Prayer of Compunction

The Gift of Tears

Evagrius Ponticus · 345–399

Evagrius, master of the desert, taught that prayer begins by asking for tears — a holy sorrow that softens the hard heart, opens it to God's mercy, and clears the way to pure, imageless prayer.

How long?

Sound

Screen-off mode — let the screen rest. The sound keeps playing and a soft tone calls you back at the end.

Evagrius Ponticus, Chapters on Prayer, chs. 5, 60, 70 (trans. J.E. Bamberger).