"The Three Methods of Prayer" (part 1 of 2)

A medieval but timeless contemplative prayer manual from The Philokalia

Although it is attributed in The Philokalia to St. Symeon the New Theologian (949 – 1022), it’s not actually known who wrote the short text that bears the title, The Three Methods of Prayer, [1] or even when and where it was written. But it isn’t of very great importance who wrote it. As brief manuals on contemplative prayer go, it holds its own eminently well. I would without hesitation put it alongside that similarly anonymous handbook, The Cloud of Unknowing; and just as we speak simply of “the Author” of The Cloud, I will be referring below and in the next post to “the Author” of the Methods. Whoever he was, he was evidently a monk writing for other monks, but his booklet is about basics that can be applied to the prayer life of anyone inclined to contemplation. This aspect of the work, however, didn’t prevent the editors of the English translation of The Philokalia from issuing a sort of advisory warning in their preface to it. Noting that the Author of the Methods gives instruction regarding a “psychosomatic” technique that should be practiced under the direction of a “spiritual father” who acts as an “unerring guide,” they write: “Any such technique is certainly to be employed with prudence, and its misuse can inflict grave damage on a person’s physical and mental health.” [2] I tend to think the alarm they sound is somewhat exaggerated, although certainly a practiced guide is to be desired where one can be found, and there’s always some possible danger attached to contemplative practice for those with tendencies to immoderation, obsession, or anxiety. Having said that, I doubt there is any more of an inherently “grave” threat for someone who possesses a sound mind and who adopts the advice given in The Three Methods than for one who takes up the advice found in The Cloud.