St. Theophan on Prayer
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“Every prayer must come from the heart, and any other prayer is no prayer at all. Prayer-book prayers, your own prayers, and very short prayers, all must issue forth from the heart to God, seen before you. And still more must this be so with the Jesus prayer.”
This little gem is from the book, The Art of Prayer, by Hegumen Chariton of Valaam. In it, Abba Chariton has collected various texts in his prayer journal on the prayer of the heart, with extensive emphasis on the spirituality of the Jesus prayer. Since prayer is perhaps my weakest point, surpassed only by my weak and feeble love for God and the Lord Jesus, I have endeavored to read this book and take its advice to heart. It is highly recommended. It includes texts from St. Isaac the Syrian, St. Theophan the Recluse, and Bishop Ignatii Brianchianinov, the desert fathers, and many others.
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4 Responses to “St. Theophan on Prayer”
Copyright © 2002–2011 Kevin Robert (Basil) Fritts, all rights reserved.
May 28th, 2003 at 12:27 am
My wife is about half-way through this book and is loving it!
She says she can only read about a page at a time…too much wisdom to ingest in larger doses!
May 28th, 2003 at 8:21 am
I am only through the first chapter, unfortunately my time is limited currently. But already in these few pages my opinion of prayer and yes my dedication to that art have gone up incredibly.
Thank you again for this gift Basil, I am sure that it is going to be a source of wisdom and teaching for years to come.
May 28th, 2003 at 8:43 am
Looks like I need to order this book.
August 6th, 2003 at 11:30 am
The Art of Prayer is an excellent book, though I would recommend that a beginner start with Theophan the Recluse’s Path of Prayer from Praxis Press. This covers how to know you are praying, how to develop your prayer life, etc. God bless!