THE PRAYER OF THE HEART

[GoodGuyMatt 7066]

 

THE PRAYER OF THE HEART

DAS GEBET DES HERZENS

 

Scribed by

Hieromonk Osvald of Gelimar

in the year of our Lord

1953

 

With the Blessing of

Brandt Cardinal Albarosa

Icon of Saint Lucien

BRÜDER UND SCHWESTERN IN GOTT,

 

Saint Lucien’s Prayer, a simple prayer, yet such a treasure of spiritual gems which most unfortunately is not known and practiced by as many of the faithful as it should be.

 

“O Lord God, maker of all, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

 

These are the entirety of the prayer’s words, though these are said over and over again. Fr. Griffith of Gwynon has written concisely on the origin of the prayer and its nature in His writing “On Saint Lucien’s Prayer”, I recommend that this is read first if you know not of the prayer.

 

Saint Lucien - may we have His blessings - intended for the prayer to be said at all times during the day “O Lord God, maker of all, have mercy on me a sinner…” and so on. Most of the written accounts of our church speak of the prayer as a constant form of worship, unceasing, and, while this is most correct, few write and speak on how to achieve this unceasing prayer, and the spiritual fruits of absurd magnitude that it brings.

 

The Prayer as Spiritual Treasure

 

First, I want to explain why this prayer is of such importance, and ought to be practiced by all, not only monastics such as myself. Let us dissect the prayer. The first part “O Lord God”, this is a direct call to our Lord and heavenly Father. By saying these words, we invoke His name, and recognize Him as our Lord.

 

Make no mistake, my brothers and sisters, prayer is not a repetition of words, it is not a form of saying what we should say. No! Let us remember that prayer is direct communication with God. When we pray, we open our hearts to God, and we try to communicate with Him Not with mortal words, but with the words of our spirit, which is known to God, its creator. 

 

We see this form of calling to God in many prayers, but it is especially important here, as the prayer is said over and over during the course of the day. It is a direct call to God, with whom we are trying to communicate, by calling His name in our mind, lips, tongue, and heart, we call Him forth into our soul. We see the God whose name we call in all things, we enter into a Godly communion with Him, and we can feel His presence. Thus, everything becomes Godly to us, for we are filled with His authority and love.

 

Secondly, we call Him “Maker of all”, we recognize that all our earthly and spiritual eyes can see are His. Not ours, His! And His to are we, who try to communicate with him. This is also a direct reaffirmation of our beliefs as Canonists, we recognize God as the one and only maker of all. Not only is He a Maker of all, but everything is in His possession, and we must recognize this within our hearts.

 

Finally, we say “have mercy on me, a sinner”. With this line, we acknowledge our filth! Our human, bodily nature, with which comes desire, wickedness, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, and all sins that we commit every day of our earthly life, knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly. Thus, with these words, we recognize that we are not worthy of anything other than to seek mercy from God, our Lord. When spoken with sincerity, these words bring forth great humility, which is pleasurable to God, for He said: “You shall be without pretense or conceit, for before the mountain, the ant and the aurochs are equally small.” (Virtue, 7:7)

 

Depiction of a monk saying the Noetic Prayer with his Prayer Rope

 

How to Say the Prayer, and the Spiritual Fruits Itt Brings.

 

It is important not only to understand this when we say the Prayer, but to mean them with all our soul, and heart. Our mouth or mind may speak these words, but it is the heart and spirit that God hears. Thus, many monastics who practice the prayer call it “The Prayer of the Heart”, or “The Noetic Prayer”, because it is said with the entirety of one’s consciousness, and it must come from the heart, the intellect of a person, their very being. This state is not easily achieved, however. Unless already a Saint who lives with God, and with whom God lives, it is nearly impossible to say the prayer correctly, as it should be said.

 

One starts by saying the prayer out loud, whenever they can. When they are alone, when they are walking alone, during travel, as they work, and so on. Fr. Griffith’s writing explains how this rhythmic prayer can be achieved in His writing. This, however, is but the first stage of the prayer, as we shall call it. This, followed by a virtuous, Canonist life, must be aimed to be done every day, whenever one can. At first, it may feel like the words are empty, but it is paramount that the prayer is continued. Many monks use prayer combs, not only to more easily count their Prayers, but also as a fleshly reminder to continue praying in itself.

 

At some point, after months, or even years of such, the prayer will have become embedded into the individual’s brain, and one will find themselves not having to pray out loud, or even have to mouth the words, they can do this in their mind, and it comes naturally. This is because the faithful have familiarized themselves with the prayer, and with communicating with God. They has learned to mean the words of the prayer, which in turn brings great humility, and allows for the understanding that we are nothing, and He is everything, thus, when we plead to him, it is our heart pleading, our very own intellect. It asks for mercy, as it blows itself before its Creator. And its Creator is pleased by this, and He in turn reaches a hand towards us, letting us feel His Presence, for which we yearn with each prayer we utter. This is the second stage of the prayer.

 

Lastly, is the third stage. How many achieve this, I cannot say, for it is the highest form of communion with God. Such a level would take decades to achieve, and a pious life to go alongside it. At this stage, the prayer has elevated the person to God. That is, God, pleased by the desire of His Creature to be in communion with Him, and seeing His creature follow the virtues He laid before it, brings it to Himself, and the faithful enters a state of divine ecstasy. The feelings that come with this spiritual state are impossible to describe, for only those who have experienced it know it, but as such, it feels like we are already within the Seven Skies, praising God with all our hearts, and mind. This is one of the treasures of monasticism, why one denies the world to focus on God.

 

But I say to you, my brothers and sisters, that this is not only a gift of our Creator to monks. No, it is for all His creatures who wish to commune with him, to feel His presence in their every day, and to carry out His will. Thus, I advise you so, start with a prayer rope, and whenever you can, start by mouthing the words, if you cannot speak them aloud. Say them over and over again, and do so with faith and pious works, and if your heart is pure and humble, God will reach down to it to elevate it.

 

Faith is not just theology and intellectual arguments, my brothers and sisters. It is an EXPERIENCE, for the theolog is not such if he has not felt the presence of God in His heart. Let your words not be empty, and your faith not hypothetical, but real, actual, and let your heart be humbled by it.

 

O Lord God, Maker of all, have mercy on us sinners.

 

GOTT MIT UNS

Osvald the Sinner

 

OOC:

The inspiration from the post came from the following recordings of Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra for anyone interested at looking more into it.

 

[thesmellypocket 1841]

"There are two things I fear" says a Churl, "One is theology without devotion, the other is devotion without theology. Let the theologian always seek piety, and the pious man rigour in the Creeds of true faith."

Edited December 4, 2023 by thesmellypocket

[satinkira 5929]

"Leave it to GOD." Serwa repeated the words again and again, and - despite the truth in the speech of good Osvald - the elf could not help but worry. She gripped the Lorraine tight, wondered at the promise of a long dead woman. 

Confusion was ever the herald of insight. She would find and speak to Osvald again, even if she was blind.. no, because she was blind. She would not falter in her faith in GOD.

 

[GoodGuyMatt 7066]

4 minutes ago, satinkira said:

"Leave it to GOD." Serwa repeated the words again and again, and - despite the truth in the speech of good Osvald - the elf could not help but worry. She gripped the Lorraine tight, wondered at the promise of a long dead woman. 

Confusion was ever the herald of insight. She would find and speak to Osvald again, even if she was blind.. no, because she was blind. She would not falter in her faith in GOD.

 

 

Within his humble monastic cell in Minitz, the monk would pray through the night for the blind, elven lass he had met earlier that day.