The crown of the collection is to make up an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer. And its origin is similar to the previous one. Several persons bothered me to give an explanation of this prayer, Out of the consciousness of powerlessness to do this well with my mind and word, it was proposed to collect for each word of the prayer what the Holy Fathers said about it, and to bring it to the attention of Christ-loving men of prayer. And it is proposed.

This is how the two halves of the collection took place.

Others, perhaps, will regret that the collection has not been given some kind of system. "I had a thought about it. But one of the great men of prayer, a saint of God now of blessed memory, was asked, "Would it not be better to give a system to the collection?" The answer was received as follows: the system is not moving towards this matter. The system is produced by forces that are in a completely different area from that in which prayer operates. Therefore, it will be a mixture of unrelated elements. The collection is compiled for edification, not for speculation. But he who seeks edification does not need a system, but an indication of the deed. His own prayerful order is created in his heart, and every instruction read immediately finds its place in the heart, and not in the head. The system will only interfere with him, and even cool down the work of prayer. "This cannot be contradicted," and the collection was compiled without a system.

We accompany it with the desire that the Lord grant all those who read it to find in it that which is useful for the creation in their hearts of the spirit of prayer.

Chapter 1: ST. BASIL THE GREAT'S INSTRUCTIONS ON PRAYER AND SOBRIETY[1]

1) Prayer is a petition for good things sent by the pious to God. "But it is necessary not to place prayer in words alone, but even more in a prayerful disposition of the soul. And one must always pray, on any occasion. If you sit at the table, pray; when you eat bread, give thanks to Him who gave it; strengthening the infirmity of the body with wine, remember Him Who gave you this gift for the joy of the heart and for the alleviation of infirmities. If the need for food has passed, let the remembrance of the Benefactor not cease. If you put on a tunic, thank Him who gave it; if you put on clothes, increase your love for God, Who has given us coverings suitable for winter and summer, protecting our life and covering our ugliness. Has the day passed? Give thanks to Him Who gave us the sun for the conduct of the day's affairs, and Who gave us fire to illuminate the night and serve for the other necessities of life. Let the night give you other motives for prayer. When you look up to heaven and fix your gaze on the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible, and worship the best Artist of all, God, Who "created all things in wisdom" (Psalm 103:24). When you see that all animal nature is enveloped in sleep, worship Him Who by means of sleep and against our will frees us from the continuity of labor, and through a little calm again brings us to the vigor of strength. Therefore, do not let the whole night be your lot of sleep, — do not allow half of your life to become useless from sleepless insensibility; on the contrary, let the night time be divided into sleep and prayer. In this way you will pray unceasingly, not concluding the prayer in words; but through the whole course of life drawing near to God, so that thy life may be uninterrupted and unceasing prayer (4:68, 69).

2) To every call to prayer, answer: "My heart is ready," and until the last prayer be at the divine service, considering it a great loss to abandon prayer. For if, partaking of food to strengthen your flesh, you remain without a way out at the table until you have satisfied your needs, and without great necessity you do not easily leave the table, then how much more should you remain to the end during the time of spiritual nourishment and strengthen your soul with prayer? For as much as there is a difference between heaven and earth, and between heaven and earth, so much is the difference between soul and body. The soul is a likeness of heaven, because the Lord dwells in it; and the flesh is from the earth, on which mortal men and dumb animals dwell. Therefore, measure your bodily needs with the hours of prayer, and prepare yourself not to listen to thoughts that distract you from common prayer. For it is the custom of the devil to urge us to leave during the hours of prayer, under the pretext of a plausible reason, in order to distract us from prayer. Do not apologize: I have a headache, a stomachache, presenting unknown witnesses to an unprecedented illness and for the sake of repose weakening in yourself the effort to keep vigil. On the contrary, perform also secret prayers, which God sees in secret, and for which He will reward you "Java" (Matt. 6:6). [5, 59–60].

3) Let your whole life be a time of prayer. But since the intensity of psalmody and genuflection should be given rest by certain intervals, then most of all we should consider the hours that were used for prayer by the saints as an example for us. Thus the great David says: "At midnight I shall confess to Thee the destinies of Thy righteousness" (Psalm 118:62). And as we see, following him, Paul and Silas at midnight praise God in prison (Acts 16:25). Then the same prophet says: "Evening and morning and noon we will sing and proclaim" (Psalm 54:18). But even at the third hour the coming of the Holy Spirit takes place, as you know from the Acts (2:15). The Ninth Hour reminds us of the Lord's suffering, which was accomplished for our life. But since David says: "Seven days I praise thee for the destinies of Thy righteousness" (Psalm 118:164), and the mentioned times of prayer do not fill the sevenfold number of prayers; then the noonday prayer should be divided into a prayer before eating, and into a prayer after taking it, so that this rule would serve as a model for us at each cycle of the day: "Praise God during the week of the day" [5, 74].

4) There is a time for everything else, according to the words of Ecclesiastes: "the time of every thing" (3:1); but any time is suitable for prayer and psalmody.

In this way let us attain composure, when, according to what has been said, in every action we ask God for success in our work, give thanks to Him Who gave active power, and observe the goal of pleasing Him. For if we do not use this method, then how can we reconcile what the Apostle says: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and "work night and day" (2 Thessalonians 3:8)? [5,177–178].

5) We should not neglect the established times of prayer, because each of them in a special way reminds us of the benefits given by God. Thus, we must not neglect the morning, so that the first movements of the soul and mind are dedicated to God, so that we do not care about anything else, until we are rejoiced in the thought of God, according to what is written: "Remember God and rejoice" (Psalm 76:4), so that the body is not set in motion for work, until we fulfill what is said: "In the morning hear my voice; in the morning I will stand before Thee, and see me" (Psalm 5:3, 4). And at the third hour we should rise to pray, remembering the gift of the Spirit given to the Apostles at the third hour, so that we too may become worthy to receive holy things, and ask the Spirit for guidance and teaching for profit, imitating Him who said: "Build up a pure heart in me, O God, and renew the spirit of righteousness in my womb. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of Thy salvation, and strengthen me by the Spirit of the Lord" (Psalm 50:12-14). Then get down to business again. At the sixth hour we found it necessary to pray in imitation of the saints, saying: "Evening, and morning, and noon, I will sing and proclaim, and my voice shall hear" (Psalm 54:18), and in order to get rid of the noonday demon, we read the ninetieth Psalm together. The fact that we need the ninth hour for prayer is handed down to us by the Apostles themselves in the Book of Acts, where it is narrated that "Peter and John ascended into the sanctuary to pray at the ninth hour" (Acts 3:1). And at the end of the day, we need both thanksgiving for what was given to us on this day, or successfully fulfilled by us, and confession of what we have not done, whether our sin was voluntary, or involuntary, or even secret, whether it consisted in words, or in deeds, or was contained in the heart itself; for all things we must propitiate God by prayer. For a review of the past is very useful, so that we do not fall into similar sins again, which is why it is said: "As you speak in your hearts, be touched on your beds" (Psalm 4:5). But again, even at nightfall, we must ask that our repose be unstumbled and free from dreams, reading the ninetieth Psalm at this hour. And that we also need midnight for prayer, this was transmitted by Paul and Silas, as the history of Acts says, saying: "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, singing to God" (16:25). And the Psalmist said: "At midnight I shall confess to Thee the destinies of thy righteousness" (Psalm 118:62). Again we must rise to pray before morning, so that the day does not find us in sleep and on the bed, according to the words of Him who said: "Foresee my eyes before the morning to learn by thy words" (ibid., v. 144). Those who have decided to live carefully for the glory of God and His Christ should not neglect any of these times [5, 178-180].

6) How to achieve non-distraction in prayer? — Undoubtedly convinced that God is before his eyes. If he who sees before him the ruler or abbot, and converses with him, does not turn his eyes away from him, how much more will he who prays to God (with the conviction shown) have a mind that does not deviate from the searching heart and womb, fulfilling what is written: "Lifting up holy hands without wrath or meditation" (1 Tim. 2:8). [5, 310].

7) Is it possible to attain non-distraction in everything and at all times, and how is this achieved? That this is possible was shown by the one who said: "My eyes are lifted up to the Lord" (Psalm 24:15), and "I have seen the Lord before me, as I am at my right hand, that I may not be moved" (Psalm 15:8). And how this is possible is said above. For this purpose, the soul should not be given time to be idle from the thought of God and about God's works and gifts, as well as from confession and thanksgiving for everything. (Ibid.).

8) What is this "cell" into which the Lord commands the one who prays to enter (Matt. 6:6)? "A 'cage' is usually called an empty and separate temple, in which we put what we want to keep, or in which we can hide. And the power of the commandment is explained by the very subject of the speech, because it is addressed to those who suffer from the disease of man-pleasing. Why, if someone is troubled by this ailment, then he does it beautifully, withdrawing himself and secluding himself in prayer, until he is able to acquire the habit of not paying attention to the praise of men, but looking only to God, following the example of Him who said: "Behold, as the eyes of a servant are in the hand of his master, as the eyes of a handmaid in the hand of his mistress: so are our eyes to the Lord our God" (Psalm 122, 2). — But if someone by the grace of God is pure from this disease, then there is no need for him to hide the beautiful; Teaching this, the Lord Himself says: "Thus let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). The same meaning of the commandment about mercy and fasting, which are spoken of in the same place, and in general about every work of piety [5, 355].