St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church

Reflection from the Prologue of St. Nikolai

" Why did the Son of God appear on earth in a human body? To the question: 'Why did the Son of God appear on earth in a human body and not in another form of creation?", the brilliant St. Athanasius replied in this manner: "If they ask why did He not appear in some other better form of creation, for example: as the sun or the moon, or the stars or fire, or the wind but just as a man? Let them know that the Lord did not come to show Himself but to heal and teach sufferers. For, to reveal Himself only to amaze the viewers would mean to come for a show. It was necessary for the Healer and the Teacher, not only to come, but to serve for the benefit of the suffering ones and to reveal Himself as such so that this revelation would be bearable for the sufferers. Not one single creature was in error in the eyes of God, except man alone: neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the sky, nor the stars, nor water, nor wind did betray their ranks but, on the contrary, knowing their Creator and their King -The Word [The Logos], they all remained as they were created; only human beings separated themselves from good and replaced truth with deceit, and the honor belonging to God, as well as the knowledge about Him, they transferred to devils and to men carved out of stone [idols]. What is, therefore, so unbelievable in this, that the Logos [The Word - The Son of God] appeared as a man to save mankind?' Indeed, even as we ask the unbelievers of our day: In what form would you wish God to appear, if not as a man? "

Conquering the Passions

" There is no shorter ascent to the royal and Divine mansions...than through subduing the five passions hostile to obedience, namely: disobedience, argumentativeness, self-gratification, self-justification and pernicious high opinion of oneself... Disobedience is the mouth of hell; argumentativeness its tongue, whetted like a sword; self-gratification is its sharp teeth; self-justification its throat; high opinion of oneself, which casts one into hell, is the belching of its all-devouring belly. But he who, through obedience, conquers the first, by one stroke cuts off all the rest and with one stride reaches heaven. "

- St. Gregory of Sinai

Humility

"Learn to love humility, for it will cover all your sins. All sins are repugnant before God but the most repugnant of all is pride of the heart. Do not consider yourself learned and wise; otherwise, all your effort will be destroyed and your boat will reach the harbor empty. "

- St. Anthony the Great

On Thinking Too Hihgly of Oneself

"Examine yourself to see whether you have within you a strong sense of your own importance, or negatively, whether you have failed to realize you are nothing. This feeling of self-importance is deeply hidden, but it controls the whole of our life. It first demands that everything should be as we wish it, and as soon as this is not so we complain to God and are annoyed with people.
The high value we set on ourselves, in consequence of this feeling of importance, upsets not only our relationship with other men but also our attitude to God. Self-importance is as wily as the devil and cleverly conceals itself behind humble words, settling itself firmly in the heart so that we swing between self-depreciation and self-praise. "

- St. Theophan the Recluse

"But when he heard this he become sad, for he was very rich..." Luke 18: 18-27

"We love everything brilliant on earth, gold, silver, precious stones, crystal, bright clothing - why then do we not love the future glory to which the Lord calls us? 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father...' Matt. 13:42). It is because we have perverted the nature of our soul by sin, and have attached ourselves to earth instead of to heaven, to corruptible things instead of to incorruptible ones; because we love earthly, transitory, perishable, and seductive splendor. But why is there such a love for everything bright in us? Because our soul was created for heavenly light, and was originally all light, all radiance...the desire for light is inborn in it. Direct this aspiriation to seeking heavenly light! "

- Saint John of Kronstadt

On the Jesus Prayer

"He who constantly and reverently applies himself to the Jesus Prayer, pronouncing its words aloud or silently, heeding what is necessary, and confining his mind within the words; he who during his prayerful struggle rejects all thoughts and dreams, not only the sinful and vain ones, but also the apparently good ones, to such a one the kind-hearted Lord will in time grant mental prayer, prayer of the heart and spiritual prayer.
The gifts of the Lord come of themselves if the temple of the heart is clean and undefiled. Those who with observation seek the exalted gifts of God are, I say, rejected by the Church of God. Before receiving gifts we must undergo the ups and downs. We are instructed about the exalted gifts of God when the divine Paul boasts in his afflictions and recognizes as the highest gift of God his participation in the sufferings of Christ.
The impure mind which desires to behold Divine visions and is not able to see them, conjures up visions from within for itself, and is deluded by them and puffed up; so too the heart emboldened to taste of Divine sweetness and other Divine feelings and not finding these within itself, conjures them up for itself, and deceives itself with them, is elated, deluded, and ruins itself, moving into the domain of falsehood, into contact with demons and falling under their influence, being enslaved to their authority.
Properly speaking, the holy Fathers call the prayer which goes thus: Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, the Prayer of Jesus. St. John of the Ladder says of the hesychasts, that 'one of them chants, and devotes the greater part of his time to this chanting, and the others continue in prayer.' By chanting here we must understand the prayerful recitation of the Psalms (for in those days they did not have other forms of prayers in prayer books used now), and by prayer we must understand the Prayer of Jesus. (Ed. The chanting of Psalms is continued to this day in the Church in the chanting of the kathisma sections of the Psalter.)
The Prayer of Jesus comes in two forms, oral and mental. The ascetic changes from oral prayer to mental prayer himself according to the circumstance. The essential requirements for this prayer are: attention, holding the mind within the words of prayer, being extremely unhurried in pronouncing and contrition of spirit (Ed. Note: some Fathers instruct to pray the Prayer more rapidly, depending on the person.). Although these things are necessary for every prayer, they are more easily safeguarded and are more necessary in the practice of the Prayer of Jesus. In the Prayer of Jesus, the mind is concentrated on one thought: the thought of the sinner being forgiven by Jesus. The activity appears at first to be the driest of all, but practice will show it to be the most fruitful of all spiritual activities. "

- St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Another Thought on the Jesus Prayer

"Nothing will so instruct him who has the zeal to pray as the practice of prayer itself. The labor of praying itself, practiced with patience, will lead him to the very highest degrees of prayer.
But what are the weak and spiritually lazy people to do, and especially those who, before they have understood the true nature of prayer, have become hardened by outward routine, and cooled by their formal reading of the appointed prayers? As a refuge and source of strength they can still use the art of mental prayer, of unceasing prayer to the Lord. And is it not chiefly for them that the art of the activity (of the Jesus Prayer) was introduced, so as to bring the mental prayer of Jesus into their hearts? "

- St. Theophan the Recluse

Praying with a True Heart

"Whoever loves true prayer and yet becomes angry or resentful is his own enemy. He is like a man who wants to see clearly and yet inflicts damage on his own eyes. "

- Evagrios the Solitary