John of Kronstadt: Praying with the Heart

Some good advice on Prayer from Saint John of Kronstadt.


When praying, we must absolutely subject ourselves to our will, and turn it towards God. It must be neither cold, crafty, untruthful, nor double-minded, otherwise what will be the use of our prayers, of our preparation for the Sacrament?


It is good for us to hear God’s voice of anger: “This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).


So do not let us stand in church in a state of spiritual prostration, but let the spirit of each one of us on such occasions burn in its working towards God.


Even men do not much value the services which we render to them coldly, out of habit. And God requires our hearts: “My son, give Me your heart” (Proverbs 23:26).


Because the heart is the principal part of the man – his life. More than this, the heart is the man himself.


Thus he who does not pray or does not serve God with his heart, does not pray at all, because in that case his body only prays, and the body without the mind is nothing more than earth.


Remember, that when standing in prayer, you stand before God Himself, who has the wisdom of all. Therefore, your prayer ought to be, so to say, all spirit, all understanding.

John of Kronstadt (1829-1908; Russian Orthodox): My Life in Christ

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His Mercy Reigns!

The Incarnation was an act of total love by our Creator, Saint John of Kronstadt tells us.

He says,

It was by reason of a supreme, inexpressible mercy toward His creation on the part of the Master, Who could not bear to see the entire race of mankind – which, He, in creating, had endowed with wondrous gifts – enslaved by the devil and thus destined for eternal suffering and torment.

And what was the purpose of this incredible event?  To lift all of mankind to become heavenly beings--to make sinners into saints.

And the Word became flesh!...in order to make us earthly beings into heavenly ones, in order to make sinners into saints; in order to raise us up from corruption into incorruption, from earth to heaven; from enslavement to sin and the devil – into the glorious freedom of children of God; from death – into immortality, in order to make us sons of God and to seat us together with Him upon the Throne as His royal children. O, boundless compassion of God! O, inexpressible wisdom of God! O, great wonder, astounding not only the human mind, but the angelic [mind] as well!

With this most merciful act of God we must do our part.  Saint John emphasizes how we must demonstrate our faith by choosing to live the way of life that He showed to us. 

What, then, O, brethren, is required of us in order that we might avail ourselves of all the grace brought unto us from on high by the coming to earth of the Son of God? What is necessary, first of all, is faith in the Son of God, in the Gospel as the salvation- bestowing heavenly teaching; a true repentance of sins and the correction of life and ofheart; communion in prayer and in the mysteries [sacraments]; the knowledge and fulfillment of Christʼs commandments. Also necessary are the virtues: Christian humility, alms-giving, continence, purity and chastity, simplicity and goodness of heart. Let us, then, O brothers and sisters, bring these virtues as a gift to the One Who was born for the sake of our salvation – let us bring them in place of the gold, frankincense and myrrh which the Magi brought Him, as to One Who is King, God, and Man, come to die for us. This, from us, shall be the most-pleasing form of sacrifice to God and to the Infant Jesus Christ.

What gift can you bring to celebrate this most joyous event of the Nativity?

Reference:  THE WORD BECAME FLESH, A Sermon by St John of Kronstadt on the Nativity of Christ

Pray Fervently, not Hurridly

“When praying, keep to the rule that it is better to say five words from the depth of your heart that ten thousand words with your tongue only.

When you observe that your heart is cold and prays unwillingly, stop praying and warm your heart by vividly representing to yourself either your own wickedness, your spiritual poverty, misery, and blindness, or the great benefits which God bestows every moment upon you and all mankind, especially upon Christians, and then pray slowly and fervently.

If you have not the time to say all the prayers, it does not matter, and you will receive incomparably greater benefit from praying fervently and not hurriedly than if you had said all your prayers hurriedly and without feeling: ‘I had rather speak five words with my understanding that ten thousand in an unknown tongue.’

But it would, of course, have been very well had we been able to say those ten thousand words in prayer with due understanding and feeling.”

~St John of Kronstadt