St. John Climacus on the stage of prayer and the place of psalmody or “praying with the lips”.
clipped from ministries.tliquest.net
The method by which he who wishes it may raise himself from off the earth and rise to heaven is as follows: first, he must wrestle with his mind and tame his passions; second, he must practice psalmody, that is, pray with the lips, for when passions are subdued, prayer quite naturally brings sweetness and enjoyment even to the tongue and is accepted by God as pleasing to Him; third, he must pray mentally; fourth, he must rise to contemplation.
“The first is appropriate to beginners; the second, to those who have already achieved some measure of success; the third to those drawing nigh to the last rungs of achievement, and the fourth to the perfect…
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Filed under: Chant & Prayer, Desert Fathers, Psalmody
