www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Asking for Advice on Prayer

Christ is Risen! Христось воскресе!

Hey all, this is my first post here—I was raised Roman Catholic, but my family comes from Byzantine (Ruthenian) roots. For almost a year now, I’ve been trying to learn more about my ancestral faith; I’m regularly active at my local Ruthenian parish, and I’ve been learning more about our particular sui iuris church’s history. However, I’ve been struggling to develop a consistent prayer life. To be clear, I do pray daily; however, I’ve fallen into a bit of a rut where most of my prayers are ad hoc and petitionary. The page on Prayer for this website was really helpful! Nevertheless, I was wondering if anyone might be able to offer some specific advice for forming a more balanced prayer routine/share different devotions they’ve found spiritually fruitful?
Right now, I have been fairly consistent in using my copy of the Časoslov by ECPubs. The sections on “Morning Prayers” and “Prayers Before Sleep” have formed the bedrock of my prayer life. Occasionally throughout the week I’ll pray Small Compline as well; I’ve really, really loved getting to pray it, though the length of compline can make it a little daunting to pray normally. Additionally, while I’m at work I try to pray the Jesus Prayer, though I’m not as good as I maybe could be.

Sorry for the long post, but I really do appreciate the advice! God bless! Из Богом!

Christ is Risen!!

LoneStarRusnak,

Welcome to the forum. We hope your time with us is spiritually fruitful.

As for your question--

You seem to be following the advice I was given many years ago by a Byzantine priest. It was in the midst of the chaos in the Latin Catholic Church following Vatican 2. Stick to a simple discipline day in and day out. Do not take on more than you can sustain--trying to do a long set of prayers can bring frustration when one cannot do them regularly. Check in with your spiritual father regularly about this part and all part of your spiritual walk. Participate in regular confession to the same priest so that he gets to know you, your needs, your weaknesses, and your strengths.

Be gentle with yourself and do not become too self critical or rigid. Be at peace.

Bob
Moderator

Christ is Risen!

To follow up from theophan's brilliant comments, I wonder if it is worth exploring the depth of prayer as much as its breadth; focusing as much on the depth of those prayers you already fundamentally do as well as the sheer diversity & variety of prayers that exist. While it might perhaps be good to explore different personal devotions/saints (St. Josaphat of Polack was raised on the synaxarion), I think it is as spiritually fruitful to stick with the same devotions and learn to pray them more deeply each day. I have personally found this to be most helpful for me at the moment, it helps me stay grounded in my spiritual life while keeping me from falling into contentment, boredom, etc... it is often the prayers I read the most that I am furthest from fully understanding!

Otherwise, I would like to share a personal favourite work from Met. Anthony of Sourozh, on the importance of practical prayer [static1.squarespace.com] throughout your day; I have at least found it useful as a reminder of the healthy balance (& great confluence) between personal & liturgical prayer. I have found this helpful for meditating on how I pray as well as what I pray, and it may serve the same use for you!

I hope this can be of use, and forgive me if I've misunderstood the point of this thread at all.

turaŭski

Christ is Risen!!

To follow up on my post . . .

After following the same Morning and Evening prayers for a number of years, they became memorized so that I could pray them if I were not at home and did not have my prayerbook with me. That, to me, has been the most valuable part of having a fixed, regular prayer rule. As the years have gone by, I have been able to freely take the language of these prayers and form my own prayers as needed. The language of prayer in the Byzantine tradition is a very valuable gift of grace to have.

Christ is Risen!!

There are two books by Metropolitan Anthony mentioned at the link turaŭski included in his post above. I have both and highly recommend finding and reading them.