The art of prayer in the Philokalia experience of the elder Aimilianos (Vafeidis) of Simonopetra

Abstract

The Elder Aimilianos defines prayer as charisma, heavenly joyful meeting and communion of God with a man. The art of prayer in the Philokalia experience of the elder is dependent of the state of our mind. It should be clean, deprived of any extraneous content in waiting for the coming of God. Real prayer rejects all sadness and pusillanimity. There are following frames, in which prayer can come into being: peace, silence, peace of mind, absolute calmness and being silent. In fact, prayer is not done by a man itself. It is only begun by a man, only wanted by a man. That is Holy Spirit, who fills it. Prayer is our everyday life obligation. One may say about a success during prayer, only when it becomes our place of refuge. In his teaching, the Elder distinguishes between internal and external factors, which have influence on prayer. First of them are: condition of our spirit and its relationship with God. In that case, prayer is a homily of the mind, breath of the spirit, bowing to God. The second factors are: knowledge about various ways of prayer, necessary to the mystical inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We are talking here about participation in Divine Liturgy, constant prayer, Jesus prayer, praying rule, consideration in concentration and silence. Prayer is not isolated itself, but is closely related to participation in services, thanksgiving, vigil, in order to overcome the bodily passions. At the same time, the elder warns, that prayer does not become a reason for isolation, because in that case, it will be lying and insincere. Prayer is not mental work, which is tiresome, but it is full of dynamism directed to God.