Evagrius Ponticus

Chapters on Prayer
Sr. Pascale-Dominique Nau
Introduction, English Translation and Notes

Rome
2012
E-book;
http://www.lulu.com/content/ebook/evagrius-ponticus%e2%80%99chapters-on-prayer/13092961

ISBN:

978-1-291-01733-5
@ 2012, Sr. Dominique Pascale-Nau, Rome.

Introduction
You Want to Pray
Someone once noted that before Adam
sinned, he prayed as he breathed, in other
words he continually united with God in
thought and life. The union with God was, so
to speak, his natural environment. That
was before the fall, before the transgression
of God's will, which broke this union. The
result, for Adam, of this separation caused
by the deceit of the serpent, was inner
turmoil manifested in the fear of God and
the accusation of the other. However, as
Evagrius stated in another work: the mind,
by its very nature, is made for prayer (1).
...
Evagrius, in his sentences on prayer, reveals
the dynamic connections between, on one
hand, the pictures in the mind of the man
who wants to pray and, on the other, the
passions and common attitudes of the mind
and the heart. However, it is only when
pictures of both the mind and the spirit are
fully adapted to the light of God that the
mans
attitudes
and
activities
are
accomplished in perfect harmony. These
pictures are processed and purified by the
contemplation of the divine light, which is

reflected in the soul. Indeed, a man cant be

purified from the outside. The purification
and rectification of his judgment and
conduct are the work God is does in an
intimate mutual relationship with him (2).

How to read the sentences

Who is Evagrius Ponticus?
The Treatise on Prayer

In conclusion
I wont present a complete study of this
writing
here.
So,
to conclude
this
introduction, I would like to invite the
readers to pay close attention to some points
they could deepen in their meditation:

Notes the introduction

(1) Praktikos, no. 49, quoted in: Evagrius Ponticus, The
Praktikos, Chapters On Prayer Translated, with an
introduction and notes, by John Eudes Bamberger,
ocso (Cistercian Publications, Spencer, MA, 1970) p. 47.

PROLOGUE
I was burning with fever of the passions
when you, as usual, gave some recreation
with one of your divine letters: you
comforted my exhausted mind with the most
diverting requests, thus joyfully imitating
our great teacher and master (1). And that
was not surprising! You have always sought
to deserve truly outstanding qualities, just
as the blessed Jacob did. Indeed, like him,
after having rendered good services to
acquire Rachel and having received Leah,
you also aspire to receive the desired Rachel,
for whom you have accomplished another
seven years (cf. Gen 29).

(1) According to I. Hausherr, op. cit., p. 9, no. 3, he is

probably referring to the spiritual father who introduced
him to the monastic life and gave him the habit; he
indeed deserves par excellence the name of teacher and
doctor; Bamberger, op. cit. p. 52, that he has in mind
St. Macarius the Great.

As for me, I could not refuse to admit that,

even after working all night, I caught
nothing (cf. Lk 5:4 ff.). Yet to fulfill your
request, I threw the nets out again and I
took a caught a great quantity of fish - not
very big ones, I think it, but one hundred
fifty three (Jn 21:11), and Im sending them
to you, as you asked, in a the same form the

same number of sentences, in the basket of

charity (cf. Mt 15:37; Mk 8:8).
I admire you and greatly envy your excellent
intention, (2) because you really want these
chapters on prayer, and not only those,
which are within your reach and consist of a
letter written with ink, but especially those
which reside in the spirit thanks to love and
forgetfulness of offenses received.
(2) The Latin term proposito means resolution or
intention, and is used to refer to consecrated life.

...
You know, then, how to keep the fruit of
meekness and charity for your true brothers.
So, pray for me in my illness that I may be
cured and finally take up my bed and walk
(Mk 2:11) with the grace of Christ our true
God, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Chapters
1 - If you want to prepare an aromatic
perfume, youll mix, according to the Law,
these spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and

pure frankincense (cf. Exod 30:3435). It's

all four virtues. If they are complete and
equal, the mind will be free from traps.
2 - The soul purified by the fullness of
virtues gives equilibrium to the mind and
makes it able to remain in stable condition it
desires.
3 - Prayer is intimate conversation of the
mind with God. What should be the state of
mind so that it may reach the Lord , without
turning back, and converse with Him
without intermediaries?

Bibliography
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Jeremy Driscoll, Steps to spiritual perfection.

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