What is unceasing prayer?

Prayer without ceasing is achieved through the practice of being in the presence of God. St. Basil says that a monk, by his unceasing prayer and meditation, would be able “to imitate on earth the choirs of angels.”²⁷⁶ He also says, “If he is resolved that he stands before the eyes of God, for if someone who sees his judge or ruler and converses with him does not allow his eye the liberty to roam about or look away elsewhere while he is engaged in speaking, how much more ought someone who approaches God never divert the eyes of his heart but remain intent on him who searches hearts and inward parts (Ps. 7:9), so that he fulfils what is written: Lifting up holy hands without anger and argument (1 Tim. 2:8).”²⁷⁷

“What do I say then? I say that we must not think that our prayer consists only of syllables. The strength of prayer lies rather in the purpose of our soul and in deeds of virtue reaching every part and moment of our life. ‘Whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. When you sustain your bodily weakness with wine, remember Him who supplies you with this gift, to make your heart glad and to comfort your infirmity. Has your need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of your Benefactor pass away too. When you dress, thank the Giver of it. As you wrap your cloak around yourself, feel yet greater love to God, who alike in summer and winter has given us clothing convenient for us, both to cover what is unseemly and to preserve our life. Is the day over? Give thanks to Him who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let the night give the other occasions of prayer.

“When you look up to heaven and gaze at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Arch-artificer of the universe, who in wisdom has made them

275 St. Aphraphat, Aphrahat: Demonstrations I , trans., Kuriakose Valavanolickal (Kottayam, India: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, 2005) 4.1: pp. 76–77.

276 St. Basil of Caesarea, Letters 1–185 2 (FOTC 13:7).

277 St. Basil of Caesarea, The Rule of St. Basil in Latin and English: A Revised Critical Edition , trans., Anna M. Silvas (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2013) Q. 108: p. 197.

all. When you see all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him who gives us even against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the vigor of our strength. Let not night herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not half your life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. Yes, let your slumbers be themselves experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct and pursuits, so will inevitable be our dreams. Thus will thought pray without ceasing; if thought prays not only in words, but unites itself to God through all the course of life and so your life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”²⁷⁸

St. Augustine says, “For not without a meaning did the Apostle say, ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17). Are we to be without ceasing bending the knee, prostrating the body, or lifting up our hands, that he says, ‘Pray without ceasing?’ Or if it is in this sense that we say that we pray, this, I believe, we cannot do without ceasing. There is another inward kind of prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart. Whatever else you are doing, if you do but long for that Sabbath, you do not cease to pray. If you would never cease to pray, never cease to long after it. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.”²⁷⁹

St. Ambrose says, “As the day is over and the sun sets, we remember all Your love and gifts. We pray to you, Creator of the whole world, to protect our sleep in the high places. May our dreams and imaginations disappear, and our night stays holy under Your eyes despite the envy of our enemy.” He also says: “For the prayer of the holy man pierces the clouds (cf. Sir. 35:17 (21)); but the earth, opening its mouth, hides the prayer of the sinner in the blood of the flesh, just as was said by God to the murderer Cain. ‘You are cursed from the earth which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand, when you will till the earth’ (Gen. 4:11).”²⁸⁰

St. Jerome says, “The Hebrews were required to appear before the Lord (Ex. 23:17) three times a year. What justice was that? What was there so extraordinary in appearing before God three time a year? In Exodus, the Sacred Scripture was speaking to little ones; here, however, the prophet is urging those who believe in God to seek Him always, as the New Testament bids us that we pray (1 Thess. 5:17) without ceasing.”²⁸¹

“When we leave the shelter that keeps us safe (our homes), let us make prayer our weapon. And when we come back home, let us pray before we sit down. We should not give the toiled body rest before the soul is nourished.”

278 St. Basil of Caesarea, Homily on the Martyr Julitta (NPNF II/8:lxix) amended.

279 St. Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Book of Psalms 38.13 (NPNF I/8:107) amended.

280 St. Ambrose of Milan, The Prayer of Job and David 1.8.27 (FOTC 65:347).

281 St. Jerome, The Homilies of Saint Jerome, Volume 1 (1–59 on the Psalms) 31 (FOTC 48:231).

“We should not start eating before praying first and before we leave the table, we should give thanks to our Creator.”

Theophan the Recluse says, “‘Pray without ceasing,’ St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians. And in other epistles, he commands: ‘Praying always with all supplication in the spirit’ (Eph. 6:18), ‘continue in prayer and watch in the same’ (Col. 4:2), ‘continuing steadfastly in prayer’ (Rom. 12:12). Also the Savior Himself teaches the need for constancy and persistency in prayer, in the parable about the about the importunate widow, who won over the unrighteous judge by the persistency of her appeals (Luke 18:1–8). It is clear from this that unceasing prayer is not an accidental prescription, but the essential characteristic of the Christian spirit. The life of a Christian, according to the Apostle, ‘is hid with Christ in God’ (Col. 3:3). So the Christian must live in God continuously, with attention and feeling: to do this is to pray without ceasing. We are also taught that every Christian is ‘the temple of God,’ in which ’the Spirit of God dwells’ (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19; Rom. 8:9). It is this ‘Spirit,’ always present and pleading in him, that prays within him ‘with groanings that cannot be uttered’ (Rom. 8:26), and so teaches him how to pray without ceasing.”²⁸²

Evagrius Ponticus says of prayer without ceasing: “We have not been commanded to work, to keep vigil, and to fast at all times, but the law of unceasing prayer (1 Thess. 5:17) has been handed down to us. In fact, those things which heal the passionate part of the soul require also the body to put them into practice, and the latter because of its weakness is not sufficient for these labours. Prayer, on the other hand, invigorates and purifies the mind for the struggle, since it is naturally constituted for prayer, even without this body, and for fighting the demons on behalf of all the powers of the soul.”²⁸³

“Pray without ceasing (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17), and remember Christ who begot you.”²⁸⁴

“If you, being in the flesh, have a desire to serve God like the spiritual beings (the angels), then strive to have unceasing prayer hidden in your heart. In so doing, you will begin to resemble the angels, even before you die.”

“With every breath you take, remember the name of Jesus exultantly, while remembering death with humility. These two exercises guarantee progress towards greatness of soul.”

“Just as the body, when the soul leaves it, becomes dead and putrid; so also the soul that is without fervent prayer is dead and putrid. Lack of prayer is to the soul a greater evil than

282 Theophan the Recluse, quoted in Chariton of Valamo (Igumen), The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology , trans., E. Kadloubovsky and E.M. Palmer, ed., Timothy Ware (Faber & Faber, 1966): pp. 81– 82.

283 St. Evagrius of Pontus, “The Monk: A Treatise on the Practical Life” in Evagrius of Pontus: The Greek Ascetic Corpus (Oxford Early Christian Studies) , trans., Robert E. Sinkewicz., ed. Gillian Clark and Andrew Louth (Oxford University Press, 2003) 49: p. 106.

284 St. Evagrius of Pontus, “Exhortation to a Virgin” in Evagrius of Pontus: The Greek Ascetic Corpus (Oxford Early Christian Studies) , trans., Robert E. Sinkewicz., ed. Gillian Clark and Andrew Louth (Oxford University Press, 2003) 5: p. 131.

death. Daniel the prophet illustrates this when he is ready to die rather than be forbidden from praying at any time. A person should remember God more often than he breathes in the air.”