HOLY FATHERS ON PRAYER
„The prayer for a beginner is like the fire of joy gushing out of the heart, and for the perfected on it is like a fragrant acting light. And again, the prayer is: the preaching of the Apostle, the energy of faith, or rather the direct faith itself, the substance and the reality of things we hope for (Heb. 11,1), the acting love, angelic movement, the strength of Bodiless powers, their work and joy, the Gospel of God, conviction and fullness of the heart, the hope of salvation, the sign of sanctification, the mark of holiness, knowledge of God, the appearance of holy Baptism, the fountain of purification, the covenant of the Holy Spirit, the rejoicing of Jesus, the joy of the soul, God’s mercy, the sign of pacification, the seal of Christ, the ray of the spiritual sun, the morning star in the heart, the confirmation of Christianity, the announcement of peace with God, God’s grace, God’s wisdom, or rather the beginning of self-knowledge; God’s visitation, the labor and insignia of a true Christian, especially monks, the way of life of the hesychasts, the reason for prayerful solitude and quiteness, the proof of angelic life on earth. And what else need we say! Prayer is God Himself who does all in all, who acts in all things in Christ Jesus, for there is one energy and action of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
St. Gregory the Sinaite
(chapters from Philokalia: On Prayer, ch. 113)
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