A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO “UNCEASING PRAYER”. THE POLEMIC CAUSED BY “CANDID TALES OF A WANDERER TO HIS SPIRITUAL FATHER”

Abstract

In the Orthodox patristic tradition of hesychasm, the spiritual process is presented as staged exercises directed to God, associated with the movement of the practitioner’s mind and heart, accompanied by the deepening of his consciousness of repentance at each stage. From the perspective of the hesychastic anthropology, the art of unceasing prayer, which is the most important component of spiritual practice, plays a key role in the functioning of the entire complex of spiritual mechanisms. “Candid Tales of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father”, the Russian spiritual classic of the late 19th century, caused controversy in the early 21st century about the practice of “unceasing prayer”, which again drew public attention to such Теория, стратегии 63 traditional issues as practitioner qualifications, consciousness of repentance in the spiritual life, gradualness of exercise and the frequency of prayer. In this article, we will attempt to explain “unceasing prayer” in the ascetic patristic tradition and its relevance to hesychasm today by parsing arguments from both sides of the controversy.