Gregory of Sinai

“Nicodemus of Tismana”

“Gregory Palamas”

“The energy of grace is the power of spiritual fire that fills the heart with joy and gladness, stabilizes, warms and purifies the soul, temporarily stills our provocative thoughts, and for a time suspends the body's impulsions. The signs and fruits that testify to its authenticity are tears, contrition, humility, self-control, silence, patience, self-effacement and similar qualities, all of which constitute undeniable evidence of its presence.”

“The principal forms of contemplation are eight in number.”

“A divine philosopher is he who through ascetic purification and noetic contemplation has achieved a direct union with God, and is a true friend of God, in that he esteems and loves the supreme, creative and true wisdom above every other love, wisdom and knowledge.”

“The short ladder of spiritual progress – which is at the same time both small and great – has five rungs leading to perfection.”

“According to theologians, noetic, pure, angelic prayer is in its power wisdom inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

“For beginners prayer is like a joyous fire kindled in the heart;”

“Noetic prayer is an activity initiated by the cleansing power of the Spirit and the mystical rites celebrated by the intellect.”

“He who practises hesychasm must acquire the following five virtues, as a foundation on which to build: silence, self-control, vigilance, humility and patience.”

“We recover the original state of our memory by restoring it to its primal simplicity, when it will no longer act as a source of evil and destructive thoughts. For Adam's disobedience has not only deformed into a weapon of evil the soul's simple memory of what is good; it has also corrupted all its powers and quenched its natural appetite for virtue. The memory is restored above all by constant mindfulness of God consolidated through prayer, for this spiritually elevates the memory from a natural to a supranatural state.”

“The source and ground of our distractive thoughts is the fragmented state of our memory. The memory was originally simple and one-pointed, but as a result of the fall its natural powers have been perverted: it has lost its recollectedness in God and has become compound instead of simple, diversified instead of onepointed.”

“As just remarked, there are two main forms of ecstatic longing for God:”