Prayer - presence and work of the Holy Spirit in man[1]

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed the year 2022 as the year of prayer in the life of the Church and the Christian. Also, in the context of the 1,000th years anniversary of the passage to the Lord of Saint Simeon the New Theologian († 1022) and the 300th years anniversary of the birth of Saint Paisius from Neamț († 1722), the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed the year 2022 as the Commemorative Year of the Hesychast Saints Simeon the New Theologian, Grigorie Palama and Paisie from Neamț.

Prayer is the foundation of man's life and spiritual growth; it is saving and sanctifying, because it fills us with the presence of the All-Merciful God.

Holy Scripture is rich in countless exhortations to pray. In the Old Testament, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the wise Jesus, the son of Sirach, says about the praying man: "His heart, in the morning, lifts it up to the Lord, the One who made him, and before the Highest he will pray. He will open his mouth in prayer, and he will pray for his sins" (Ecclesiastes 39, 6-7).

In the New Testament, we see the Lord Jesus Christ participating both in synagogue services (cf. Mark 1, 21) and praying in solitude (cf. Luke 5, 16). The Savior taught His disciples the Our Father prayer, the source of inspiration for all other prayers. In the Pauline epistles, one can find numerous advices and requests for the multiplication of prayer. Thus, the Holy Apostle Paul urged the Christian community in Ephesus: "Pray for me also, so that I may be given the word, when I open my mouth, to boldly make known the mystery of the Gospel" (Ephesians 6, 19), while what he wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica: "We thank God always for all of you and remember you in our prayers" (1 Thessalonians 1, 2).

Prayer, as the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in man, brings comfort, peace, and joy; it unites us with the Holy Trinity, the source of joy and eternal life, as well as with the Church of Christ from all times and from all places. Without prayer there is no Church and no Christian life. When we lose the joy and peace of the soul; this is a sure sign that we no longer pray as we should or as much as we should.

The Orthodox Christian must pray as much as possible because prayer helps us to face the hardships of life and to taste the strength and joy of the Resurrection and eternal life even in this world. Prayer is the victory over man's alienation from God, from himself and from his peers; it is a source of communion and becomes the life of our life.

In the context of the restrictions caused by the global pandemic situation in recent years, as well as the problems created as a result of the war in Ukraine, it was found necessary to emphasize the practice of prayer in the life of the Church and believers and to intensify the fulfillment of good deeds. The faithful, as members of the mystical Body of Christ, are united by grace to each other, the suffering of one being borne by the entire ecclesial community, according to the apostolic exhortation: "Bear one another's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6, 2), as well as according to the spiritual advice: "Pray for one another" (Jacob 5, 16). In this sense, Father Professor Dumitru Stăniloae says that prayer "can also be considered as a means of transcending people from the life closed in selfishness and in the world to the life of communication in God, as His kingdom. The prayers indicate such a transcendence, or an exit of man closed in selfishness, towards the Triune God, or of love, even when the goods necessary for earthly life are requested in prayers, as conditions of preparation for the kingdom of God."[2]

Starting from the exhortation of the Holy Apostle Paul: "Pray without ceasing!" (1 Thessalonians 5, 17), under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and through the spiritual practice of the Holy Fathers, the prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner", called both the "prayer of the mind" and the "prayer of the heart" has become the best way to enlighten the soul and sanctify the Christian's life.

Also, through the practice of unceasing prayer, hesychasm was born in the Church, the longing for peace and sobriety, or the state of peace and spiritual joy in contrast to the agitated world.[3]

That is why, with much paternal love, we urge all Romanians who live far from the country to remain united through continuous prayer with God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and, at the same time, with their loved ones remaining in Romania.

Romanian migrants in different areas of the world are called to value and cultivate prayer in the ecclesial community, as well as in the family, prayer being the source of pure love towards God, loved ones and fellow human beings.

At the same time, we urge the ministers of the Romanian Orthodox Holy Altars outside Romania to multiply the prayer and the missionary-pastoral activities, to preserve and cultivate the Orthodox Christian faith and the Romanian spiritual and cultural values.

We pray to the Most Merciful God to bless all Romanians, from Romania and abroad, and to give them peace and health, help and joy, for many happy years!

With much appreciation and paternal blessing,

† DANIEL

Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

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[1] Message of His Beatitude DANIEL, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, addressed on the occasion of Romanian Migrants' Sunday (August 21, 2022).

[2] Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru STĂNILOAE. Spirituality and communion in the Orthodox Liturgy. Ed. IBMBOR, Bucharest, 2004, p. 9.

[3] See: André SCRIMA. On Hesychasm (trans. by Maria-Cornelia Ică, Anca Manolescu, Toader Saulea and Sorana Corneanu). Ed. Humanitas: Bucharest 2003, p. 74-75.