Personal Prayer as a Way to Theosis Formulated by Kallistos Ware

Magdalena Piekarska

Abstract

This paper shows personal prayer as a way to theosis formulated by Kallistos Ware. It is also an attempt to show the role of a body in a prayer. Orthodox church, being strongly influenced by Fathers tradition, teaches that hesychia is a state of peace for a person who prays short formula ‘Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on me’. The prayer that is of a mouth at first, becomes through a prayer of intellect to a prayer of a heart, that is a constant being in front of God. Prayer of a heart makes a man the prayer. Becoming a prayer assumes participation of a body. Jesus revealed his divinity in the body. Hesychia is then a prayer of a holy person and has its result in unification. A person who does not sleep but prays through the light of tabor makes his nature better. Theosis is final unification.