圣帕伊希长老论祈祷1（阿甲Youtube频道分享）

圣帕伊希（St. Paisios the Athonite）生平与著作

圣帕伊希（Ἅγιος Παΐσιος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης，1924–1994）是二十世纪最受敬仰的东正教修士之一，生于小亚细亚法拉萨（Farasa, Cappadocia），在希腊修女院苏罗蒂（Souroti Monastery）荣归天家。他以谦卑、祈祷和洞察力著称，被信徒称为“现代阿索斯的先知”。2015年，君士坦丁堡普世牧首巴尔多禄茂一世正式册封他为圣人。

一、早年岁月（1924–1949）

1924年7月25日，他出生于法拉萨的一个虔诚信仰家庭，原名阿尔塞尼奥斯·埃泽尼皮迪斯（Arsenios Eznepidis）。他的洗礼神父正是当地圣人——圣阿尔塞尼奥斯·法拉萨奥提斯（St. Arsenios of Cappadocia），并为他取同名。那一年，因希土人口交换，法拉萨全村被迫迁往希腊北部的**科诺尼察（Konitsa）地区，定居于名为阿尔西斯托（Agiou Varvaras）的小镇。 他从小敬畏上帝，性情安静，常在森林中祈祷、阅读《圣经》与圣徒传。青年时期做过木匠，以劳动维生，却将大部分收入赠予穷人。 1945年他应征入伍，在希腊内战中担任通信兵。他以勇敢、克己著称，不愿开枪伤人，常在夜间独自祈祷，军中战友都视他为“神父般的人”。这段经历深刻塑造了他对牺牲与服事的理解。 退伍后，他曾短暂思考是否入世成家，但内心更强烈地感到修道召唤。他先到卡拉克洛修道院（Karakalou Monastery）**探访修士生活，决意献身上帝。

二、修道初期与圣山岁月（1950–1966）

1950年，阿尔塞尼奥斯正式进入圣山阿索斯（Mount Athos），成为见习修士见习。他最初在**埃斯菲格梅努修道院（Esphigmenou Monastery）生活，以严格的禁食、体力劳动和彻夜祈祷闻名。修士们称他“天使一般的人”。 1954年，他被剪发(Tonsure)¹成为为修士，取名阿韦尔基奥斯（Averkios）。不久后因健康原因离开，搬到菲洛塞乌修道院（Philotheou Monastery）。1956年，他在此重新受 剪发(Tonsure)成为修士，取名帕伊希（Paisios），意为“温柔的仆人”。 在菲洛塞乌，他学习修道传统与“耶稣祷文”，也深受长老（Geronta）西麦翁的指导。 1958年，修道院派他前往北希腊的斯托米奥修道院（Stomio Monastery, Konitsa）**重建废弃院所。此后五年，他独自劳作，砍木、修屋、刻圣像，吸引许多青年求教。他常步行数十公里探访贫困山村，送去食物与祈祷。 这段时期，他成为众人敬仰的灵父，但仍坚持简朴生活，睡在木板上，饮食极少，常以泪祈祷。据同辈记载，他时常在祈祷中进入静默沉思状态，被人发现泪流满面。

三、隐修与灵性成熟（1966–1988）

1966年，帕伊希再度返回圣山，选择在更偏远的**卡普萨拉隐修处（Kapsala Hermitage）**独居祈祷。他拒绝担任神父职分，自称“主的小仆人”，以书信与口传指导访客。 70年代，他的名声逐渐传开。朝圣者、神职人员、大学生乃至无神论者都慕名而来。他从不说教，只以简短话语启发人心。例如，当有人问“为何世界混乱”时，他答：“因为我们想改造别人，却不先洁净自己。” 1979年起，他迁居帕纳古达隐修所（Panagouda Hermitage），成为他后半生的居处。这里成为灵修指导中心，无数访客记录下他的话语、故事与奇迹：有人被治愈，亦有人在他劝勉后重拾信仰。 他特别关怀青年，常说：“不要害怕世界的噪音，只要心里留一块净土让上帝居住。”他也预见教会将面临信仰冷淡与技术诱惑的时代。 1988年，他被诊断出肺癌。即使病重，他仍拒绝特殊待遇，说：“病痛是上帝的良药，使人记得天堂。”

四、晚年与安息（1989–1994）

疾病令他多次住院，但他始终以感恩之心接受。修女们记录到，他在病房中仍不断祈祷、安慰他人。 1993年，他搬到塞萨洛尼基附近的**圣若望修女院（Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Souroti）**静养。 1994年7月12日凌晨，他平静安息，手中握着念珠，面容安详，被修女们形容为“像入睡一般”。 同日，他安葬在修女院院内墓园。此地迅速成为朝圣之所，每年七月无数信徒前来祈祷。 2015年1月13日，君士坦丁堡普世牧首正式宣告他为圣人，称他为“现代世界中谦卑与爱心的光”。

五、主要著作与传记

虽然帕伊希本人不写书，但其弟子与修女们整理录音与笔记，出版了多部重要作品：

1. 《圣帕伊希传》（Saint Paisios of Mount Athos） – 作者：修士司祭以撒（Hieromonk Isaac）详尽记录其生平、书信、奇迹与遗言，是最权威的传记。
2. 《灵修劝言集》（Spiritual Counsels Series） – 苏罗蒂修女院编包含六卷：
   • 《为当代人之痛与爱》（With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man）
   • 《灵性觉醒》（Spiritual Awakening）
   • 《属灵奋斗》（Spiritual Struggle）
   • 《家庭生活》（Family Life）
   • 《情欲与美德》（Passions and Virtues）
   • 《论祈祷》(On Prayer)每卷均为他口述谈话与书信汇编，是理解其思想的核心文献。
3. 《上师、青年人与长老帕伊希》（The Gurus, the Young Man and Elder Paisios）作者狄奥尼修斯·法拉修提斯以自传形式记述他从东方神秘主义归向基督信仰的过程，帕伊希在其中扮演关键角色。
4. 《圣帕伊希：生平与奇迹》（Saint Paisios: Life and Miracles）以信徒见证整理的简明传记，强调他代祷与奇迹事件。

六、影响与纪念

圣帕伊希的形象遍布东正教世界。他被视为“现代时代的圣父”，代表信仰在科技与动荡中的温柔力量。 希腊、塞尔维亚、俄罗斯、罗马尼亚等国都有以他命名的教堂与慈善机构。2015年后，他被正式纳入东正教年历，纪念日为7月12日。 在苏罗蒂修女院，他的墓前常有鲜花、信件与蜡烛。无数人称在那里获得安慰与医治。 他的言语至今在网络、讲道与青年团契中广泛引用，成为东正教灵修复兴的重要源泉。

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圣帕伊希生平行程图

凡例

• 本文译自：Saint Paisios The Athonite Spiritual Counsels Volume VI On Prayer, Vasilika, Thessaloniki, Greece: Holy Hesychasterion, 2022.

Prayer is Conversation with God 祈祷是与上帝交谈

Blessed are those who have tuned into the Heavenly Station

• Geronda,’ what does prayer mean to you?

• 长老²，祈祷对您而言意味着什么？

I send a signal; I ask for help. I continuously ask for help from Christ, from Panaghia, from the Saints, for myself and for others.If I do not ask for help,it will not be given to me. I remember a time during the Greek Civil War when one thousand, six hundred guerrillas had closely surrounded us. All together, we were but one hundred and eighty soldiers barricaded behind an outcropping of rock. If we were to have been captured, they would have killed us. I kept trying to set up an antenna for the wireless in order to contact Central. I could not; the antenna was repeatedly cut down by the incessant gunfire. The captain shouted at me, “Leave that alone! Come here! Help us heave a crate or two of grenades!” At the same time,he kept making the rounds of the machine gun nests to inspect them. As soon as he left,I ran back to the wireless. Until he gave the orders, I kept trying to set up the antenna and also running back to help,so that he would not shout. I finally set up the antenna with a shovel and a stick, and managed to make contact. I said but two words. That was it! In the morning, the air force came and saved us. Is it a small matter that one hundred and eighty men surrounded by one thousand, six hundred soldiers were, in the end,saved? That incident made me realise the great mission of the monastic: to help through his prayer. Worldly people say, “ What do monks do? Why don’t they come into the world and help the community?" It is as if they were telling a wireless operator,“What are you doing there with that wireless? Drop the wireless;grab a gun and get over here to fight." We receive no benefit whatsoever by communicating with all of the stations of the entire world if we do not make contact with God and have heavenly communication with Him in order to ask for and receive His help. Blessed are those who have tuned into the Heavenly Station and remain,reverently,on the same frequency with God.

我发出信号；我寻求帮助。我不断向基督、圣母玛利亚³、诸圣求助，为自己也为他人。若不求助，便不会获得帮助。我记得希腊内战期间⁴，一千六百名游击队员曾将我们团团围住。我们仅有180名士兵，蜷缩在岩石突出的掩体后。若被俘虏，必遭屠戮。我不断尝试架设无线电天线联络总部，却屡屡受挫——天线总被密集枪火击落。队长厉声喝止我：“别管那玩意儿！过来！帮我们搬几箱手榴弹！”与此同时，他还在机枪阵地间巡视检查。他刚离开，我就冲回无线电台。只要他没下令，我就反复尝试架设天线，又跑回去帮忙，只为避免被他吼叫。最终我用铁锹和木棍架起天线，勉强接通了信号。只说了两个字便结束了通话。次日清晨，空军前来解救。一百八十名被一千六百名士兵包围的士兵最终获救，这难道是小事吗？此事让我领悟到修道者的伟大使命：以祈祷相助。俗人常问：“修士终日何为？为何不入世帮助他人？”这好比对无线电报员说：“你抱着电台干啥？扔下电台，拿枪来打仗！” 若不能与上帝建立联系，与他进行属天的交流来祈求并获得祂的帮助，纵使与全世界所有电台通联也毫无益处。那些调谐至天国频道，并始终虔诚地与上帝保持同频共振的人，是何等有福啊！

基督赐予我们与祂对话的可能 Christ gives us the potential o f talking with Him

• Geronda, the issue o f prayer is the source o f both myyearning and my anguish. I am so far behind. What am I to do?

• 长老啊，祈祷之事既是我渴望的源泉，亦是我痛苦的根源。我落后得太远了，我该怎么办？

• Wherever you are, you should talk spontaneously to Christ, to Panaghia, to the Angels, to the Saints, and tell them whatever you want. Say, “My Christ, my Panaghia,You know my inclination. Help me!” Just so, simply and humbly, you should constantly speak to them about whatever concerns you and then afterwards, you should say the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

• 无论你在哪，都应随时随地地与基督、圣母、天使、圣徒交谈，向他们倾诉心中所想。说：“我的基督，我的圣母，您知晓我的想法。请帮助我！”就这么简单而谦卑地，不断向他们倾诉你的忧虑，之后再诵念 耶稣祷文：“主耶稣基督，怜悯我。”

• Geronda, I cannot pray in a focused manner.

• 长老啊，我无法专注祈祷。

• When you pray, you should think about Who it is you are talking with. You are conversing with God! Is that a small thing? How very careful one is when he speaks to an official! He is careful not to say anything foolish; now and then, he is even tongue-tied, out o f reticence. Well then, if one is so careful when he talks with another human being, how much more careful must he be when he talks with God? You see, even a small child w ill reservedly approach his father or some elderly person in order to talk with them. And if the child is going to speak to his teacher, whom he even fears a little, he will approach him even more reservedly. So, how is it that we cannot be aware o f what we are doing when we speak to Christ Himself, to Panaghia, and to the Saints?

• 祈祷时，你应当思量自己正与何人对话。你正在与上帝交谈！这难道是小事吗？人们对官员说话时何等谨慎！生怕说错话，有时甚至因拘谨而结巴。既然与凡人交谈尚且如此谨慎，与上帝对话岂不更当小心翼翼？你看，即便是幼童与父亲或长者交谈时，也会保持距离。若要向老师说话——那令他略感畏惧的老师——他便会更加拘谨。可我们为何在与基督本人、圣母玛利亚及诸圣交谈时，竟不知自己在做什么？

• Geronda, before I had entered the Monasteryy, I had associated monasticism with prayer. Now, however, I am encountering great difficulty whilst praying; I consider it to be the most demanding and wearying task.

• 长老啊，修道前，我修道生活与祈祷相联。如今却在祈祷时遭遇巨大困难，觉得这是最艰辛疲惫的任务。

• You are a philologist, are you not? You like to talk and are not wearied by talking with people. However, because it seems difficult to you, you get weary whilst talking with Christ, Who deigns to talk with you. Is that not a grave matter? It is as if one says, “Oh, it’s too bad that I now have to go and talk with the king. I’m not in the mood; but what can I do? I must go.” Christ gives us the potential o f constantly talking with Him through prayer - yet we do not wish to do so? That is dreadful! And the extraordinary thing is that He wants us to talk with Him in order to help us, but we, we cannot be bothered!

• 你不是语言学家⁵吗？你喜欢交谈，与人对话从不厌倦。可当你觉得与基督对话困难时，竟对祂降尊纡贵与你交谈感到疲惫。这岂非严重之事？好比有人抱怨：“唉，真倒霉，现在必须去见国王。我毫无兴致，但又能如何？非去不可。”基督赐予我们通过祈祷与祂持续对话的可能——我们却不愿如此？这太可怕了！更不可思议的是，祂渴望与我们交谈以施予帮助，而我们却嫌麻烦！

• Geronda, I often fall into the habit o f talkativeness and then I feel bad about it.

• 长老啊，我常陷入喋喋不休的习惯，事后又深感愧疚。

• Isn’t it better to talk to Christ? Whoever talks to Christ never regrets it. Talkativeness is, o f course, a passion, but if you utilise it spiritually, it can become a prerequisite for prayer. Some people can’t even be bothered to talk. You do have a certain strength within you and an urge to talk. If you utilise that spiritually, your soul can be sanctified. Try talking about only what is absolutely necessary with people, and talking ceaselessly with Christ. So very interesting and so very sweet is it to talk with Christ, that as you begin your humble conversation with Him, you will not take any notice o f what is happening around you. For me, even spiritual conversations with people weary me; however, I sense great comfort in prayer. Prayer is conversation with God. At times, I regard those who lived during the time of Christ as fortunate, because they saw and heard Christ Himself and were able to talk to Him. Then, the thought occurs to me that we are in a better state, because they could not engage Christ for long time, whereas we, through prayer, can talk constantly with Him.

• 与基督交谈岂不更好？与基督交谈者永不后悔。爱说闲话固然是一种情欲，但若将其灵性化，便能成为祈祷的先决条件。有些人连开口都嫌麻烦。你体内蕴藏着某种力量，想要说话，若能灵性化运用，灵魂便能得蒙圣化。试着只与人谈论绝对必要之事，却与基督永不停歇地交谈。与基督对话何其美妙甘甜，当你谦卑地开启对话时，便会全然忘却周遭动静。对我而言，即便属灵的交谈也令人疲惫，唯独在祷告中得享极大安慰。祷告即是与上帝的对话。有时我羡慕基督时代的信徒，因他们亲眼见过基督、亲耳听过祂的教诲，更能与祂交谈。但转念又觉我们更蒙恩典——他们与基督相处的时间有限，而我们借着祷告，能与祂持续相交。

对祈祷的渴望 The yearning for prayer

• Geronda, how should I pray?

• 长老，我该如何祈祷？

• You should feel as a small child does, and you should feel that God is your Father, and you should ask Him for whatever you need. When you speak like that with God, you will never want to disengage yourself from His presence, because only in God can one find assurance, solace - the inexpressible love, along with its divine affection.

• 你应当怀着孩童般的纯真，当知上帝是你的父亲，并向祂祈求所需的一切。当你如此与上帝交谈时，你将永远不愿离开祂的临在，因为唯有在上帝那里，人才能找到确据、慰藉——那难以言喻的爱，以及祂神圣的眷顾。

Prayer is to place Christ within our heart, to love Him with all of our being. “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,”⁶ as Sacred Scripture says. When one loves God and communicates with Him, no earthly things move him. He becomes like a madman. Offer a madman the best music; he is not moved by it. Show him the best works of art; he pays them no attention whatsoever. Offer him the best foods, the best clothing, the best fragrances; he shows no interest in them; he is in a world of his own. That is how it is with one who communicates with the heavenly world; he is glued to Heaven and cannot be detached from there by any means. Just as a child cannot be wrested from his mother’s embrace, nor can one who has come to understand the meaning of prayer be wrested from it. What does the child feel within his mother’s embrace? Only one who senses the presence of God, and senses him self as a small child, can comprehend that.

祈祷是将基督安置于心，以全人爱祂。正如圣经所言：“你要尽心、尽性、尽力、尽意爱主你的天主。” 当人爱慕天主并与祂相交时，尘世万物都无法撼动他。他宛若疯子。听到绝妙乐音，他无动于衷；展示艺术杰作，他全然不顾；奉上珍馐美馔、华服美妆、馥郁芬芳，他都不屑一顾——他已栖居于自己的世界。与天主交融之人亦是如此，他与天国紧密相连，任何力量都无法将他从那里剥离。正如婴儿无法从母亲怀抱中被夺走，领悟祈祷真谛之人亦无法被剥离祈祷。孩子在母怀中的感受是怎样的呢？只有那感受到上帝临在，感觉自己是个小孩子的人能理解这点。

I have known people who, when they pray, feel as small children do. And if one should hear these people when they are praying, he will say that they are small children. If one should also see the movements they make, he will say that they have gone mad! These people call upon God in the same simple and bold manner of a little child who runs to tug at his father’s sleeve and says, “I don’t know what you are going to do, but you will do what I am asking of you.”

我知道有人祈祷时，感觉自己像小孩子。当人听到这种人祈祷时，就会说他们是小孩子。若是再看他们的举止，就必惊呼他们疯了！『因为』这些人呼求上帝的方式，恰似幼童奔向父亲衣袖拽扯时那般单纯无畏：“我虽不知你将如何行事，但你定会照我所求而行。”

• Geronda, is it possible that the longing for prayer is created by an emotional need for communication, for solace?

• 长老啊，对祈祷的渴求是否源于情感需求——渴望交流与慰藉？

• Even if it is created by a good emotional need for God, is that not a good thing? But it seems that you become forgetful and run to pray only when you are in need. Of course, that is why God allows for various needs and difficulties - so that we can take refuge in Him - but it is better that the child runs to the father or the mother out of love. Can you imagine having to force a child who knows how much his parents love him into the embrace of his mother or father? God is an affectionate Father and He loves us. That is why we should yearn for the hour of prayer to arrive and never have our fill o f conversing with Him

• 即便这种渴求源于对上帝的善意情感需求，难道不是美事吗？但你似乎变得健忘，只在需要时才奔向祈祷。当然，上帝允许各种需求与困境存在，正是为了让我们在他那里避难——但孩童若能出于爱奔向父母，岂不更好？试想若强迫深知父母慈爱的孩子投入母亲或父亲的怀抱，那该是何等光景？天主是慈爱的父亲，祂深爱着我们。正因如此，我们应当渴盼祈祷时刻的到来，与祂的对话永不嫌足。

CHAPTER TWO 第二章

The Need for Prayer 祷告的必要性

We should feel prayer as a need 我们应当将祷告视为必需之事

• Geronda, I do not have deep-seated faith and I feel weak.

• 长老，我缺乏根深蒂固的信仰，感到软弱无力。

• Do you know what you should do? Just as a small child hangs onto his father’s neck, so should you hang onto God, and squeeze Him so tightly that He will not be able to disengage Himself from you. Then you will feel strength and safety.

• 你可知该如何做？正如幼童紧抱父亲脖颈，你也当紧紧抓住上帝，将祂搂得如此之紧，以致祂无法挣脱你。那时你便会感受到力量与安全。

• Geronda, I feel the need to lean on God, but I have difficulty in doing it.

• 长老，我深知倚靠上帝的必要，却难以做到。

• You should raise your hands high; thus, little by little, your arms will grow longer, and you will take hold of God.

• 你当高举双手；如此，你的臂膀会渐渐伸长，终能抓住上帝。

• Geronda, when 1 do not have much time and I rush through my prayers, am I perhaps stealing the time that I should give to Christ?

• 长老，当我时间紧迫匆匆祷告时，是否在窃取本该献给基督的时间？

• Christ has plenty; no matter how much you steal from Him, He is never in need; you, however, are not helped. Christ has no need for our prayer, but we are in need of His help. We pray because it is how we communicate with God, Who created us. If we do not pray, we will fall into the hands of the devil, and then, woe to us! Have you seen what Saint Isaac says? “God will not ask us why we did not pray, but why we did not communicate with Him, and thereby, had given the devil the right to torment us.”

• 基督丰盛无穷；无论你从祂那里夺取多少，祂永不匮乏；但你却得不到帮助。基督不需要我们的祈祷，是我们需要祂的帮助。我们祈祷，因为这是与创造我们的上帝沟通的方式。若不祈祷，我们将落入魔鬼之手，那时，我们有祸了！可曾读过圣以萨的教诲？“上帝不会质问我们为何不祷告，而是质问我们为何不与祂交流，从而给了魔鬼折磨我们的权利。”⁷

• Geronda, how will I come to love praying?

• 长老，我该如何培养对祈祷的热爱？

• You should come to feel prayer as a need. Just as the body requires sustenance in order to live, so must the soul be fed, in order for it to live. If the soul is not given sustenance, it weakens, and spiritual death ensues.

• 你应当将祈祷视为生命必需。正如肉体需要『食物』滋养才能存活，灵魂也需喂养方能存续。若灵魂得不到『祈祷的』滋养，便会衰弱，最终导致灵性死亡。

• Geronda, what makes praying difficult for us?

• 长老，为何祷告对我们如此艰难？

• We encounter difficulties only when we do not feel prayer to be a need. Whoever does not perceive the meaning of prayer, in order to feel that it is a need, considers it to be drudgery, and is like the foolish baby who turns away from his mother’s breast and all of her sweet affection and thereby, is sickly and wretched.

• 唯有当我们不视祷告为必需时才会遭遇困难。凡未能领悟祷告真意、从而将其视为必需的人，便会视祷告为苦役，这就像愚昧的婴孩背离母亲的乳汁与慈爱，终致病弱困苦。

Praying is assurance 祷告即是确据

• Geronda, how can we come to feel prayer to be a need?

• 长老，我们如何才能体会到祈祷是必须的？

• You should have been in the war, so that we can understand each other! In the army, during the war, whenever we were in constant contact with and heard continually from Central, we had a greater sense of assurance. Whenever we communicated at two-hour intervals, we felt a certain degree o f insecurity. Whenever we communicated only twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, then we felt that we had been left hanging. The same thing also occurs with praying. The more one prays, the more spiritually assured he feels. Praying is assurance. If we can be in constant contact with God and continually hear Him, we will be able to anticipate every evil. In a bus, there was once a monk2 who was praying with his eyes closed, and the other passengers thought that he was sleeping. At some point, a truck coming from the opposite direction struck a telephone pole, causing several cars from both directions to collide and suffer substantial damage. The bus, however, stopped a few yards o ff the road, as if an invisible hand had taken it there, and not one o f the passengers was injured. The prayer of the monk had saved them.

• 你该去打过仗，这样我们才能心领神会！在军队里，战争期间，每当我们与指挥部保持持续联络、不断收到消息时，内心便更有安全感。而每当通讯间隔两小时，就会感到某种不安。若每天仅早晚两次联络，便觉悬而未决。祷告亦是如此——祷告愈勤，灵性愈稳固。祷告即是确据。若能与上帝保持持续联络，不断聆听祂的声音，便能预感一切险恶。有次在巴士上，一位闭目祈祷的修士『即圣帕伊希本人』被乘客误认为在睡觉。此时迎面驶来的卡车撞上电线杆，引发两侧多辆汽车相撞严重受损。然而巴士却在距路边几码处停住，仿佛被无形之手托住，乘客无一受伤。正是这位修士的祈祷拯救了众人。

• Geronda, lay people often ask how they can get into the habit o f praying.

• • 长老啊，平信徒常问如何养成祈祷的习惯。

• Look, in the past, some of the people who had set out to become monastics had a resolute character; so they went to lead an ascetic life on precipitous cliffs, in caves, in pagan tombs, or in the dwellings of demons. There, they encountered a multitude o f dangers - they trembled, fearing that the rocky crag might give way; the demons growled, and so on - and their fear forced them to constantly cry out, “My Christ, my Panaghia!” That is how the good habit of unceasing prayer remained with them. Nowadays, with people out all night, on drugs, and so forth, many drivers do not exercise control over their own selves. Consequently, one who sets out to go to work doesn’t know if he will return home alive or if he will end up maimed in some hospital. Shouldn’t that make him constantly say, “M y Christ, my Panaghia”? If lay people had turned all o f the dangers they encounter to their advantage, they would have surpassed us monks in prayer, and they would have also avoided the dangers. Once, someone came to the Kalyvi⁸, very distraught because he had inadvertently struck a child with his car. He repeatedly said, “1 am guilty.” “Were you praying at the time?” I asked him. “No,” he answered. I said, “You are not as guilty for having struck the child as you are guilty for not having prayed.” Then I told him of another situation I had in mind. I had become acquainted with a worker who had reached the heights of virtue. He said the Jesus Prayer continually: at work, on the road, everywhere. The Jesus Prayer had become “self-activated”4 within him, and tears of both praise and exultation flowed from his eyes. As he worked at his desk, the papers became soaked with his tears. He had therefore thought of retiring from his jo b early, with a reduced pension, and had come to the Kalyvi to ask me what he should do. “Do not leave,” declared. “When your co-workers ask why you are weeping, you can just tell them: ‘I was thinking o f my late father.’” One day, as he was driving, a child suddenly jumped out in front o f his car. The car struck the child who went flying like a top, but was not injured. God had provided His protection because that man had been praying at that hour.

• 听着，往昔有些立志成为修士的人性情刚毅，遂前往悬崖峭壁、山洞、异教墓穴或恶魔巢穴修习苦行。在那里，他们遭遇重重险境——岩壁随时可能崩塌令他们战栗，恶魔的嘶吼不绝于耳——恐惧迫使他们不断呼喊：“我的基督！我的圣母！”如此便养成了不止息祈祷的习惯。如今世人彻夜游荡、沉溺毒品等『诸多恶习』，许多司机更无法自制。因此，出门工作之人不知能否活着回来，或者他会残缺地躺在某间医院。这难道不该使人时刻呼喊“我的基督，我的圣母”吗？若俗人能将遭遇的危险化为助力，他们不仅会在祈祷上超越我们修士，更能避开危险。有位来访者曾陷入极度痛苦——他无意间开车撞伤了孩童。他反复哀叹：“我罪孽深重。”我问：“事发时你在祈祷吗？”他答：“没有。” 我说：“你撞到孩子固然有罪，但未祷告之罪更甚。”随后我提及另一则故事：我曾结识一位功德卓著的工人，他无论工作、行路或身处何方，都持续诵念耶稣祷文。耶稣祷文在他体内已然“自动启动”⁹，赞美与欢欣的泪水不断涌出。当他在书桌前工作时，文件常被泪水浸湿。为此他考虑提前退休以换取较低养老金，特来卡利维『Kalyvi』修道院求我指点。“别离开，”我断然说道。“当同事问你为何落泪，只需回答：‘我在追思已故的父亲。’”某日驾车时，突有孩童跃至车前。车辆撞击下孩童如陀螺般飞旋，却毫发无伤。正因那人此刻仍在祈祷，上帝已施展了庇护。