Basil the Great: God Sees Into the Hearts of Those who Pray Friday, May 24 2013

God sees into the hearts of those who pray.

What need then, someone will say, that we should ask God for what we need?  Does He not know already what we need?  Why then should we pray?

God does indeed know what things we need, and with generosity provides all we need for the refreshment of our bodies, and since He is good He sends down His rains upon the just and the unjust alike, and causes His sun to shine upon the good and the bad (Mt. 5:45), even before we ask Him.

But faith, and the power of virtue, and the kingdom of heaven, these you will not receive unless you ask for them in labouring and steadfastness.  We must first long for these things.

Then when you desire them, you must strive with all your heart to obtain them, seeking them with a sincere heart, with patience, and with faith, not being condemned by your conscience, as praying without attention or without reverence, and so in time, when God wills, you will obtain your request.

For He knows better than you when these things are expedient for you.  And perhaps He is delaying in giving them to you, designing to keep your attention fixed upon Him; and also that you may know that this is a gift of God, and may safeguard with fear what is given to you.

[...] Do not then lose heart if you do not speedily obtain your request.  For if it were known to Our Good Master that were you at once to receive this favour that you would not lose it, He would have been prepared to give it to you unasked.  But being concerned for you, He does not do this.

[...] Keeping this in mind, let us continue to give thanks to the Lord whether we receive speedily or slowly that which we pray for.  For all things whatsoever the Lord may do He orders all to the end of our salvation; only let us not through faintheartedness cease from our prayers.

It was because of this the Lord spoke the parable of the Widow who persuaded the judge through her steadfastness (Luke 18:2-5): that we also through our steadfastness in prayer may obtain what we ask for.

By this we also show our faith, and our love of God, since though we do not quickly receive what we ask for, yet we remain steadfast in praising Him and giving thanks.  Then let us give Him thanks at all times, so that we may be found worthy of receiving His everlasting gifts; since to Him all praise and glory is due for ever and ever.  Amen.

Basil the Great (330-379): Monastic Constitutions, ch. 1, 6-7 @ Lectionary Central.

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Nikolai Velimirovich: “My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord” Sunday, Dec 23 2012

And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38)….

If a handmaid is she who, with intent and with complete attention, beholds her Lord, then again the Most-holy Virgin is the first among the handmaids of the Lord.

[...] She did not care to please the world, but only God; nor did she care to justify herself before the world, but only before God. She herself is obedience; she herself is service; she herself is meekness.

The Most-holy Virgin could in truth say to the angel of God: Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

The greatest perfection, and the greatest honor that a woman can attain on earth, is to be a handmaid of the Lord. Eve lost this perfection and honor in Paradise without effort, and the Virgin Mary achieved this perfection and this honor outside Paradise with her efforts.

My soul doth magnify the Lord (Luke 1:46).

Brethren, we have in total only a few words spoken by the Most-holy Theotokos recorded in the Gospels.

All of her words pertain to the magnification of God. She was silent before men but her soul conversed unceasingly with God. Every day and every hour, she found a new reason and incentive to magnify God.

If only we were able to know and to record all her magnifications of God throughout her whole life, oh, how many books would it take!

But, even by this one magnification, which she spoke before her kinswoman Elizabeth, the mother of the great Prophet and Forerunner John, every Christian can evaluate what a fragrant and God-pleasing flower was her most holy soul.

This is but one wonderful canticle of the soul of the Theotokos, which has come down to us through the Gospel. However, such canticles were without number in the course of the life of the Most-blessed One.

Even before she heard the Gospel from the lips of her Son, she knew how to speak with God and to glorify Him in accordance with the teaching of the Gospel.

This knowledge came to her from the Holy Spirit of God, whose grace constantly poured into her like clear water into a pure vessel.

Her soul magnified God with canticles throughout her whole life, and therefore God magnified her above the Cherubim and the Seraphim.

Likewise, small and sinful as we are, the same Lord will magnify in His Kingdom us who magnify her, if we exert ourselves to fill this brief life with the magnification of God in our deeds, words, thoughts and prayers.

O Most-holy, Most-pure and Most-blessed Theotokos, cover us with the wings of thy prayers.

Nikolai Velimirovich (1880-1956; Orthodox Church): Prologue from Ohrid, December 26^th and 27^th OS.

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Humbert of Romans: A Heart Dedicated Unto God Saturday, Nov 3 2012

Cast from your hearts idle thoughts, unworthy affections, bad intentions, violent actions, useless sadness, self-centered love and individual feelings.

Before the eyes of God be fearful of such thoughts, which you would blush to carry into action before human eyes.

Each of you should strive to have a heart that is like a garden abloom with trees of virtues, like a storeroom filled with the perfumes of holy affections, like a flower giving off a heavenly dew, like a box enclosing within it a marvellous treasure, like a fountain always flowing with streams of devotion, like a mirror depicting the image of God.

O happy heart which shows itself to be a throne on which God may sit, a chamber in which

God may rest, a seal on which the likeness of God is impressed, a cellar filled with God’s own vintage, a book in which God’s memories are written, gold which God moulds to any form.

Each of you should strive again and again to have a heart dedicated to God, discerning in its thoughts, wary in temptation, free of anger, separated from judgments, pining with longing for eternity, wounded with love, shining in intellect, careful in works, raised up by contemplation, concerned about the good, cut to pieces by sorrow for sin, holy in its manner of life, guarded by fear, adorned with grace.

Finally, brothers, let us strive most eagerly to turn away from sin with our whole heart by avoiding faults; let us turn to the Lord with our whole heart by doing penance.

Let us seek the Lord with our whole heart by begging pardon; let us cling to the Lord with our whole heart loving God above all things; let us serve the Lord with our whole heart with our praise; with our whole heart let us follow the path of the Lord by our pursuit.

We really owe all this to the Lord who gives our heart countless gifts.

The Lord illumines our hearts with wisdom, governs them with goodness, feeds them with delights, draws them with beauty, changes them with power, makes them one with love, allures them with promises, teaches them with harsh blows, shakes them with threats, and softens them with blessings.

Our most delightful God looks into our hearts by proving them, speaks by informing them, touches by stirring them, visits in consoling them, gives life by justifying them, and opens them by shedding light on them.

For all these gifts it behoves us to thank God tirelessly.

Humbert of Romans (c.1200-1277): From the letter On Regular Observance, from the Supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours for the Order of Preachers, feast of St Martin de Porres.

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Maximus of Turin: Imitate the Tiniest Birds… Friday, Oct 26 2012

A Christian worthy of the name will be intent on praising his Lord and Father throughout the whole day and on doing all things to his greater glory, in accordance with these words of the Apostle:

Whether you eat or drink, in fact whatever you do, let all of it be offered for God’s glory.

[...] Above all, says the Apostle, let all be done for the sake of God’s glory.

Christ wants our every act to be carried out in his own presence as companion and witness, and for this reason:

that his personal inspiration may influence us for good, while his constant partnership may cause us to refrain from evil.

Let us, then, give thanks to Christ on rising, and throughout the day let us begin our every deed with the Saviour’s sign.

[...] For you must realize that Christ’s one sign alone will guarantee the total success of every enterprise.

And whoever makes that sign at the sowing of his seed will reap the harvest of eternal life, whilst he who makes it at the outset of his journey will travel all the way to heaven.

Thus in Christ’s sign and name must all our actions be performed, and to it all life’s ups and downs must be referred, for has not the Apostle told us, in him we live and move and have our being?

But when evening’s shadows lengthen, we must sing to him in the psalmist’s words and declare his praises in melodious chants.

For, in having overcome our labours and our struggles, we, like conquerors, have deserved our rest and the oblivion of sleep as the reward of our toil.

Who, then, possessing human intelligence, would not be ashamed to end the day with no repetition of the psalms, when even the birds pour out their own sweet psalms in gratitude, and with no exultant hymns sung to the glory of him whom the birds praise in melodious song?

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, imitate the tiniest birds by giving thanks to the Creator in the early morning and at evening.

And if you are specially devout imitate the nightingale, for whom the day alone is not enough to fill with praise, and so it sings the whole night through as well!

You also, then, as you vanquish the day with your songs of praise, must add a nightly round to your office, and with a sequence of psalms console your sleepless diligence in the work which you have undertaken!

Maximus of Turin (d. between 408 and 423): Sermon 73.3-5 (CCL 23:305-307); ); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Saturday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2

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Peter of Damascus: “In Everything Give Thanks” and “Pray Without Ceasing” Thursday, Sep 6 2012

We should all give thanks to Him, as it is said: “In everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18).

Closely linked to this phrase is another of St Paul’s injunctions: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), that is, be mindful of God at all times, in all places, and in every circumstance.

For no matter what you do, you should keep in mind the Creator of all things.

When you see the light, do not forget Him who gave it to you; when you see the sky, the earth, the sea and all that is in them, marvel at these things and glorify their Creator; when you put on clothing, acknowledge whose gift it is and praise Him who in His providence has given you life.

In short, if everything you do becomes for you an occasion for glorifying God, you will be praying unceasingly.

And in this way your soul will always rejoice, as St Paul commends (cf. 1 Thess. 5:15).

For as St Dorotheos explains, remembrance of God rejoices the soul; and he adduces David as witness: “I remembered God, and rejoiced” (cf. Ps. 77:3. LXX).

God has done all things for our benefit.

We are guarded and taught by the angels; we are tempted by the demons so that we may be humbled and have recourse to God, thus being saved from self-elation and delivered from negligence.

On the one hand, we are led to give thanks to our Benefactor through the good things of this world.

[...] We are led to love Him and to do what good we can, because we feel we have a natural obligation to repay God for His gifts to us by performing good works.

It is of course impossible to repay Him, for our debt always grows larger.

On the other hand, through what are regarded as hardships we attain a state of patience, humility and hope of blessings in the age to be.

[...]  Indeed, not only in the age to be, but even in this present age these things are a source of great blessing to us.

Thus God in His unutterable goodness has arranged all things in a marvellous way for us.

And if you want to understand this and to be as you should, you must struggle to acquire the virtues so as to be able to accept with gratitude everything that comes, whether it is good or whether it appears to be bad, and to remain undisturbed in all things.

Peter of Damascus (?12^th Century): A Treasury of Divine Knowledge  Text from G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (trans. and eds.) The Philokalia: The Complete Text, vol. 4 (Faber & Faber, London & Boston: 1979ff), pp. 173-174.

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Gregory the Great: Every Prayer of Patience Offered by the Sufferer in God’s Praise is a Dart Turned against the Enemy’s Breast Monday, Jul 16 2012

When Job lost everything, at Almighty’s God decree, to pre­serve his peace of mind he remembered the time when he did not yet possess the things he had now lost.

[...] To enhance his peace of mind he ponders yet more closely his origins, saying as he does so: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return whence I came.

[...] Since therefore the things I have lost were only what I had received and must leave behind, what have I lost that really belonged to me?

But then, because consolation derives not only from thinking about one’s condition but also about the Crea­tor’s uprightness, he is right to add:

The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; as it has pleased the Lord, so has he wrought.

He well says, as it has pleased the Lord. For since in this world we have to put up with things we do not like, it is necessary that we should accommodate our best endeavours to him who cannot will anything that is unjust.

If therefore we know that what is just and equitable pleases the Lord, and that we can suffer nothing but what is pleasing to him, then all our sufferings must for that reason be justly and fairly imposed: and it would therefore be very unjust of us to grumble at them.

We should note that, having got all that right, Job ends by praising God.

This was so that his adversary [the devil] might realise, over­come by shame at seeing Job’s plight, that his own attitude in his prosperity is one of contempt for God, the same God to whom even this man, now fallen on evil times, can never­theless sing a hymn of praise.

We should realise that the enemy of our race can smite us with as many of his darts as there are temptations for him to afflict us with.

For we do battle daily; and daily his onslaught of temptations rains down on us.

But we in turn can fire our darts against him if, while buried in our tribulations, we will but react in humility.

Thus Job, although suffering in material things, is still a blessed and happy man.

We should not think that our champion merely receives wounds without inflicting any in return.

Indeed, every prayer of patience offered by the sufferer in God’s praise is a dart turned against the enemy’s breast: and a much sharper blow is thereby struck than the one sustained.

For the man in his afflictions loses only earthly goods, whereas in bearing humbly with his afflictions he has increased many times over his stock in heaven.

Gregory the Great (c.540-604): Reflections (Moralia) on Job, 2.17.30-18.31 (SC 32bis:203-205);  from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Sunday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2.

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Benedict of Nursia: “The Thoughts of Man Shall Give Praise to Thee” Wednesday, Jul 11 2012

The Holy Scripture crieth to us saying: “Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Lk 14:11; 18:14).

[...] If we wish to reach the greatest height of humility, and speedily to arrive at that heavenly exaltation to which ascent is made in the present life by humility, then, mounting by our actions, we must erect the ladder which appeared to Jacob in his dream, by means of which angels were shown to him ascending and descending (cf Gen 28:12).

Without a doubt, we understand this ascending and descending to be nothing else but that we descend by pride and ascend by humility.

The erected ladder, however, is our life in the present world, which, if the heart is humble, is by the Lord lifted up to heaven.

For we say that our body and our soul are the two sides of this ladder; and into these sides the divine calling hath inserted various degrees of humility or discipline which we must mount.

The first degree of humility, then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes (cf Ps 35[36]:2), shunning all forgetfulness.

[...]  And whilst he guardeth himself evermore against sin and vices of thought, word, deed, and self-will, let him also hasten to cut off the desires of the flesh.

Let a man consider that God always seeth him from Heaven, that the eye of God beholdeth his works everywhere, and that the angels report them to Him every hour.

The Prophet telleth us this when he showeth God thus ever present in our thoughts, saying: “The searcher of hearts and reins is God” (Ps 7:10). And again: “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men” (Ps 93[94]:11).

And he saith: “Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off” (Ps 138[139]:3). And: “The thoughts of man shall give praise to Thee” (Ps 75[76]:11).

Therefore, in order that he may always be on his guard against evil thoughts, let the humble brother always say in his heart: “Then I shall be spotless before Him, if I shall keep myself from iniquity” (Ps 17[18]:24).

We are thus forbidden to do our own will, since the Scripture saith to us: “And turn away from thy evil will” (Sir 18:30). And thus, too, we ask God in prayer that His will may be done in us (cf Mt 6:10).

[...] As regards desires of the flesh, let us believe that God is thus ever present to us, since the Prophet saith to the Lord: “Before Thee is all my desire” (Ps 37[38]:10).

We must, therefore, guard thus against evil desires, because death hath his station near the entrance of pleasure.

St Benedict of Nursia (480-547): Rule of St Benedict, 7.

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John Chrysostom: “The Lord has Done Great Things for Us” Sunday, Jun 17 2012

When the Lord returned the captives to Zion, we were like people who are comforted.

If it was a comfort for them to be released from a barbaric nation, how much more should we not be glad and leap for joy at being set free from sin, and preserve that joy always, never destroying or disturbing it by falling again into the same faults?

Then our mouths were filled with joy and our tongues with gladness. Then they will say among the nations: the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us.

To rejoice at deliverance from captivity helps not a little to inspire people with nobler sentiments. But who, you may ask, would not rejoice at this? The ancestors of these people did not.

When they were released from Egypt and set free from slavery, they were so un­grateful that in the midst of all their benefits they did nothing but grumble, and were angry and embittered and perpetually dis­traught.

But we are not like that, says the psalmist; we leap for joy.

Let us learn the reason for their joy. We do not only rejoice, they say, because of our deliverance from terrible suffering, but because it will make the whole world know God’s care for us.

For as the psalmist says: Then they will say among the nations: The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us.

There is no repetition here; the words are meant to describe their joy. The first saying is that of the nations, the second is their own.

Notice this too: they did not say ‘He saved us’, or ‘He delivered us’, but ‘He did great things for us’, for they wanted to show the incredible event in all its wonder.

Can you not see that this people gave a lesson to the whole world when they were carried off into captivity as well as when they returned? For their return preached its own message.

News of them went round everywhere and made God’s love for humankind known to everyone, because the wonderful things he had done for them were truly great and incredible.

Cyrus himself, who had them in his power, set them free without anyone asking him because God made him relent.

John Chrysostom (c.347-407): Homilies on Psalm 125,1; from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Sunday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2.

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Ambrose of Milan: Store in Your Mind the Water that is Christ, the Water that Praises the Lord Wednesday, Dec 7 2011

[In the words of the Psalm], The rivers have lifted up their voice.

These are the rivers flowing from the heart of the man who is given drink by Christ and who receives from the Spirit of God.

When these rivers overflow with the grace of the Spirit, they lift up their voice.

There is also a stream which flows down on God’s saints like a torrent.

There is also a rushing river giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace.

Whoever has received from the fullness of this river, like John the Evangelist, like Peter and Paul, lifts up his voice.

Just as the apostles lifted up their voices and preached the Gospel throughout the world, so those who drink these waters begin to preach the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Drink, then, from Christ, so that your voice may also be heard.

Store up in your mind the water that is Christ, the water that praises the Lord.

Store up water from many sources, the water that rains down from the clouds of prophecy.

Whoever gathers water from the mountains and leads it to himself or draws it from springs, is himself a source of dew like the clouds.

Fill your soul, then, with this water, so that your land may not be dry, but watered by your own springs.

He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others.

So Scripture says: If the clouds are full, they will pour rain upon the earth.

Therefore, let your words be rivers, clean and limpid, so that in your exhortations you may charm the ears of your people. And by the grace of your words win them over to follow your leadership.

Let your sermons be full of understanding. Solomon says: The weapons of the understanding are the lips of the wise; and in another place he says: Let your lips be bound with wisdom. That is, let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze out.

See that your addresses and expositions do not need to invoke the authority of others, but let your words be their own defence.

Let no word escape your lips in vain or be uttered without depth of meaning.

Ambrose of Milan (c. 337-397): Letter 2, 1-2. 4-5.7:  from Office of Readings for the Memoria of St Ambrose, December 7^th, @ Crossroads Initiative.

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Augustine of Hippo: Let Us Sing Alleluia Here on Earth While We Are Anxious and Worrying Saturday, Nov 26 2011

Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we are still anxious and worrying, so that we may one day be able to sing it there in heaven, without any worry or care.

Why anxious and worrying here? You must want me to be anxious, Lord, when I read, Is not man’s life on earth a trial and a temptation?

[...] In this time that is still evil, let us sing alleluia to the good God, who does deliver us from evil.

Even here, among the dangers, among the trials and temptations of this life, both by others and by ourselves let alleluia be sung.

God is faithful, he says, and he will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure. So even here let us sing alleluia.

Man is still a defendant on trial, but God is faithful. He did not say “he will not permit you to be tempted” but he will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able to endure; and with the temptation he will also make a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.

You have entered into temptation; but God will also make a way out so that you do not perish in the temptation; so that like a potter’s jar you may be shaped by the preaching and fired into strength by the tribulation.

But when you enter the temptation, bear in mind the way out: because God is faithful, God will watch over you and guard your going in and your coming out.

Furthermore, when this body has become immortal and imperishable, when all temptation has been done away with; because the body is dead – why is it dead? – Because of sin. But the spirit is life, because of justice.

So do we leave the body dead, then? No, but listen: But if the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells within you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies.

So you see: now the body receives its life from the soul, but then it will receive it from the Spirit.

O! what a happy alleluia there, how carefree, how safe from all opposition, where nobody will be an enemy, where no-one will ever cease to be a friend!

God’s praises sung there, sung here – here, by the anxious; there, by the carefree – here, by those who will die; there, by those who will live for ever – here, in hope; there, in reality – here, on our journey; there, in our homeland.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430): Sermon 256, I.2.3), .1-3, taken from the Office of Readings for Saturday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time @ Crossroads Initiative.

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