This attitude is in answer to Christ’s commandment

[Mary Naeem]

The twenty-first step is to pray God for them . This attitude is in answer to Christ’s commandment: “Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Mt 5:44, Lk 6:28). It is evident that praying for enemies has been implied from the first steps, but then it was a means of avoiding undesirable attitudes like hate, spite, resentment, and pride which bound to them, and be purified of them . In the higher stages, the prayer is no longer for oneself but for the other: it leads to compassion and to love for the enemy and permits to develop, to strengthen and to show these positive attitudes. It consists then in asking God to take pity on him, forgive him his sins, save him and give him what is best . A sorrowful heart and tears are the sign that the prayer is deep, sincere and motivated by real compassion . St. Isaac the Syrian writes: “He who is compassionate prays tearfully, at all hours, for the animals without reason, for the enemies of truth, and for all who harm him, so that they be kept and forgiven.” “He who loves his enemies,” says St. Maximus, “will even suffer for them if the chance is given him.”