On the second Sunday of Great Lent on which the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Gregory Palamas, who is a "preacher of grace" and leader of the hesychastic movement in the 14th century, Fr. Matthew Howell talks about the place of prayer in our lives. He declares that prayer is about relationship with God rather than simply fulfilling an obligation to recite words from a book. After examining what prayer is or should be and what it is not, he reads several excerpts from the book The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer by Bishop Irenei Steenberg. He concludes by quoting St. Augustine and the Nike slogan to encourage people simply to enter into communication and communion with God through prayer.
