Is noetic prayer for the laity?

Unfortunately, there are many who have been deluded into believing that noetic prayer is only for monastics. As a rule, this is repeated generally by people who are completely unaware of what our saints say on this matter, or seemingly don't care.

According to our saints, noetic prayer is necessary for our salvation. Being that the laity desire salvation, they too must acquire this prayer.

The following text aims to provide the abundantly clear witness of our saints in this matter: Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, St.Nikodemos, St. Gregory Palamas, and more.

We pray that the laity living in the world, including the clergy, read the witness of the saints provided here, and thus take their salvation seriously.

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi

St. Joseph the Hesychast is responsible for the formation of many holy elders and saints:

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Elder Charalambos of Dionysiou
Elder Arsenios of the Holy Mountain
Elder Haralambos of New Skete,
and of course Elder Joseph of Vatopedi

Elder Joseph of Vatopedi is also the spiritual father of Metropolitan Athanasius of Limassol, a world renowed elder.

Let's examine the teachings of Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, who hasn't departed at all from the teachings of his glorified elder:

The question is always being asked, "Is it possible for those living in the world to occupy themselves with noetic prayer?" To those who ask we answer quite affirmatively, "Yes."
— Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Prayer of the Heart - Jesus Prayer -
for the Faithful Living in the World

There are other forms of prayer which are known and common to almost all Christians which we will not speak about now; rather we will limit ourselves to that which is called "noetic prayer", which we are always being asked about. It is a subject that engages the multitude of the faithful since next to nothing is known regarding it, and it is often misconstrued and described rather fantastically. The precise way of putting it into practice as well as the results of this deifying virtue, which leads from purification to sanctification, we will leave for the Fathers to tell. We paupers will only mention those things which are sufficient to clarify the matter and to convince our brethren living in the world that they need to occupy themselves with the prayer.
— Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Prayer of the Heart - Jesus Prayer -
for the Faithful Living in the World

Consequently, the prayer is a duty for each one of the faithful, of every age, nationality, and status; without regard to place, time or manner. With the prayer divine Grace becomes active and provides solutions to problems and trials which trouble the faithful, so that, according to the Scriptures, "Everyone that calls on the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)
— Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Prayer of the Heart - Jesus Prayer -
for the Faithful Living in the World

Whenever one is seated, moving about, or working, and if need be even in bed, and generally wherever and however one finds oneself, one can say this little prayer which contains within itself faith, confession, invocation and hope. With such little labor and insignificant effort the universal command to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17) is fulfilled to perfection. To whatever word of our Fathers one might turn, or even in their wonderful lives, he will encounter hardly any other virtue given so much praise or applied with such zeal and persistence, so that it alone constitutes the most powerful means of our success in Christ. It is not our intention to sing the praises of this queen of virtues, or to describe it, because whatever we might say would instead rather diminish it. Our aim is to exhort and encourage every believer in the working of the prayer. Afterwards, each person will learn from his own experience what we have said so poorly.
— Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Prayer of the Heart - Jesus Prayer -
for the Faithful Living in the World

I repeat once again my exhortation to all who love God and their salvation not to put off trying this good labor and practice for the sake of the Grace and mercy which it holds out to as many as will strive a bit at this work. I say this to them for courage, that they don't hesitate or become fainthearted due to the bit of resistance or weariness which they will encounter. Contemporary elders that we have known had many disciples living in the world, men and women, married and single, who not only arrived at the beginning state but rose to higher levels through the Grace and compassion of our Christ. "It is a trifle in the eyes of the Lord to make a poor man rich." (Sir. 11:23) I think that in today's chaos of such turmoil, denial and unbelief there exists no simpler and easier spiritual practice that is feasible for almost all people, with such a multitude of benefit and opportunity for success, than this small prayer.
— Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Prayer of the Heart - Jesus Prayer -
for the Faithful Living in the World

This witness is incredibly clear, thorough, and leaves very little room for misinterpretation. He exhorts and encourages, every believer, including all those living in the world, regardless of their age, status, place they live, the time period, regardless of if they are seated, moving, walking, working, to noetic prayer.

We recommend saving the source material, and reading it from time to time. It's a very powerful witness to this practice for all of us living in the world.

St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Many deem the Philokalia to be only for monks. But is this what the saints say?

Come, therefore, come and eat the bread of knowledge and wisdom, and drink the wine which spiritually delights the heart and dispels all the material and immaterial things because of deification—which is caused by the liberation of ourselves—and become inebriated with the truly alert inebriation. Come all you who are participants in the Orthodox way, together, laymen and monks, all of you who seek to find the kingdom of God which is hidden in the field of your heart. And this is the sweet Christ. Thus being freed from the imprisonment of this world and the wandering of the mind, with your heart purified from the passions, with the awesome unceasing invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ together with the collaborating virtues, which this book teaches, you will be united among yourselves, and united this way, you will all be united with God, according to the prayer of our Lord to his Father, who said, “So they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:11).
— St. Nikodemos, The Philokalia, Introduction (omitted in Palmer & Ware version)

Above, he calls all Orthodox Christians, including laymen, to find the kingdom of God in their heart. This is noetic prayer, which is what the Philokalia is focused on.

In The Exomologetarion, St. Nikodemos advises all spiritual fathers to guide those who have bad thoughts, passionate thoughts, to practice noetic prayer.

Prayer, especially noetic prayer, as a treatment for bad thoughts
Advise, then, Spiritual Father, those who lack the strength to rebut bad thoughts and who still fear the noetic and invisible war of the thoughts, of the demons, and of the passions, to keep silent when passionate thoughts come to them and not to dispute with them with the so-called rebuttal method, but to noetically flee to God alone through prayer, calling upon His aid. This is why the divine Maximos advises this, saying: “Those who still fear the war against the passions and dread the assaults of invisible enemies (like Israel once feared those of Pharaoh) must keep silent; in their struggle for virtue they must not enter into disputes with their enemies but through prayer must entrust all anxiety about themselves to God. To them apply the words of Exodus: ‘The Lord will fight for you, and you must be silent’ (Ex. 14:14).” They are to flee to God through prayer, not only through prayer which is said with the mouth, but more rather through noetic prayer spoken in the heart with “the inner word of the heart.”
— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, The Exomologetarion

And he specifically, in the same chapter, says this is not given just to monks and ascetics.

Therefore, teach, advise, and prompt penitents and all Christians, Spiritual Father, to repeat continuously in their heart the name of Jesus Christ through the prayer above, because this noetic and uninterrupted prayer in the heart was not given only to ascetics and monks, but also to all the Christians in the world.
— St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, The Exomologetarion

Why would a saint be encouraging all spiritual fathers to advise "penitents" to practice noetic prayer, if noetic prayer was only the lot of holy and dispassionate monks?

St. Gregory Palamas

St. Gregory Palamas is one of our most famously known Orthodox saints who was responsible for encapsulating the essence & energies distinctions, and was a staunch defender of hesychasm.

Let no one think, my Christian brethren, that only the Clergy and Monks have the duty to pray unceasingly and always, and not the laymen. No, no. All Christians in general have the duty always to be engaged in prayer.
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia

Every Christian without exception ought to always exert himself to pray and out to pray unceasingly, as the Apostle Paul enjoins to all Christians in general: "Pray without ceasing".
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia (Life of St. Gregory Palamas)

He specifically says it's not just for monks, very clearly. Do those who assume to argue, even read the lives and teachings of our saints? How can one, who argues hesychasm, say they understand the topic, without having read the teachings of St. Gregory Palamas? It's at the very beginning of the entry of his life. This is simply pride masquerading as Orthodoxy - a desire to be right without sitting at the feet of the saints.

We ought to obey the precepts of the Saints; and that not only ought we ourselves to pray always, but we should teach all others, in general, to pray: both Monks and laymen, the learned and the unlearned, men, women, and children, and should incite them to pray unceasingly.
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia (Life of St. Gregory Palamas)

Not only are we to pray unceasingly, we are to incite others to this practice. And yet few in our times do. They may speak on it once or twice, or give a very academic understanding of these things, but they rarely "incite" others to this practice, or give them the good uneasiness as St. Paisios says.

The bigger question is this: why are our teachers, our shepherds, or priests, not following this holy advice and inciting others to pray ceaselessly? What excuse do they have for rejecting the witness of St. Gregory Palamas?

St. Gregory the Theologian teaches all Christians and tells them that we ought to remember God with prayer more often than we breathe.
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia (Life of St. Gregory Palamas)

Apart from the polemical writings which have survived, there are also homilies by St. Gregory which show that he expresses the hesychastic life of the Holy Mountain. Some of these were addressed to the monks on the Holy Mountain on various feast days, and the rest were spoken to his Flock in Thessaloniki. It is characteristic that in speaking to his Christians, he teaches noetic prayer and thus shows that there is not a great contrast between monastic life and married life.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite

St. Gregory Palamas taught noetic prayer to Christians in the world. And he, like many of our saints, did not try to divide the monastic life, and the life in the world.

The old monk Job

Those who claim noetic prayer cannot be practiced by the laity, have fallen into the same error as the old monk Job:

When that old monk, Job, heard this [that even lay people should pray unceasing], it appeared to him as something new, and he began to dispute it and to say to the Saint that to pray always is proper only for ascetics and Monks who live away from the world and cares, and not for lay people who have so many concerns and tasks. And the Saint again offered him other incontrovertible testimonies and proofs; but old Job was not persuaded. Avoiding excessive talking and disputation, the divine Gregory became silent and each one went to his cell. Afterward, as Job was praying in his cell alone, an Angel of the Lord appeared before him, sent by God, Who wishes the salvation of all men. After reproving him strongly for disputing with Saint Gregory and opposing manifest things from which comes the salvation of Christians, he enjoined him on behalf of Holy God to be henceforth very careful and to be on his guard not to say anything contrary to such work, which is extremely good for the soul, for he was opposing the will of God; and not even with his mind should he ever again dare to accept a contrary thought and think differently from what the divine Gregory told him. Then that very simple old man, Job, went at once to the Saint and fell at the feet of the Saint, asking to be forgiven for having opposed him and disputed with him, and revealed all that the Angel of the Lord told him.
Do you see, my brethren, that all Christians, in general, both young and old, have the duty to pray always mentally, saying: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me"; and that their intellect and heart should become accustomed to saying this at all times? Consider how much God is pleased by this and how much benefit results from it, seeing that from His extreme love for man He sent even a heavenly Angel to reveal it to us, so that we might no longer have any doubt regarding this.
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia (Life of St. Gregory Palamas)

Job's error came from his own rationalism, not from any saint's teaching. This warns us against using our intellect to contradict the wisdom of the saints.
God sent an angel to correct Job, underscoring that this matter is of salvific proportions.
The angel strongly reproved Job, indicating how seriously we should take this teaching.
Job was told to never again oppose or even think a single thought contrary to St. Gregory's teaching on unceasing prayer, as it is in direct opposition to the will of God.
Job's repentance demonstrates the proper response: he immediately sought forgiveness, admitting his error and explaining how he came to understand his mistake.

This account clearly shows that opposing noetic prayer for laity contradicts God's will. Those who continue to argue against it should consider whether they will repent as humbly as the old monk Job, or if they will persist in unknowingly opposing the will of God.

The commandments are for the laity

But what do those who live in the world say? We are in the midst of so many matters and cares of the world; how is it possible for us to pray unceasingly?
And I answer them: God did not command us (to do) something impossible; He commanded only all those things which we are able to do. Hence, everyone who persistently seeks the salvation of his soul can achieve this, too. For if it were impossible, it would have been impossible to all lay people, and there would not have been found so many in the world who achieve it.
If the thing appears difficult at the beginning, be assured and informed as from almighty God Himself, that the very name of our Lord Jesus Christ invoked by us daily without ceasing shall smooth away all the difficulties, and with the lapse of time, as we become accustomed to it and are sweetened by it, we shall know through trial that it is neither impossible, nor difficult, but possible and easy. This is why the divine Paul, who knew better than we do the great profit that is gained from prayer, constantly enjoined us to prayer. (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He would never have counseled us to do something difficult and impossible; for then we would not have been able to do it and consequently we would necessarily have disobeyed and transgressed His precept and hence would have been condemned. But the intention which the Apostle had when he said, "Pray without ceasing" was that we pray with our intellect, which is possible for us to do always. For whether we are doing manual work, or are walking, or are sitting, or are eating, or are drinking, we can always pray with our intellect and offer mental prayer that is pleasing to God and true. It is possible for us to work with the body and to pray with the soul. It is possible for the outer man to perform every bodily task and for the inner man to be altogether devoted to the worship of God, and never to be without this spiritual work of mental prayer.
— St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia (Life of St. Gregory Palamas)

We need to understand that noetic prayer is a "commandment" which applies to all Christians, regardless of if they are laity or monastics:

Do not say: It is impossible for us, because Christ declared His commandments for everyone; He did not give separate commandments for monastics and laity.
— St. Symeon the New Theologian

As St. Silouan says, Hesychasm (noetic prayer) is the FIRST commandment of God. So, are only monks required to follow the commandments?

The first Christians had noetic prayer. This is stated even in scripture.

In the Apostle Paul's epistles to the Churches we see clearly the frameworks within which the first Christians lived, and their aims as well. They had to die to the passions, live the Cross of Christ in their daily lives, since it is by the cross that man is made dead to the world and as a result the world is dead to man. Those who had wives should be "as though they had none", and in general all had to keep the commandments of God in their daily lives. Apart from these things in the epistles of the Apostle Paul it is evident that the first Christians had noetic prayer in their hearts: "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord".
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite

St. Symeon the New Theologian gained noetic prayer, living in the world when he was around 20 years old. He then says living in the city doesn't prohibit us from practicing the commandments of God, and incited others later in his life to gain noetic prayer.

St. Symeon cites the example of a young man by the name of George, who was granted to have an experience of the vision of the glory of God. This was Symeon himself, when he was still young. Living in Constantinople, about twenty years of age, after great ascetic prayer, while he was performing his usual tasks -"during the day he managed a patrician's household and daily went to the palace engaged in worldly affairs..."- he saw the uncreated Light. When he was noetically saying the prayer "God, have mercy upon me a sinner", "suddenly a flood of divine radiance appeared from above and filled the room". He looked around him and did not know if he was standing on the ground. He thought that he himself had become that light. His nous then ascended to heaven "and beheld yet another light, which was clearer than the one close at hand". Referring to this experience, he goes on to say: "Have you learned that living in the midst of the city does not hinder us from practising the commandments of God as long as we are zealous and vigilant, and that solitude and retirement from the world are useless if we are slack and careless?"
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite

Anyone who disagrees with St. Gregory Palamas is excommunicated

The teachings of St. Gregory Palamas are upheld by all the saints of the church as dogma, including his teachings that noetic prayer are for laity. Anyone who argues and speaks against these teachings of St. Gregory Palamas have the judgment of excommunication passed upon them:

The council that was held during the times of St. Gregory Palamas (which bears all the characteristics of an Ecumenical Council) is, in fact, the cornerstone of all the Ecumenical Councils, from the viewpoint that it dogmatized on the true way and the true method which one can and must use to reach the vision of God, which is crucial since the dogmas are a fruit of this vision of God. In other words, God-seeing Fathers are the ones who make a council Oecumenical/Orthodox. What was stated in the Synodal Tome of 1347 is very characteristic: “We hereby pronounce the aforementioned most honorable hieromonk Gregory Palamas and the monks in agreement with him… to be most reliable defenders and champions and aids of the Church and of the Orthodox faith,” and whoever speaks against St. Gregory and the monks with him, “we pass the same judgment of excommunication upon, whether they be clergy or laymen.” In other words, whoever denies Orthodox hesychasm is excommunicated by this Council, and whoever cannot understand the hesychastic life shows that he does not have the mind-set of the Church.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Counsels from the Holy Mountain

A clergyman always had noetic prayer

Even in the days of the first Christians, both laity and clergy were present from the very beginning. St. Paul calls the laity idiotes or untrained persons. The Church Fathers in turn explain that St. Paul's untrained persons are the laity. A layman is someone who has been baptized, but has not yet been called from on high so that he could enter the royal priesthood or become a member of the clergy. A clergyman was considered to be called by God when the Holy Spirit entered his heart and began to pray there. In other words, he had become a "temple of the Holy Spirit,"* and consequently a member of the Body of Christ that is the Church.
— Fr. John Romanides, Patristic Theology

According to Fr. John Romanides, a layperson didn't have noetic prayer thus they were untrained. They were then called to become a clergymen when they gained noetic prayer. It wasn't just simply a vocation.

So in the early church, all priests were first laity, living in the world, and had to gain noetic prayer to be called to the priesthood.

Therefore, the presence of clergy in the early church, is proof that noetic prayer was not off limits to laity.

Opponents of noetic prayer for laity

Those who argue against noetic prayer for laypeople often lack compelling patristic evidence and fail to address the clear teachings of the saints presented here.

To these opponents, we pose a direct question:

Who told you noetic prayer was impossible for you to gain or practice? Did you learn this from any saint? Or have you, without illumination and contrary to the wisdom of the saints, reached a rational conclusion that contradicts God's commandments?

When confronted with patristic evidence, these opponents often shift to endless rational and intellectual objections, such as:

"Those in the world are not holy enough to practice this"
"The saints say you'll fall into delusion practicing noetic prayer"
"You can't practice it without a spiritual father"

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, citing St. Paisius Velichovsky, calls these arguments groundless.

Those who persist in these arguments risk bringing condemnation upon themselves by unknowingly opposing the will of God, as clearly stated to the monk Job by the angel.

We will address these and other objections in future articles. For now, let us focus on the most common objection:

“You're not a priest, or their priest, or their spiritual father.”

When attempting to talk about this subject, we often get this objection.

This objection fundamentally misunderstands the role of the laity in Orthodox spiritual life and the nature of our shared responsibility for each other's salvation.

Discussing and encouraging noetic prayer among laypeople is not usurping the role of clergy. It's fulfilling our Christian duty.

We've reached a point in the Church where worldly notions of hierarchy have overshadowed the teachings of our saints. People can no longer say, "This is the teaching of the Church. All our saints instruct us to do this, so we should do it," without facing opposition. This is a grave error.

Many saints corrected others and taught spiritual practices before they were ordained or became spiritual fathers.
Saints often contradicted priests, bishops, and abbots when those clergy strayed from Orthodox teaching.
Our saints consistently encouraged all believers to speak up and share spiritual truths.

To suggest that only clergy can call people to noetic prayer is to indirectly judge the saints themselves. It's a rejection of their example and teachings.

St. Symeon the New Theologian attained noetic prayer at age twenty, long before he was ordained. Are we to believe he should have remained silent about this practice until he became a priest? Or that we should ignore his exhortations for all Christians to pursue noetic prayer?

Those overly concerned with who is sharing these teachings need to examine their priorities: Is your energy better spent acquiring noetic prayer as the saints instruct, or policing who can discuss it? Are you more focused on maintaining human hierarchies, or pursuing the spiritual depths our faith offers?

We must return to the teachings of our saints. They call us all – clergy and laity alike – to pursue and encourage noetic prayer. To do any less is to fall short of our calling as Orthodox Christians.

Where do I start?

We'll be coming out with a more in-depth article about this soon. But we can give one piece of advice: every Orthodox Christian should already have read The Way of a Pilgrim:

This wonderful story about how a humble pilgrim found the gift of noetic prayer while living amidst the distractions of the world is a favorite and timeless classic.
— St. Anthony's Monastery

St. Joseph the Hesychast recommended that people (laity) acquire copies of the The Way of a Pilgrim, and distribute them as gifts to people.

Acquire copies of the book The Way of a Pilgrim and distribute them to our Christian brothers so that they may benefit spiritually.
— St. Joseph the Hesychast, Monastic Wisdom

You can buy the book from St. Anthony's monastery, or you can watch it for free online here. If you've already read it, and are not struggling greatly to pray ceaselessly, read it or watch it again.

Summary

The witness of our saints & elders is unambiguous: noetic prayer is commanded for laity, without any exceptions as to status, age, place, gender, or work.

Those who argue otherwise do so completely in contradiction to the witness of the saints, and thus contradict the will of God, as the old monk Job did. May they, in simplicity, repent of this, as he did.

We believe that noetic prayer is the most important means for the salvation of man… Perhaps someone will say that all these healing means, that is, eye salves, treating the eye of the heart (cf. Rev. 3:18), can only be used by monks. It is not so. All of us, even those living in the world, can live according to the commandments of Christ. Prayer, repentance, weeping, contrition, vigil, and so on are commanded to us by Christ, and that means everyone can follow them. Christ didn’t name things that would be impossible for man. Speaking of purity of heart, St. Gregory Palamas emphasizes that “it is possible for those living in marriage to satisfy this purity, although with much greater difficulty.”
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Orthodox Psychotherapy

Consequently, anyone who objects to any of the above is outside the Orthodox Tradition and can therefore be cut off from its life.
— Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Orthodox Psychotherapy

Today many writings of the holy Fathers about noetic prayer have been published, and many monastics and laymen thirst for it.
— Geronda Ephraim, My Elder Joseph the Hesychast