The Prayer of St. Ephraim - Part One
O Lord and Master of my life,
Do not permit me the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.
From Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent:
Why does this short and simple prayer occupy such an important position in the entire lenten worship? Because it enumerates in a unique way all the negative and positive elements of repentance and constitutes, so to speak, a “check list” for our individual lenten effort. This effort is aimed first at our liberation from some fundamental spiritual diseases which shape our life and make it virtually impossible for us even to start turning ourselves to God.
The basic disease is sloth (laziness). It is that strange laziness and passivity of our entire being which always pushes us “down” rather than “up” — which constantly convinces us that no change is possible and therefore desirable. It is in fact a deeply rooted cynicism which to every spiritual challenge responds “what for?” and makes our life one tremendous spiritual waste. It is the root of all sin becaues it poisons the spiritual energy at its very source.
The result of sloth is faint-heartedness (despair). It is the state of despondency which all spiritual Fathers considered the greatest danger for the soul. Despondency is the impossibility for man to see anything good or positive; it is the reduction of everything to negativism and pessimism. It is truly a demonic power in us because the Devil is fundamentally a liar. He lies to man about God and about the world; he fills life with darkness and negation. Despondency is the suicide of the soul because when man is possessed by it he is absolutely unable to see the light and to desire it.
Laziness, Sloth
Let us awake from sleep, while we are still in the body, let us sign over ourselves and mourn over ourselves from our whole heart day and night, to be delivered from the terrible torment, groaning, weeping and anguish which will have no end. Let us beware of the wide gate and the broad way leading to destruction, although a great many go in thereat; but let us go in at the strait gate and the narrow way which lead unto life, and few there are which go through it. Those who follow the latter way are real doers, who receive the reward of their labors with joy and inherit the kingdom. As to those who are not yet quite ready to approach it, I implore them not to be negligent while there is time, lest in the hour of need they find themselves without oil and with no one who would agree to sell it. For this happened to the five foolish virgins who found no one from whom to buy it. Then they cried, weeping, “Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not” (Matthew 25: 11-12). And this happened to them for no other reason than laziness. Later they woke up and began to busy themselves, but it was of no avail, for the Master of the house got up and closed the door, as it is written.
~ Anthony the Great, “Early Fathers From the Philokalia,” by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer, (London: Faber and Faber, 1954), pp. 52-54, c/o Gleanings
***
A beginning monk, who went to a certain elder to confess, posed, among others, this question: “Why, Father, do I fall so often into sloth?”
“You lack the faith which makes you see God everywhere; for this reason you can be careless and lazy about your salvation,” the discerning elder wisely explained.
* * *
The brothers of a certain skete gathered in a circle around one of the Fathers there to hear spiritual words from his mouth.
“Why is the soul not attracted by the promises of God, but more easily swept away by the deceptive things of the world?” someone asked.
“Because it does not have faith,” answered the elder. “When the soul, through faith, has tasted of heavenly good things, it is impossible for it to be tempted by the vanity of the world.”
~ from an Ancient Desert Father
Despair
“This is the way the demons work; after causing a soul to fall into sin, then they cast us into despair to destroy us completely. The demons are always saying to the soul: ‘When will his name die and be destroyed? (Ps. 40:6). If the soul is one of sobriety, it will answer them and say ‘I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord’ (Ps. 117:17).
~ An Egyptian Elder
***
It is always possible to make a new start by means of repentance. “You fell,” it is written, “now arise”(cf. Prov. 24:16). And if you fall again, then rise again, without despairing at all of your salvation, no matter what happens. So long as you do not surrender yourself willingly to the enemy, your patient endurance, combined with self-reproach, will suffice for your salvation. “For at one time we ourselves went astray in our folly and disobedience,” says St. Paul. “… Yet He saved us, not because of any good things we had done, but in His mercy” (Tit. 3:3,5).
~ St. Peter of Damaskos, Philokalia, Vol. 3
***
When we are in trouble or despair or have lost hope, we should do what David did: pour out our hearts to God and tell Him of our needs and troubles, just as they are (cf. Ps. 142:2). It is because He can deal with us wisely that we confess to God: He can make our troubles easy to bear, if this is for our benefit, and can save us from the dejection which destroys and corrupts.
~ St. Hesychius the Priest, Philokalia, Vol. I., c/o Gleanings
