In ancient Christian mysticism we see two currents that become more and more evident over time. These two currents were in asceticism from the > beginnings: the first was morally, spiritually uplifting, and the second was intellectual. Macarius of Egypt is a representative of the first trend, Gregory of Nyssa and Evagrius of Pontus belong to the second, and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite belongs to the later ones. The main provisions of these trends are almost the same for different representatives of them.

The goal of the Christian life is deification (vesoagd). The first step of the ascent to God is purification from passions and temptations. Only after attaining complete impassibility, when a person completely renounces this vain world, does he ascend to the highest level. His spiritual eyes are opened, he unites with God, he attains deification, which is the highest goal of asceticism.

The mysticism of Macarius develops a spiritual feeling. It does not escape from earthly purification through the deepest experiences of the heart in meekness and prayer to <>love and reverence for God. I awaken the experiences of the highest love! in the soul there is a feeling of extraordinary happiness and elevates the flesh above all earthly things

Mental mysticism is associated with the spirit (vo€g) and with the in-depth consideration of concepts. Through the reworking of the foundations, it leads to a philosophical understanding of everything; this comprehension was expressed in the writings of Clement Alexus of Aidria and thus entered patriotic literature. It gives a scheme of the passions, as has already been said, a scheme of the eight main sins, originally given by Evagrius. The struggle against them raises a person to the knowledge of

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First of all, through the healing of the negative aspects of the spirit, which consist in the lack of understanding of the Divine. Not the soul, but the spirit is that part of human nature which, after the mortification of all earthly things, comes to a blissful state through the mysterious contemplation of the Divine. Knowledge (vesor'kh) is the main content of the mystical life. It is achieved through inner composure and prayer. Inner concentration consists in constantly keeping one's thoughts on Perfection. In this state, man dominates all the movements of his spirit. Such concentration gives complete inner solitude, separation from everything earthly. The ascetic, who stands at the beginning of the ascetic path, also needs external loneliness, a complete break with the world. To do this, you need to live in the desert or in a monastery. Self-discipline means turning one's spirit on oneself, renouncing the world and immersing oneself in silence.

Already among the contemporaries of St. Macarius we find the "silent," who were later called "hesychasts."

"O silence and abiding in silence! You are the mother of the living spirit and the mirror of sins. You compel us to repentance. You purge tears from us and direct our supplications to heaven. Meekness dwells with you. From you the soul is enlightened. In you we are present and taught by the Angels. Meekness and peace with people come from you. O silence, oh loneliness! You enlighten the spirit. You examine thoughts and help to recognize them. You are the mother of prayer. You provide leisure for reading. You give strength in fasting. You keep your tongue behind the fence, free you from immoderation. The detachment of worries, silence and the inner ascent of the spirit in the heart engenders the fear of God and chastity. The inner ascent of the spirit in the heart is an unceasing mental prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, Son of God, help me!" – with these words the holy hermit Theodora glorifies solitude (con. IV century).

We see that very early in ascetic exercise and in mystical contemplation mental prayer was in use. Hesychia and mental prayer became more widespread in the mysticism of the Eastern Church over time. They belong to the highest levels of contemplation, and many Church Fathers considered them the main goal of asceticism, almost all post-Makariev ascetics speak of "spiritual work" or "mental prayer." The two great Syrians, Nilus and Isaac, John Climacus, Maximus the Confessor, as well as Symeon the New Theologian, emphasize the importance of this spiritual exercise, the importance of self-concentration, of withdrawing not only from earthly thoughts, but in general from thoughts connected with any image. From the hymns of St. Simeon we learn that hesychia can lead to the highest spiritual ecstasy, to the knowledge of God.

As has already been said, St. Simeon ends the great epoch of ecclesiastical mysticism of the Eastern Church, which has been briefly described here. It is important for us to point out that mental prayer is the central point of Eastern mysticism, along with obedience and the general prayer of asceticism. We will see that later, after a long interval, these three concepts arose again in a completely new form, connected with the development of eldership, and spread widely.

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Regarding the spread and practice of hesychia in the nose. We do not have an exact idea of the exact situation in the centuries that followed. We note that even by the time of St. Simeon, this practice began to be forgotten, and very soon it was completely forgotten in the countries of the Orthodox East. However, the day came when this practice was revived among ascetics, who sought to free it from the dust of oblivion and develop it further.

These were the hermits of Mount Athos, the Athonite hermits. Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, the jewel of Byzantium, is the easternmost of the three "languages" with which the Halkidiki peninsula juts out into the Aegean Sea. "A grain of peace", as Marcus Aurelius called it, "the workshop of virtue", "the place chosen by God", as the local monks, the Athonite monks, call their mountainous homeland.

"Athos is the forest cathedral of Eastern Christianity," writes Dr. Fulmerayer, "more than twelve hours' walk in length and two or three hours in width. Connected to the continent only by a narrow long isthmus, Mount Athos majestically rises above the sea. Athos is adapted only for monastic life. This is a kind of Orthodox Vatican, on which the spiritual eyes of Orthodox Christians from all over the world are directed."