29) Also about prayer, and that one should always pray.

Just as this our body, after the departure of the soul from it, is dead and stinking: so the soul that does not move itself to prayer is dead, accursed and stinking. And that to be deprived of prayer should be considered the bitterest of all death, this is well taught to us by the great prophet Daniel, who chose to die rather than to remain without prayer for even one moment of time (ch. 9). St. Chrysostom also teaches us this goodness: "Everyone who prays converses with God. How great it is to converse with God as a man, none of us is unaware, but hardly anyone can express this honor in words; for this honor surpasses even the angelic dignity." Again: "Prayer is the common cause of angels and men; and in the matter of prayer there is nothing in the middle (the mediastinum of the component) between one and the other nature: it separates you from the dumb, but it unites you with the Angels. And he who strives all his life to exercise himself in prayer and service to God, soon becomes like the Angels in life, honor, nobility, wisdom and understanding." Again: "When the devil sees the soul protected by virtues, he does not dare to come close to it, fearing the power and strength that prayers give it, which nourish the soul more than the brush nourishes the body." Again: "Prayers are the nerves of the soul. As the body is kept in line by its nerves, lives, moves, and is steadfast; but when someone cuts them off, then the entire harmony of the body is disturbed: so the souls are well-ordered by holy prayers, they accept steadfastness, and they easily flow along the path of piety. But if you deprive yourself of prayer, then you also do what you do by taking the fish out of the water: for as this life is water, so is prayer for you. It can be carried through the air, as through water, ascend to heaven and stand near God." Again: "Prayer and supplication make people temples of God; and as gold, precious stones, and marmaras adorn the royal houses, so prayers, the temples of Christ, adorn the souls of the faithful. Again: "And from this we can see the power of holy prayers, that Paul, who, like a winged one, flowed around the whole world, lived in prisons, was scourged, wore chains, lived in blood and troubles, He cast out demons, raised the dead, stopped illnesses, did not hope for any of these things in the dispensation of the salvation of people, but protected the soul with prayers, and after the signs and the resurrection of the dead, he hastily flowed to prayers, as the main podvig crowning the work, since prayer is the giver of the resurrection of the dead and everything else. For as much as the waters have power in wood, so are prayers in the lives of the saints." Again: "Prayer is the wine of salvation, the source of immortality, the indestructible wall of the Church, an invincible fortress, terrible for demons, and salvation for us in the work of piety." Again: "As every queen who enters the city is followed by all riches, so every virtue enters the soul." — Again: "As the foundation of a house, so is prayer in the soul; and it is necessary, having planted it in the soul, as a foundation and root, to diligently establish chastity on it." And again: "The light of the mind and soul is diligent prayer, an inextinguishable and unceasing light; why our evil enemy puts immeasurable impurity of thoughts into our minds, and having collected many things that we have never even thought about, he overwhelms our souls during prayer." "And again: 'Prayer is a great weapon, a great enclosure.' And the Theologian says: "One should remember God more than breathe." And again: "Think about God more often than you breathe." And St. Isaac: "Without unceasing prayer you cannot draw near to God." — Again: "After the labor of prayer, placing another care on the mind produces the scattering of thoughts." Again: "Every prayer in which the body is not weary, and the heart is not broken, like the premature fruit of the womb: for such a prayer is without a soul." — And St. Climacus: "Prayer, by its quality, is communion (, — sucking, merging into one being) and the unity of man and God; but according to its action, it is the standing of the world, the reconciliation of God, the mother of tears and again the daughter, the propitiation for sins, the bridge through temptations, the mediastinum from sorrows, the suppression of strife, the work of the Angels, the food of all the bodiless, the joy that has no end or limit, the source of virtues, the intercessor and author of gifts, the invisible predence, the food of the soul, the enlightenment of the mind, the axe to despair, the proof of hope, the release of the bonds of sorrow, the wealth of monks, the treasure of the silent, the diminution (gradually to zero) of anger, the mirror of predence, the manifestation of measures (on what measure one stands), the indication of the state (or spiritual order), the herald of the future. the sign of glorification. For him who truly prays, prayer is torture, the judgment seat, and the throne of the Lord, before the throne to come" (Verse 28:1); And again: "Prayer is nothing but alienation from the visible and invisible world." And St. Nilus: "If you wish to acquire prayer, renounce everything, and you may inherit everything." Again: "Prayer is the ascent of the mind to God." Again: "Prayer is a conversation of the mind with God." Again: "As bread is food for the body and virtue for the soul, so prayer is spiritual food for the mind."

And about this (i.e., about prayer as spiritual food), so (reason).

Now it is opportune for us to say briefly about bodily food, about its measure, quantity and quality, what is appropriate, according to our strength.

30) On the bodily diet, i.e. how the silent should eat.

It is written: "Son of man, bear thy bread by weight, and drink water by measure" (Ezekiel 4:9, 10), as much as is necessary, so that, being content with this, he who strives according to God may live. For, as one of the fathers says, if you do not give blood, you will not receive the Spirit. And the great Paul says: "I mortify my body, and enslave it, that I may not preach to others, and I myself shall not be included" (1 Corinthians 9:27). Likewise, the divine David: "My knees are faint from fasting, and my flesh is changed for oil's sake" (Psalm 108:24). And the Theologian: "Nothing pleases God so much as through suffering or bodily deprivations for His sake; and nothing attracts His love for mankind so much as tears." And St. Isaac: "As a mother cares for her child, so Christ cares for the body of the afflicted (who suffers bodily deprivations for His sake), and is always near his body" (Verse 58, p. 443). Again: "In the womb there is no vision of the mysteries of God" (ibid.). Again: "As those who sow with tears receive the handles of joy: so are the afflicted filled with joy (those who lift up arbitrary bodily deprivations) for God's sake." Again: "Blessed is he who has barred the entrance to himself to every voluptuousness that separates him from His Creator" (Homily 75, pp. 533-535).

Again: "For a long time he was tempted in the right hand and in the neck, having repeatedly tried himself in these two ways. having taken upon myself the innumerable blows of the enemy, and having been vouchsafed in secret great opportunities, in the course of many years I gained experience, and by the grace of God, I learned by experience the following.

"The foundation of all that is good, the return of the soul from the enemy's captivity, the path leading to light and life — all this is contained in the following ways: to gather oneself together, and always fast, i.e., to wisely and prudently make it a rule for oneself to abstain from the womb, to remain in one place without beginning, to be constantly occupied with God.

"Hence the obedience of the senses; hence the sobriety of the mind; hence the taming of the fierce passions aroused in the body; hence the quietness of thoughts; hence the luminous movements of thought; hence diligence in matters of virtue; hence the lofty and subtle conceptions of the mind; hence the tears that know no measure, which flow at all times, and the memory of death; hence pure chastity, quite far from any dreaming that tempts thought; hence shrewdness and foresight; Hence the deep and mysterious concepts that the mind comprehends with the help of divine words, and the inner movements that take place in the soul, the division and distinction of the spiritual, as in holy powers and true visions, as well as in vain dreams.

"Hence that fear on the paths and paths, which in the sea of thought cuts off laziness and negligence, that flame of jealousy, which tramples on every danger, and overcomes all fear, that fervor which despises all lust, and erases it in the mind, and at the same time forgets all remembrance of the transitory; in short, hence the freedom of the true man, the joy of the soul, and the resurrection with Christ in the kingdom.

"But if anyone neglects these two ways, let him know that he will not only injure himself in all that has been said before, but will shake the very foundation of all virtues by neglecting these two virtues. And as if one keeps them within himself and abides in them, they are the beginning and head of the divine work in the soul, the door and path to Christ; so if anyone departs and departs from them, he will come to these two opposite vices, I mean, bodily wandering and dishonorable gluttony. This is the essence of the principle contrary to what has been said above, and they give place in the soul to the passions" (Verse 75, pp. 533-535).

In another place he writes: "Those who are negligent and weak at the beginning of the podvig, not only from these and similar struggles, but also from the noise of the leaves of the trees, come to fear and confusion, and by a little need, hunger in case of lack, and a little infirmity, they are overcome, renounce the podvig, and turn back. True and skillful ascetics are not satiated with cereals and vegetables, even eating dry pasts, they do not agree to eat anything before the appointed hour, but in bodily exhaustion they lie on the bare ground; their eyes can scarcely see from the excessive exhaustion of the body, and if they are close to separation from the body from need, they do not yield victory over themselves, and do not abandon their strong will, because they desire and desire to make a compulsion for themselves out of love for God, and prefer to work for the sake of virtue than to have a temporal life, and in it all repose. And when temptations come upon them, they rejoice more than that, and are still perfected by them. Even in the midst of the difficult labors that lie ahead of them, they do not waver in the love of Christ, but until they lose their lives, they ardently desire to endure the attacks with courage, and do not retreat, because through this they are perfected" (Verse 60, p. 475).

In accordance with these and similar lessons, and in the same way submitting to him who said: "Walk in the royal way, not deviating either to the right hand or to the neck . . . (Proverbs 4:27), — and we set forth to you the middle rule on food, which consists in the following rules:

31) As a ascetic, one should eat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.