St. Gregory the Sinaite emphasizes that obedience and prayer are at the center of ascetic activity. Through obedience, one can free oneself from many spiritual weaknesses and passions. "The prayer of a beginner," he writes, "is like a fire beating out of the heart; the prayer of the successful bend to the quiet light that comes from within and spreads a beautiful fragrance. In other words, prayer is the preaching of the apostles, the act of faith, or, to put it that way, faith itself, the fulfillment of all hopes, the manifestation of love, acceptance. Prayer is God, who is present in all, because whoever does all things in the name of Jesus Christ, he has one power with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." The highest work of the hesycps is the repeated pronunciation of mental (spiritual) prayer. St. Gregory of Sinaite says: "The beginning of mental prayer is a purifying action and "either of the Holy Spirit and a mysterious sacred action of the mind, as the beginning of silence – the renunciation and liberation from all cares; its middle is the enlightening power (of that Spirit; its end is tenderness and the complete conversion of the mind to God."

In St. Gregory we find the following wonderful advice to those who pray mentally: "Whoever wants to offer his prayer to God must sit down on a small bench or even lie down, until the fatigue passes and you feel the return of your strength... Early in the morning, sit down on an unpaved seat, bring your mind from your head down to your heart, and hold it tightly there. Bend down until you feel pain and tension in your chest, shoulders, and throat, and constantly cry out with your mind from the depths of your soul: "I iir go, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!" Pronouncing this a lot of rya", do not change the words often, because even plants that are often transplanted are reluctant to form roots. Dominate also your breathing, so that you do not

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breathe when you don't need to, don't breathe boldly, because it darkens the mind and allows thoughts to wander their own ways. If you see with your own mind the impurity of evil spirits, which is called temptation, do not be afraid; And if any pictures appear before your imagination, pay no attention to them. Hold your mind as fast as you can, keep it in your heart, and exercise yourself to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus prayerfully and without interruption. And so, in the name of God, you will inflict invisible wounds on your temptations and destroy them completely."

Further, in Gregory's work "Instruction to the Silent" it is said: "The Fathers teach that some manage to pronounce the prayer in full: 'Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,' others only half: 'Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me'; So let everyone do according to his abilities. But you should not change the words of the prayer too often. The prayer should be pronounced slowly, stretching the words. Some teach to pronounce words orally, others only with the mind. But I suppose both, since the mind may become weary, the lips may lose strength, whereby one may fall into despondency; Therefore, one should pray as much as possible: with the mind and lips, but always quietly and calmly, so as not to distract attention and not interrupt the prayer. And so it is necessary to rush forward until the mind is prepared for spiritual work and receives strength from the Spirit and the prayer does not proceed properly. Then there will no longer be a need to pronounce words with the lips, and indeed it is impossible, because the one who has achieved this is satisfied with the completely intelligent practice of prayer and has no desire to lag behind it."

In another place, St. Gregory of Sinaite writes about mental prayer: "Spiritual wisdom is the power of intelligent, pure, and angelic prayer, the sign of which is that the mind of the worshippers is completely cleansed of external objects and does not pay attention for a moment either to itself or to anything else, for it is completely removed from the world of sin by the light acting in it. Then his spirit is freed and becomes one with the Spirit of God, which is ineffable. He is freed from matter and becomes incorporeal and luminous."

This briefly expounded teaching of Gregory the Sinaite on mental prayer, his mystical theology, in later times received wide recognition among the ascetics and mystics of the Eastern Church. Already in the second half of the fourteenth century, the works of Gregory the Sinaite were very widespread. Nilus of Sorsky finds in the Sinaite "the deepest spirit of the Eastern Church."

An important addition to St. Gregory's teaching on hesychia is his conversation with Maximus of the Holy Mountain about mental prayer. The Athonite Patericon in the Life of St. Maximus relates: "When St. Gregory the Sinaite met with St. Maximus, he asked Maximus: 'I beg you, my reverend father, tell me about mental prayer, do you perform it?' From my youth I had a living faith in my Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos, and I did not cease to beseech Her with tears to grant me the grace of spiritual prayer. One day, as always, I came to church and prayed to Her with the boundless warmth of my heart. When I, full of love, kissed Her holy icon,

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Then I felt in my heart the darkness and fire of the holy icon, but not scorched, but the blessing of me. In nto mgnong• nir, my father, my heart began to pronounce the prayer from its depths, and my mind through the nose of the remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ and my Intercessor I 1re the removed Mother of God received new strength. And to this day my heart does not lose that memory. And from that hour, forgive me, the prayer in my heart does not cease." Then St. Gregory said: "Tell me, venerable father, when you are saying the Jesus Prayer, have you seen any manifestations of God that can be considered the fruits of the Holy Spirit? St. Maximus answered, "Yes, my father, and so I retired to solitary places and >or to pray in perfect silence, that I might receive more of the fruits of the Holy Spirit."

Then St. Gregory asked: "I beg you, father, tell me, do you now and always have what you tell me about?" Lowering his eyes, Maximus said: "Do not demand of me that I speak about the revelations given to me," Then St. Gregory said: "Oh, may God grant you always to have such consolations, venerable father! I beg you, tell me: when your mind ascends to God, what do you see with your spiritual eyes? And can your mind rise up with your heart?" When the grace of the Holy Spirit descends upon people through prayer, the prayer ceases, for the mind submits to the Holy Spirit and can no longer act by its own powers, it is inactive, and the Holy Spirit leads where it wants: either to the immaterial atmosphere of the Divine Light, or to some ineffable vision, or to a conversation with God. In short, speak as the Comforter, the Holy Spirit comforts His servants as He wills; whatever grace each one needs, that He gives him.

What I am talking about now can be found by everyone in the prophets and apostles; People often thought that they had fallen into delusion, but people were mistaken. Thus, St. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high Throne, surrounded by Seraphim. The Protomartyr Stephen saw the heavens open and the Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father. So now the servants of Christ are sometimes vouchsafed visions, although others do not believe it. I often wonder and do not understand what kind of people they are and why they are so blind, why they do not see and do not believe what the True God said through the mouth of the prophet Joel: "I will burn of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Joel. 2. 28). This is the grace that the Lord sent to His disciples, which He gives today and will forever give, as He promised.

If the grace of the Holy Spirit descends upon someone, it shows him the ordinary objects of this sensible world, but that which he has never seen and which surpasses all conception. Thus the Holy Spirit teaches the human spirit the highest and hidden mysteries, of which the divine law says: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man" (1 Cor. 2. 9).

And in order that you may better understand how our mind comprehends the mysteries, think of this analogy: if wax is kept away from the fire, it remains solid, and you can touch it and take it, but if you throw it into the fire, it will immediately melt, ignite, and burn up, turning into light. The same is true of human