RICCI, Sebastiano: Prayer in the Garden

With the spirit I shall pray,
and with the mind:
Sing psaltries with the spirit,
and with the mind also.

    -- I Corinthians 14:15

The delighted intellect delights in the light of the Lord when, free from concepts, it enters into the dawn of spiritual knowledge. By continually denying itself, it advances from the wisdom necessary for the practice of the virtues to an ineffable vision in which it contemplates holy and ineffable things. Then the heart is filled with perceptions of infinite and divine realities and sees the God of gods in its own depths, so far as this is possible. Astounded, the intellect lovingly glorifies God, the Seer and the Seen, and the Saviour of those who contemplate Him in this way.

    --St. Hesychios the Priest,
    in On Watchfulness and Holiness:

.

 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.
Prayer of the Church

From the Anglican Breviary:
OPEN THOU, O LORD, MY MOUTH
to bless thy holy name; cleanse also my heart from all vain, evil, and wandering thoughts; enlighten my understanding; enkindle my affections; that I may pray this Office with attention and devotion, and so be meet to be heard in the presence of thy divine Majesty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O LORD, in union with that divine intention wherewith thou thyself on earth didst render thy praises to God, I desire to offer this my prayer unto thee.

A brother named John came from the coast to Father Philimon and, clasping his feet, said to him: "What shall I do to be saved? For my intellect vacillates to and fro and strays after all the wrong things." After a pause, the father replied: "This is one of the outer passions and it stays with you because you still have not acquired a perfect longing for God. The warmth of this longing and of the knowledge of God has not yet come to you." The brother said to him: "What shall I do, father?" Abba Philimon replied: "Meditate inwardly for a while, deep in your heart; for this can cleanse your intellect of these things." The brother, not understanding what was said, asked the Elder: "What is inward meditation, father?" The Elder replied: "Keep watch in your heart; and with watchfulness say in your mind with awe and trembling: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me. For this is the advice which the blessed Diadochos gave to beginners."

    -- From the Philokalia, v. 2

  

Red triangleBack to previous page

INDEX
Red trianglePrayer of the Church
Red triangleMorning Prayer
Red triangleEvening Prayer
Red triangleCompline

Red triangleKalendar

Red trianglePenitential psalms
Red trianglePreparation for Mass
Red triangleThanksgiving after Mass

Red triangleBenediction
Red triangleDivine Praises
Red triangleMonastic Offices

Red triangleAlma Redemptoris Mater
Red triangleAngelus
Red triangleAve Maria
Red triangleAve Regina Coelorum
Red triangleRegina Coeli
Red triangleSalve Regina
Red triangleStabat Mater

Red trianglePrayer for our country
Red triangle Anglican Cycle of Prayer
Red trianglePrayer for our parish

Red triangleCalendar of the Saints
Red triangleHagiography
Red triangleLectionary

SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Red triangleItinerary

LINKS TO SELECTED QUOTATIONS
Red trianglePhilokalia

.

 
 
ORABO SPIRITU ORABO ET MENTE  :  PSALLAM SPIRITU PSALLAM ET MENTE
 
 
 

Home | Service schedule | The Mass | Music | Prayer of the Church | Outreach
Catechumenate | Parish life | Sermons | Links | E-mail us

Information on sources and copyright ©