SHOULD ALL CHRISTIANS PRAY CEASELESSLY? -by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite-

SHOULD ALL CHRISTIANS PRAY CEASELESSLY?

-by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite-

My beloved Christians, let no one think that only members of the clergy and monastics are obligated to pray ceaselessly at all times, whereas laypeople are exempt from this. No! Not at all! 

All Christians in general have the obligation to constantly be in a state of prayer. 

The most-holy patriarch of Constantinople Philotheos writes the following in regard to this matter, in his biography of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki: The divine St. Gregory was close friends with a guileless and virtuous monk named Job. Once, while conversing with him, he referred to the fact that every Christian in general must make a sustained effort to pray ceaselessly, citing the Apostle Paul who commands all Christians: “Pray ceaselessly” (1 Thes. 5:17); the prophet David who—despite the fact that he was a king and had to attend to all the matters of his kingdom—states: “I beheld the Lord ever before me” [through prayer] (Ps. 15:8); and St. Gregory the Theologian who similarly advises all Christians that it is necessary to commemorate the name of God through prayer more frequently than we breathe. 

Questions often asked about the Mother of God the Most Holy Theotokos

Questions often asked about the Mother of God the Most Holy Theotokos

Question: Why do you pray to the Mother of God?

Answer: Since Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead, conquering death for us, there is no reason why we cannot ask those in heaven to pray for us just as we ask those still living on earth for their prayers. After all, in Christ all are alive. Therefore we ask the Ever-Virgin Mary to pray to her Son for us, just as we also ask the angels, the saints, and all the faithful believers here on earth to pray on our behalf, as Scripture commands us to do: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, and giving of thanks, be made for all men… I will therefore, that men pray everywhere” (I Timothy 2:1,8). We turn readily to our friends and neighbors to ask for their prayers in our time of need; are not those in heaven even more our friends than those on earth? Why should they not intercede for us also before the throne of God?