Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin). "On the Path from Time to Eternity."
Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsov).
A hieromonk asked Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim about a hermit who, during prayer, imagined the faces of Christ and the saints. The hieromonk wanted to know whether one could be saved by such a method of prayer (forbidden by the Fathers). Father Seraphim replied, "Whether he will be saved or not, I do not know, but it is impossible to attain high spiritual levels with improper prayer. Imagination is a quality of the soul, not of the spirit; it is connected with the passions. The Holy Fathers compare such prayer to the dead of night, where there is no light; a person does not know where he is going, receives blows from the enemy, but is unable to respond or even avoid them." The hieromonk said, "I tried to dissuade him, but it was useless. He said that he learned to pray this way from his spiritual father, whom he considers great." Father Seraphim replied, "Imagining the spiritual world can evoke in a person a feeling of secret pride; he will begin to think that he actually sees this world during prayer." Many of those who fell into delusion prayed such a prayer. In any case, if this hermit isn't deluded, he's on a dangerous path."
The hieromonk asked Schema-Hegumen Savva the same question. He replied, "You're not asking me, but testing me: will I answer correctly? You came to test me, and you've already been told about the hermit. Besides, you yourself had read about such a prayer in the Philokalia." Then he added, "In spiritual life, it's dangerous not only to imagine but also to lie to an elder." The hieromonk was embarrassed, but he lost heart and didn't admit it was true, instead saying, "I wanted to know if there are exceptions here." He replied, "If a monk has childlike simplicity, he believed his father, and recalls certain images he saw, then the Lord may accept such a prayer as an exception."
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