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A ttentiveness is the heart's stillness, unbroken by any thought. In this stillness the heart breathes and invokes, endlessly and without ceasing, only Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and Himself God. It confesses Him who alone has power to forgive our sins, and with His aid it courageously faces its enemies…

quote 3397 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 163, text 5)

T he soul's true peace lies in the gentle name of Jesus and in its emptying itself of impassioned thoughts.

quote 3396 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 183, text 122)

T he name of Jesus should be repeated over and over in the heart as flashes of lightning are repeated over and over in the sky before rain…

quote 3395 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 180, text 105)

F or the complete fulfilment of its purpose we should give it nothing but the prayer "Lord Jesus". No one, it is written, can say 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). Let the intellect continually concentrate on these words within its inner shrine with such intensity that it is not turned aside to any mental images. Those who meditate unceasingly upon this glorious and holy name in the depths of their hearts can sometimes see the light of their own intellect. For when the mind is closely concentrated upon this name, then we grow fully conscious that the name is burning up all the filth which covers the surface of the soul; for it is written: Our God is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24). Then the Lord awakens in the soul a great love for His glory; for when the intellect with fervour of heart maintains persistently its remembrance of the precious name, then that name implants in us a constant love for its goodness, since there is nothing now that stands in the way. This is the pearl of great price which a man can acquire by selling all that he has, and so experience the inexpressible joy of making it his own (cf. Matt. 13:45-46).

quote 3394 | Diadochos of Photiki
On Spiritual Knowledge: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", pp. 370-371, text 59)

W e should know, moreover, that a person energized by God to such love rises, at that moment, even above faith, since by reason of his great love he now senses consciously in his heart the One whom he previously honoured by faith…

quote 3393 | Diadochos of Photiki
On Spiritual Knowledge: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", text 91, p. 290)

S teadfast faith is a strong tower; and for one who has faith Christ comes to be all.

quote 3392 | Saint Mark the Ascetic
On the Spiritual Law: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", text 4, p. 110)

F asts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and everything worldly are not in themselves perfection, as we have said; they are its tools. For perfection is not to be found in them; it is acquired through them. It is useless, therefore, to boast of our fasting, vigils, poverty, and reading of Scripture when we have not achieved the love of God and our fellow men. Whoever has achieved love has God within himself and his intellect is always with God.

quote 3391 | The Philokalia
St. John Cassian quoting Abba Moses in On the Holy Fathers of Sketis: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 96)

W hen the intellect forgets the purpose of true devotion, then external works of virtue bring no profit.

quote 3390 | Saint Mark the Ascetic
No Righteousness by Works: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", text 51, p. 129)

T here is no gainsaying what the fathers have so well affirmed, that a man does not find rest except by acquiring inwardly the thought that God and he alone exist; and so he does not let his intellect wander at all towards anything whatsoever, but longs only for Him, cleaving to Him alone. Such a man will find true rest and freedom from the tyranny of the passions. My soul, as David says, is bound to Thee; Thy right hand has upheld me (Ps. 63:8. LXX).

quote 3389 | The Philokalia
St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic in A Century of Spiritual Texts: ("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. ?)

A man who merely practises the remembrance of God from time to time, loses through lack of continuity what he hopes to gain through his prayer. It is a mark of one who truly loves holiness that he continually burns up what is worldly in his heart through practising the remembrance of God, so that little by little evil is consumed in the fire of this remembrance and his soul completely recovers its natural brilliance with still greater glory.

quote 3388 | Diadochos of Photiki
On Spiritual Knowledge: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 294, text 97)

W hen you are praying, do not shape within yourself any image of the Deity, and do not let your intellect be stamped with the impress of any form; but approach the Immaterial in an immaterial manner, and then you will understand.

quote 3387 | Saint Evagrios the Solitary
On Prayer: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 63, text 67)

H e who wishes to be spared all misfortunes should associate God with everything through prayer; with his intellect he should set his hope in Him, putting aside, so far as possible, all concern about things of the senses.

quote 3386 | Saint Mark the Ascetic
On the Spiritual Law: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 140, text 172)

T hink nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God…

quote 3385 | Saint Mark the Ascetic
On the Spiritual Law: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 114, text 54)

Y ou cannot attain pure prayer while entangled in material things and agitated by constant cares. For prayer means the shedding of thoughts.

quote 3384 | Saint Evagrios the Solitary
On Prayer: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", pp. 62-63, text 71)

S tand on guard and protect your intellect from thoughts while you pray. Then your intellect will complete its prayer and continue in the tranquility that is natural to it. In this way He who has compassion on the ignorant will come to you, and you will receive the blessed gift of prayer.

quote 3383 | Saint Evagrios the Solitary
On Prayer: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 63, text 70)

W hen your intellect in its great longing for God gradually withdraws from the flesh and turns away from all thoughts that have their source in your sense-perception, memory or soul-body temperament, and when it becomes full of reverence and joy, then you may conclude that you are close to the frontiers of prayer.

quote 3382 | Saint Evagrios the Solitary
On Prayer: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", pp. 62-63, text 62)

T he 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.

quote 3381 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 185, text 131)

T o human beings it seems hard and difficult to still the mind so that it rests from all thoughts. Indeed, to enclose what is bodiless within the limits of the body does demand toil and struggle, not only from the uninitiated but also from those experienced in inner immaterial warfare. But he who through unceasing prayer holds the Lord Jesus within his breast will not tire in following Him, as the Prophet says (cf. Jer. 17:16.LXX). Because of Jesus' beauty and sweetness he will not desire what is merely mortal…

quote 3380 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 188, text 148)

B ecause every thought enters the heart in the form of a mental image of some sensible object, the blessed light of the Divinity will illumine the heart only when the heart is completely empty of everything and so free from all form. Indeed, this light reveals itself to the pure intellect in the measure to which the intellect is purged of all concepts.

quote 3379 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 177, text 89)

W e should strive to preserve the precious gifts which preserve us from all evil… These gifts are the guarding of the intellect with the invocation of Jesus Christ, continuous insight into the heart's depths, stillness of mind unbroken even by thoughts which appear to be good, and the capacity to be empty of all thought.

quote 3378 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 180, text 103)

W hen there are no fantasies or mental images in the heart, the intellect is established in its true nature, ready to contemplate whatever is full of delight, spiritual and close to God.

quote 3377 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 178, text 93)

F or the good is not good if it is not rightly done. It is really good only if it is not done with the purpose of receiving some reward: as, for instance, the search for popularity or glory may be rewarded by fame, or by excessive gain, or by something else that is wrong. God is not interested in what happens to turn out to be good or in what appears to be good. He is interested in the purpose for which a thing is done.

quote 3376 | The Philokalia
St. John of Damaskos in On the Virtues and Vices: ("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", pp. 339-340)

H e who does something good and expects a reward is serving not God but his own will.

quote 3375 | Saint Mark the Ascetic
No Righteousness by Works: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 130, text 57)

F or desire is drawn towards three things: the pleasure of the flesh, vain self-glory, and the acquisition of material wealth. As a result of this senseless appetite it scorns God and His commandments, and forgets His generosity; it turns like a savage beast against its neighbour; it plunges the intelligence into darkness and prevents it from looking towards the truth. He who has acquired a spiritual understanding of this truth will share, even here on earth, in the kingdom of heaven and will live a blessed life in expectation of the blessedness that awaits those who love God.

quote 3374 | The Philokalia
St. John of Damaskos in On the Virtues and the Vices: ("The Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 339)

A s Antony, the great servant of God, said, "Holiness is achieved when the intellect is in its natural state." And again he said: "The soul realizes its integrity when its intellect is in that state in which it was created." And shortly after this he adds: "Let us purify our mind, for I believe that when the mind is completely pure and is in its natural state, it gains penetrating insight…" So spoke the renowned Antony, according to the Life of Antony by Athanasios the Great.

quote 3373 | Saint Hesychios the Priest
On Watchfulness and Holiness: ("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 194, text 179)

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