I have been sharing thoughts about THE Lenten Prayer of the Eastern Church, that of Ephrem the Syrian. I have already shared thoughts about the first two parts of the prayer, namely the negative things that we must strive to eliminate in our lives and then the positive things that we must attempt to integrate into our lives. The concluding portion of the prayer then summarizes this effort by having us pray thus:

O Lord, grant me the grace to be aware of my sins and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed forever and ever. AMEN

This prayer teaches us that ultimately there is but one danger: PRIDE. Pride is the source of evil and all evil is pride. Yet it is not enough for us to see our own errors, for even this apparent virtue can be turned into pride.

Spiritual writings are full of warnings against subtle forms of piety which are not authentic. Piety can easily be subverted, under the guise of humility, to be pride. When we are able to see our own errors and not judge our brothers and sisters; when, in other terms, chastity, humility, patience and love are but one in us; then and only then can pride be truly destroyed within us.

This prayer, when taken in its entirety, is truly a guide for spiritual development. Spiritual development consists in eliminating those negative elements that can easily creep into human life but supplanting these negative elements with positive elements that can lead us to closer union with God. It is not enough to   just attempt to eliminate vices in our lives! The only way to truly eliminate vices is by supplanting them with certain virtues. It is not enough for us to know how not to act or what to do! We must know how to act and what to do – how to develop those behaviors that are supportive of spiritual growth. For example, it is not enough to tell someone not to hate their neighbor. More important is to show them how to love their neighbor. We must help one another learn how to be positive in a world that is, truly, quite negative. Again, it doesn’t just come naturally. We must develop the behaviors that support a positive way of living.

Hopefully all of my readers have obtained a copy of the Prayer of St. Ephrem. If you don’t have one, simply ask me and I can get you a copy. It is a very profound prayer that can help you to spiritually grow.