On Prayer

Prayer is inseparable from the way a person lives with other people. Evagrius begins with the passions, tears, reconciliation, and freedom from anger; the mind cannot turn freely toward God while nourishing resentment. The short chapters move repeatedly between the work of attention and the ordinary conduct that makes attention possible.

The prayer sought here passes beyond mental pictures, even pictures that seem holy. That does not make every emptiness or striking experience divine: Evagrius is wary of spectacle, spiritual pride, and the wish to see a form. His final measure is the joy of standing in prayer.

Luke Dysinger, O.S.B., explicitly places this translation in the public domain on his bilingual source page. His Greek text draws on the printed tradition and the critical edition of Paul Géhin. His explanatory brackets and vocabulary, including nous, are retained.