According to the instructions given to us by St Gregory of Sinai (R2 p275, R3 p74, 84), this is how to pray: “Sitting in your cell, remain patiently in prayer, according to the precept of the Apostle Paul (125). Collect your mind into your heart and send out thence your mental cry to our Lord Jesus, calling for His help and saying: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me’ until you are tired. When tired, transfer your mind to the second half and say: ‘Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me!’ Having many times repeated this appeal, pass once more to the first half. But you should not alternate these appeals too often through laziness; for just as plants do not take root if transplanted too frequently, neither do the movements of prayer in the heart if the words are changed frequently. Compel yourself by any means to do this work, for ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force’ (Mt 11:12) as the Lord said showing that this attainment demands severe labor and spiritual struggle. When you notice thoughts arising and accosting you, do not look at them, even if they are not bad; but keeping the mind firmly in the heart, call to Lord Jesus and you will soon sweep away the thoughts and drive out their instigators – the demons – invisibly scorching and flogging them with the divine Name. Thus teaches St John Climacus, saying: ‘With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no surer weapon against them, either on earth or in heaven.’” These instructions sound simple, but St Gregory of Sinai has a clear warning (R14 p281) for those who may think that learning to pray is like anything else we learned before: “You cannot discover from the teachings of others the beauty of prayer. Prayer has its own special teacher in God, ‘He Who teaches man knowledge.’ (Ps 94:10) He grants the prayer of him who prays. And He blesses the years of the just.” (126) OrthodoxyToday.org
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:33:39 +0000
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