“This book is not for reading,” begins the introduction to the book “The Ladder to God.” Perhaps it refers to the deep meaning of spiritual reading. The first thing we must clarify here is the meaning of “spiritual life” itself. It is not, of course, the romantic life, or merely an interest in human matters and texts, etc. But in short, it is the life of the “spirit” within us. As the Apostle Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives (through the Spirit) in me.” And this is the goal of Christian life according to Saint Seraphim of Sarov: “to acquire the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, spiritual life is kindled (lives) in man in many ways. Among these ways are also daily work. Professions, work, and occupations were not created to become a reason for forgetting God, but rather the Lord originally said to Adam, who forgot the divine commandment in Paradise: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread,” so that effort and the sweat of your brow would lead him to remember God. Our work and professions should be part of “spiritual exercises.”

There is no doubt that “prayer” is the direct connection that opens our hearts to the graces of the Holy Spirit. Prayer, as Al-Salami defines it, is “communion with God” and “union with Him.” This prayer and these works are frameworks for encountering divine grace. But here we would like to dwell more on another framework.

 Spiritual reading constitutes a very necessary framework, which is always darkened by life’s circumstances, in addition to the neglect of believers, or perhaps also the confusion between useful books and the many tiring and sometimes stumbling books.

Saint Evagrius advises monks and Christians, saying: “Do not let the sun see you unless you have the Holy Book in your hands.” (9)There are honorable laws that instruct priests to encourage believers to engage in spiritual reading and frequent reading of the Holy Bible.

St. John Chrysostom considers reading the Holy Bible and spiritual books to be very necessary for monks, but no less important for those living in the world: “We (those living in the world) have more need of reading than they do, because the permanent wounds caused by our interests require the greater use of medicines.” (10)Origen believes that reading is not an additional activity, but rather one of the basic components of spiritual life. Because it is the path that leads us to spiritual life and develops us in it. (11)Reading the Bible and spiritual books is part of our spiritual formation. (12).

Spiritual reading connects us to our tradition and makes us aware of our way of life through the lives of the saints. Reading is the environment in which we grow up in the tradition of our fathers and not in our worldly environment, which leaves no place for God and spiritual life.

It is not strange, then, to see, for example, Saint Gregory Palamas (14th century) thinking exactly in the spirit of John Chrysostom (4th century), and it is not good for us (21st century) to think except as they and the holy apostles thought about the essential issues of life. Christian morality is the same in its spirit and tradition, even if it is in keeping with the circumstances, because it is ultimately actions and not statements, so it cannot but apply to current realities in order to show in them a Christian spiritual morality.

“Faith with knowledge” is the true formula of faith. Christian faith is not a vague surrender, but rather a faith that mimics the human mind and answers it to facts; it is ultimately “the truth.” This does not negate the fact that this faith, even if it addresses the mind, will go beyond it, but with it and not beyond it. Many young people in their teenage years and beyond (the university years) have many questions about the existence of God, creation, the Trinity, the Church, etc., and some of them often think that these are manifestations of disbelief or a kind of atheism! On the contrary, these questions are natural, even necessary, and they are evidence of the existence of faith and not its absence. These are questions of truth, not doubts of faith. It is the stage in which a person seeks to transform his faith from innate and inherited faith without questions to the type of faith “with knowledge,” which is firm and steadfast and which personal conviction has chosen to commit to and spread. These are the years of human life in which faith can become, instead of mere habits, human motives, and then the human heart chants the words of the Bible: “Freely you received, freely give.” And every young man repeats Philip’s words to Nathanael: “Come and see, we have found the Messiah, of whom we heard in Moses and the prophets and the New Testament…”(13)Then the expression of faith (knowledge) is done by the verb “we found” and not “we heard.” This knowledge of the depth, truth and dimensions of our faith cannot be achieved without reading, and wise and chosen reading. However, as long as the necessity of spiritual reading is great, the important question remains: How do we read spiritual books?

There are undoubtedly two types of reading. The first type is informational and religious reading. For example, when we read scientific, geographical, demographic studies… that concern any issue of faith or interpretations of the Bible. These can be written and read even by atheists themselves. These should – in the right condition – lead us to spiritual readings and help us with them. Among these “informational” books are many works on church history and canon law and even some on the interpretation of the Bible itself; and others.

But there is spiritual reading, which moves us from reading to prayer. There are then - according to Saint Isaac the Syrian - three degrees of reading the Holy Bible and spiritual books.

The first reading is “superficial”, that is, “reading” itself. When we “peruse” the sayings and events of the Bible or other books. Thus, we know the event or the word in the sense of “getting to know it for the first time” (perceiving). From this perspective, reading a text once is enough and makes it unnecessary to read it a second time. Thus, I can say, for example, that I know the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, I know the story of the Good Samaritan, and I know all the commandments (since my youth, as the rich young man said to Christ). Thus, we teach children to “remember events”, that is, to preserve them “by memory” and to recognize them.

The second level of spiritual reading is the “rational” level. Here we search the books and learn not about the event but what it wants to indicate. For example, the word “Pharisee” contains many meanings necessary to understand and interpret the event… Here the mind participates in analyzing the texts, understanding them and revealing their deep meanings. This stage requires a lot of study and reading.

The true and complete third degree in reading is the “spiritual” degree. Then we read the things that concern us from these lines, words and pages. The books become a “message” for us, that is, they turn from a text into a question, and from pages into a dialogue. Thus says John Chrysostom, that someone who knows a foreign language superficially and simply, when a message in that language reaches him, tries to decipher it, and can speak about it a little. As for someone who really knows and understands that language, he reads in the message its full and rich meanings. But finally, when the spiritual person reads the message, he “connects with the sender.” Here reading becomes prayer and reading becomes a dialogue.

Therefore, we must not distort spiritual readings to the limits of reason or superficiality. Reading the Bible, for example, is not an attempt to learn about what is in it, but rather a fellowship with Jesus. The Bible is not a book that we read, but rather a “reading” in which He (Jesus) speaks. Thus, when we sit in reverence and read the Bible, Jesus speaks to us. This dialogue is the true meaning of the book, and without it we are reading letters and following lines without touching the true meaning, which is the encounter with the Lord. Only in the latter case do we enter into the events of the Bible and live them when we read them. Otherwise, we read the book historically as a novel, and this is not spiritual reading.

Fasting, prayer and spiritual reading are integrated spiritual exercises in which man asks the question and God answers, in which man searches and God reveals. (14)Thus, reading becomes a discovery of divine love and provision.

Therefore, the true and safest state of reading is the state in which reading becomes “ten,” that is, prayer. Reading the Bible, for example, is another form of prayer in which we listen to Jesus. (15)The Bible is the pages where we “meet Jesus” and from which Jesus sends us. The martyrs are the ones who understood and interpreted the Bible the most, not the scholars and researchers.

The divine “Word” in the spiritual books is not the “words” and letters. From the latter we must go to the “discourse” in them, that is, to the “Word.” The Word is not “for perusal” but “for obedience.” Therefore, reading does not move the mind in us but the heart, and it does not change or enrich information in us but rather changes life itself. Therefore, we do not explain the Word (although explanations are necessary), but the Word guides us. We peruse (read), understand (listen), and hear (obey) the Word that comes to us from the words and letters of the divine books.

Therefore, spiritual reading is not accomplished by our personal and individual efforts, but rather by the Holy Spirit, who enlightens our minds. In the Divine Liturgy, the priest recites a supplication before reading the Gospel text to the faithful: “O Lord, who loves mankind, shine in our hearts the unfading light of your divine knowledge, and open the pupils of our minds to understand the teachings of your Gospel… so that we may behave spiritually, thinking about and doing all that pleases you…” The daily prayer books include this supplication for us to pray before reading the Holy Bible and spiritual books in general. We ask “that God may shine in us the light of knowledge” so that we may read, understand, and live and do what pleases him. Saint Ephrem the Syrian advises us to pray to the Lord so that he may reveal to us his will through it before spiritual reading.

 “Spiritual reading” then, after all the above, is not just reading but “food” through which we receive our essential bread and our necessary share of divine grace, because “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” So the Holy Bible is a table and not stories. The encounters and coincidences that take place during spiritual reading with God, the saints and oneself are breaths of grace and life and are spiritual food.

The Divine Liturgy is divided into two parts, the first of which revolves around the Word and the second of which revolves around the offering. In the first part we receive grace through the Word, and in the second part we receive grace from Him through the precious Body and Blood of the Lord. (16)Therefore, we are not talking about reading the Bible, but about “eating the Bible” according to Origen. (17)And so when God spoke to the prophets, He gave them His book as a scroll to eat. (18)We “break bread” and “break the word.” (19)Hence the importance of prayer before reading, that is, asking for the presence of the Holy Spirit to “open the pupils of our minds” because we read these words as seeds of life. Accordingly, the Church has arranged for us to read the Word before we receive “the Word” in the Divine Liturgy.

Explanations are not enough for us to actually “read” the spiritual word in the Gospel or the spiritual books. There is a special event that happened with the disciples of Emmaus. They were going to that village at dawn on the day of the resurrection, and women had told them that Jesus had risen. Jesus came among them and walked with them “and explained the Scriptures to them,” that is, everything that the prophets had spoken about Him. “But their eyes were kept from knowing Him,” as the matins say. They did not understand, until “He opened their minds.” We cannot understand the Scriptures without God opening our minds. (20).

Spiritual reading is therefore an attempt to put us in a state of prayer. That is why the Holy Fathers call it “half prayer.” In fact, it brings us into prayer. It is not easy for a person to emerge from the noise of his daily life immediately to stand before the divine presence that he has forgotten or pretended to forget throughout the day. Therefore, spiritual reading takes us from the world to the kingdom and from noise to prayer. Spiritual reading is the best ladder we can climb in order to stand before God in prayer.

And after prayer! We go out to return to our troubled world, and how quickly we are taken by it and surrender the divine companionship to oblivion. Here comes reading as a necessity to carry the blessing of prayer and extend it over a distance longer than the day and time.

Reading reaches its goal when it becomes “delirious,” that is, when the mind is saturated with spiritual words that accompany it after the time of reading throughout the time of work and occupation. In the face of every situation, these words return to extract from his heart the cry of prayer that is able to decide in him a decision according to the divine will and not according to worldly temptation. “I remembered your commandments and did not stumble,” says David in the Psalms. Reading is also an introduction to prayer and an extension of it. Spiritual reading ferments the entire day, preparing for prayer and extending it. Reading transforms the hours of the day into the time of the kingdom.

Reading fertilizes the human mind and makes it understand the meanings of life and prayer, picking up the seeds of grace and not wasting them. This fertile mind finds many rich meanings in the words of prayers, and easily reaps from them humility and reverence. In contrast to the poor mind that spiritual words pass by and do not settle in it because they are foreign in nature to it. Reading, then, gives the human being a “spiritual sense” and makes his soul transparent and enthusiastic towards the divine presence, not wounding it. In the event of the slightest human shortcoming before grace, the spiritual sense leads the human being to pray deeply and with repentance.

This “half-prayer” for beginners allows them to live the Kingdom and its peace over larger areas of the day, since these people do not yet master the art of constant prayer. Therefore, reading is considered the basic tool in living inner peace, and this peace is the peace of God and not the peace of the world “My peace I give to you, not as the world gives you peace.” It is the peace that results from the union of man with grace and sitting and living in the divine presence.

Last but not least, spiritual reading portrays us in the image of its authors. It does not only connect us with the informational tradition, i.e. the texts, but it also colors us with its color. Whoever reads the lives of the saints is colored by their hues. Therefore, the first fruits of spiritual reading are “wisdom,” along with prayer and peace. Once, some German scholars and researchers visited Mount Athos. There they came across an old monk who was not allowed by his age or circumstances to study languages and philosophies. He was reading a spiritual book at the door of his cell, “The Ladder to God”! This astonished these scholars, for the book was deep and difficult! When they asked him: “Do you understand this book?” his answer was even more astonishing, for he said: “If you wish, take it and I will write you something like it!” This monk read for years, and the spiritual experience in the books was transmitted to him, and he acquired it. It is not surprising that many “readings” are more necessary for beginners than for advanced ones. We know that the more a person advances in spiritual life, the more prayer takes precedence over reading. The Russian traveler spent his entire life on one book, “The Philokalia,” but all his time was spent in “constant prayer.”

Various non-spiritual readings introduce us to many things. Books, novels, and volumes are all like windows surrounding the world of man, through which he looks out on new and new things, and through which he visits other worlds that are not part of his world. However, spiritual reading is different. They are windows not to the outside but to the inside. Rather, it is not a window but a mirror. We read “The Ladder to God” and see ourselves. The disciples were wondering about the Kingdom of God, and the divine books were supposed to guide them to it. But Jesus answered clearly: “The Kingdom of God is within you.” Therefore, reading is one thing and spiritual reading is another.

If reading is knowledge, it does not need to be repeated. We read the book once and put it aside. But since spiritual reading is prayer, nourishment, peace, discovery of the kingdom, and adoption of spiritual wisdom, the spiritual book is “not for reading,” but rather a secret of life that we take and find bitter on the lips and sweet in the stomach. The more we take it, the more the need to nourish ourselves from it increases over and over again.

“This book is not for reading.” So it is a book of life that we eat as food and read as prayer.

(9) PG 40, 1283 A.

(10) “On the Commentary on Matthew,” 2, 5.

(11) Clement of Alexandria, “The Carpet,” 1, 20.

(12) Nilus, PG 79, 213 C.

(13) See, John 1:45.

(14) See, Symeon the New Theologian, PG 120, 385.

(15) Nicolas Cabasilas, “On the Interpretation of the Divine Liturgy,” 20, 1 and 62, 2.

(16) Clement of Alexandria, “The Carpet,” 1, 1.

(17) PG 13, 130.

(18) Ezekiel 3; Revelation 10.

(19) Origen, PG 13, 1714; Chrysostom, “On the Commentary on Genesis,” 6, 2; Gregory the Theologian, Word 45, 16; Jerome, “Commentary on Ecclesiastes,” 3, 13.

(20) Luke 24, 30.