SAINT SIMEON THE NEW THEOLOGY – There is no greater sin than praying without fear of God, without attention and reverence.
He who prays or chants carelessly and unconsciously, it is obvious that he does not know who God is. God again, as merciful, wants to have mercy on this man and cannot. It is better, I dare say, not to pray at all, than to pray carelessly.
The correct prayer is that which is not only done with the mouth, but also with the mind and the heart. Therefore, whoever does not pray completely, in fact does not pray, and is accountable for this to God.
He who prays without the participation of his mind and heart, deeply despises God.
And how will we receive mercy from Him, when we pray with empty words, and when our mind is in league with the demons?
How can we not anger the Lord, when on the one hand we address Him and on the other hand our mind contemplates irrelevant, inappropriate or even obscene things?
Such a mind does not belong to Christ and will not be surrendered to Him. But how will we be able to pray with attention, divine fear, reverence and devotion?
How can we pray with the constant and active participation of our mind and heart? We won’t make it alone.
We will reach the perfect prayer, only if we ask the Lord Himself to enlighten us with His Holy Spirit, to gain awareness of His infinite greatness, to feel what an awesome God we stand before.
And also, if we fervently ask Him not for vain and temporary things, but for our purification from passions and, above all, the acquisition of a humble mind.
Whoever, truly, knows the infinite goodness of God, cannot but be deeply humbled before His long-suffering.
It is therefore impossible for the mind to pray perfectly – and therefore impossible for the heart to be filled – if it does not first receive the illumination and energy of the Holy Spirit, the secret light of divine knowledge, which is given in one way above all: by persistent and fervent invocation of the Lord and His mercy.
He who learned letters and was highly educated, how can he read his books without light? He has the books. But if he doesn’t have the light, how will he study them? It is the same with prayer.
How will we “study” and know God, without the secret light of divine knowledge? This light is nothing but a mental, God-sent power, which surrounds and gathers the mind, prevents it from escaping and scattering on earth, and fixes it in the all-enjoying sight and communion of God.
As long as the light of the Holy Spirit does not illuminate our minds, our prayer is unsteady and fruitless. And the mind, considering things out of place – even those that people consider necessary – wanders, not realizing that it becomes a slave to the imaginary tyrant, which pulls it here and there, to cares, cares, affairs, problems of “this world”.
So let us strive with all our strength to defeat the “spermologist” devil, who with wicked memories and untimely thoughts robs us of the priceless spiritual fruit of prayer and keeps our soul in darkness.
Let us fervently beseech the Lord, “the light of the world”, to send His Holy Spirit and dissolve with His uncreated light this darkness of our soul, which only in this way will be able to unite with God, “the omnipresent and everything fulfilled”.
Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Spirit of paternal wisdom, published by I. Monastery of Paracletes (Oropou)