The Same, Briefly, on Prayer

The Same, Briefly, on Prayer

The same, briefly, on prayer. Unceasing prayer consists in always calling upon the Name of God: whether a person is speaking, or eating, or doing anything else. At every time and in every place it is fitting to call upon the Name of God, as it is written: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Such prayer destroys the assault of the enemy. One must pray with the heart, and when you are alone, also with the lips. But when you are in the marketplace or among people, then you should not sing with the lips, but only in thought. It is fitting also to guard the gaze and to look downward, so as to avoid the wandering of thought and the snares of the enemy. Perfect prayer consists in speaking to God without the wandering of the intellect, when all thoughts and senses are gathered together. This teaches a person to die to every human being, and to the world, and to all that is in the world. Prayer is known by this: that it transforms confusion, when one sees how the intellect rejoices, having been enlightened in the Lord. A sign of prayer is that he whom it has touched is not troubled, even were the whole world to fall upon him. For he who prays perfectly dies to his own comfort and to the world. Prayer performed with humility, labour and tears, and without doing one’s own will, puts an end to the recollections of what one has done, or seen, or heard, or said. For the fathers set this right, yet it cannot be set right without labour, tears and the renunciation of one’s own will. Let not the intellect alone perform prayer and psalmody, but the lips also. For the prophet David says: “O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise” (Ps. 50:17); and the Apostle, showing how precious is the prayer of the lips, speaks of the heart and of “the fruit of the lips” (Heb. 13:15).

Abba Philemon

Our venerable father Philemon was the most sober and most abundant in tears among the God-bearing fathers. When he lived is not known to us. But from this Discourse it may be observed that he was exceedingly devout and experienced, that he loved stillness as no other among the elders, and that he sincerely imitated Arsenius the Great. Day and night he remained in prayers and supplications in his hermit’s hut, as in a spacious dwelling, and often washed himself with the ever-flowing springs of tears and weeping — not only because he had some fault within himself, but even when he possessed certain virtues. In a God-loving manner he transcended all that is sensible and intelligible, standing before God as one deaf and mute, and was counted worthy to partake of the illumination of wondrous divine grace. From him, as from the light of the sun, through trial, discernment, foresight and clear-sightedness, having recourse to the greatest stillness and silence, the ever-glorious venerable Philemon was richly enriched. A trustworthy witness of what I have said about him is this very Discourse, in which, as in any other Discourse, discerning instruction concerning sacred sobriety is woven with ineffable beauty, like an exquisite purple robe woven by God. As much as his teaching leads to practice, so much also does it urge toward contemplation, and by long trial and deed it confirms the truth. Therefore, let him who desires to cast off the defiled and unseemly garment of the passions — that is to say, the old man — and to put on the radiant garment of dispassion and grace, that is, the new man in Christ Jesus, study this often and fulfil in deed, according to his strength, what he has learned; and then he will easily obtain what he desires.