Constant Prayer

 

A monk from the Benedictine Waegwan Abbey in Korea gives the readers of the Catholic Times some ideas about what the Desert Fathers said about constant prayer: trying to live in God's mind and dwelling in it.

The Desert Fathers do not speak much about prayer. However, prayer was their very life, oriented toward God. One monk said, “When I was young and living alone, I did not limit myself to prayer. For me, the night was as much a time for prayer as the day”. Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, says, “A true monk must have prayer and the recitation of the psalms in his heart.” 

Evagrius also says, “We are not commanded to work, to pray all night, and to fast constantly. Instead, we have the law: ‘Pray without ceasing’”. The Desert Fathers tried to live in unity with God through constant prayer. Nothing else mattered to them. We will examine their intense efforts to practice constant prayer and their teachings. 

Jesus commanded his disciples to “be always awake and pray” (Luke 21:36). The Apostles, especially the Apostle Paul, followed this command and exhorted the faithful to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This exhortation of Jesus and the Apostles to “pray always” has remained the constant ideal for all Christians from the early centuries to our own day. The ancient Christians made their own efforts to realize this exhortation.

Some even went to extremes. Representative examples are the two groups of ascetic groups in Mesopotamia in the 4th century, the “euchites” (those who pray) and the “acemiti” (those who do not sleep). The former refused worldly work, especially manual labor, in order to pray without ceasing. The latter believed that the community could achieve ‘perpetual prayer’ (Laus perennis) by taking turns in prayer and by the liturgy of the hours, which was celebrated by different groups of monks, so that prayer would never be interrupted. This principle spread in the West under the names of ‘perpetual adoration of the Eucharist’ and ‘perpetual Rosary.’

The exhortation of Jesus and the Apostles to ‘pray always’ has remained a constant ideal for all Christians from the early centuries to the present. 

Taking St. Paul’s exhortation to heart, the early desert monks devoted themselves to realizing the ideal of perpetual prayer. They tried to maintain the memory of God not only through the constant recitation of the psalms, meditation, and prayer, but also during manual labor, meals, conversation with others, and rest. They considered this ‘remembrance of God’ to be the core of their spiritual life. The Desert Fathers always tried to increase the time devoted to prayer in order to live in the state of prayer (status orationis) according to Cassianus’ expression. Neither fatigue nor distraction could hinder their external act of prayer (actio orationis). They tried to maintain the memory of God and live conscious of His presence through continuous ‘acts of prayer’, and finally reached the ‘state of prayer’. Thus, their very existence and life became prayer.

The ‘memory of God’, which the Desert Fathers considered the core of their spiritual life, is a key concept, especially that of St. Basil. According to Basil, the primary method for remembering God is ‘recalling the Scriptures’. This is to keep the thoughts of God in the soul, in other words, to possess God within us. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the memory of God. To do this, we must pay attention to ourselves. This attention is the medicine of the soul, and the true medicine of the soul is God.  Concupiscence hinders the constant remembrance of God, and therefore, it is necessary to fight against it. 

“There is a wonderful prayer which clearly impresses the mind of God in the soul. It is the possession of God’s indwelling, God’s remembrance, which dwells in us. When the constant remembrance of God is not interrupted by worldly cares and the mind is not disturbed by passions, we become a temple of God. The friend of God avoids all these things, rejects the passions that tempt him to indulgence, and takes refuge in God, persevering in the way of conduct that leads to virtue.” 

The Desert Fathers invented a unique method to maintain the remembrance of God. They used short prayers that were repeated to avoid distraction. This short prayer was used not only in Egypt, but also in Sinai, Palestine, Syria, and throughout Christendom. The general characteristic of this prayer was its brevity and simplicity. This was the repetition of a passage from the Bible, especially from the Psalms, either aloud or in the mind. This practice helped to maintain a constant awareness of God's presence. The forms of 'remembrance' they used varied, but over time, some forms became preferred. 

In particular, they preferred the prayer of the publican in the Gospel:  “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Abba Lucius used “God, have mercy on me; save me from my sin, according to your great goodness and according to the abundance of your mercy” (Psalm 51:3). According to Cassianus, Abba Isaac recommended the constant recitation of “God, come to my rescue; Lord, come to my aid!” (Psalm 71:2). “Any monk who wishes to be constantly conscious of God should cultivate the habit of constantly repeating this formula in his mind, banishing all other thoughts” The prayers they preferred to use for the practice of reflection were ultimately the “prayer for mercy” and the “prayer for help” of God. The Desert Fathers tried to maintain God's memory and always live in God's presence by reflecting on God's Word. In this way, they tried to realize the ideal of constant prayer.