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Famous Dumitru Stăniloae Quotes

“The feelings or imaginings which tend to prevent the mind from entering into the heart and so attaining to pure prayer, or prayer of the heart, are either those which are the result of sin, or an attraction towards sin, or those which make us think we are being drawn towards good actions or a real meeting with God himself, but which in fact do not lead to God. That is why the Fathers warn monks even against images that seem to be good. They exhort them not to rely on any kind of imagination or impression. Moreover the Fathers consider thought, even theological thought, to be a no less dangerous obstacle to the mind's entry into the heart. They must be watchful not to rest in theological thinking, or to slip into it, when they are moved to prayer or while they are praying. Thinking about God interrupts direct encounter with him. By theological thinking a man becomes shut in on himself.”

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Book:Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of Man Renewed in God
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“By its search for God the mind itself enters into the reality of the depth of the heart and knows it as depth set apart for God, the true Infinity. ‘Deep calls to deep’ (Psalm 42: 9). The infinity of God cannot be experienced apart from his love for us. This love of God for us calls to our love, and it is with the heart, the organ of love within us, that we experience his love. But we are speaking here of a heart that knows, thanks to the mind which has entered it, that this infinity is the infinity of a God who is personal, and that God enters into intimate relationship with us through Christ. That is why it is the mind which comes to rest in the heart. In the heart it finds the infinity of God. It is not the heart that comes to rest in the mind, for that would mean that the feeling of the infinity of God had become a theory, chilled by thought. It is not feeling that must be chilled by thought, but thought which must warm itself in the feeling of the heart in real contact with the infinity of God, and thus give this feeling a definite content.”

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Book:Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of Man Renewed in God
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“Pure prayer is concerned with the reuniting of the mind (nous) and the heart. Neither mind nor heart can be allowed to remain alone. Prayer that comes only from the mind is cold; prayer that comes only from the heart is sentimental and is ignorant of all that God has given us, is giving us now and will give us in Christ. It is prayer without horizon or perspective, prayer in which we do not know what to thank God for, what to praise him for, what to ask him for. The man who prays in this way has the feeling of being lost in an impersonal infinity. Such a feeling knows nothing of encounter with a personal God. And thus it is not prayer.”

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Book:Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of Man Renewed in God
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“The Fathers speak of prayer as consisting of a single thought (monologistos euche). Strictly speaking it is not even a thought, but rather an awareness of being totally absorbed in the reality of God. One can, nevertheless, call this conscious experience ‘thought’, because it is not simply a state of confused feeling or the sensation of being lost in the ocean of inarticulate reality, but it is awareness of encounter with the personal infinity of God who loves us. It is the mind’s confirmation of the reality. I do not lose myself in this infinity, because it is the infinity of a personal God and of his love to which I respond with my love. For the heart is truly the place where one experiences the love of the other, and where one responds to the other. I do not lose myself, because it is the infinity of a personal God whose love is my delight; I depend on his love as I depend on his mercy, for face to face with him I still feel infinitely small, and a sinner.”

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Book:Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of Man Renewed in God
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“There is indeed a distinction and nobility full of feeling in this higher form of tenderness that is very different from the conventional distinction and nobility which are distant and formal. This tenderness does not avoid contact with the most humble of men, and is unperturbed by situations in which others would be afraid of failing. The model of this tenderness is the kenosis, the condescension, of Christ. He did not wish to hold himself aloof from sinners, nor from the kind of women who are avoided by men concerned for their own reputation. The kenosis, the self-emptying of Christ is, in itself, the supreme form of tenderness. In it is shown the desire not to be a burden to the humble, nor to embarrass them. By his kenosis he desired to open up a way into their hearts. By kindness he intended to make them give up their cruel ways, instead of persisting in a hardness in which the ‘inferior’ returns the contempt of the ‘superior’.”

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Book:Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of Man Renewed in God
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“Patru sînt felurile generale ale părăsirii: una din iconomie, cum este la Domnul, ca prin păruta părăsire cei părăsiți să se mîntuiască. Alta spre dovedire, cum este la Iov și Iosif, ca să se arate unul stâlp al bărbăției, altul al neprihănirii. A treia spre povățuite duhovnicească, cum este la Apostolul, ca, smerindu-se în cugetare, să păstreze covârșirea harului. În sfârșit, a patraeste lepădarea, ca la iudei, ca, pedepsiți fiind, să fie încovoiați spre pocăință. Dar toate felurile sînt mântuitoare și pline de bunătatea și de iubirea de oameni a lui Dumnezeu”. Sfîntul Maxim Mărturisitorul Capete despre dragoste, ed Humanitas, 2017, p.102”

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Book:Filocalia - Volumul 2
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