Old and historic Valamu monastic community

It is an ancient and historic Valamu monastic community on an island on Lake Ladoga on the border between Finland and Russia. The film's priest, who had the privilege of joining the group in the last century, became its leader during World War II, when Varam was still outside the borders of the Soviet Union. Living in the great monastery of Varamu, the priest must feel himself the heir to a rich and ancient tradition that goes back many centuries. When he first joined the community, the Varam monastery was still in its prime, with three or four hundred monks, four churches within the monastery walls, and many chapels: it was well-revered by the Russians The pilgrimage site has a living room large enough to receive 200 visitors at the same time. But it was not its outward glory that attracted friars like Chariton to the monastery: Chariton was interested in the spiritual traditions and inner prayers that Valamu Abbey represented, an invisible spiritual heritage.
Varamu Monastery has long been a famous missionary center: in the Middle Ages, its monks traveled around Karelia to preach the Gospel to pagan tribes. In 1794, nine selected from Varam The monks of Lamu Monastery went to Alaska and became the first Orthodox missionaries on the American continent.
The film begins with the prayer of Jesus. The usual form of the Jesus Prayer is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me." The word "Sinner" can be added after it, or the prayer can be in the plural form "Have mercy on us"; or other variations. Essential to all of these forms is the continual invocation of the divine name of Jesus Christ. In this film you will find that the priest recites the Jesus Prayer over and over again. In theory, the Jesus Prayer is just one of many possible ways to achieve inner prayer; in practice, it is so influential and popular within the Orthodox Church that it is almost equivalent to inner prayer.
Prayer is an act of striving, a "feat" or an "act of heroism"; in the words of Ignatius, prayer is a "secret martyrdom".
We usually divide our prayers into three stages - verbal, will, and heart, and this division is also applied to the Jesus Prayer:
1. In the beginning, the Jesus Prayer is an oral prayer, just like any other prayer: the prayer is recited aloud, or the prayer is silent but the lips are moved. At the same time, by conscious action of the will, one concentrates on the meaning of the prayer. At this initial stage, the attentive repetition of prayers is often difficult and laborious work, requiring humility and perseverance.
2. In the process of praying, the prayer becomes more and more internal, the mind repeats the prayer of Jesus, but the lips and tongues do not move. As prayer continues to internalize, concentration becomes easier and easier. Prayer gradually acquires its own rhythm, sometimes singing almost spontaneously within us, without us being aware of the action of our will. As Elder Parseni said, within ourselves there is "a stream of murmurs." All of these are signs that one is approaching the third stage.
3. Ultimately, prayer enters the heart and dominates the whole person. Its rhythm is more and more in line with the beating of the heart, until it eventually becomes a constant prayer. What initially required painful and laborious effort has now become an inexhaustible source of peace and joy.
In the initial stages of prayer, when a person is still deliberately trying to recite the Jesus Prayer, he usually sets aside a certain period of time each day--perhaps not more than a quarter of an hour or half an hour at the beginning, perhaps longer, Each one works according to the direction of his elder - during this time he does nothing but concentrates on reciting the Jesus Prayer. But those who have been gifted with the gift of continual prayer find that the prayer of Jesus continues uninterrupted within them, even as they go about their external affairs—in Deofan’s words: “Hands At work, the mind and the heart are with God." Even so, most people will naturally want to set aside as much time as possible to devote themselves to the prayer of Jesus.
Historically, the roots of the Jesus Prayer can be traced back to the New Testament and even earlier. The Jews of the Old Testament paid special homage to the Holy Name of God—the Holy Name of God composed of four Hebrew letters, which no one could pronounce aloud, according to later Jewish rabbinic tradition. God's name is seen as an extension of his person, a revelation of his being, an expression of his power. Christianity continues the same tradition, from the very beginning of paying homage to the name of the incarnated God, Jesus1. Here, three passages of the New Testament are particularly important:
1. Our Lord declared at the Last Supper: "Until now you have asked nothing in my name...whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you" (Jn 16:24, 23)
2. St. Peter solemnly affirmed to the Jews: After mentioning "the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth", he declared: "There is no salvation by anyone but Him, for there is no one under heaven and among men. Another name by which we should be saved." (Acts 4:10, 12)
3. St. Paul said something similar: "God greatly exalted him, and gave him a name above all others. the name of Jesus, so that when they heard the name of Jesus, all in heaven, on earth, and on earth, fell on their knees.” (Phil 2:9-10) From these biblical verses, it is easy to understand that, in history, development has formed the The practice of calling on the name of God in the Jesus Prayer.
In addition to the name of Jesus, another part of the Jesus Prayer has biblical basis. We should pay attention to two prayers recorded in the Gospel - the prayer of the blind man: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38) and the prayer of the tax collector: "God Have pity on me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:13) In Christian practice, the "Son of David" naturally becomes the "Son of God". In this way, the standard form of the Jesus prayer is formed - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." This prayer is taken entirely from the Bible.
But while the elements that make up the Jesus Prayer are clearly present in the New Testament, it was some time before they were finally brought together in a single prayer. Clearly, the early Christians worshipped the name of Jesus: whether or not they continually called on the name of Jesus, and if they did, we don't know in what form they called on the name of Jesus. The development of the Jesus Prayer as we know it today apparently arose in conjunction with the monastic movement in fourth-century Egypt. The ideal of constant prayer was widely known by the Fathers of the Wilderness, who insisted that monks must constantly practice what they call "hidden meditation" or "remembering God". To help them stay focused on the matter, they take some short prayers and repeat them over and over again: For example, "Lord, help me." "God, come and save me, Come and help me quickly, Lord." "Lord, Son of God, have mercy on me." "As a man, I have sinned, as God, have mercy." There are many prayers.
This is the "background" in which the Jesus Prayer developed. At first it was just one of many simple prayers, but it has an incomparable benefit over the others—that is, it has the name of Christ in it. "'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.' This sentence is only a tool, not the essence of this work; but it is a very powerful and effective tool, because the name of the Lord Jesus is our salvation What the enemy fears is the blessing of all who seek him.” “The Jesus prayer is like any other prayer. But it is stronger than all other prayers because of the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus. "

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