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→Magicism and "automatic" view of prayer: extended quote
Unconditional action of prayer assumes that free will does exist neither in man nor in God and that God can do something harmful and with no regard to the inner determination of all involved persons. St. Hilarion of Optina writes that though we should pray about each other, the view on prayer that every petition is necessarily executed originates from pride and leads to delusion. <ref>{{Ru icon}}[http://www.optina.ru/starets/ilarion_letters_4/#51 Letters of St. Hilarion of Optina. Letter 51.]</ref>
Professor A.I. Osipov writes that "an awareness of magic is deeply present in our 'old man'. For very many people, Orthodoxy consists in placing candles, 'venerating', donating something, leaving prayer requests, ordering Liturgies, molebens and pannikhidas, joining in the cross processions, visiting holy shrines, confessing and receiving Communion. The most important part of salvation, life according the commandments and repentance, remains undone. However, without spiritual transformation (in Greek, the word for repentance is μετάνοια [metanoia], which means to change one’s way of thinking), all of these external activities are at the least useless, and at the worst harmful, for they can cause one to feel self-righteous and raise his self-opinion over “sinners.”".<ref>[http://www.alexey-osipov.ru/web-files/books/Put_razuma_v_poiskakh_istiny/Pyt_razuma_english_(A_I_Osipov).doc A.I. Osipov. Search for Truth on the Path of Reason. P. 240.]</ref>
Also some holy fathers wrote about such "automatic" attitude to the Sacraments (i.e. without faith and willingness to fight with passions): St. John Chrysostom<ref>{{Ru icon}}[http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/?Ioann_Zlatoust/beseda_na_slova_otcy_oblak St. John Chrysostom. Conversation about the words of the Apostle 1 Cor.10:1] St. John writes: neither baptism, nor absolution of sins, nor knowledge, nor the communion of the mysteries, nor sacred body, nor sacred blood, and nothing else can bring us any good if we do not lead a life honest, rigorous and alien to any sin.</ref>, St. Mark the Ascetic<ref>{{Ru icon}}[http://ni-ka.com.ua/index.php?Lev=creati St. Mark the Ascetic Word 4. Answer to those puzzled about Holy Baptism.] St. Mark writes: Are you sure even now that to a firm believer the Holy Spirit is given immediately after the Baptism, while to wrong and of evil faith is not given even after Baptism?</ref>, St. Cyril of Jerusalem<ref>{{Ru icon}}[http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/?Kirill_Ierusalimskij/oglasit=17 St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical teachings. Catechetical teaching 17th.] St. Cyril writes: If you are a hypocrite, a man baptize thee this day, and the Spirit does not baptize you. If you come with faith, then people will make the visible and the Holy Spirit will make the invisible.</ref>. Such false "automatic" attitude to the action of Holy Sacraments is named by A.I. Osipov as one of the reasons of degeneration of Christian faith and backsliding into paganism.