Hypostatic Prayer
The Measure of Perfection
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Perfect hypostatic prayer was the prayer of the Lord in Gethsemane, by which He ministered unto the salvation of the entire world for all ages. In his personal repentance and struggle against the passions, man lives the tragedy of the whole world. Prayer forms man into a hypostatic being, who encompasses both uncreated and created Being in love. Perceiving the wretched state of the whole earth, the Christian struggles to reject the intrusive thought that prayer for the world has remains without result. However, according to the testimony of the Saints, this prayer is the ‘sustaining power’ that keeps the world from destruction. Moreover, it constitutes an expression of the mystery of Christ’s self-emptying love. It preserves the knowledge of God’s will for universal salvation from being extinguished upon earth. It proclaims the terrible Economy that Christ wrought to reconcile God and man. It proves His great and incomprehensible mercy. This is hypostatic prayer in the lives of the Saints. An equally perfect type of hypostatic prayer is the bloodless sacrifice offered in the Divine Liturgy. During its celebration, the work of Christ’s crucifixion is extended throughout history, and the faithful are given the opportunity to exchange their small life for the infinite life of God.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Introductory Note
COMMENTARIES ON ‘OUR FATHER’
Introductory Word on the Lord’s Prayer
The Theological Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
‘Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name’
‘Thy Kingdom come’
‘Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven’
The Practical Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
‘Give us this day our daily bread’
‘And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us’
‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’
HYPOSTATIC PRAYER
The Concept of Person-Hypostasis
Definition and Types of Hypostatic Prayer
Christ’s Prayer in Gethsemane
The Intercession of the Saints
Prayer for Enemies
Pure Prayer
LITURGICAL PRAYER
The Divine Liturgy as Hypostatic Prayer
The Supra-cosmic Character of the Divine Liturgy
Our Particular Gift, the Condition for Entering the Communion of the Saints
Divine Liturgy – Exchange of Lives
A Short Outline of the Divine Liturgy
Sacrifice and Justification
The Divine Liturgy as Commandment and as Commemoration
The Condition for Partaking of Holy Communion
Preparation for the Divine Liturgy
The Ethos of Christ and the Ethos of Man
Sharing in the Priesthood of Christ
Thanksgiving and Supplication
The Eschatological Dimension of the Divine Liturgy
Christ-like Suffering
The Incomprehensible Character of Self-reproach
The sign and the way of the Cross
The example of Saint Silouan
The meaning of ‘Keep thy mind in hell’
Understanding hell
‘Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not’ as the appropriate word especially for our time
The twofold movement of the prayers of the Church
Thanksgiving and self-reproach
Thanksgiving
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES
What Readers Say
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Hypostatic prayer in all its manifestations, whether it be universal repentance, universal thanksgiving, intercession for the world or prayer for enemies exceeds the natural limits of human strength. However, prayer of supra-cosmic dimensions can be experienced by every member of the Church together ‘with all the saints’ during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.
The greatness of the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist lies precisely in the fact that it is a miniature of the sublime communion of all the saints. When the Christian enters this communion, he partakes of the supernatural gifts of the elect servants of God. Strengthened by these gifts, he comes to know ‘the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ’ and in the love of Christ, he too embraces the entire world.
By obeying the divine commandments, the believer voluntarily becomes a ‘prisoner of Jesus Christ’. He is dependent on God and gradually becomes His child, freed from the law of sin and a bearer of the Holy Spirit. Through the fall, Adam lost the bliss of uninterrupted abiding in the presence of God. Through prayer, Adam’s descendants taste anew the bliss of the divine presence and converse with the Lord, which awakens in them the longing to ever abide in dialogue with Him.
For as long as man finds himself in the presence of God in the act of prayer, he remains in constant touch with His grace, that is, with the energy that brought all things into being. Through prayer, therefore, man gives himself over to a perpetual increase in God, which begins in this life and will continue unto endless ages.
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About the Author
Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
Father Zacharias studied theology at the Orthodox Theological Institute of Saint Sergius in Paris and at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has translated all the writings of Saint Silouan and Father Sophrony from the original Russian into Greek and he presents their rich theology to the Orthodox world by writing books and articles and taking part in conferences. Moreover, he serves as a spiritual Father and minister of the word of God to his brethren and the people that come to him. Read more…
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Seraphim Johnson (verified owner) –
I have several books written by Archimandrite Zacharias. Recently purchased “Heychasm: The Bedewing Furnace of the Heart”, “Prayer as Infinite Creation” and “Hypostatic Prayer”. Each book deserves 5stars because they feed the heart and all three books are worthy to spend time on with meditation and prayer. One can see the line from Saint Silouan, Saint Sophrony through to Father Zachariah. I am still reflecting on Abba Philemon that Father Zachariah meditates on in his book on Hesychasm.
One cannot praise the books sufficiently. Many thanks for them all.
Seraphim