul is not healed from the sickness of sin, nor does it recover the glory lost through transgression.
God is the all-seeing Eye, like a noetic Sun standing above the world, penetrating with His spiritual eyes into the thoughts and hearts of men, enlightening every creature. Our soul is an eye from that Eye, sight from that Sight, light from that Light. But now, after the Fall, upon our eye—the soul—there is a disease: sins. Remove the film from the eye, and you will see the noetic Sun, the infinite Eye, immeasurably brighter than the material sun.
—Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
These qualities belong to a pure soul: words free of envy, zeal without malice, and an unceasing care for the glory of the Lord. Then, when the soul is pure, the mind rightly sets its scales (as the pans of a balance are set), and with sobriety remains in its judgment about everything, as in a most pure and incorruptible tribunal.
—Blessed Diadochos
What is a pure heart? A meek, humble, guileless, simple, trusting, truthful, unsuspecting, harmless, kind, unselfish, unenvious, and chaste heart.
—Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
Whoever wishes to be called wise and understanding and a friend of God should strive diligently to present his soul to the Lord as he received it from Him: pure, unwounded, and wholly blameless. For this he will be crowned in heaven and blessed by the angels.
—St. John of Karpathos
The means for acquiring purity of heart
We have sure means by which we may cleanse ourselves and our hearts from every sinful impurity.
1. The reverent invocation of the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my name shall they cast out devils (Mark 16:17), said the Savior Himself. By the Name of Jesus Christ the noetic demons are driven out of the heart—sinful thoughts and evil desires. Therefore the Holy Church teaches us to continually cry out to the Savior: “Jesus, cleanse my mind from vain thoughts; Jesus, preserve my heart from evil desires” (Akathist to Jesus, Ikos 11).
Many observations show that the frequent invocation with faith and reverence of the sweetest Name of Jesus Christ in what is called the Jesus Prayer is able not only to drive from the heart of a Christian all impure movements, but also to fill it with lofty blessedness, heavenly joy, and peace.
2. The second means for cleansing the heart is fervent prayer. A heart that is broken and humbled, God will not despise (Ps. 50:19), says one who purified his heart. Holy prayer warms the heart, awakens reverent compunction, and attracts the grace that cleanses and sanctifies the heart. Thus the Holy Church also teaches us to cleanse the heart through warm and compunctionate prayer, when she commands us to cry to the Savior: “Grant me tears, O Christ, drops that cleanse the impurity of my heart” (From the Service of Preparation for Holy Communion).
St. Pimen the Great gives the following counsel on how to struggle against tempting thoughts that prevent us from keeping the the heart in purity: “It is like this,” he says. “If a man had fire in his left hand, he would take water from a vessel and extinguish the fire. The fire is the suggestion of the enemy, and the water is fervent prayer before God.”
3. Finally, constant watchfulness over the heart and restraining it from evil desires and passions. Keep thy heart with all diligence (Prov. 4:23), that is, take care that your heart be guarded from sin and preserved in innocence and purity, the way it came forth from the font of holy Baptism.
Here are several counsels from ascetics experienced in guarding the heart from every impurity of sin:
“When a pot is heated by fire underneath,” says Abba Pimen, “neither fly nor any other insect or creeping thing can touch it; but when it cools, they settle upon it. So it is with a man: while he abides in spiritual labor, the enemy cannot strike him.”
From inattention to guarding purity of the heart chiefly comes a moral fall. One ascetic (Abba Orsisius) described the ruinous consequences of such negligence in this way:
“I think that if a man does not carefully guard his heart, everything that he hears is forgotten and left in neglect; and thus the enemy, finding a place within him, overthrows him. When a lamp is prepared and lit, but oil is not added to it, its light gradually weakens and finally goes out. Sometimes a mouse walks around it seeking to eat the wick; but while the oil burns it cannot do so. When it sees that the lamp has gone out and grown cold, it overturns the lamp in order to carry off the wick. If the lamp is clay, it breaks; if it is bronze, the owner sets it up again. So it is with the negligent soul: little by little the Holy Spirit withdraws from it until it loses its fervor completely; then the enemy destroys the soul’s inclination toward good and defiles even the body with evil. Yet if a man has not entirely lost love for God and has fallen into negligence only through weakness, the merciful God sends into his soul the fear of God and the remembrance of torments, urging him to watch over himself and guard himself with greater care until the time of God’s visitation.”
4. Bodily labor, by weakening the assaults of impure thoughts upon the soul (sensual, angry, and the like), greatly contributes to preserving the heart in purity. Once Abba Agathon was asked which is more important: bodily labor or guarding the heart. The elder replied: “A man is like a tree; bodily labor is the leaves, but guarding the heart is the fruit. But since, according to Scripture, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10), it is clear that we must give all care to the fruit; that is, to guarding the mind. Nevertheless, we also need the covering of leaves—that is, bodily labor.”
5. Fasting is also one of the sure means for attaining purity of heart. “Fasting tames our passions and restrains evil habits, and by vigils,” says St. John Climacus, “the heart is softened, purity of thought is preserved, and unseemly imaginations are driven away.”
6. Solitude is likewise one of the means for attaining this virtue. Solitary desert life greatly aids purity of heart. By removing temptations and every cause of distraction, it gives a person full opportunity to enter into himself, to observe all the inner movements of the soul, to discover his weaknesses, and to see more clearly his sins and the dangers posed by spiritual enemies.
One holy ascetic explained this by the following example. Three learned friends decided to become monks. One chose the task of reconciling those who quarreled, according to the Scripture: Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). Another devoted himself to visiting the sick, and the third went into the desert to live in silence.
The first, despite his efforts, could not put an end to disputes or bring peace to all. Discouraged, he went to the one serving the sick and found that he too was fainting with discouragement and could no longer fulfill the commandment. Then both went to visit the one living in the desert. They told him of their labors and asked what benefit he had received from solitude.
After a moment of silence, he poured water into a vessel and said to them, “Look at the water.” It was muddy. After some time, he said again, “Look how clear the water has become.” They looked, and saw their faces reflected as in a mirror.
Then he said to them: “So it is with us. When a man lives among people, he cannot see his sins because of the noise and bustle of life. But he who withdraws into solitude sees himself and his sins. As St. Isaac the Syrian says, he who has been granted to see his own sins is more blessed than he who has been granted to see an angel—because by seeing his sins he can cleanse them, and through purity he can make his soul angelic.”
From: Readings For Every Day of Great Lent, Ed. N. Shaposhnikova (Moscow: Danilov Monastery, 2025).
