Rene Rodriguez

The Power of Midnight Prayer (According to the teachings of Saint Dimitrios Gagastathis) • When you truly want to pray, get up at night, on an empty stomach. Then - yes, then - there is nothing better or more beautiful. When people are sleeping, God hears you. • Cry out to God with all your strength, from the depths of your heart. Pray especially at night, when the enemy lies in wait. After midnight, between 12:00 and 3:30 a.m., the devil finds opportunity to work because people are asleep. That is why the shepherd must keep watch over the flock. • The night must not be entirely wasted in sleep, for then Satan does with us whatever he wishes. Vigilance is a weapon, and nighttime prayer is fire.
Even as a child I loved to pray. • I would go to a quiet place and cry out to God. My heart thirsted for Him. I had memorized the Akathist to the Mother of God by heart and would recite it. What joy, what exultation, and what peace filled my heart! Everything I asked of our All-Good Mother, the Theotokos, she granted me. This is the work of prayer offered with a pure heart in the silence of the night: God listens, and grace descends.