What is prayer of the mind?

St. Basil the Great says, “It is necessary, in fact, to achieve complete tranquility from outside confusions, and bringing about an entire silence in the hidden recesses of the heart, thus to devote oneself to the contemplation of the truth. Do you hear what he says when he confesses his sin? ‘My eye is troubled through indignation’ (Ps. 6:7). Yet, not only

267 Tertullian, On Prayer 13 (ANF 3:685).

268 Cf. Tertullian, On Prayer 13 (ANF 3:685).

269 Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of John (Books 13–32) 28.36–37 (FOTC 89:299).

270 Origen, On Prayer 16:3 (ACW 19:61–62).

271 Chariton of Valamo (Igumen), The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology , trans., E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer, ed., Timothy Ware (Faber & Faber, 1966): p. 83.

indignation, but also concupiscence and cowardice and envy trouble the eye of the soul; and, on the whole, all the passions are confounding and disturbing to the clear-sightedness of the soul. As it is not possible for a disturbed eye to apprehend accurately visible objects, so neither is it possible for a disturbed heart to devote itself to a consideration of the truth. It is necessary, then, to withdraw from the affairs of the world and, neither through the eyes nor the ears nor through any other means of perception, to introduce alien thoughts into the soul.”²⁷²

St. Jacob of Sarug says, “A pure prayer finds its way to God, since it speaks to Him, listens to Him, and trusts in Him.”