Lord, teach us to pray. Personal prayer for the legend of the Holy Fathers

What is this book about? It is difficult for a modern person to discern those amazing opportunities that discover the patristic texts: "Learning to pray from the Lord", that is, pray, how the people of the Bible and our fathers by faith pray, means not only the assimilation of certain texts, but also all methods, forms, gestures , with the help of which prayer acquires an appropriate expression. The deep personal experience of the prayer and the serious knowledge of the works of the Holy Fathers make the book of Schiarchimandrite Gabriel with a valuable help for everyone who has embarked on this path. For whom is this book? Schiarchimandrite Gabriel (Bunge) lives in the Crusads of the Crusader of the Cross in the vicinity of the city of Lugano (Switzerland) Here for more than thirty years he has been accepting many people. "The layman comes to the monastery with the same questions that the monks ask, and I give him the same advice, and the rule corresponding to the conditions of his life. There are no different types of spirituality, it is one in the world and in the monastery. You can’t be more than a Christian, and you can pray only in one way. ” The most faithful guideline in the spiritual search, Father Gabriel considers the books of the Holy Fathers. He is convinced that they were written for all time, because "a person remains that he is." "At first I give basic texts for reading - patristic statements, because this is the gospel lived in the desert. If you learn the taste of the true one, you can read anything, and in any other work you will feel whether it is true. ” Why did we decide to publish this book? It is difficult for a modern person to understand the patristic teaching, as a guide to action. We often perceive their creations as a pious reading, but the meaning and purpose of this lesson remain unclear. Father Gabriel writes: "Many read the books of the fathers, admire their wisdom, but in their own life this does not change anything. In a sense, the keys are lost, opening access to these treasures of legend. " With his book, he restores this connection for us, in many respects from the depths of his own experience by the following fathers: “Do not be content with only a pleasant conversation about the affairs of the fathers, but demand from yourself to do the same, taking on the same works!” When Father Gabriel says that there are no elders left now, he always replies: "If there is no living old man next to you, refer to the restless one. You have his life, his texts, his instructions. Read - and correlate with your life. " Schiarchimandrite Gabriel found his mentor - Evagria Pontic, who lived many centuries before you and me. About the author of Schiarchimandrite Gabriel (Bunga), the doctor of theology and philosophy, is the author of many books, some of which are translated into Russian, known in the Christian world, primarily as a researcher of life and heritage of Evagria Pontic, an outstanding Christian theologian and ascetic of the IV century. Father Gabriel always saw a genuine life in Eastern Christianity and moved towards it, accepting Orthodoxy with the words: I want to die in communication with the truth