welcome back for the second workshop on the jesus prayer the theme of our first workshop was has secure in a silence and the jesus prayer
the term has six year which means nurse or inner silence is an essential aspects of monastic spirituality especially of eastern monasticism
in a recent funny vector or the i had a roommate issued in may nineteen ninety five pope john paul a second heidi creatures a richness of the spiritual tradition of the eastern orthodox church
at the heart of is tradition spans eastern monasticism which also enemies the spiritual life of lay people living in society
with its trough contemplative emphases eastern spirituality is centered on the word of god the sacred liturgy and the calculation of hezekiah joint with constant prayer of the heart or the jesus prayer
in his letter to pope encourages companies not only to appreciate but also to learn from orthodox spirituality
it is certain a significant that a book such as the way of a pilgrim which had relatively little impact when first published in nineteen century russia should have become a best seller when translated in the can
thirtieth century west
thanks to its translation into various european languages as well as the translation of their pillow korea orthodox spirituality especially the jesus prayer has been widely diffused in the restaurant church since the middle of this century
according to bishop parish us were
a prominent orthodox spiritual writer for jesus prayer probably has never enjoyed such popularity in the past as he did that today post in the east and west
the general theme of our present workshop is the jesus prayer and continual prayer east and west by east and west i mean respectively the greek orthodox east and the lack of rest
the jesus prayer in its classic bargainer lord jesus christ son of god have mercy on be is one of the characteristic components of eastern orthodox spirituality
the main purpose of the jesus prayer however is the pursuit of continual prayer which has been becoming endeavour are both the east and west down through the centuries
the conscious and sustained the pursuit of continual prayer was the special go of the early desert fathers whose speed to try to he became a common heritage of the east and west
why it is true that the east can claim to be the most erect air of this tradition the latin west can also claim the same patreon money as it you're at its own through such illustrious people as jerome refiners pele years
and especially john passion
each of them after spending long years living in palestine or the egyptian desert infused western spirituality which the desert tradition
the this workshop i shall present the following four parts best the percentage of continual prayer in early desert monasticism second the origin of the jesus prayer by studying and comparing two major figures in the tradition that is
john cation writing in latin and theotokos of focus writing in greek
that the jesus prayer in a middle ages by comparing the greek has he casts and the english mistakes such as richard road and the cloud of unknowing
and force the jesus prayer and the transformation of humans and the cosmos into christ
this morning we are dealing with our first topic
the pursuit of continual prayer in early desert monasticism
let me begin by referring to the known story of the russian pilgrim of the last century which presents a classic example of the centuries old tradition of searching for continuous prayer
the pilgrim tells us how his cottages long searching
on the twenty bot sunday after pentecost i went to the church for the liturgy the reading was from the first pistol upon to the test solutions and it contained the command pray without ceasing
best this movement chapter five verse seventeen
the words stuck in my mind and i began to ponder how it was possible to pray without ceasing since we are obliged to do very many other things i thought to myself what shall i do
where can i find someone who will teach me i decided to visit of the churches that were renowned for their preaching in the hope of hearing something that would make things clear for me
consequently the pilgrim frequented several churches and heard many excellent sermons on prayer telling what prayer is and how necessary it is but no one told him how he could pray unceasingly
he did hear one sermon on continual prayer but nothing was said about the means to reach that state
so he stopped going to public sermons and decided instead to search for some spiritual master who could teach him privately how to pray without ceasing
after searching for some time he finally met a monk as parents who taught him the jesus prayer as the way to unceasing prayer and gave him a copy of the feel of canada to read
with the grace of god the pilgrim succeeded in learning to pray without ceasing by constantly repeating the jesus prayer on his journey
paris command to pray without ceasing and as injunction to pray orleans
look eighteen was fun were taken seriously by the early christians the commentators however disagreed agreed about the meeting of the two worlds pray and always among the early christians it was a heretical
set of the mess of miss sodium who took the words in the most literal sense
mausoleums from syria mr liang means the praying wines
for them to pray meant to say press either allowed or mentally and always meant never to do anything but pray they refused all secular occupation and all kinds of mango labor
in a sayings of the desert fathers we read the following story
one of them as sally and brothers came to the monastery of abas your venues and when he saw all the breath and at work he said to other servanos do not neighbor for the bread that perishes mary has chosen the better part
at this the elder covered a disciple to bring the visitor to cell
when dinner time came the guest was waiting for someone to get him for data but no one called him after some time he went to see above sylvain venues asking him why he was not invited for dinner
the elegant replied you are a spiritual person and have no need of body nourishment but we urge the people are obliged to eat and this is why we work
the elder concluded his lesson saying that is how mary herself stand in need of martin
every person i believe she combined the two systems mary and martin in himself
yeah things of the desert fathers we find another story about other loose jews who had a habit of reciting a short prayers while he worked
when some mausoleums came to visit appaloosa use when he asked them what time of work they did they replied we never lift a finger to do manual labor is that we pray without ceasing in accordance with that puzzles command
the elder ask them whether they spend time eating and sleeping and who did a prayer parent they were occupied with this activities
there was no answer of costs
so avenue was told them how she himself managed to pray always even when keep his busied himself at manual labor
he performed his manga work by constantly repeating some short press through his work he was able to earn money for his own living and give the rest to the poor in this way it was hoped that those who received his
gift which pray for him while he was eating or sleeping
that was how he managed to pray without ceasing
the most prominent interpretation of thing post to come to pray without ceasing is badge of origin
according to this great exited
prayer is not interrupted by dedicating time took a bombing good works for obeying god's commandments
does he wrote the one who prays continually it's the one who combines prayer was necessary works and works with prayer
he points out that this seems to be the only possible way to fulfill the precept of unceasing prayer
for him the whole life of a pious christian should be viewed as one long prayer an actual prayer is merely a part of this whole
this teaching of origin became also batch of singer gaskin
the greatest among the latin fathers
both men saw the lives of christians as made up of two distinct temporal sequences moments of explicit prayer when time is devoted to nothing but prayer and moments or implicit prayer when time is spent in doing good works which
which are themselves a form of prayer
as to the proportion between these two types or prayer origins that it is necessary to pray explicitly three times a day
in the costs of time the are praying a fixed moments of the day evolved into the seven canonical hours of the divine office
monastic writers however are january not satisfied with this solution to unceasing prayer given by origin to ordinary christians
when singh basso said to his manners let your whole life the a time of prayer
he was probably alluding to origins teaching but he was far from thinking that it would be no for the monks to pray explicitly three or even seven times a day and the rest of the time to give themselves to various tasks without any thoughts or prayer
he exhorted the monks to offer throughout the day secret prayers which god you see in the secret and we reward and a great day of the lord
that's the canonical hours of the office should not be seen as a substitute for continual prayer can also be seen from the following episodes
the average of a certain monastery in palestine road to eponymous
bishop of cyprus complacently asserting that they had been faithful to their canonical hours never making any part of the divine office
but the bishop wrote back with a reproach
evidently you are neglecting the remaining hours of the day which you spend without prayer the true man should have prayer and samadhi yet is hard at all times without interruption
this is also the meaning of the famous seeing from an anonymous author if among praise only for the times when he is spending at formal prayer he does not create a tall
among contemporary writers other bird day what you earn the well-known color on the rule of st benedict convincingly defend the pieces that the divine office originally grew out from the monks search for unceasing prayer
and was intended as a help for achieving his goal
he presents us with a beautiful illustration
if you compare and season prayer to the construction of a bridge connecting between connecting heaven and earth the canonical hours should be seen as the pillows that sustain the whole bridge at various points
important as this pillars are the bridge itself needs to be completed by personal reputations and short prayers made throughout the day
i think it's a beautiful image
based on the interpretation of origin the desert fathers admitted the validity of impressive prayer which meant good works performed with a proper intention
but they seem to have been is trustful of this idea
they prefer to speak
of cause they admit that this idea is buried especially it's useful for by the new christians but they insist they propose something more for the months because the monks by profession is the person who seek god
single man with a single minded attitude and still and ceasing prayer that's the profession but they should do something more to the a month
so they seem to have been distrustful of this idea they prefer to speak of the state or prayer
as you in a house where the great justice color on eastern spirituality has pointed out the word they used capacitor seems means more than the latin word patterns or the english word stage
catastrophes means in greek something established in it's proper place
it carried the connotations of well being for the harmony for a rest
a true state therefore cannot be something transitory but has the character of habit or his position
the true state of prayer is something completely peaceful and restful even for the body
it is not a series of acts made it was made with strenuous efforts
you can be called a stage of implicit prayer not merely in the sense given by origin of peppermint good worse rather it is a spate of the implicit prayer which is brought so close to explicit prayer that it tends to be
ecom express it all the time
in other words the state of the implicit prayer should be articulated or become explicit as often as possible
in this regard house here observes that the ancient mountains were striving to achieve a conscious and sure union with god or a continual prayer on the third level of attention as explained later by st thomas aqua
my house
in dealing with local prayer thomas aquinas indicates three kinds of attention that can be applied to local prayer
one which tends to sorry one which attend to the words lest we save them wrong and other which attend to the meaning of the world and a third which tends to the end of prayer that is god and the thing
we are praying for
this that level attention means a general awareness of the person to whom we are speaking to get it with an awareness of the overall content or watch we are talking about
the state or prayer should bear is that level of attention
that is a general awareness or mindfulness of the all pervading presence of god to get it with a sense of our dependence on and gratitude to want him
hope there are different names that is quite a state of prayer the desert fathers are in agreement about the necessary means of reaching its they all kitsch asceticism our taxes as the indispensable method
this is based on one of the biaggi choose taught by jesus bless it or the pure of heart for they shall see god
it is utterly impossible to obtain contemplation or the state of prayer without asceticism
clements of at son of alexandria and origin already made a distinction between two stages on the spiritual journey the active line for asceticism and contemplative life which is chiefly concerned with prayer and contemplation and
have cause is two stages applying to the and journey of the same person
ivanka was propose as a three stage scheme of the spiritual life by further distinguishing the contemplative life into two stages that in contemplation of nature and contemplation our vision of god
according to the teaching of evaporators the active life begins with repentance or metanoia which literary means a change of mind or the centering of one's entire life upon god
yeah aesthetic a work and seats in overcoming or coding under control once passions for his ordered impasses such as anger jealousy or life
the goal of this first stage is upper tier or freedom from passion a patheos should not be confused with the english word apathy or absence of feelings epithelia is not the suppression of passions but they're really
reaction for real integration
john passion renders up are as purity of heart and equates it with love
when whence heart is pure that is and one's passions are great integrated when is free to love god and neighbors with a genuine unselfish love
pubg aim of the active life is purity of heart which naturally naturally needs to contemplation or the state of prayer
this is as we know in accordance with jesus saying bless it are the pure of heart for they shall see god's
to describe the state of continual prayer the desert fathers are fond of using the expression remembrance of god's the early mammals sought to maintain the remembrance of god the awareness of the divine presence at every moment and in every place
so the techical craggy church but throughout the day
it is interesting to note that they relate remembrance of god closely to the idea of knapp says which means being sober and watchful
the constant advice of the elders who their disciples is attend to yourself and ten the evening
he thought to be mindful of god one must be mindful of oneself and of what what is doing
conversely forgetfulness of self necessarily leads to forgetfulness of god
the struggle to achieve continuous prayer is the struggle to replace forgetfulness with the remembrance of god the key to maintaining remembrance of god is called secret meditation which constitutes the heart of
desert spirituality
in a monastic tradition the verb to meditate has a special meeting
our then to reflect or consider it means to learn by heart or to commit to memory through repeated verbalization
the subject matter for the meditation of the lungs is best of all the scripture
to meditate on the scripture implies two stages it means learning certain passages by heart so reputation and the ruminating on chewing over those passages already committed to memory
the monks were taught to meditate and the own circumstances especially during the manual labor
the rule of seeing a communes for example frequency is trucks amongst to meditate on something from the scripture
he nodded to be capable of doing this her como is expected his novices to learn at least the new testament and the psalter by heart
try to do that
and a number bank's ecb have memorized the whole bible
yes that's their their customer and they are that trained and that's that yeah the ancient timer to the members by stronger than ours today
because poverty to help books so the obliged to or to lead something buying a memory
people of antiquity had a habit of talking with a food themselves out loud and reading aloud in this regard we notice st augustine's surprise at seeing st ambrose read without moving his lips
andrews was an exception to the room and he had learned to read it here to learn to read silently so as not to be overheard by visitors for his home was open to anyone
he the sayings of the desert bottles they are several episodes monks meditating allowed
once for example two months went to visit other a kilos and overheard him meditating on the phrase fear not jacob to go down to egypt and we are told that he spent a long time meditating on this single verse
another perhaps even more important form of meditation practice by the monks consists in the use of shots and frequent prayer
it is the most cherished a way of achieving remembrance of god or continual prayer
so when form of the secret meditation is to meditate on certain past passages office kitchen and at a fall even more important one is to ah
repeat
frequently and some shop prayers throughout the day reputation of shot press
the practice of same shot prayers or ejaculation in early monasticism is testified by st augustine among adults yet his letter to a proper he rides the breslin in egypt are said to have offered a frequent prayers
but those very brief and in the style of quick evacuations less their vigilant a large concentration very necessary for one who is praying might be weakened and blunted if too long drawn out
here according to augustan the months purpose in offering short and frequent prayers is far the intensity or prayer and for its fervent concentration
john cation on the other hand presents a systematic teaching or the frequent use of a formula or piety as a means for attaining continue a prayer
it is famous tenth conference caution recalls the so-called deep secret reviewed by other isaac that is a formula or prayer which had been handed down by a few of the oldest bottles and which other isaac reviewed only to those who had a to
choose those for prayer not to everybody
the formula consists in the opening verse of psalm seventy
oh god come to my our systems oh lord make age to help me
in chapter ten of this conference cash and has left us with an elephant panegyric of this all powerful popular pointing out that it is suitable for all circumstances and is to be repeated at all times and in all places throughout the
day
cash and recommends it above all as and most efficacious means of retaining the continual remembrance of god and cultivating unceasing prayer without train or difficulty
we shall see more about john caution and this formula you know next park
the daily work of the desert fathers was usually a simple form of manual labor such as making baskets or plating max as was stated earlier the monks were encouraged to meditate on that is to recite the songs
and other texts from scripture which they had learned by heart or to repeat some short prayers formulated by themselves
the months frequent in locations were characterized by their brevity so that they could be conveniently repeated throughout the day
this ejaculate tray prayers come to be known by the time of giant chemicals as mondo logic press for prayers consisting of a single friends
through such manner logic prayers amongst were enabled to combine the out of work of manual labor with the inner work or prayer our secret meditation
this is in accord with the arm found to the sayings of the desert fathers among should always be inwardly at work
this rule this rule was summed up by bishop few open a russian mistake of the last century in the following words the hands at work the mind and heart with guy
beautiful family
and that's should be available to everybody
oven was writing that only two months but to dear questions
the monarchy press of the desert fathers were mainly concerned with to stamps and treating god for mercy on for help
they will effect the most the motives of the short prayers address to jesus in the gospels
thus for example we hear the ten lepers cry out from afar
jesus master have mercy on house while we find a blind man of jericho crime jesus son of david have mercy on me
in one of the pair of bose jesus shows the tax collector repeating the following in location oh god have mercy on me a sinner
this our prayers asking for mercy
on another occasion when a windstorm arose on the scene and the boat was being swamped by the waves the disciples woke jesus up saying lord save us we are publishing
working on the water and was about to sink he cried out lord save me
this our prayers asking for help in time of danger
the canaanite woman seems to have combined is two stems in her prayers she started by saying have mercy on the lord son of david and continued to say lord help me
the early months implied a variety of spontaneous fabulous in their frequent reputation this fabulous however almost always fell under the to basic themes of mercy and help
one been repeated the first verse from psalm fifty one have mercy on me o god according to the great mercy
another assiduously said the words as man i have sinned as god forgive
at third one was simply repeat urea l a on lord have mercy
and this expression god have mercy on period eg son
lisa has become so caught india is the liturgy
here
repeat reputation of teenage son with their celebration
in this instances the elements of panthers by contrition is strongly to the fall
cation as we have seen recommended the constant repetition of the opening verse up some seventy oh god come to my systems oh lord make age to help me
we also read like an old man who was relaunched relentless relentlessly plagued by demons he finally cried out jesus helped me and the adversary's let away
these are examples of shock korea's asking for help
soviet these two kinds of a with shot crests like asked him for mercy or asking for help
similar to the shop prayers in the gospel
in a famous saying of my cameo is the great we find the to motives of mercy and help giant together
he says all you have to do is to stretch out your hands and say lord have mercy on me as you wish and as you know how
then you have a strong impatient comes saying lord help
for long period of time a variety of short prayers were used by the early mammals it was only slowly and gradually that a dutiful formula the jesus prayer came to be singled out
the passage from freedom to uniformity can be seen between the giant christmas than his writings and the later writing which was attributed to him by an unknown author
john chrysostom recommended the practice of short frequent prayers but he allowed freedom of choice recommending a variety of formulas for the mass
among the works as cried to a system there is one called a letter to mouse
which was actually not written by him
this later work exalts the monks to pray unceasingly and to keep constantly the remembrance of god
it were commended the use of short prayers but privileged the implication of the name of jesus to the exclusion of other fabulous
as we read from the letter
every luggage most was thought and every temptation of the evil one must be controlled by the evocation of the name of our lord jesus christ
a little further on the other tells us that evocation which should be repeated without ceasing is lord jesus christ son of god have mercy on me
we have been standard popular of the jesus prayer here
the letter also exalts as to persevere i urge you never to give up this rule or prayer but instead whether you are eating or drinking while traveling or whatever you are doing cry out unceasingly lord jesus christ
zheng up god have mercy on me
the difference between christmas and the later pseudo chris system illustrates the movements from freedom of child's to bombing
while about variety of money logic prayers was offered by christmas them with the letter to the two months the term modal logic prayer came to me in one particular popular the jesus prayer to the exclusion of all others
the date of the letter to mouse remains uncertain but from other sources we know that the tradition of attached of the jesus prayer was already in use to wash the middle of the fifth century
the jesus prayer was further developed on mount sinai
he was later transmitted to mount others
and from there into eastern europe and russia where it has occupied a privileged if not exclusive position in eastern orthodox spirituality
the situation in the west is somewhat different the west was certainly familiar with the tradition of doctrine of the usefulness of short and frequent press seam august and knew about the egyptian monks custom of offering ejaculate repairs throughout
the day
it is nice and catch conferences john cation further transmitted this practice of desert monasticism into the west
damn soda centuries the west just as the east has treasured the use of short and frequent prayers as the best means of attaining constant union with god
thus among the contusions huge obama writing towards the end of the thirteenth century has left us with their treaties their gp chebeya at subjects i'm on the trip away to wish them
serving as the point of departure by oh spirituality of aspirations or ejaculation which inspired authors of different schools
does accommodate john of jesus mary wrote it is a unanimous opinion of everyone i have read that the soul is elevated to the highest knowledge or experience of god by the use of aspirations or egypt relations shot prayers
dom augustine baker a benediction of the early seventeenth century wrote a book who would a wisdom in which a highly recommend it aspirations or ejaculate tree prayers as true contemplative prayer
i liked the east however the west has not settled upon any single cribbage formula for use in their reputation
it has continued kill this day to imply a variety of shot press
he emergence and a basic elements of the jesus prayer will be discussed in our second talk as a conclusion i would like to point out that at least two of the several basic constituents of the jesus prayer can already be found in
the practice of early desert monasticism
they are the sentiment of hen or petition for mercy and the frequent repetition of shot crowns he nodded what king continual prayer
this practices of the early monasticism are the foundation not only of the jesus prayer in egypt but also of the use of shot a jack oratory prayers in the west both the jesus prayer and ejaculate three prayer are packed
used as means for attaining continual prayer
the goal is to achieve a constant remembrance of god or the stage or prayer the jesus prayer or the frequent repetition of short prayers is implied as the key to the state or prayer
the mind first talk i presented the pursuit of continual prayer in desert monasticism it won't see the context of searching for unceasing prayer through frequent repetition of short prayers coupled with the sentiments of pen cause that to jesus
rare was born
the objects about prison park is to trace the origin of the jesus prayer by studying and comparing two major ancient spiritual writers john passion and a doco potent writing in latin and greek respect
sibley
i would guess that the immediate reaction of people who are more or less familiar with this to rikers would be either cuz yes but cation know
before presenting the joke was teaching by the jesus prayer i shall try to make a case for locating cation at the origin of the development of the jesus prayer
but who is cation
we have come across his name a couple of times during my first park
john cation was born in about the year three hundred and sixty five in eastern europe
probably in front of the latin speaking communities of what is now romania
before finally settling down in southern friends he had a long experience of the east
he spent time as a young man in a monastery of bad for him and later such for several years at the feet of the famous leaders of the monastic movement in egyptian desert
after this lengthy sojourn in the east cash and return to europe and found it to monasteries in my sale one for banks and other finance
he also wrote the to famous treatises the institute's and the conferences you nodded to transmit the monastic teachings of the egyptian masters to the west
far from being a beer repetition of what he had learned cash and succeeded in creating out of the diversity of egyptian ideas a coherent scheme of monastic spirituality
cation was truly a bridge person between east and west regarding past century monastic spirituality
in order to make an appraisal of cash in his position in the evolution of the jesus prayer we must have been called a basic elements of the jesus prayer that i expanded during our first batch up a year ago
in the practice of the jesus prayer for constituent elements baby distinguished
first he appeal for god's mercy accompanied by a sense of panthers our sorrow for sin
second the frequent or continua reputation of a short phrase later called
biologic prayer
third the desire to attain not discursive or image this prayer and false the most important element the evocation of the hoodie name of jesus
you have been four elements on the on board
as was pointed out the first and second of these elements pen cause and the reputation of his short prayer or five already in the desert spirituality of fourth century egypt
as the sayings of the desert fathers indicates the early months sought to maintain the remembrance of god at every moment and in every place throughout the day
for them paul's words pray constantly meant that prayer is to accompany and you view every other activity
as they put it among who prays only when he stands up to say prayers is not really praying at all
the daily tasks of the desert mouse were mostly simple manual work such as making baskets or cultivating vegetable gardens
they were trained to accompany the manual labor with the recitation of some pets from scripture which they learned by heart the privileged text was of cause the solitaire which bombed the basic prayer book of the bass
as time went by many would condense certains crypto tech into a short phrases for the purpose of easier reputation throughout the day
this practice of reiterating a short phrase are familiar up there was later known as motto logic prayer prayer consisting of one single logos on phrase
for some period of time a variety of communists were being used for frequent reputation
sometimes the phrase could be very brief as in the prayer mentioned by abba make cameos lord help
although some prayers in the sayings of the desert fathers included already the name of jesus no privileged place was yet assigned to it
so it is clear that the early egyptian desert fathers provided the first two elements in the evolution of the jesus prayer
panthers and the biologic prayer
for a short press which they used that mostly linked with penitential sentiment
as for the third element none is cursive prayer this was caught by evaporators in fourth century egypt
you've agree was chemical egyptian desert from constantinople when he proposed the idea of pure prayer he was reacting against the tendencies of the coptic monks the native coffee mouse in egypt most of the coptic mouse simple man with no get a cervical egypt
ation were and still go bar fights
they took the text of genesis that god created human being you his own image literary and aside therefore a human form to got
he nodded to pray to him they felt the need of farming a mental image of god imagining a human face of god
it was against this anthropomorphic tendency that the bad news with his own greek cultural background resolute a fought for the concepts are pure prayer that requires the reorganization of images and concepts
that he wrote in his chapters on prayer
do not by any means strive to fashions some image or visual lines some vom at the time of prayer
the reason he gave was that since god is a spiritual being one must approach got three from matter or image
evac news press that this idea further
why must renounce not to need body image but also any use of concepts or thoughts during prayer
for bio they express something about god concepts do not enable us to encounter god as he is in himself
for this reason evacuees proposed the most austere definition of prayer
prayer is the putting aside of thoughts
sounds like a zen buddhism
but across the background is different
although evacuees urged the realization of images and concepts he know nowhere propose a specific method whereby this kind of your prayer might be achieved on one occasion he said use a brief but intense prayer but he made
no direct connection between this advice and the practice of pure image nice prayer
does first century egypt provided a first rate constant constituent elements of the jesus prayer but the connection between the second and third elements between money logic and pure crap was not specified
what an element the invocation of the name of jesus he not occupy a prominent place
according to courage thus where he nodded to find an explicit connection between the second and third elements and to see the invocation of the name of jesus occupying a central place we must wait for the teaching of dido cuz of voters in fifth century grey
please
i would content however that even before either coast or photos and exclusive connection between the second and third elements of the jesus prayer can be found already in the writings of john passion who brought the teaching of the egyptian fathers in
particular data be bad news to the west
it is most likely that cation had visited a bad news during his during his sojourn in egypt
even though for political reasons which i had a discussion now cation never signs evacuees by then his writings nonetheless manifest or undisputable parallel with and dependence on the teaching of the bad news
this is evident especially regarding the battery an idea of up failure which cash and renders purity of heart or total detachment and the idea of pure prayer found in both authors
but cation goes beyond evacuee years for cash and explicitly teachers the use of biologic prayer as the dublin's for attaining long discursive pure prayer
his teaching is found in his famous conferences on prayer
conferences nine and kang the core of cash book present at the isaacs teaching on prayer as you know that each conference contains the teaching of a particular desert father
in conference nine other isaac expanded the excellence of prayer and the need to pray without ceasing cation and his travel companion germans were set on fire by other i six words after several days the to
either disciples returned to the abba asking for concrete method he nodded to be able to pray unceasingly
at their earnest the request the revealed to them a secret formula which he says has been handed on to us by some of the oldest of the fathers and it is something which if which we end on to only a very small number of
your souls eager to know it
to keep the thought of god always in your mind you must cling totally to this formula for piety
oh god come to my assistance oh lord make age to help him
psalm the beginning of psalm sixty nine or seventy according to the hebrew text
he nodded to pray unceasingly one needs a model or pamina to keep it constantly performance eyes
besides the secret of holding onto a single formula is to help us move from multiplicity to unity as other isaac says by meditating intimacy on it and banishing all other thoughts for
it's sake
thus of isaac joins the idea of unceasing prayer which that a pure prayer free from thoughts by constantly clinging to a single formula
fetch the ball this monologue of prayer is used for attaining constant unceasing prayer
cash and rights that other isaac in see this little birds will prove to be necessary and useful to each by bars and in all circumstances
quote
it can be adapted to every condition and can be usefully employed against the every temptation it carries within it a cry for help to god in the face of every danger
it expresses that humidity of a pious confession it conveys a sense of our priority
this is the lines filled with the other of love and of charity
the cry of someone be staged the day and night and exclaiming that he cannot escape unless his protect her comes to the rescue
end quote
cation went on to explain the various locations throughout the day and how this to prayer can be most suitable used to meet with the need of each circumstance
he can to the conclusion that this prayer formula should actually become an unceasing prayer in ass
here are his moving words which somehow anticipate what subsequent writers would say about the jesus prayer
holt
the thought of this verse should be turning unceasingly in your heart never sees the recited in whatever task or servings our journey you'll find yourself
sleep should come upon you as you meditate on this verse until as a result of your habits of resorting to its words you get in the habit of repeating them even in your slumbers
this verse should be the first thing to occur to you when you wake up
after this you should accompany you in all your works and ease you should be at your site at all times
you will write it upon the special ten gateway of your mouse
you will replace it in the inner sanctuary of your heart
it will be a continuous prayer
end quote
we have only to substitute jesus prayer for the little worse were commanded by cation and be certainly with should find the whole passage an excellent exhortation to have the jesus prayer accompany us unceasingly throughout the day
isn't that beautiful
natoma is a little worse propose as a way to unceasing prayer it is also meant to be a method for attaining pure prayer
this is clear from the fact that at the beginning of the conference cation inserted the episodes of the controversy over the and po ba who ascribed a human form to god based on the on a little understanding of genesis one twenty six
six
after listening to the letter of the okeanos bishop of alexandria which condemned the heresy of the anthropomorphized an old man named the european was seen crying bitterly during the assembly a prayer saying
ah the misfortune dave have taken my got away from me i have no one to hold on to and i don't know whom to a door or to address
the poor coffee fun when the lights up the bishop was read he lost everything to for want united to pray to god
one purpose of other isaacs second conference is to combat against this heresy and the teacher method for achieving pure image this prayer
cashin is aware of the fact that while god is spirit and his and has no human form jesus christ the word of the word incarnate is truly god and truly human
cash and admits that there are two possible ways of will relating to jesus during prayer depending on one's measure of purity
what may view teasers in his historical earthly existence
or else when they relate to him in his reason it is reason glorified state
quotes from st paul
even if we get know christ in the flesh that is not how we know him now second corinthians five sixteen
and cash and ads only those a purist i can look upon the glory of the region lord without bombing any mental image of him
abba isaac obviously perceived his two young visitors to be standing at the threshold for purity or prayer and he intended to introduce them from the porch into the inner sanctum by hanging on to them
the shot formula or prayer with the ammunition that if one sticks united states to this single formula through constant repetition it has the power to reject all the abundant riches of thought
isaac goes on to say that the one who has the courage to embrace the poverty of this little birds were soon attain the first be attitude it at the poor in spirit
it takes courage he picked it requires a spirit of the attachment to hold onto one single bermuda putting aside all the richness or attractions of a variety of other formulas
our thoughts
by persevering in the use of this formula one is gradually led to that purity or prayer which is images and worthless
of this prayer and rights
quote this prayer centers on know contemplation of some image or other
it is masked by no attendance sounds or words it is a fiery outbreak and indescribable exhortation an insatiable the thrust of the soul
free of what you see sensed and seen ineffable in his groans and signs the sole cause itself out to god
and quote
thus in question we find the exclusive connection between the second and third elements of the jesus prayer that is the frequent repetition of a modal logic prayer precisely as a means for achieving don discursive prayer
but what about the first element that have a pen course
even though the popular proposed by cation does not contain a confession of sin or a cure for mercy it does convey a deep sense of our frailty and our radical need for help
for this reason it comes close to the idea of painters
what is really missing in cushions bitter worse is the implication of the name of jesus the core elements of the jesus prayer
but this we have to wait until the fifth century when a juicer center spirituality began to emerge
the evocation of the name of jesus occupied a central place in the teaching of dido coast or foetus he linked closely together the three
final elements of the jesus prayer by presenting he repeated invocation of the lord jesus as a way of attaining than discursive prayer
however he gave no special prominence to the first element panthers or in agree
herodotus was born in greece in the early years of the fifth century
he later became bishop of focus in last greece his main work the hundred gnostic chapters also known as on spiritual knowledge and discernment is published in one one of the film career
i believe
in addition to the three volume something a caravan now the first volume of english translation has appeared also recently the only waiting for you a fist the last one of a cardiac than we would have been complete text in english
the treasure fall
for us
catholics christians in the west
in his writings to contrast things trims of spirituality or combined together by the wayside
the intellectual is to trim exemplified by the bad news with it's stress on the intellect and the idea of to a prayer
and on the other he experiential as trim found in the harmonies of materials with its emphasis on the heart and the affective aspects of prayer
yet his synthesis by do cuz manifests greater affinity to makarios so he is more a man of the heart than the intellect tender minds but he combines both
the location of the lord jesus occupies an important place in dido coach plastic chapters
but the first problem to be resolved is whether that tacos actually has in view a particular formula of evocation or whether he is merely advocating that remembrance of the person of jesus in a general way
it is true that on a significant number of occasions he mentions that remembrance of the lord jesus describing this as a form of meditation
however as courage though square has pointed out there are passages where diet though cause surely envisages more than simple remembrance or recollection but indicates in booking for calling upon the lord jesus
in this connection died though cuz twice uses the peculiar phrase the oh lord jesus
book achieve in greek
the oh lord jesus which means he has in mind a particular formula of new vocation commencing with the words lord jesus
thus we find the beauty of passage in gnostic chapters coat
at that time the soda possesses graze which itself meditate together with the soul and cries out with it the oh lord jesus justice and mother teaches her child the name father repeating it with him until she farm
in him the habit of calling is tinged he bought his father even when asleep
chapel sixty one
this passage certainly implies worse pronounced and not merely a memory recalled by dakota tells us that grains cries out with the soul to the lot
does he expression oh lord jesus is an invocation
and the analogy of the bother teaching her child to call his father reinforces our interpretation
however title christina specify whether the initial words oh lord jesus were followed by any others and if so what the other words were
in the early sixth century we have the two months from gaza sin by some new fuse and st john gaza they bought the farm the bottom for lord jesus christ have mercy on me
ever since then the evocation of the lord jesus is normally followed by an appeal for mercy
diadem was special contribution to the development of the jesus prayer consists in establishing a connection between modal logic prayer an image image last prayer and in assigning a central place to the name of jesus
as which was still lacking in passion
the manner in which the invocation of the lord jesus leads to image free prayer is indicated in the following passage
locked all its outlets by means of the remembrance of god the intellect requires up as imperatively some tasks that will satisfy his need for activity
by the come for the complete fulfillment of its purpose we should give it nothing but the oh lord jesus
let the intellect continuously concentrate on this phrase within its inner shrine with such intensity that it is not turned aside to any mental image
chapter fifty nine
the intellect as they cause cease it cannot remain idle but has an inherent need for activity which
must in some way be satisfied to meet with this need for activity the intellect should be made to recite a prayer lord jesus we should give it nothing but the oh lord jesus the words nothing bad of significant
in place of the right variety of fabulous prevailing in first century egypt title posts here proposes a single and burying invocation
as college but we are rightly observes it is precisely this and burying character of the invocation that needs the aspirant to image as or not discursive prayer
the monotony itself helped to clear away all thoughts so that the prayer had been more and more unified boy was simplified and pure
the jesus prayer is in this manner a way of keeping guard over the internet
and a path leading to
monkeys cursor prayer
closely linked with achieving not discursive prayer the jesus prayer has also entered a meteor purpose the reintegration of about memory
but term memory by a do coos and other ancient writers been bought and is he noted violent modern understanding of memory
more precisely it means consciousness or the inner perceptive faculty of the intellect
dido goes adopts the typical holistic view of the human person as an as an antibiotic unity in bobby body and mind are so he sees the body soul conflicts
as the consequence of the fall of adam
it is state of original simplicity prior to the for the soul possessed a natural perceptive faculty which was unified and whole as a result of adam's disobedience and the sins of humanity this perceptive faculty has been split
into two conflicting modes of operation the census of the body impelled us to what carnal pleasures by the soul and intellect continue to be drawn towards invisible blessings and the good things of heaven
the duality effected by the for exists on the level both of the will and of the memory
the aim of our spiritual life and of the jesus prayer in particular is precisely to overcome this duality and to restore us to our primal integration
to overcome the duality however died due course does not advocate the mortification of the body but it's transfiguration
rather then suppressing he advocates a transformation
the insistence upon the spirit the spirit bearing putin charity of the human body is one of the most attractive features entire due to his writings
the so's first the appetite he insists is not to be suppressed but erected it is to be harmoniously united with the spiritual disposition of the soul
i will return to the stage of crime of integration made possible by christ's incarnation is initiated through the sacraments of baptism
however while holy baptism cleanses us falling from all the guilt of sin it does not according to the joker's few the duality in our will and internet
while the grace of baptism forms the foundation of our spiritual life it is necessary for each one of us to cooperate with it he nodded to heal virtuality existing in us
peridot cooked teaches that the duality of the will is healed primarily through our ascetic effort so the observance of the commandments
the division in our intellectual memory on the other hand is healed by the constant evocation of the name of the lord jesus
the remembrance of evil is in this way displaced by the remembrance of good our remembrance of god
in bad august words it is the mark of one who truly loves holiness that he continually burns up what is firstly in his heart through practicing the remembrance of god
so that little by little emo is consumed in the fire of the remembrance of good chapter ninety seven
at by remembrance of good he means remembrance of god and more practically he means that remembrance of jesus that's three are the same remembrance of good remembered some god and remember sub jesus he tissues that
the unceasing remembrance of the lord jesus eliminates all condos thoughts and reduces the two modes of thinking to one thus restoring our memory to unity
this is the secret of replacing
because the container can contain basically one thing the affairs the remembrance of evil in the container then
good cannot come in but you'll be tried to keep the remembrance of good then there's no my room for the remembrance of evil
and the jesus prayer has this purpose
hence the jesus prayer accomplishes a to full function in as the first fashion is to release the intellects from its fragmentation among a multiplicity of thoughts and images leading to leading edge to one point illness through
dan is corrosive prayer
at a second function of the jesus prayer is closely related to the first
it huge the duality that our memories suffers as a result of the fall
in order to fulfill this taboo task the remembrance of evocation of jesus should be as far as possible continuous this is a point to which dido coasts attaches great importance
his states clearly that we must let the internet continually concentrate on this phrase and we're to meditate unceasingly upon this holy and glorious name
according to thy duclos those approaching perfection
have the remembrance of the lord jesus unceasingly in their hearts
as a result of the continuous practice the remembrance are evocation of jesus grows ever more inward and evermore spontaneous in ass it becomes not just an activity but a permanent state
eight
something we are as well as something we do
to express this point that though cuz explores the concept of the heart
by the term heart he does not merely mean the emotions our affections for him as if the harmonies of macquarie knows the heart stands for the deep center of the human person as a whole
diadora gos speaks especially of the depth of the heart
rage dwells had the fullness of love is realized in the depths of the heart
it is likewise the depths of the heart that we should establish our remembrance of god and of jesus
by the depths of the heart dial dooku seems to indicate the ground of being well what we say becomes one with what we are
by keeping the remembrance of jesus the depths of our heart our intellect is enabled to is sent into and remain in the heart
according to the later se costs this is a special effects of the jesus prayer and expresses the real meaning of prayer
damn been standing before god with our mind in our heart
as the jesus prayer becomes more inwards it also grows more instinctive spontaneous the sole continuously invoked the name of jesus just as a child cries out spontaneously to his father or mother even
when asleep
diadem cuz considers that one should continue to keep the remembrance of the hoodie name of jesus even when one falls into a light sleep just as the bright says it a song of songs
achieve but my heart waves
in conclusion
we have studied the four basic elements in the early development of the jesus prayer
penthouse money logic prayer not discursive prayer and the evocation of the name of jesus
the first three elements were provided by the desert fathers
of the first century egypt they contained in the writings of cation and were synthesised in a single formula of prayer
oh god come to my systems oh lord make age to help me
caution brought this formula to the west hoping that it would become to come in a used formula for personal practice
but he's wish the not prevail and the formula was made into the opening verse of each hour of the divine office as we're doing now it's being used throughout the day but you know official rate at the beginning of each hour of yeah liturgy instead of being used by
individual month throughout the day
that's the west was deprived of a privilege the formula of his short prayer available for common usage
the situation is different in the east owing to the teasers center spirituality of the first century the jesus prayer combining he already existing elements of panthers shot prayer and not discursive prayer became the
prevalent form of manu logic prayer
to have a single privilege the formula or prayer is a great blessing to the eastern tradition especially when this formula is none other than the invocation of the funny name of jesus who is the heart and center of the whole universe
during our present century this blessing has been brought from the east the west by divine providence and it has found a favorable reception here
let us rejoice and embrace this single pamela whole heartedly using it as it passed to unceasing and pure prayer
the jesus prayer will bring us from multiplicity to one point genus by replacing our ten thousand thoughts with one single site
if you're also be does into the inner sanctuary
or the heart of jesus in an image this silence encounter with the lot