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On Hesychasm
Observing Fr. Seraphim's silent contemplation,
Fr. Herman would tell him half-joking, “You're a hesychast!” - meaning a
“silent one” engaged in direct contemplation of Divinity. Fr. Seraphim,
however, did not like this term applied to himself. He even became indignant,
saying, “I don't know what that means.” Of course he knew intellectually, but
he did not want to pretend to understand it from experience. He detested posing
and fakery of any kind. For him, spiritual life had to be first of all down to
earth, filled with humility and sober awareness of one's low spiritual state.
In his younger days he had written: “He who thinks himself self-sufficient is
in the snare of the devil; such a man who thinks further that he is
'spiritual,' has become almost an active accomplice of the devil, whether he
realizes it or not.” (p. 449)
The Jesus Prayer in Platina
Outside the Church services, Fr. Seraphim would
strive to remember God by saying the Jesus Prayer throughout the day, whether
while working, resting, or taking a walk. The brothers were reminded to do
likewise. From the very beginning of the skete's existence, Fathers Serphim and
Herman had instituted the traditional monastic practice of saying the Jesus
Prayer aloud whenever entering a room. This practice had been followed by the
monks on ancient times in order to foil the tricks of the demons, who were know
to enter the cells of desert-dwellers without warning. (p. 574)
The Use of the “Optina 500”
We have already mentioned that Fathers Seraphim
and Herman, in the tradition of Bishop Nektary, carried out the private “
Optina Five-Hundred” cell-rule of prayer in addition to the regular Church
services. This consisted of: 300 Jesus Prayers, 100 prayers to the Mother of
God, 50 to one's Guardian Angel, and 50 to All Saints. (p. 574)
No Prayer without Love and the Controlled
Passions
“In
