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How to pray really SLOWLY and DEEPLY | Great Lent | Fr. Stephanos Anagnostopoulos

The following is an excerpt of a homily delivered by Protopresbyter Stephanos Anagnostopoulos during the parish celebratory events [for St. Dimitrios] in October 2019 with the title “Dimitria 2019” that took place at the church of St. Dimitrios, in the municipality of St. Dimitrios, Athens, Greece.
Fr. Stephanos:

I want you all to be able to pray. At night, [say] the Compline and the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos. In case your mind drifts at 99% and you cannot realize when you started [praying] and when you finished. Learn how to say slowly, slowly, really slowly the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father ….” and stay there, let your whole nous [mind] concentrate on the Lord’s Prayer. “Who art in Heaven …” and you will see miraculous things! Similarly, you will say the ‘Jesus prayer’ slowly for 5 minutes. You will see that when the 5 minutes will end, tears will come to your eyes. Slowly! “Lord … Jesus … Christ … have mercy on me …”

Let the search for the divine mercy arise from the depth of your soul. And then you will see heaven unite with earth. Your heart will become heaven. Your heart will become church. All the Saints, all the angels, the whole God inside you… Do you find it strange? The kingdom of God is within you” [Luke 17:21]. Right here, as we are gathered, the kingdom of God is present! [The kingdom] of the saved ones, of the reposed ones, of the angels, of the Saints, of the Cherubim, of the Seraphim, of the Mother of God, Most-Holy Theotokos of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I wish you to experience all those things in your life with all my heart!
And to experience them at least for one second, for two seconds every day in your life.
I want nothing else.
This will also fill me with Paradise, amen.

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