Fr
Zacharias Zacharou in his book The Hidden Man of the Heart, explains
the gift of speaking in tongues and why it was given to the Church on
the day of Pentecost. "We
know that the gift of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) was given to
the nascent Church for a specific purpose.
The old Israel had become
accustomed to worshiping and praying in a largely external manner, and
when the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, He wanted this to change.
His intention, therefore was to teach the people to pray in spirit, in
the 'hidden man of the heart' (I Peter 3:4). p.176
Those
who prayed in tongues were happy being certain of one thing: God had
broken into them and was at work in them. St Paul distinguishes between
prayer in the spirit (pneuma) and prayer in the mind (nous* - see note) and
identifies prayer in the spirit with praying in foreign tongues. (1 Cor. 14:15 and 1 Cor 14:14).
"For
St Paul, spirit and mind are almost identical: he sometimes says that
the highest purpose of Christianity is the renewal of the spirit and
sometimes the renewal of the nous* (mind). Nevertheless in trying to
distinguish between the two, I would say that the spirit is present in
the mind as something higher, deeper than the mind itself - that is
revealed through the mind, just as the soul can be said to be revealed
through the emotions". p.177
Prayer
in the spirit is identified with prayer in tongues, when man's spirit
is aware of the irruption of God into his life. In this kind of prayer
the highest faculty of the human being is inspired by God, receiving his
energy. Man then surrenders to the breath of the Holy Spirit, .., and
the Spirit intercedes with unutterable groanings (Rom. 8:26) for those
in whom He dwells, sometimes with words which are beyond the
understanding of the psychological man.
In
prayer of the mind, by contrast, the mind rises toward God in pious
thought and godly desire. Such prayer is characterized by holy
contrition or joy, but it is not liable to surrender to the great
impetus and boundless spiritual exaltation we have just described. A
degree of control is exercised by the person who prays in the mind
(nous*): he is able to direct his thoughts, desires and feelings.
Total
surrender to glossolalia (speaking in tongues) involves a certain loss
of control: it is an explosion of grace and joy, and while we are fully
aware that God is within us, somehow we deny ourselves any awareness of
our fellow members of the Body.
The
best explanation for God's gift of tongues to the early Church lies in
the necessity of teaching newly converted Christians to pray with their
heart rather than just externally, as they were likely to have been used
to doing, But the Church soon discovered a deeper way to educate the
heart, for She was concerned to cultivate the inner man. She discovered
the invocation of the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And little by
little, the Prayer of the Heart replaced the gift of speaking in
tongues. The Jesus Prayer is a way of praying in the spirit without
loosing any control of the spirit, and therefore, without running the
risk of usurping the space of the other members of the Body of Christ.
In
conclusion to speak in tongues or to pray in the spirit is indeed to
immerse our nous in the sea of the Spirit. But the Apostle himself
prefers to draw us in to shore, that we avoid even the possibility of
disorder in the Body of the Church, and that everything be done for the
sake of the edification of the people.
If
this gift (speaking in tongues) has indeed been given temporarily to
some people, perhaps it will enable them to discover the true unbroken
Tradition of the Church, the Tradition of the Prayer of the Heart, which
is the surest and humblest prayer in the edification, inspiration and
salvation of man.. Through this prayer we receive the greatest of all
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift which will heal our nature and
strengthen it 'guiding us into all truth' (John 16:3). It will enable us
to bear the fullness of divine love. And this gift will never outlive
its purpose - indeed it will accompany us beyond the grave.
It is important that we understand this phenomenon of glossolalia- we must not be seduced by it. But
let us above all be gracious to those who believe they have experienced
this gift and gently point out to them that it is the beginning of
something far greater that will lead them to the heart of the
Tradition.
Selections from 'The Hidden Man of the Heart' by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, Mount Thabor Publishing 2008 p. 176 to p.189.
Note
*The word
'mind' (nous) as used by Fr Zacharias in this text, does not refer to
reason, discursive thinking or logical thinking, but to the organ of the
soul by which the soul can 'know', that is directly apprehend,
spiritual realities; not by drawing conclusions, but directly under the
inspiration of divine Grace. The Greek language makes a distinction
between nous (translated as 'mind' here) which is the spiritual organ of
knowledge of the soul; and diania or 'reason' the organ of knowledge of
the brain through the senses and discourse (logical thinking). Orthodox Christian
anthropology affirms that man has both organs of knowledge. Thoughts,
reason and the senses can interact with the nous, both in a positive and
in a negative manner, and in that way affect the heart, the spiritual
center of man.
