Abstract
<jats:p>The work contains brief excerpts from the spiritual letters of St. Theophan the Recluse (1815–1894), which dwell on the idea of attentive (intelligent) prayer and its necessity for a Christian’s spiritual life. It provides general dogmatic and moral provisions as well as specific instructions on the organization of attentive prayer, for the organization of inner spiritual life. The concept of attentive prayer occupies an important place in the writings of such famous actors of ascetic and educational thought of the 19th century as St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) and St. Theophan the Recluse. Focusing on the epistolary legacy of the former, we can single out the key characteristics of prayer which is appropriate for a Christian, i.e. intelligent or attentive prayer. Specifying the exact practices for achieving the state of attentive prayer in his letters, St. Theophan expounds the very essence of the concept of people’s address to God, when their minds turn to their hearts. The relevance and importance of considering the patristic heritage of St. Theophan the Recluse in the modern world is confirmed by the fact that teaching prayer is an incessant intelligent shaping of a Christian in any era, and blurring the practice of attentive prayer, mechanical “proofreading” of prayer books, or, conversely, exalted prayer, can fundamentally destroy a proper spiritual life. This is exactly what the saint says in his letters, setting the reader up for the first important task, the task of their salvation.</jats:p>