Wow, there was a lot to unpack in that post. I had to download to my notes so I could adequately highlight and notate! Thank you for sharing. This is the first I have heard of Nicephorus or "…Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart. I will be pondering this material and taking some follow-up actions
I have lately noticed how distracted I am in my life - it seems my attention is constantly under assault. Of course, these modern devices and apps make distraction so very easy - by their very intent and design. On the other hand, that is how I found this post....
This is one of my favorite lines:
"Then a man sees that the kingdom of heaven is truly within us; and seeing it now in himself, he strives with pure prayer to keep it and strengthen it there, and regards everything external as not worthy of attention and wholly unattractive."
Thanks for the time and energy you put into your thought provoking post. Which mentions many times that thought is to be abandoned when praying. Good or bad. It is the first time I have seen or even heard the Prayer of the Heart. I practised it immediately, using the breath work that was suggested, and having repeated the prayer, wholeheartedly, for a few minutes, and then continued reading your post, I find myself in a much calmer, relaxed state of mind. For this I thank you. I am interested in the church you are part of, but I’m having difficulty in locating close to where I live, here in Cork, Ireland.
Thank you for providing further reading links within your post. I shall be looking into them at the first opportunity, as I’m busy for the rest of the day taking care of two kids.
But not before I go to a quiet place and practice what I believe is a most powerful, deceptively simple prayer. I was raised Roman Catholic, but abandoning that church, and all religions as a teenager, I ended up being lost in life in every sense. This prayer has given me hope for the first time in a long time, and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend.
And have seen the book as advertised. I’ll be buying that for sure, and as I type these words an email has just come through so hopefully it to grant access.
Passage west, where the church is located, is about a half hour or so drive from my home. An hour or so if I use the bus service.
It’s a beautiful little corner of Ireland. Very scenic, and right on the ocean front. I have searched online but was probably using an incorrect description of what I was looking for.
This is wonderful news for me. Forced to retire from my work about 5 years ago, and staying away from people that did not have any interest in cultivating a personal relationship with God, as I did, plus the whole COVID situation and all that entailed, meant I have been pretty isolated. Which did not bother me too much at first, but as my faith has grown, and I look at what is unfolding around us as a society, I have been longing to be in the company of similar people to me. I can’t quite describe it, but it’s a feeling that has increased these past few months, and the orthodox people and church held the most appeal for me to attend. I watched some mass services on YouTube, of all places, and the churches ethos really jumped out to me. That’s about as well as I can describe what happened.
Thank you. I was out and about with a phone that had ran out of battery life in my pocket, unbeknownst to myself. I’ve only just now managed to power it up and saw your messages. That was so kind of you. Many thanks. I’ll ring that number tomorrow. It’s 22-45 pm here so it’s a little late to ring.
Thanks again, and may God bless you and your family.
It's kind of unusual that the closest Orthodox Church to you is a Romanian Orthodox Church, but there is nothing wrong with that. They just canonized a bunch of recent saints who lived in Romania during the Communist times there.
You might ask them about that as a way of having a conversation and beginning to understand their particular Orthodox history.
A fantastic essay, deeply fascinant I hope to read more, in between my own studies and serial-novels. Thank you for recommending this essay to me, both as a Christian and as a novice-scholar of sorts I deeply enjoyed it. It was moving to read.
What an amazing teacher you must be. This had me in tears, something my soul needed today and I'm grateful to you for having wrote this and hope you don't go into seclusion but teach. I thank you for sharing this with me today as I think God knew I needed to hear this 🙏 ❤️
I especially like what you said here
"Therefore attention is the origin of faith, hope and love; since he who has no faith cannot bear all the afflictions coming from without, and he who does not suffer them willingly cannot say: 'He is my refuge and my fortress' (Psalm 91:2); and he who has not the Almighty as his refuge cannot be truly sincere in his love for Him."
I'm glad you happened by this today and am already subscribed. I reccomended you too. This was beautiful and aptly needed today also. I'm rereading it. ❤️
Glory to God that you have discovered this work! I’m in a Masters of Pastoral Care and Counseling program at an Orthodox institution that requires we buy and read the four volume Philokalia. We have to read many other treasures, such as The Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses by Patristics scholar Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet. Perhaps you’d be interested in studying here too? They offer many different degree programs and they are fully accredited.
Steven,
Wow, there was a lot to unpack in that post. I had to download to my notes so I could adequately highlight and notate! Thank you for sharing. This is the first I have heard of Nicephorus or "…Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart. I will be pondering this material and taking some follow-up actions
I have lately noticed how distracted I am in my life - it seems my attention is constantly under assault. Of course, these modern devices and apps make distraction so very easy - by their very intent and design. On the other hand, that is how I found this post....
This is one of my favorite lines:
"Then a man sees that the kingdom of heaven is truly within us; and seeing it now in himself, he strives with pure prayer to keep it and strengthen it there, and regards everything external as not worthy of attention and wholly unattractive."
All the best.
Wigman
The Prayer of the Heart is a fascinating and virtually unknown topic in our day and age.
All the very best to you!
Thanks for the time and energy you put into your thought provoking post. Which mentions many times that thought is to be abandoned when praying. Good or bad. It is the first time I have seen or even heard the Prayer of the Heart. I practised it immediately, using the breath work that was suggested, and having repeated the prayer, wholeheartedly, for a few minutes, and then continued reading your post, I find myself in a much calmer, relaxed state of mind. For this I thank you. I am interested in the church you are part of, but I’m having difficulty in locating close to where I live, here in Cork, Ireland.
Thank you for providing further reading links within your post. I shall be looking into them at the first opportunity, as I’m busy for the rest of the day taking care of two kids.
But not before I go to a quiet place and practice what I believe is a most powerful, deceptively simple prayer. I was raised Roman Catholic, but abandoning that church, and all religions as a teenager, I ended up being lost in life in every sense. This prayer has given me hope for the first time in a long time, and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you. Have a wonderful weekend.
Romanian Orthodox Church "St. Patrick and Calinic de la Cernica"
+353 87 677 2241
https://g.co/kgs/5tzdsqq
Hopefully this link will work for you - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vLqZwVdKbGlheJMDECtLGj-maecViGF4/view?usp=drivesdk
The Art of Prayer - an Orthodox Anthology
Yes, it did work. I’m just about to start reading now. Thanks so much. God bless.
And have seen the book as advertised. I’ll be buying that for sure, and as I type these words an email has just come through so hopefully it to grant access.
I had to request access to the second link. Hopefully I’ll hear from them soon.
Should work now
Passage west, where the church is located, is about a half hour or so drive from my home. An hour or so if I use the bus service.
It’s a beautiful little corner of Ireland. Very scenic, and right on the ocean front. I have searched online but was probably using an incorrect description of what I was looking for.
This is wonderful news for me. Forced to retire from my work about 5 years ago, and staying away from people that did not have any interest in cultivating a personal relationship with God, as I did, plus the whole COVID situation and all that entailed, meant I have been pretty isolated. Which did not bother me too much at first, but as my faith has grown, and I look at what is unfolding around us as a society, I have been longing to be in the company of similar people to me. I can’t quite describe it, but it’s a feeling that has increased these past few months, and the orthodox people and church held the most appeal for me to attend. I watched some mass services on YouTube, of all places, and the churches ethos really jumped out to me. That’s about as well as I can describe what happened.
You found what I could not!
Thanks!
Thank you. I was out and about with a phone that had ran out of battery life in my pocket, unbeknownst to myself. I’ve only just now managed to power it up and saw your messages. That was so kind of you. Many thanks. I’ll ring that number tomorrow. It’s 22-45 pm here so it’s a little late to ring.
Thanks again, and may God bless you and your family.
Thank you so much! Very kind of you.
I hope that it all works out for the best!
It's kind of unusual that the closest Orthodox Church to you is a Romanian Orthodox Church, but there is nothing wrong with that. They just canonized a bunch of recent saints who lived in Romania during the Communist times there.
You might ask them about that as a way of having a conversation and beginning to understand their particular Orthodox history.
All the very best to you!
A fantastic essay, deeply fascinant I hope to read more, in between my own studies and serial-novels. Thank you for recommending this essay to me, both as a Christian and as a novice-scholar of sorts I deeply enjoyed it. It was moving to read.
Steven,
You may enjoy this. It's along the line of NOT being sold that: life between birth and death is a 'Be-all and End-All'.
https://open.substack.com/pub/wigman/p/what-will-you-take-to-heaven?r=1oj6fk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
God bless you
Thank you. Very kind of you!
All the very best to you as well!
https://substack.com/profile/100124894-steven-berger/note/c-42933021
https://substack.com/profile/100124894-steven-berger/note/c-42816212
What an amazing teacher you must be. This had me in tears, something my soul needed today and I'm grateful to you for having wrote this and hope you don't go into seclusion but teach. I thank you for sharing this with me today as I think God knew I needed to hear this 🙏 ❤️
I especially like what you said here
"Therefore attention is the origin of faith, hope and love; since he who has no faith cannot bear all the afflictions coming from without, and he who does not suffer them willingly cannot say: 'He is my refuge and my fortress' (Psalm 91:2); and he who has not the Almighty as his refuge cannot be truly sincere in his love for Him."
https://substack.com/profile/100124894-steven-berger/note/c-51403802
I'm glad you happened by this today and am already subscribed. I reccomended you too. This was beautiful and aptly needed today also. I'm rereading it. ❤️
Glory to God that you have discovered this work! I’m in a Masters of Pastoral Care and Counseling program at an Orthodox institution that requires we buy and read the four volume Philokalia. We have to read many other treasures, such as The Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses by Patristics scholar Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet. Perhaps you’d be interested in studying here too? They offer many different degree programs and they are fully accredited.
https://www.ahos.edu/
May God bless you in your studies.
There is no surer path to salvation then the teachings of the Holy Fathers practiced within the context of the entire Orthodox Christian Way of Life.