You say that you do not understand how the saints in Heaven can hear us when we pray to them. Think, then, of the rays of the sun – how they come down from heaven to us, shedding light upon everything throughout the earth. The saints in the spiritual world are like the rays of the sun in the material world. God is the eternal life-giving Sun, and the saints are the rays of this all-knowing Sun. Just as the eyes of the Lord look constantly upon the earth and its inhabitants, so also the eyes of the saints cannot but turn in the same direction...
The heart is the eye of the human being. The purer the heart is, the quicker, further, and clearer it can see. But with the saints of God this spiritual eye is refined, even during their lifetime, to the highest degree of purity possible for man, and after their death, when they have become united with God, through God's grace it becomes still clearer and wider in the limits of its vision. Therefore, the saints can see very clearly, widely, and far: they see our spiritual wants; they see and hear all those who call upon them with their whole heart... How easy it is to communicate with the saints! St. Paisios on Praying at Home Silence greatly helps in spiritual life. It is good for one to practice silence for about an hour a day: to test himself, to acknowledge his passions and to fight in order to cut them off and purify his heart. It is very good if there is a quiet room in the house which gives him the feeling of a monastic cell. There, “in secret,” he is able to do his spiritual maintenance, to study, and to pray. A little spiritual study done before prayer helps greatly. The soul warms up and the mind is transported to the spiritual realm. That’s why, when a person has many distractions during the day, he should rejoice if he has ten minutes for prayer, or even two minutes to read something, so as to drive away distractions. —St. Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994), from Family Life  Remember God, that He too might always remember you; and when He has kept you in His memory and preserved you safe to the end, you will receive every blessing from Him. Do not forget Him, your mind being distracted with futile concerns, lest He forget you in the time of warfare. When you enjoy abundance, be obedient to Him, so that in the time of your afflictions you may have boldness before Him through the heart's preserving prayer to Him. Seat yourself before Him continually, keeping the memory of Him in your heart, lest having lingered outside His memory, you are unable to speak boldly when you enter before Him, because boldness comes from constant conversing with Him and from much prayer.
~ St. Isaac The Syrian “You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. Someone who is busy trying to understand himself has no time to gaze at the shortcomings of others. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another person can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace.”
~ St Seraphim of Sarov |
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