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With New Year's just a day (or night) away, I wanted to make some resolutions, and I ask for your help, advice, input as I try to devise a workeable prayer rule for myself. What do you do? What has worked for you? Etc. Thanks, and have a blessed 2002!

A link to my daily prayer rule — "How I Pray the Rosary' (basically a regular rosary but with lots of Orthodox opening prayers and an Orthodox closing prayer) — and a picture of my icon corner are on my site's Faith page. Hope that helps.

http://oldworldrus.com

A Prayer Rule should be something that is compatable with your lifestyle[ or the other way round ]. If whatever you wish to use as a Rule is not possible/practical for you, then like so many New Year Resolutions, it is doomed to fail. By this I mean that though at holiday times you can, for example, say your Morning Prayers at 9am this may not be possible during working times, and after an all too brief struggle you may find that you give up. If you make it simple then you will succeed and can add to it gradually.

What is wrong with starting by saying some short Prayers each morning as you get up and finishing the day by saying more last thing at night as you go to bed ? This should be compatable with all life styles.

Perhaps my own Rule of Prayer would serve as an example of what I mean.

Morning Prayer[ in my Tradition much shorter than that of yours ] -- about 30 minutes. This is every morning without fail roughly 8.15am., followed by a short act renewing my Consecration to Jesus through Mary, whether I am at home or away on holiday.
Compline every night as I go to bed [ again shorter ] about 15 mins which finishes with an anthem to Our Blessed Lady. As I actually settle for sleep I usually say a final Hail Mary

At some point during the morning, afternoon and evening I will try pray the Rosary using one of the methods suggested by St Louis de Monrfort saying the Joyful Mysteries in the morning, the Sorrowful ones in the afternoon and the Glorious ones in the evening. I freely admit that sometimes I do not manage all 15 decades but I do try.

It is also surprising how often I find myself praying the Jesus Prayer at times during the day - this is something I would like to �work� on. Maybe this should be my Resolution this year.

Final advice -- keep it simple and you will succeed.

May Our Blessed Lady, Mother of us all, my Mistress keep you and those whom you love in Her tender care.

Angela

[ 12-31-2001: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]

[ 12-31-2001: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]

You syncretist!

I always knew there was a Roman Catholic hiding under that Russian Orthodox exterior! :p

(I don't get to take jabs at you very often - 'tis all in fun!)

Our good friend Angela offers good advice.

Might I just suggest, Mor Ephrem, that "prayer" is not an activity; it is, rather a 'mindset' that unites the soul with God.

For me, it is the more or less constant evaluation or re-evaluation of my daily activities. I try to stop and do what is crazily called an 'examination of conscience'. (In monastic rules, it is done twice a day.)

I do it when I am driving to work, and when driving home from work. I review the actions of the preceding period. I assess the good things I've done; I assess the 'less than perfect' things I've done, and plan to make changes for the following period or day. I also take that time to pray for the people with whom I've come in contact and I ask God's blessings for them -- a double whammy. Did I cut somebody off who needed to talk? Did I not give alms to a street-person to whom I should have given something? Did I pass by the Cathedral without taking 6 minutes to go in and pray? Did I 'objectify' somebody by taking a good look at them and thinking: "Hot Dawg!". Did I steal time from my employer by cruising on the internet on stuff that was interesting to me and not my work? Did I go out with my buddies and drink a bit more than I should have? Did I eat more food at lunch than I should have and exposed myself to weight gain and potential abuse of my body given by God? Did I make an unkind crack about somebody and led another into judgementalism?

For me, the essence of 'prayer' is to regularly evaluate my life in terms of the Gospel commands and Christ's modeling and to approach God to help me do better. One can do all the stuff in the books and be quite good at it; but it's my love of God, and especially of neighbor, that is going to bring me closer to God and to making this earth a Christian world and a pre-taste of the Paradise to come.

The liturgical cycle is critical, in that it provides me with an ever expanding refinement of what the faith teaches. (Thus, my constant insistence on the vernacular in liturgy, and the prayerful participation in as much of it as is available.)

The Lord said: "By their works shall you know them." For me, it's the "doing", not the "praying" as many people understand it. Any idiot can "go to Church". That's not the point. The real point is: "What's your works?" Do we manifest love of God and love of neighbor in our lives? If so: keep going! If not: get your butt to a spiritual director/pastor and find out what's screwed up.

Again: it's the mindset and lifestyle.

Blessings to you, Mor Ephrem. Keep going and asking questions. To Angela: you are a light for other Christians that can help illuminate the way. May the Lord bless you and your family! (I pray your daughter is doing well.)

Blessings!

Dr John,
Thanks for the undeserved complement All I can say in response is that I do try, and try again, and again....
And when things go wrong [ to paraphrase Jeremiah( and I can't bring the quote to mind - so I know someone else will!) ] when I am at the crossroads I will take the familiar road.
As to an examination of conscience constantly - that is praiseworthy - once a day is shaming enough for me.
As to Catriona - she is doing well , movement is returning and the interesting fact is that the "Residents" are asking for her - not just those on her wing but others too !

On this Feast of the Mother of God , I ask Her to keep you all in Her tender care and intercede for you with Her Son, Redeemer of us all.

Angela

[ 01-01-2002: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]

Mor Ephrem,

I try to pray First Hour and Compline as a daily rule. As a working married man with young children this is the best rule I have found. I personally don't like the idea of doing Vespers or Orthros individually. These are Liturgical services that by their very nature do not lend themsevles to individual recitation very well. And personally I do not really think it proper. Would any one say The Divine Liturgy at home as a private individual prayer? I don't think so, so why would one do it with Vespers or Orthros which is every bit a public and communal service as Divine Liturgy. On the otherhand, the Little Hours and Compline started out as private monastic prayer and are easily done individually.

The only problem is lack of diversity and abscence of most of the liturgical poetry of Vespers and Orthros. I propose a new design of Morning and Evening prayer that combines traditonal stucture with a cycle of Psalms, Scripture readings, and portions of Ecclesiastical prose that follow the liturgical calendar. This is not ment to replace any of the Liturgical Offices, but provide a usable book for private recitation that harmonizes with them. I am working on a prototype but it will take a few years to complete.

Since you are of the Syriac tradition and I am not all that familiar with the structure or length of that Office, I don't know if First Hour and Compline is a doable rule. But I would recommend staying with your own tradition if possible and trying this.

In Christ,
Lance, deacon candidate

Dear Mor Ephrem,

I will answer your question about what seems to work for me, but first may I boldly offer a caution.

It is much better if your prayer rule is given to you by another, that is, by your spiritual Father. Devising a spiritual rule for yourself is not advised. Even if it is a good one, "self will" may be involved (dangerous). A real value in the prayer rule, is that it is an act of obedience, and as such is more perfectly united to the life of Christ, the perfectly obedient one.

Lance is right, the Liturgical Offices (the longer ones) and even the hours (shorter ones) do not lend themselves to private prayer on one's own. They developed in the context of community prayer, and there they have their best home. I am not in favor of the creation of abreviviated forms, or books of selections. Leave the full forms of the hours where they belong, and respect their order and wisdom. Who can improve on this great patrimony?

One trouble with praying an hour (for example, the first hour or compline), is that the psalms are fixed, and repeated each day.

The oldest way of marking the hours (so I read in a book on Liturgy once), is to simply pray a few psalms at the appointed hour (according to the rule given you by a spiritual Father). This form, with the introductory prayers, and a few troparia became the hours. In the more primitive form, they preserve a flexibility and freedom we amateurs fear to employ with the beauty and internal wisdom of the awesome Byzantine system.

What I do, is keep a copy of the New Testament and a psalter near by. These have been produced in many formats, at home I use the "Abbey Psalter" which I have marked with the LXX numbers and in their correct kathismata, and my own bible. When I travel, I have a pocket version of the "New Testament and Psalms" which has been a great companion when I have been away. It has been produced very compactly by many good bible printers. I have an old RSV one, which even has an index! It was the only book needed. With every hour, a few psalms can be prayed (in convenient order), and a reading chosen at random.

If one wishes to combine a few psalms at morning and evening (or even more often), with the usual introductory prayers, and a troparion or two (to Christ, the Mother of God, and your own patron), this makes a very nice personal prayer service. Such favorite troparia can easily be written into the jacket of your "travel" NT and Psalter.

The alternate, when even the "travel" NT and Psalter is not with you, or on any occasion as an alternate form, is the usual introductory prayers, and a number of Jesus Prayers. The number again, is best given to you by your spiritual Father. Often, 100 (lasting about 15-20 minutes) makes a good place to start.

I am delighted to hear of people who wish to commit themselves more carefully to prayer and the routine of regular prayer! You are to be encouraged in your New Year aspiration and search! I hope you will consider my suggestion about speaking with your spiritual Father, whose experience in prayer, and knowledge of you personally, will enable him to guide you best.

fraternally, with prayers...

Elias, monk

I hope that you will excuse the lack of a correct greeting since I am a "Latin". Ignorance is really no excuse.

I am extremely lucky as I have been working with my Spiritual Director for some years now. My Rule of Prayer was given by him and we discuss whether it is 'working' each time we meet. I have in fact been praying the "Liturgy of the Hours" now for some 10 years and it is something I have found extremely valuable - particularly when other forms of Prayer have been , to put it mildly, unsuccessful/ frustrating and at times down right impossible. When with Fr John my prayer life is a most important part of our discussion and the Rule is altered whenever he feels that it is needed but the baseline of Lauds and Compline is never changed.

Speaking personally, I echo your suggestion of a Spiritual Father/Director. I am so grateful for the help, support and encouragement mine has given me over these last 4 years.

Thank you for your encouragement.

Angela

C Roshdectvom Xristovim..

Personnaly, I have found the Horologion difficult to pray alone. Unlike the Latin Liturgy of the Hours, I do not feel it blends well with private devotion without modification. That is of course, unless you have all the books necessary to do all the hours in their entirety. Although, I too have experimented with the First Hour and Compline as a daily excercise.

A Spritual Father notwithstanding, I try to follow the recommendation of St. Paisius Velichkovskii. He recommends a "cell rule" which utilizes the traditional non-liturgical prayers of the Fathers such as St. Isaac of Syria for example. Since I am trying to practice my Slavonic, I am currently using the Svit (OCA) Orthodox Prayer book as my guide. What a treasure is our faith that we have so much to choose from as we journey to Theosis.

C Novim Godom,
Dmitri

Dear Father Elias,

Barekhmor, Abun!

Thanks for the advice. There's only one problem. In the Indian Syrian tradition, a "spiritual father/mother" is virtually unknown, and so no one I've ever asked has ever had one (you "Constantinopolitans" are better at this). People have more or less gone on their own. Monks are few in our Church, and only in India...nuns are even fewer. So I really don't know where I'd find a spiritual father/mother...I'd love to have someone like that to help me, I just don't know where to look. Where I go to school, there aren't too many Eastern Orthodox/Catholic parishes or monastic communities I know of, and the Latins there are quite liberal (the dancing, woman-ordaining, authority-shunning type), unlike where I'm originally from. At home, I also don't know where I would/should look. I don't know much about the other Orthodox in the area, much less the Eastern Catholics, the parishes, monasteries, etc.

I'm open to suggestions on how to go about finding a director/father/mother...my only thing might be that I'd hope they had access to email, since from school long distance rates and visits could get expensive (with this request, you must know how amateur I am at this... ). But when I heard that the Italian Franciscans had cell phones (most of them, I heard), I knew anything was possible.

Thanks again!

Dear Mor Ephrem,

I'm sorry no one immediately springs to mind who might be able to help you with your prayer rule. Even people who live near large Orthodox or Byzantine Catholic centers often comment that it is not easy to find a spiritual father nearby.

Some people I know, make due with an annual visit to a suitable monastery. The practice of visiting a holy place once a year, or making an annual retreat is very old. In this way, some people plan their year to include one such visit, even if it is only for a weekend. During the weekend, they make it a point to speak with one of the fathers of the monastery. For many, this is enough of a "anchor" to continue throughout the year.

It would not be the same as having more regular access to a spiritual father nearby, but it is better than none. And if all you want is a beginning prayer rule, I recommend just such a pilgrimage. If you can go back a year later, then you will be able to give an account of how you have been able to be faithful (or not?), and ... thanks be to God, ... you have a spiritual father.

I don't remember where you said you lived, but perhaps you travel on holidays each year? If so, please think about including an annual pilgrimage to a suitable monastery in your plans.

Elias

Dear Catholicos,

Just my two cents' worth . . .

I see the daily celebration of the Hours by the Church as a shared patrimony for all of us, priestly, monastic and lay.

Some of us are enabled to share in that well-spring of devotion more than others.

What is important is not the "how much" but the "that we do."

The Horologion is the best prayer rule since it helps us punctuate the day in tune with the Holy Spirit and His action on our lives.

How much we participate in it to the praise of the Father through Jesus in the Spirit will be dependent on the conditions of our daily and variable routine.

When I once asked a spiritual father for a "prayer rule," he immediately shot back (gently though), "Alex, you are asking me to impose a quantity of prayer on you so that, by fulfilling it, you can think of yourself as being a saint or something.

"Instead, I want you to pray seven times a day using as much or as little of the Horologion, Psalter, Jesus Prayer or Rosary as you can manage.

"Your penance will be the sorrow at not being able to finish an Hour or Psalm or decade due to time constraints.

"That will cause suffering, because I know you, Alex. But it will also lead to your greater spiritual development."

I share with you this advice that a spiritual father gave to me regarding my desire for a prayer rule.

Alex

I'd like to recommend the St. James Daily Devotional Guide published by the Fellowship of St. James. It is written by Patrick Henry Reardon, an ex-Anglican now Orthodox.

I like it because it employs a manageable 1-month psalm cycle that makes use of all the psalms. It has two shorter readings, one of which is from the Gospel. And it also has a daily chapter reading from the Old Testament, with the goal of having read through the entire Old Testament in 2 years.

I find this to be a good basis from morning prayers, with additional stuff taken from the Byzantine Book of Prayer.

In Christ,
Steven