The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues on His Way

by Anonymous

Without frequent prayer it is not possible to find one’s way to God, to understand truth, and to crucify the lusts of the flesh. Only fidelity to prayer will lead a person to enlightenment and union with Christ.

only contribution toward perfection in prayer, the mother of all spiritual good, is regularity and constancy.

Acquire the habit of prayer, and it will be easy for you to do good. This basic truth regarding prayer is not clearly understood or presented by those who are lacking practical experience and who are not acquainted with the mystical teachings of the holy Fathers.”

“The ceaseless Jesus Prayer is a continuous, uninterrupted call on the holy name of Jesus Christ with the lips, mind, and heart; and in the awareness of His abiding presence it is a plea for His blessing in all undertakings, in all places, at all times, even in sleep. The words of the Prayer are: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’

“‘Sit alone and in silence; bow your head and close your eyes; relax your breathing and with your imagination look into your heart; direct your thoughts from your head into your heart. And while inhaling say, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” either softly with your lips or in your mind. Endeavor to fight distractions but be patient and peaceful and repeat this process frequently.’”

The words of the Prayer seemed to be formulated according to the rhythm of the heartbeat, which is 1. Lord, 2. Jesus, 3. Christ, etc.

God wants a Christian to renounce completely his will, his desires, and his weaknesses and give himself up to God’s will totally. He directs all happenings for the salvation of man. ‘He wants everyone to be saved’ (1 Tim. 2:4). ‘You can trust God not to allow you to be tried beyond your strength and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and the strength to bear it’ (1 Cor. 10:13). Soon your joy will far surpass your present suffering.”

“No matter how you drive yourself,” I continued, “how much effort you exert, and what kind of physical feats you accomplish, if you do not constantly walk in the presence of God, with ceaseless prayer in your heart, then you will never have peace from disturbing thoughts and you will always have an inclination toward sin, even in small matters.

Then I began to say the Jesus Prayer interiorly to the rhythm of my breathing according to the directions of St. Gregory of Sinai and of Callistus and Ignatius: That is, while looking into the heart and inhaling I said, “Lord Jesus Christ,” and while exhaling, “have mercy on me.” At first I did this for an hour or two, and then I increased it so that in the end I spent practically the entire day in this exercise.

“The Lord’s Prayer is the most valuable of all written prayers which the Christians know because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught it.

‘Our Father who art in heaven’ reminds us of our duty to love our neighbor because we are all children of the one Father. This is very true, but the holy Fathers go a step further and say that these words invite us to raise our minds and hearts to our heavenly Father and remind us of our filial obligation to walk in God’s presence from moment to moment.

“It is more necessary to learn to call on the name of God than it is to breathe.

The Apostle Paul says that we are to pray without ceasing and by this he means that man is to remember God at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. If you are making something, you should remember the Creator of all things; if you see light, you should remember Him who gave it to you; if you see the heavens, the earth, and sea and all that is in them, you should marvel and praise God who called them all into being; if you are clothing yourself, remember the blessings of your Creator and praise Him for being concerned about your well-being.

And what is more important and necessary, the eternal life of the soul or the temporary life of the body about which man worries so much? It is this choice which man makes that either leads him to wisdom or keeps him in ignorance.’’

“The nature of things is judged by the inner attitude of the soul; that is, one infers and makes judgments from where he is. He in whom prayer and love are real does not see dichotomy in things; he does not separate the saint from the sinner and does not judge but loves all equally, as God does, who makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and unjust alike.”

“Good speech is silver but silence is pure gold.”

‘Ceaseless prayer consists in constantly calling on the name of God, whether one is talking, walking, working, eating, or doing anything else; in all places and at all times it behooves us to call on the name of God.’

God is infinitely merciful and sympathizes with the sinner; He is eager to forgive anyone who repents. If you know the Jesus Prayer, that is ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner,’ then say it without ceasing.”

“That prayer is the essence of Christian life. I consider prayer the most important and necessary means of salvation and the first responsibility of every Christian. Because prayer is both the first step and the crown of a devout life, the Gospel directs man to pray constantly. A particular time is set for other deeds of devotion, but for prayer there is no appointed time; we should pray always. Without prayer it is impossible to do anything good, and without the Gospel it is impossible to learn the right form of prayer. Therefore, all those who received salvation through interior life, the preachers of the word of God, the hermits, and the recluses, and all God-fearing Christians ceaselessly studied the word of God; the reading of the Gospel was their essential activity. Many of them had a copy of the Gospel in their hands continuously, and if anyone asked them for guidance on the subject of salvation, they gave this advice. ‘Sit in silence in your cell and read and reread the Gospel.’”

“To pray often is in our will, but to pray truly is a gift of grace.”

St. John Chrysostom says the following in his teaching about prayer: “No one can excuse himself from prayer under the pretext that he is occupied with daily cares or is not able to be in church. Everywhere, no matter where you find yourself, you can erect an altar to God in your heart by means of prayer.”

Constant vocal prayer is to be understood in a similar way, for by its repetition it develops inner prayer of the heart and promotes union with God.

Prayer is so dynamic and powerful that you can pray and do what you wish and prayer will bring you to the right and just action.

Nothing is as necessary for salvation as regular prayer.

St. Gregory of Sinai confirms this when he says, “If you wish to drive away distracting thoughts and purify your mind, do so by prayer, for nothing else is capable of holding the mind more than prayer.”

Pray and do what you will, and your actions will become devout and fruitful and beneficial for your salvation.

Pray and do not try hard by your own power to overcome your passions. Prayer will destroy them in you.

Pray and do not be apprehensive about anything; do not be afraid of trouble or misfortune, for prayer will protect you and sustain you under all circumstances.

Pray always, no matter how poorly, and do not be disturbed by anything; be happy in spirit and at peace, for prayer will direct your life and give you understanding.

St. John Chrysostom confirms that “prayer, though coming from us full of sin, is immediately purified.”

Begin by bringing to God a sacrifice of constancy in prayer, and God’s almighty power will swallow your weakness; your dry and distracted but frequent prayer will become a habit and second nature; your prayer will be made pure, fervent, and powerful.

if you will use all your time to pray, then naturally you will not have time left either for sinful deeds or even for sinful thoughts.

Prayer, then, is the all-embracing means for reaching salvation and perfection.

pray as often as possible;

we will consecrate our whole life to prayer even if at the beginning it is distracted; constancy will teach us attention, and quantity will definitely lead to quality.

St. Isaac of Syria says, “Joy, which is an enticement to the soul, is the result of hope which has blossomed; and meditation on one’s hope brings contentment to the heart.”

Macarius the Great teaches that “our spiritual efforts or prayer should be done with the goal and hope of enjoying the fruits of prayer in our hearts.”

Macarius of Egypt, speaks very clearly about this: “As in planting an orchard diligence and effort is exerted with the hope of receiving fruit--and if there is no fruit, all the effort will have been in vain. So in prayer, if you don’t find in yourself the spiritual fruits of love, peace, joy, etc., your effort will be useless. Therefore, the goal of our spiritual efforts should be consolation and sweetness in our hearts.”

Philoteus of Sinai,

“Many of the monks do not recognize the delusion of their own mind which comes to them from the devil; they apply themselves diligently to external acts of virtue but completely neglect interior contemplation because they lack knowledge and enlightenment.”

The venerable Nikita Stethatus says, even if you fall into the depths of infernal evil, do not despair but turn quickly to God and He will soon raise your sinful heart and will give you more strength than you had before.

In the struggle with our passions, the enemies of salvation, we should never give up our life-giving activity of calling on the Lord Jesus present in our hearts!

Our sinful actions should not prevent us from walking in the presence of God and from interior prayer, arousing disharmony, dejection, and sorrow, but should prompt us to turn quickly to God. An infant who is learning to walk will look to his mother and will hold on to her even more tightly when he stumbles.

“If we place all the actions of our life on one side of the scale and silence on the other, we find that silence outweighs them all. Working signs and miracles in the world cannot be compared with the excellence of silence. Love the passivity of silence more than feeding the hungry of the world or converting many nations to God. It is better for you to free yourself from the bonds of sin than to free slaves from bondage.”

No matter what is the intention of the prayer brought before God, it need not and really cannot take you away from the presence of God, because if it is presented to God then it is, of course, in His presence.

When you remember your neighbor or if you have a set time of prayer for him, you can use the following form: “Merciful Lord, may your will be done; you wish that all men come to the truth and be saved, have mercy and save your servant N. Receive this petition from me, as a cry of love which you have commanded.”