Honorable in Christ ...
I received your letter, and you
write to me that the Jesus Prayer is becoming habitual for you. At one time I,
[while practicing prayer,] became very frightened: in my heart there arose a
warmth, but not of the blood, rather some kind of special warmth. And I cannot
explain it; this warmth spread throughout my whole body, and tears began to
flow simply in streams; at that time all people became so kind, and I felt as
though I would throw myself at everyone’s feet. Then I became completely weak,
I could not stand, and I lay down on the bed; such a state continued for
several hours. Still, I would get up and walk, but the tears and the warmth in
the heart continued the whole day.
Do not be frightened and do not
think highly of yourself; do not tell others, for they will not understand, and
will think that you are in prelest. Bishop Ignaty (Brianchaninov) called
this state of yours the Heavenly Guest. Strive to attend to yourself, for
attentiveness is the soul of prayer. Do not condemn anyone for anything, have
no enmity, neither cunning nor vainglory, and above all no exaltation of
yourself, otherwise this Heavenly Guest will not visit you.
You also write that the prayer is
sometimes interrupted. It cannot be otherwise, for God alone is unchanging, and
the angels always glorify the Lord. The venerable Macarius the Great said from
his own spiritual experience that “change happens with everyone, just as with the
wind.” And the venerable Mark testifies to the same in his writings. And the
venerable Isaac the Syrian speaks of this in detail and at length in the
forty-sixth homily and in other places in his writings.
It was not without reason that
the holy fathers said that changes happen to everyone; with them this proceeded
from their own experience.
Still, do not lose heart, but
continue to labor in prayer, for without prayer life will be full of many
sighs. And the Lord showed us an example, that we should not lose heart (Luke
18:2).
If anything else happens, write
to me.
April 2, 1956
New Valaam
Russian
source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Valaamskij/pisma_valaamskogo_starca/
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