Definition of the word "Melete" - 4

The exercise of prayer = crupte Melete

Amerimna and nepsis tend to be negative attitudes, with the aim of protecting the soul. Here is something more positive, melete, which will prepare the soul more directly for continuous prayer.

This word melete, translated into latin as 'meditari', means more than to 'meditate'. It also has the sense of 'exercise'. In melet e meditation is made aloud with the aim of preparing the soul for prayer; it is an exercise for prayer: short phrases are repeated so that they penetrate the soul and bring about spontaneous prayer. People of those days had the habit of talking to themselves out loud or in a low voice. We have seen how the Pachomian monks repeated verses of the Bible to themselves when they were at work, at the Office, in the refectory etc.... The hermits of Lower Egypt were alone and had no risk of disturbing others by speaking out loud (Text 49). We know some of these meletai. Abba Sisoes repeated a text of his own making (Text 50). We also know the prayer of Macarius who has committed a terrible crime before coming the Scetis: "I have sinned as a man, may You have pity on me, as God!" But in general the Fathers hid their melete out of humility: crupte melete means a 'hidden exercise of prayer'.

From the little that we know, these melete could be of two kinds: the 'auxiliatrice' prayer, asking for help or protection, and the 'catanytic' prayer, meaning 'which pricks', of the kind to arouse penthos, tears, mourning, holy sadness. Macarius gives us an example of these two kinds of melete (Text 51).

Much later these prayers would be called 'ejaculatory prayers' from a latin word meaning 'to throw a javelin', according to a remark of St Augustine in one of his letters: "They say that in Egypt the brothers use frequent prayers, but very short and thrown out rapidly like darts" (Letter to Proba: PL 130, 10,20). In the East they are called 'monologue prayers', meaning a prayer consisting of one word or a single thought.

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Melete - emphasis on the second syllable.

In Greek mythology, Melete was one of the three original (Boeotian) Muses, though there were later nine; her sisters were Aoide and Mneme. She was the muse of meditation and practice. Melete literally means "practice" and "exercise" in Greek in relation to studying. In Modern Greek, melete means intense, focused study - thus the name for this content tool where students spend most of their time studying.

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