by Bishop Irenei –
The life of prayer has always been, and will always be, the fundamental life of the Christian. Without prayer, we have no breath, no spiritual pulse.
But to those ailing from illnesses in every age, the Church always prescribes the same medicine: the only medicine that leads to life. Hearts that, in the midst of darkness and sorrow, find repentance and enter into the fullness of divine communion—these are hearts that heal the world.
The life of prayer, which leads to such repentant transfiguration into the life of God, is always a life that the world most needs, for it is the avenue that brings true Life to the very place where death seems to abound, and transforms it into something greater. Something that rises out of death. Something that gives up temporal sorrows for the eternal consolation of everlasting joy.
The life of prayer has always been, and will always be, the fundamental life of the Christian. Without prayer, we have no breath, no spiritual pulse. But when we learn to pray—even if we make only the most rudimentary beginning, fumbling over ourselves and struggling like children—revived breath comes into our lungs and our blood starts to flow anew. Our soul tastes of uncreated, holy things, the very things that have always been meant to be our “food and drink” as children of God our Creator; and from this first taste the soul longs ever after for more. It is prayer that lifts us up and calls us to higher things; and by the Lord’s mysterious love, it is itself the means by which these things come to us.
As always, the means to this higher Life in Christ are eminently practical. Prayer is amongst the deepest theological mysteries of the heart, of the intercommunion of God and man; yet it is not the reserve of only the rightly educated, the sufficiently intellectual. It is the pathway into the Kingdom of God that is open to all, accessible to the old and the young, the wise, and the simple.
If we are to attain it, we must make a beginning: a good, solid beginning that starts with taking stock of our lives, recognizing our true spiritual condition, and then receiving the guidance from the Church for the steps we must take from there—the steps that will lead us from where we are, wherever we are, to the greater ascents of spiritual life. These steps are often eminently practical, seemingly “basic,” but they lead us to great heights, if only we will follow them!
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Excerpts from The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer by Bishop Irenei . (Minor organizational edits to optimize readability and emphasize key points made by Chris Banescu.)
