Aphraate le Sage persan
vers 270-vers 345 4th century
Prayer measured not by its words but by the clarity of the heart and the deeds it produces.
Who was Aphraate le Sage persan?
A monk and church leader in the Persian empire, he wrote in Syriac, outside the Greek and Latin worlds, for communities under pressure. His twenty-three Demonstrations form the oldest surviving Christian treatise in that language. The fourth is devoted entirely to prayer.
In their own words
Purity of heart is a greater prayer than all the prayers uttered aloud.
Give rest to the weary, visit the sick, provide for the poor: this too is prayer.