“Sweet is what is pure in the heart and

constant memory of Jesus and what is happening

from her is indescribable enlightenment.”

Elder Paisius's teaching on the Jesus Prayer, like his teaching on monasticism, is closely connected with the teaching on this subject of his teacher and friend Schemamonk Vasily. Therefore, we will first briefly convey the teaching about the Jesus Prayer of Elder Basil, as set out by him in the prefaces to the books of St. Gregory of Sinai, Blessed Philotheus of Sinai and Blessed Hesychius of Jerusalem.

Elder Basil begins his preface to the book of Saint Gregory by pointing out the incorrectness of the opinion of those who think that mental work is appropriate only for those who are perfect, those who have achieved dispassion and holiness. Those who think so limit their prayer to the external performance of psalmody, troparions and canons, not understanding that such external prayer is assigned to us by the holy fathers only as temporary in view of the weakness and infancy of our minds, so that we, gradually improving, ascend to the level clever doing and in no case remained with only external prayer. According to St. Gregory, only infants tend to, when performing external prayer with their lips, think that they are doing something great, and, consoled by the amount of reading, to cultivate an inner Pharisee within themselves. According to Saint Simeon the New Theologian, one who confines himself to the external practice of prayer cannot achieve inner peace and succeed in virtue, for he is like one fighting his enemies in the darkness of the night; he hears the voices of his enemies, receives wounds from them, but does not see clearly who they are, where they came from, how and why they are fighting him? According to Saint Isaac the Syrian and Saint Nilus of Sora, if someone wanted, in addition to mental prayer, to repel the enemy’s attack with only external prayer and external feelings and resist any passion or evil thought, he would soon find himself defeated many times over: for demons, defeating him in the struggle and again voluntarily submitting to him, as if defeated by him, they mock him and dispose him to vanity and arrogance, proclaiming him a teacher and shepherd of the sheep. From what has been said, one can see the power and measure of both mental prayer and external prayer. One should not think that the holy fathers, by keeping us from immoderate external prayer and turning us to mental prayer, are thereby degrading external prayer. It won't happen! For all the sacred rites of the Church are established in it by the Holy Spirit, and they all reflect the mystery of the incarnation of God the Word. And there is nothing human in church rites, but everything is a work of God’s grace, not increased by our merits and not diminished by our sins. But we are now talking not about the statutes of the Holy Church, but about the special rule and residence of each of the monks, i.e. about mental prayer as such a work, which, through zeal and sincerity of heart, and not just words spoken without attention by the lips and tongue, usually attracts the grace of the Holy Spirit. And not only the perfect, but also every beginner and passionate person can intelligently engage in this mental activity, guarding the heart. And therefore, Saint Gregory of Sinai, who more than anyone else and to the greatest detail has examined and discussed with the grace of the Holy Spirit living in him, the lives and writings and spiritual deeds of all the saints, commands us to make every effort about mental prayer.

Likewise, Saint Simeon of Thessalonica commands and advises bishops, priests, monks, and laity to say this sacred prayer at all times and at every hour and, as it were, to breathe it, for there is no stronger weapon either on earth or in heaven, he says he is together with the holy apostle, like the name of Jesus Christ. Know also this, good worker of this sacred work, that not only in the desert or in solitary hermitage there were teachers and numerous practitioners of this sacred rite, but also in the greatest laurels and even in cities. For example, His Holiness Patriarch Photius, elevated to the patriarchate from the senatorial rank and not being a monk, already in his high post learned smart work and succeeded in it to such an extent that, according to Saint Simeon of Thessalonica, his face shone with the grace of the Holy Spirit like a second Moses. According to the same Saint Simeon, Patriarch Photius also wrote a wonderful book about smart doing. He also says that Saint John Chrysostom, and Saints Ignatius and Callistus, being patriarchs of the same Constantinople, wrote their books about this internal work.

So, if you, objecting to mental prayer, say that you are not a desert dweller to engage in this work, then you will be rebuked by Patriarch Callistus, who learned mental prayer while serving as a cook in the great Lavra of Athos, and by Patriarch Photius, who, being already a patriarch , learned the art of heartfelt attention. If you are lazy to engage in mental sobriety, citing obedience, then you especially deserve censure, for, according to St. Gregory of Sinaite, neither the desert nor solitude are as useful in this activity as reasonable obedience. If you say that you do not have a teacher who would teach you this work, the Lord himself commands you to learn from the Holy Scriptures, saying: “try the scriptures, and in them you will find eternal life.” If you are confused, not finding a silent place, you are refuted by St. Peter of Damascus, who says: “This is the beginning of man’s salvation, to leave behind one’s own desires and understandings and to fulfill God’s desires and understandings, and then in the whole world there will be no such thing or place.” that could hinder salvation." If you are confused by the words of Saint Gregory of Sinai, who speaks a lot about the delusion that occurs during this activity, then this holy father himself corrects you by saying: “We should neither fear nor doubt when calling on God. For even if some have gone astray, having become corrupted in mind, know that they suffered this from self-indulgence and arrogance. If anyone seeks God in obedience with questioning and humility, he will never be harmed by the grace of Christ. For, according to the words of the holy fathers, the entire demonic regiment cannot harm someone who lives righteously and immaculately and avoids self-indulgence and arrogance, even if they raise countless temptations against him. Only those who act self-confidently and self-advisedly fall into delusion. Those who, stumbling over the stone of the Holy Scriptures, shy away from smart work for fear of delusion, turn white into black and black into white. For the holy fathers teach us not to prohibit mental activity about the causes of delusion that occurs, but to protect us from delusion. Like Saint Gregory of Sinaite, commanding those studying prayer not to be afraid or doubt, he also points out the reasons for delusion: self-indulgence and arrogance. Wishing that we should not receive harm from them, the holy fathers command that we study the Holy Scriptures and be guided by them, having brother and brother as a good advisor, according to the word of Peter of Damascus. If you are afraid to begin smart work out of reverence and in simplicity of heart, I am ready to be afraid along with you. But one should not be afraid of empty fables according to the proverb: “If you are afraid of a wolf, do not go into the forest.” And one should fear God, but not run from Him and not renounce Him.

For some, physical weakness is no small obstacle to doing mental prayer. Not being able to endure the labors and fasts that the saints did, they think that without this it is impossible for them to begin intelligent work. Correcting their mistake, Saint Basil the Great teaches: “abstinence is determined to each according to his bodily strength” and, I think, it is not safe, having destroyed the strength of the body through immeasurable abstinence, to make it inactive and incapable of good deeds. If it were good for us to be relaxed in body and lie as if dead, barely breathing, then God would have created us that way. If He did not create us this way, then those who do not preserve God’s beautiful creation the way it was created are sinning. The ascetic must be concerned about only one thing: whether the evil of corruption is hidden in his soul, whether sobriety and zealous turning of thoughts to God have weakened, whether the spiritual sanctification and the resulting enlightenment of the soul has not been darkened in him. For if all the good things mentioned increase in him, then there will be no time for bodily passions to arise in him, when his soul is occupied with heavenly things and does not leave the body time to excite passions. With such a structure of the soul, the one who takes food is no different from the one who does not. And he performed not only fasting, but also complete non-eating and is praised for his special care for the body: for moderate living does not inflame lust. In connection with this, Saint Isaac says: “If you force a weak body beyond its strength, you inflict double confusion on the soul.” And Saint John Climacus says: “I saw this hostile (womb) resting and giving vigor to the mind.” And in another place: “I saw her melt away with fasting and arousing lust, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in the Living God.” This is what the story that St. Nikon recalls teaches: already in our times, one old man was found in the desert, who had not seen a single person for thirty years, had not eaten bread, eating only roots, and he admitted that all these years he had been prodigal. demon. And the fathers decided that it was not pride or food that was the cause of this fornication, but the fact that the elder was not taught intelligent sobriety and opposition to the enemy’s tricks. That is why Saint Maximus the Confessor says: “Give the body according to its strength and direct all your feats to smart work.” And Saint Diadochos: “fasting has praise in itself, and not according to God: its goal is to bring those who wish to chastity.” And therefore it is not appropriate for the ascetics of piety to philosophize about it, but to await the outcome of our dispensation in the faith of God. In no art do artists judge the result of the work by the tool, but they expect the end of the work and judge the art by it. Having such an establishment about food, do not place all your hope in fasting alone, but fast according to the measure and strength of yours, strive for smart work. In this way, you can avoid pride, and you will not disdain God’s good creations, giving God praise for everything.

And the Apostle Peter says: “Be sober, be vigilant, the devil is your adversary, like a lion he walks roaring, looking for someone to devour” (). And the Apostle Paul, obviously, writes to the Ephesians about heartfelt guarding: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world” (). The Venerable Hesychius, a presbyter, theologian and teacher of the Jerusalem Church, who wrote a book of 200 chapters about the mental invocation of Jesus in the heart, that is, about mental prayer, cites the following evidence about it from Divine Scripture: “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” ( ) and again: “Take heed to yourself, lest there be a secret word of iniquity in your heart” (). And the apostle says: “Pray without ceasing” () and the Lord himself says: “Without Me you cannot do anything. Whoever is in Me and I in him, he will produce much fruit.” Our divine and God-bearing father John Climacus cites the following evidence from Holy Scripture about this sacred prayer and true silence of the mind: “the great worker of great and perfect prayers said: I want to speak five words with my mind,” and so on. and again: “I sleep, but my heart watches” (Song of Songs 5:2); and again: “I cried out, speaking, with all my heart” (). Our God-bearing father Philotheus, abbot of the monastery of the Bush of the Most Holy Theotokos on Sinai, who compiled a small book of priceless pearls of divine wisdom on guarding the heart, places the words of the Holy Scripture as the unshakable foundation of his teaching: “in the morning we slaughtered all the sinners of the earth” () and: “The Kingdom of God is within there are you” () and “the kingdom of heaven is likened to pea grain and beads and kvass”; and again: “Keep your heart with all care” () and again: “I delight in the law of God in the inner man: I see another law opposing the law of my mind and taking me captive” (). Our Divine Father Diadochos, Bishop of Photikie, in his word on the mental Jesus prayer, gives the following reasons from Holy Scripture: “no one can speak of the Lord Jesus except by the Holy Spirit” () and from the Gospel parable about the merchant looking for good beads, he concludes about prayer: “This is a valuable bead, which a person can acquire at the cost of all his possessions and have inexpressible joy in its acquisition.” Our venerable father Nicephorus the faster, in his word on guarding the heart, likens this divine mental act of prayer in the heart to a treasure hidden in a field and calls it a “burning lamp.”

Our divine and God-bearing father Gregory of Sinaite, who by doing this prayer in the holy Mount Athos and other places achieved the highest vision of God, who, with divine wisdom, compiled the Trinity songs that are sung weekly all over the world, who also composed the canon of the life-giving cross, gives the following certificates about this divine prayer from divine scripture: “remember your Lord without fail” (Deut. ch. 18) and again: “in the morning this is your seed, and in the evening let not your hand leave” (), and again: “even if I pray with my tongue, my spirit prays, my mind but mine is without fruit (); I will pray with my lips, I will also pray with my mind,” and: “I want to say five words with my mind,” and so on. He cites John Climacus as a witness, who also relates these words to mental prayer. A follower in the apostolic footsteps, an invincible pillar of the Orthodox faith, who at the Florence Council tore apart the Doukhobor heresies of the Latins like a cobweb network with the fiery sword of the spirit and the truth of Orthodox dogmas, the most holy, wise and verbal Metropolitan of Ephesus Mark writes about the divine Jesus Prayer: “It would be fitting to pray unceasingly, according to the commandment, and to offer worship to God in spirit and truth; but the disposition of worldly thoughts and the burden of caring for the body removes and removes many from the Kingdom of God that exists within us and prevents us from remaining at the mental altar, offering spiritual and verbal sacrifices to God according to the divine apostle, who said that we are the temple of God living in us and that His divine Spirit lives in us. And there is nothing surprising if this usually happens to many who live according to the flesh, when we see some monks who have renounced the world, mentally overwhelmed by the actions of passions, subjected as a result to great confusion, darkening the rational part of the soul, and therefore unable to achieve with all their desire true prayer. Sweet is the pure and constant memory of Jesus in the heart and the ineffable enlightenment that comes from it.” Our venerable father, the Russian saint Nil of Sorsky, who compiled a book on the mental guarding of the heart, uses the following words of Holy Scripture: “from the heart come evil thoughts and defile a person” () “it is fitting to bow down to the Father in spirit and truth” and so on. Another Russian luminary, Saint Demetrius of Christ, Metropolitan of Rostov, who composed a word on the internal mental practice of prayer, cites the following passages of Holy Scripture: “My heart says to you: I will seek the Lord; I will seek my face for you; I will seek your face, O Lord,” and again: “In the same way that the trees desire the springs of water, so my soul desires thee, O God,” and again: “Praying with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit.” He, along with Saint John Climacus and Gregory of Sinaite and Saint Nilus of Sora, attributes all these words to mental prayer. Likewise, the church charter, setting out the church rules on bowing and prayer, cites the following words of Divine Scripture about this divine prayer: “God is Spirit; He wants the spirit and truth of those who swear” (24). He also cites the testimony of the holy fathers in that part of their teaching that relates to mental prayer, and after that he says: “here we finish the word about holy and sacred and ever-memorable mental prayer,” and then moves on to the one prayer that is holy for all, indicated church rites. Thus, by the grace of God, we have shown that the God-bearing fathers, made wise by the Holy Spirit, establish the foundation of their teaching about the mental sacred act of prayer secretly performed according to the inner man on the immovable stone of the Divine Scripture of the New and Old Testament, from where, as from an inexhaustible source, they borrow numerous testimonies.

In the third chapter of his message on mental prayer, Elder Paisios says that this prayer is a spiritual art. “Let it be known that the divine fathers call this sacred mental making of prayer art. So Saint John Climacus in word 23 about silence says: “if you have learned this art by experience, then you know what I’m talking about. Sitting on high, watch if you know how: and then you will see how and when, and from where, and how many, and what kind of thieves are coming to steal the grapes. Having become tired, this guard gets up and prays, then sits down again and courageously continues the first task.” Saint Hesychius, the presbyter of Jerusalem, says about this same sacred prayer: “sobriety is a spiritual art, which completely delivers a person, with the help of God, from passionate thoughts and words, and from evil deeds.” Saint Nicephorus the faster says about the same thing: “Come, and I will reveal to you the art, or better yet, the science of eternal heavenly life, which introduces its worker without labor and sweat into the haven of dispassion.” The above-mentioned fathers call this holy prayer art, I think, because just as a person cannot learn art on his own without an artist, so it is impossible to learn this mental practice of prayer without a skillful mentor. Its assimilation, according to Saint Nicephorus, comes from teaching to the majority and even to all; rare people receive from God without teaching, through the pain of doing and the warmth of faith.

The fourth chapter of the message talks about what kind of preparation one who wants to undergo this divine work must have. Since this divine thing is higher than any other monastic feat and is the completion of all labors, the source of virtue, the subtlest and hidden in the depths of the heart of the mind, the invisible enemy of our salvation extends over it the invisible, subtle and barely comprehensible to the human mind networks of its various seductions and dreams. Therefore, anyone who wants to learn this divine work must, according to Saint Simeon the New Theologian, surrender himself into complete obedience to a person who fears God, a zealous keeper of His divine commandments, experienced in this mental feat, who can show his student the right path to salvation. By humility, born from obedience, such a person will be able to avoid all the deceptions and snares of the devil and always practice this mental activity quietly, silently, without any harm and with great success for his soul. If, having given himself over to obedience, he would not have found in his father, who was skilled in this divine prayer by his own deed and experience, a mentor, for at present experienced mentors of this work have become completely scarce, then still he should not fall into despair , but continuing to abide in true obedience according to the commandments of God with humility and fear of God, and not in an arbitrary and willful life without obedience, which is usually followed by deception, and, placing all hope in God, together with your father, obey the teachings of our venerable fathers, subtly teaching this divine work and from them learn this prayer. And in any case, the grace of God will hasten and instruct the fathers through the prayers of the saints to learn, without any doubt, this divine work.

The fifth chapter contains the teaching of what this sacred prayer is in its quality and effect. Saint John Climacus in word 28 about prayer says: “prayer is, in its quality, the coexistence and union of man and God: by action, the affirmation of the world, reconciliation with God, the mother and daughter of tears, the propitiation of sins, a bridge through temptation, a fence from sorrows, contrition of battles, the work of angels, food for all bodiless, future joy, endless work, the source of virtue, the cause of talents, secret prosperity, food for the soul, enlightenment of the mind, an ax to despair, proof of hope, liberation from sorrow, the wealth of monks, the treasure of the silent, weakening rage, mirror of prosperity, indication of measure, detection of fortune, indicator of the future, seal of glory. Prayer is truly for the one who prays both the judgment seat, and the judgment itself, and the throne of the judgment of the Lord before the future Throne.” Saint Gregory of Sinai writes in chapter 113: “prayer is in beginners, like a fire of joy, emitted by the heart; in the perfect, like light, fragrant, active” and in another place: “prayer is the preaching of the apostles, the action of faith or, better, immediate faith, the manifestation of those who hoped for, the realized love, the angelic movement, the power of the incorporeal, their work and joy, the gospel of God , revelation of the heart, hope of salvation, sign of sanctification, formation of holiness, knowledge of God, the appearance of baptism, the betrothal of the Holy Spirit, the joy of Jesus, joy of the soul, the mercy of God, the sign of reconciliation, the seal of Christ, a ray of the mental sun, the morning star of hearts, the establishment of Christianity, the appearance reconciliation of God, the grace of God, the wisdom of God, or, better, the beginning of self-wisdom, the appearance of God, the work of monks, the dwelling of the silent, or better, the source of silence, the seal of angelic dwelling.”

Blessed Macarius the Great says about prayer: “the head of every good effort and the pinnacle of all deeds is to endure in prayer, through which we can always acquire other virtues by asking from God; Through prayer, those who are worthy receive communion with the holiness of God and spiritual action, and the union of the mind, directed towards the Lord, with ineffable love with Him. He who always forces himself to persevere in prayer with patience is kindled toward God with divine zeal and ardent desire from spiritual love, and, according to his measure, accepts the grace of spiritual sanctifying perfection” (Conversation 40, Chapter 2). Saint Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, says about this same sacred prayer: “this divine prayer is the invocation of our Savior: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God: have mercy on me, and there is prayer, and supplication, and confession of faith, and the giver of the Holy Spirit and the giver of divine gifts , and cleansing of the heart, and the casting out of demons, and the indwelling of Jesus Christ, and the source of spiritual thoughts and divine thoughts, and the deliverance of sins, and the healing of souls and bodies, and the giver of divine enlightenment and the source of God’s mercy, and the giver of the humble revelations and mysteries of God, and salvation itself, because it bears within itself the saving name of our God: which name is the name that is given to us, Jesus Christ the Son of God” (chapter 296). Likewise, other God-bearing fathers, writing about this holy prayer, testify to its action and the ineffable benefits that come from it and the success through it in the divine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Who, seeing how this most sacred one leads the ascetic to such a heavenly treasure of various virtues, will not be inflamed with God’s zeal for always doing this prayer, so that through it he may always preserve in his soul and heart the all-sweet Jesus and unceasingly remember His most dear name in himself, inexpressibly inflamed by it to love His. Only he will not feel an ardent desire to begin this mental exercise of mental prayer, who is seized by the attachment of thoughts to the things of life, who is bound by the bonds of worries about the body, which lead and alienate many from the Kingdom of God that exists within us, who by deed and experience has not tasted the ineffable divine the sweetness of this most beneficial activity, who has not understood what hidden spiritual benefit this thing contains within itself. Those who want to be united by love with the sweetest Jesus, having spat upon all the beauties of this world and all its pleasures and bodily peace, will not want to have anything else in this life but to constantly practice the heavenly practice of this prayer.

In the last sixth chapter of his letter, Elder Paisios writes about some external techniques for teaching this prayer to beginners. Before presenting his instructions, instead of a preface, we will give a brief note on this matter from one of our contemporary ascetics, who writes the following: “the goal of mental prayer is unity with God, who is Spirit, and unity with whom can therefore only be spiritual. As for the external techniques used by some ascetics when practicing this prayer, then, of course, they are of secondary importance. In imperfect people, the soul of a person is conformed to the body, say the fathers. Therefore, the silence of the soul must be preceded by the silence of the body, that is, its deanery, as John Climacus says. And for the concentration of mind necessary for prayer, certain external living conditions and even body positions may also be suitable. But it would be a mistake to think that the feat of growth in spiritual prayer can depend on external conditions and techniques. One thing is certain, that since the essence of prayer is to pray with the mind in the heart, then, in accordance with this, our mind should be directed into the heart. And everything else is of secondary importance. Therefore, in the Russian Philokalia all mentions of external techniques are omitted” (Arch. Feofan of Poltava). After this preliminary remark, let us turn to the message of Elder Paisios. He writes: “since in ancient times the practice of mental prayer flourished in many places where the holy fathers had their presence, and there were many teachers of this spiritual work then, when writing about it, they spoke only about the spiritual benefits arising from it, without having the need to write about the very method of doing this, befitting beginners. When they saw that the true teachers of this work, far from deception, began to diminish, then, prompted by the Spirit of God, so that the true teaching about the beginning of this prayer would not become impoverished, they described both the very beginning and the way how beginners should learn this prayer and enter with their minds the lands of the heart , and undeceptively perform a prayer there with the mind.

Saint Simeon the New Theologian speaks about the beginning of this work as follows: “true and undeceitful attention and prayer consists in keeping the mind, during prayer, of the heart and always turning within it and from the depths of it sending up prayer to the Lord. Having tasted here that the Lord is good, the mind no longer moves away from the abode of the heart and, together with the apostle, says: “It is good for us to be here,” and always surveying the places there, drives out the thoughts sown by the enemy.” Further, he speaks about the same even more clearly: “sitting in a silent cell in some secluded corner, with attention do what I tell you: “close the door, distract your mind from all vanity, press your beard to your chest, directing it with mind and sensual eye. Slow down your breathing so that you are not breathing too freely. And try to mentally find a place in your heart inside your chest, where all your spiritual strength naturally likes to reside, and, first of all, you will find there unrelenting darkness and rudeness. When you continue and do this work both night and day, you will find, oh miracle! constant fun. For as soon as the mind finds a place in the heart, it immediately sees what it has never seen: it sees the air in the middle of the heart and itself, all bright and full of reasoning. And from then on, no matter where a thought arises, before it turns into action or becomes an idol, by calling on Jesus Christ, he drives it away and destroys it. Hence the mind, having anger against demons, raises natural anger against them and, driving them away, overthrows mental opponents. You will learn many other things with God’s help by keeping your mind and holding Jesus in your heart.” (A word about three types of attention and prayer).

The Venerable Nicephorus the faster, teaching even more clearly about entering the heart with the mind, says this: “First of all, let your life be silent, free from worries and peaceful with everyone. Then, entering your cell, shut yourself up and sit in one of the corners, do as I tell you: “You know that when we breathe, we inhale air into ourselves; We exhale it not for the sake of anything else, but for the sake of the heart, for the heart is the cause of life and warmth of the body. The heart attracts air in order to release its warmth through breathing and to obtain fresh air for itself. The instrument of such activity is the lung, which, being created porous by the Creator, constantly, like fur, brings in and takes out the surrounding air. Thus, the heart invariably fulfills the purpose for which it was designed for the well-being of the body. So, sit down and, having collected your mind, lead it along the path that the air goes to the heart and force it to descend into the heart along with the inhaled air. When he enters there, what follows will not be gloomy or joyless.” He further writes: “therefore, brother, train your mind not to leave there quickly: for at first it becomes very depressed from the inner seclusion and crampedness. When he gets used to it, he no longer wants to remain in external wanderings: the Kingdom of Heaven is within us. When we look at it there and seek it with pure prayer, then everything external appears to us as vile and hateful. So, if you immediately, as has been said, enter with your mind the place of your heart that I have shown you, give thanks to God and glorify Him, and rejoice, and always adhere to this doing, and it will teach you what you do not know. You should also know this, that when your mind is there, it should not remain silent and idle, but should have as its constant work and teaching the prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, and should never stop doing this. class. It keeps the mind from elevating itself, makes it inaccessible and elusive to the machinations of the enemy, and raises it to the love of God and to everyday divine desire. If, after working hard, you cannot enter the lands of the heart, do as I tell you, and with God’s help you will find what you are looking for. Do you know that the rational principle of every person is in his chest? It is here, even with the silence of our lips, that we speak, and reason, and perform prayers, and much more. Let this rational principle, having removed every thought from it (you can, if you want), say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” and force yourself to cry out to this alone, instead of any other thought, always within. If you maintain this order for some time, the heart entrance will open to you, as we wrote to you, without any doubt, as we ourselves have learned from experience. The whole face of virtues will come to you along with much-desired and sweet attention: love, joy, peace, etc.”

The Divine Gregory of Sinai, also teaching how one should invoke the name of the Lord in the heart with the mind, says: “sitting in the morning on a seat in one quarter, bring the mind down into the heart and keep it there. Bending over with tension, experiencing pain in your chest, shoulders, and neck, constantly cry out with your mind or soul: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” When the frequency of repetition becomes too cramped and painful, perhaps even unsweetened (which does not happen because of the monotony of food eaten often, for it is said: those who eat me will still hunger -), changing your mind to the other half, say: “Son of God, have mercy on me.” " And repeating this half many times, you should not change it often out of laziness or boredom, because plants that are often transplanted do not take root. Restrain the breathing of your lungs so that it is not too free. For the breath of air emanating from the heart darkens the mind, preventing or not allowing it to descend to the heart and scatters thought. Not allowing it to the heart, it consigns it to oblivion or sets it up to learn something other than what it should, leaving it to insensibly remain in what it should not. If you see the impurities of evil spirits, that is, thoughts arising or transformed in your mind, do not be horrified, do not be surprised; even if good understandings of certain things appear to you, do not heed them, but, holding your breath as much as possible, and keeping your mind in your heart and calling on the Lord Jesus often and constantly, you will soon burn and destroy them, striking them with the divine name. For the Climacus says: In the name of Jesus, slay the warriors, for there is not a single stronger weapon, either in heaven or on earth.” Further, the same saint, teaching about silence and prayer, continues: “Your sitting must be in patience, for the sake of him who said: “They endure in prayer;” and it is not necessary to get up soon, weakening due to painful difficulty and mental appeal and frequent raising of the mind. Therefore, bowing down and collecting your mind in your heart, call on the Lord Jesus for help. Feeling pain in your shoulders, often having headaches, endure all this, seeking in the heart of the Lord: those in need have the Kingdom of God and those in need delight. The same father also speaks about how prayers should be performed: “This is what the fathers said: One, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. All. The other half: Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, and this is more convenient due to the infancy of the mind and weakness, for no one can purely and completely secretly call the Lord Jesus by himself, but only by the Holy Spirit. Like a baby who cannot speak, he cannot yet perform this prayer articulately. Out of weakness, he should not often change the calling of names, but slowly for the sake of retention.” Also: “some teach to say prayer with the lips, others with the mind; I think both are necessary. For sometimes the mind is exhausted from despondency to pronounce it, sometimes the lips. However, one should cry out silently and unabashedly, so that the feeling of the soul and the attention of the mind, confused by the voice, do not move away until the mind, as usual, succeeds in its work and receives the strength from the Spirit to pray strongly and in every possible way. Then he will no longer have the need to speak with his lips, and he will not be able to, being able to perform prayer perfectly with his mind alone.” From what has been said, it is clear that the above-mentioned fathers give a very clear teaching about the methods of teaching smart work to beginners. From their teaching one can understand the instructions about this work of other ascetics, although the latter did not speak out with such clarity.

This concludes the message of Elder Paisius about the mental Jesus Prayer.

Jesus Prayer– a short prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” They also often add “sinful” or “sinful” to the end.

What is the Jesus Prayer for?

They cheated me, and in the name of the Lord they resisted them.

By the grace of God, often one word hidden in the heart strengthens it, makes it adamant towards evil and thus frees it from inner tightness and languor.

The most powerful and all-defeating sword for spiritual warriors is the skill of the Jesus Prayer. Prayer is always a sword... But this one, if you get used to it, will be a sword that is constantly turned around and frightens enemies. Start practicing it until you get the hang of it.

The main thing here is humility, with the feeling of a publican...

The Jesus Prayer, according to the teachings of the holy fathers, is appropriate when a person walks, or sits, or lies, drinks, eats, talks, or does some kind of handicraft; whoever can say the Jesus Prayer with humility during all this should not abandon it, but for abandoning reproach yourself and repent with humility, but do not be embarrassed, because embarrassment, whatever it may be, is a sign of secret pride and proves a person’s inexperience and lack of skill in carrying out his work.

Such prayer requires instruction, lack of anger, silence and humble self-reproach in any unpleasant case..

The Holy Fathers advise during prayer to look inside the heart, and not from above or from the side, and especially if the attention of the mind descends below the heart, then carnal passion is aroused.

It is dangerous to go through this prayer without guidance..

To always have the memory of God, this is what the Jesus Prayer is for..

The first step is oral prayer; when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood. The second stage is mental-heart prayer, when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time; then the prayer is performed continuously, no matter what a person does: eat, drink, rest - the prayer is still performed...

For a long time... I could not understand what connecting the mind with the heart is. Essentially speaking, this means uniting all the forces of the soul together to direct them all towards God, which is impossible if they are separated.

The path of the Jesus Prayer is the shortest, most convenient path. But do not complain, for everyone who follows this path experiences sorrows.

He who is diligent in learning this Divine work must, according to Saint Simeon the New Theologian, surrender himself soul and body into obedience in accordance with the Holy Scriptures; that is, to surrender oneself to the complete cutting off of one’s will and one’s reasoning - to a person who fears God, a zealous keeper of His Divine commandments and is not inexperienced in this mental feat, who, according to the writings of the Holy Fathers, can show the obedient the unforgettable path to salvation - the path of mental prayer secretly performed by the mind in the heart.

The basis for practicing the Jesus Prayer is prudent and careful behavior. Firstly, you must eliminate from yourself effeminacy and carnal pleasures in all forms. One must be content with food and sleep that is always moderate, commensurate with one’s strength and health, so that food and sleep provide the body with proper reinforcement, without producing indecent movements, which come from excess, and without producing exhaustion, which comes from lack. Clothing, housing and all material accessories in general should be modest, in imitation of Christ, in imitation of His Apostles, in following their spirit, in communion with their spirit. The Holy Apostles and their true disciples did not make any sacrifices to vanity and vanity, according to the customs of the world, and did not enter into any communication with the spirit of the world. The correct, grace-filled action of the Jesus Prayer can only vegetate from the Spirit of Christ; it vegetates and grows exclusively on this soil alone. Sight, hearing and other senses must be strictly guarded so that through them, like through a gate, adversaries do not break into the soul. The mouth and tongue must be curbed, as if shackled in silence; idle talk, verbosity, especially ridicule, gossip and slander are the worst enemies of prayer. One must refuse to accept the brethren into one’s cell, one must refuse to go to their cells: one must remain patiently in one’s cell, as in a tomb with one’s dead body—with one’s soul, tormented, killed by sins—and beg the Lord Jesus for mercy..

If you want to approach God and become assimilated to Him by constant presence in prayer, look around! Examine carefully your way of thinking: are you infected with any false teaching? Will you follow exactly and without exception the teachings of the Eastern Church, the only true, holy, apostolic?.. Consciousness of one’s sinfulness, consciousness of one’s weakness, one’s insignificance is a necessary condition for prayer to be graciously accepted and heard by God... Those who want to take up the feat prayers! Before you begin this feat, try to forgive everyone who upset, slandered, humiliated you, everyone who caused you any harm.

Time and gradualness in asceticism are needed for the ascetic to mature for prayer in all respects. Just as flower and fruit grow on a stem or tree, which themselves must first be sown and grow, so prayer grows on other virtues, otherwise it cannot appear as on them. The monk will not soon master his mind, he will not soon accustom his mind to remain in the words of prayer, as if in prison and seclusion.

Those beginners begin in the middle, who, having read in the Fathers’ writings the instructions for practicing the Jesus Prayer, given by the Fathers to the silent ones, that is, to monks who have already been very successful in monastic feats, thoughtlessly accept this instruction to guide their activities. Those who, without any preliminary preparation, begin with their minds to ascend into the temple of the heart and from there send up prayer begin from the middle. Those who seek to immediately reveal within themselves the gracious sweetness of prayer and its other grace-filled effects begin at the end. One must start from the beginning, that is, perform prayer with attention and reverence, with the goal of repentance, taking care only that these three qualities are constantly present in prayer.

The correct exercise of the Jesus Prayer follows naturally from the correct concepts about God, about the all-holy name of the Lord Jesus and about man’s relationship to God.

Always say the Jesus Prayer, because calling on the name of the Lord helped even the pagans.

Sometimes you get distracted during the Jesus Prayer. It's hard to never dissipate. This is characteristic only of the perfect; and you and I are sinful people. On your tongue, you say, there is prayer, but on your mind, God knows what; and therefore, you think, should you give up prayer in this case. No, don't leave. It is better to eat dry bread than to remain without bread at all.

Start with something small: after every morning and evening prayer, if nothing interferes, say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”...

Doing the Jesus Prayer is simple: become attentive in your heart before the face of the Lord and cry out to him: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! It’s not a matter of words, but of faith, contrition and surrender to the Lord. With these feelings you can stand before the Lord without words... and this will be prayer...

Strength is not in the words of the Jesus Prayer, but in the spiritual mood, the fear of God and devotion to God and in constant attention to God and His mental standing.

When performing this prayer addressed to the Lord the Savior, one must not lose sight of the fact that He is One of the Most Holy Trinity, inseparable from the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Do not forget that you should not limit yourself to mechanical repetition of the words of the Jesus Prayer. This will lead to nothing except the mechanical skill of repeating this prayer with your tongue, without even thinking about it. And this, of course, is not bad... But it constitutes the farthest outer outskirts of this matter.

Regarding mental prayer, keep one precaution so that while constantly remembering God, you do not forget to kindle both reverent fear and the urge to fall into the dust before the face of God, the most merciful Father, but also the formidable Judge. Frequent remembrance of God without reverence dulls the feeling of the fear of God and thereby deprives it of that saving action that belongs to it....

Try to get used to the Jesus Prayer so that it says itself... both on the go and at work...

It is possible to combine the Jesus Prayer with breathing, as you do. One of the ancients said this. Breathing instead of rosary.

You don’t need to restrict your breathing and don’t put pressure on your heart, but say a prayer with a free thought. Know that truly spiritual prayer is instilled with grace.

The Jesus Prayer should not be said in a loud voice, but quietly, out loud to oneself.

If you see thoughts arising, do not listen to them, even if they are simple and good... By confining your mind in your heart and calling on the Lord Jesus often and patiently, you will soon crush such thoughts and destroy them, striking invisibly with the Divine name.

Anyone who honors God also honors His name. But it is not the name of Jesus Christ that saves a person, but Christ Himself, and he does not save everyone, but whoever believes in Him and is baptized, and lives according to His commandments, and repents of violations. The more the saints of God loved the Lord, the more dear the name of God became to them. This is where the confusion comes from. The Lord is present in the name of God, but the name of God is not God Himself, as the name-glorifiers said, and it is not the name that saves, but the Lord, present in the name. Calling on the name of God, we call on God and by Him, by God, we are saved, and not by a combination of sounds of His name.

The Holy Fathers say that all prayers can be replaced by one Jesus prayer. The correct performance of this prayer will be when it is combined inextricably with repentance, it will be an expression of heartfelt contrition for one’s unworthiness, sinfulness, and consciousness of constant violation of the commandments of the Gospel.

From this holy name, before which every knee of heaven, earth and hell bows, the action of the enemy will weaken, peace, hope and faith, and tenderness will enter the heart... and all temptation will pass.

The Dangers of Heartfelt Prayer

Say the (Jesus) Prayer even in a whisper, but many have been harmed by the clever one.

Keep up your oral prayer, and then you will get rid of such movements; no one fell into delusion from oral prayer; and it is dangerous to undertake smart, heartfelt prayer without instructions.

No matter how someone went through oral prayer, there were no examples of people falling into the enemy’s delusion. And those who practice mental and heartfelt prayer incorrectly often fall into the delusion of the enemy. And therefore, first of all, one must hold on tightly to oral prayer, and then to mental prayer. With humility, and then, for whom it is convenient and for whom the Lord favors, move on to the heartfelt.

Regarding mental and heartfelt prayer, to which you are so inclined, I will say that our spiritual enemy does not rebel against any virtue as much as against prayer, especially mental and heartfelt prayer, in every way he incites a person to anger and non-peacefulness against others.

Madness from the Jesus Prayer can occur when, while doing this prayer, one does not deviate from any sins and habits of sinners, which the conscience condemns. At the same time, a deep discord occurs inside, driving away all peacefulness of the heart....

There is no place for true prayer in a heart that is not well-ordered and not tuned by the Gospel commandments... Many, having felt the disposition and zeal for spiritual feat, begin this feat recklessly and frivolously. They indulge in it with all their jealousy and ardor, with all their recklessness, not understanding that this jealousy and ardor are the most bloody and carnal, that they are filled with impurity and impurity, not understanding that when studying the science of the sciences - prayer, the most faithful leadership requires the greatest prudence and caution.

The reason for delusion is not prayer, not psalms, not canons and akathists, not the Jesus Prayer - no! God save everyone from such blasphemy! Pride and lies are the causes of delusion!

All types of demonic delusion to which an ascetic of prayer is subjected arises from the fact that repentance is not placed at the basis of prayer, that repentance has not become the source, the soul, the goal of prayer.

John (Alekseev), schema abbot:

Prayer has three names: oral, mental and smart-hearted. Oral language is read out loud when you are alone, and silently in front of others. Mental prayer is said with one mind. Mind-heart prayer - united mind and heart; And don’t strive for this prayer, it doesn’t suit your life. Such prayer requires solitude, and without solitude it cannot exist, and solitude without prayer cannot exist either..

Why do we read the Jesus Prayer? So that, constantly remembering the Lord and repenting of sins, we come to spiritual peace, inner silence and love for our neighbor and truth - then we live in God, Who is love. But there are people who look at this prayer as a kind of magic that will give them reading thoughts, insight, the gift of miracles and healing, etc. This approach to prayer is extremely sinful. Those who do this are deceived by demons, who give them some kind of power to completely destroy them forever..

Used materials

• Pages of the "Prayer" section, site of quotes from Orthodox saints and teachers JOHN (Soul Physician):
• http://www.ioann.ru/?id=579&partid=19 - "What is the Jesus Prayer for?"
• http://www.ioann.ru/index.php?id=439&partid=19 - "How to read the Jesus Prayer?"
• http://www.ioann.ru/index.php?id=424&partid=19 - “The dangers of “heartfelt” prayer”

All Orthodox Christians know the text of the Jesus Prayer. It has different forms, and the Jesus Prayer itself is accompanied by many strange superstitions, which we will discuss later in this material.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother, have mercy on me, a sinner

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

Lord have mercy.

Prayer is communication with God. It is impossible to imagine this communication without prayer. When offering prayers of thanksgiving or petition, we can also glorify the Mother of God and the saints. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), - this is what the Apostle Paul told us in Nutrition. And so we have the Jesus Prayer, in which we ask for mercy from the One who took upon ourselves our sins, bore our infirmities and conquered death.

However, for some reason it is mistakenly believed that lay people cannot recite this prayer, and it is intended only for monks. Is it so? No. The Church, represented by Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), decisively rejects this position. The words of the Apostle Paul about prayer were addressed not exclusively to monastics, but were also intended for ordinary lay people. The feat of prayer begins with the fact that we begin to pray regularly, gradually our heart responds to the words of prayer, and our soul opens to God. Therefore, you can turn to the Lord with the Jesus Prayer.

It is believed that you can fall into delusion while reading this prayer, but meekness and humility are required for any spiritual achievement, and not just for this prayer, so you should not refuse the Jesus Prayer for fear of delusion.

The words of this prayer are easy to remember, which means that in the life of a Christian it is important in those moments when we most urgently need God’s help. And then we can turn with the words “Lord, have mercy” to the One who can really grant us mercy.

You should not associate the Jesus Prayer with some non-existent church secrets and prohibitions, attribute occult properties to it and consider that the Jesus Prayer helps with one thing, but does not help with another. You should not take seriously articles that claim that the Jesus Prayer helps against damage and the evil eye. The Church’s attitude towards damage is unequivocal - a Christian should not perform any rituals to remove damage. We are under the protection of God, and without His knowledge not a single hair will fall from our head.

This prayer is an appeal to Christ, repentance and a request to have mercy on a sinful person, and, therefore, it is for every Christian. For the clergy and for the laity. The Optina elders said that this prayer could also be read by the laity. In the Jesus Prayer we proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ as the true God. This is the essence of Christianity.

When we read a prayer, it is important not to forget what it is intended for. Prayer is not a spell, but communication with God, repentance, we pray to cleanse the soul from sin. Traditionally, the Jesus Prayer is read in solitude. It is important in monastic life, but it is better for the laity reading it to retire and concentrate their thoughts on prayer.

Other names for the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is related to ascetic practices, such as, however, this is considered an esoteric movement. According to these practices, a prayer pronounced silently is called “smart work”, “mind-heart work” or “secret prayer”, “sobriety of mind”, etc. The Jesus Prayer helps to keep the heart and mind from sinful thoughts.

It is important to remember that any ascetic practices, spiritual exercises, this also applies to prayer, are best discussed and agreed upon with your confessor, so as not to accidentally fall into delusion or become a hostage to a heretical trend. It is important to take into account the experience of the Church when deciding to transform your spiritual life. Of course, prayer and fasting occupy an important place in the life of a Christian, but if a person has doubts, and the tightening of fasting or the feat of prayer leads him into temptation (for example, all the thoughts of a strictly fasting person are only about food), it is better to talk with a priest and ask for a blessing. The Jesus Prayer is often misunderstood and the understanding of prayer in the Christian sense is confused with yoga and other Eastern practices, which has nothing to do with reality.

In addition, hesychasm presupposes silence; in the world this is an almost impossible condition. And this is not only physical, but also spiritual silence, complete liberation from the power of the sin of one’s mind. If a person has only recently set foot on the path of Christianity, has just begun to follow Christ, this is a difficult spiritual exercise.

The history of the formation of the Jesus Prayer

In the 17th century, the Great Moscow Council was held, convened for the trial of Patriarch Nikon, whose reforms led to the emergence of the Old Believers, and at the same time the dispute was resolved about how to correctly pronounce the Jesus Prayer - to call Jesus “Our God” or “Son of God” in it. The second option was found to be incorrect. In the modern world there is a canonical text of the Jesus Prayer. The version that was established by the Great Moscow Cathedral is now considered as a version of the publican's prayer, which sounds like

God, be merciful to me, a sinner

Stages of perfection of the Jesus Prayer

The Monk Barsanuphius (Plikhankov) wrote about the various stages of perfection of the Jesus Prayer, which a Christian must “ascend”

He divided prayer into four stages.

• Oral - when a person needed to concentrate, strain his mind, and perform a feat of prayer.
• The second stage is mental-heart activity, when prayer is performed constantly, without any interruption.
• The third stage is creative prayer, but not everyone is able to reach the third stage; this is only possible for people who have gone through a special spiritual path, such as the Venerable Hermit Mark the Thracian.
• The fourth stage is high prayer, which angels and a few people were able to achieve.

In order to ascend the steps of the Jesus Prayer, as the Monk Barsanuphius (Plikhankov) wrote, it is necessary that there is nothing earthly left in a person except his bodily shell, and his soul lives a heavenly spiritual life.

The role of the Jesus Prayer in the life of a Christian

During the Jesus Prayer, a person can often be overcome by sinful thoughts, because this prayer is read precisely to help the heart and mind cleanse themselves of them. It is important not to stop praying, asking the Lord for protection from these thoughts. After all, what is inaccessible and impossible for man is available to God.

Thoughts that are born in the mind and heart of a person can be sinful, since we are already poisoned by sin, but if we try to subordinate our mind and heart to the Lord in prayer, he will protect us from these bad thoughts. This is important for a person’s spiritual life, it leads him to God and frees him from the power of death, from the power of sin.

Read also about the Jesus Prayer:

Video of the Jesus Prayer

Many Orthodox Christians know about the Jesus Prayer. But often it is not given the importance it deserves.

Meanwhile, the Jesus Prayer is the main, key virtue around which everything revolves. If we use a biblical image, this prayer can be compared to the ocean, which in primitive times, before the flood, washed the entire earth and irrigated it. Without the life-giving effect of the Jesus Prayer, this spiritual ocean, nothing can grow in a person, much less bear fruit.

I remember when I pestered my confessor, Fr. To Andrei (Mashkov), with questions about various virtues that he read about from John Climacus or other fathers, he told me: “Pray and that’s it.” I invented all sorts of means in order to acquire, for example, mortal memory, or the fear of God, or humility, but he always answered me with one thing: “Pray and that’s it.” Then it seemed to me that there was no answer in his words. But many years later, one might say, only now, I began to understand that all virtues really come into a person’s heart from the Jesus Prayer, of course, if he at the same time resists sinful thoughts. From prayer, or more correctly, from grace, which is mainly acquired by the attentive Jesus Prayer, the fear of God, the memory of death, and humility naturally appear in the human soul. And although I read about this from St. Ignatius, I was surprised at what Father Andrei told me. Until you experience it yourself, experience something, you don’t agree with it, don’t truly believe it, with all your heart.

Without prayer, or, one might say, without prayer, virtue cannot be acquired. This does not mean that if we pray, we can allow ourselves to do whatever we want, thinking that virtues will still appear in us by themselves. No, we must force ourselves to fulfill the commandments. But it must be remembered that the main and even almost the only means for acquiring virtues - so important that all other means are only additional - is the Jesus Prayer.

Without prayer, reading the patristic writings, fasting, and mortal memory will turn out to be something completely dead and empty, like the books standing on the shelf of an illiterate person. Anyone who does not pray will not receive any benefit from reading the works of the holy fathers: they will remain for him “Chinese letters.” He simply will not understand what the holy fathers mean, because he himself does not live a spiritual life, does not face all these problems. Such a person will not be able to understand correctly not only the Holy Fathers, but also the Holy Scriptures; what needs to be understood literally will seem to him like some kind of symbol, an allegory.

With the help of the Jesus Prayer we acquire virtues and with the help of prayer, this spiritual sword, we fight sin. Prayer in this struggle is the main weapon, and all other virtues are auxiliary. Even if a person, for example, fasts extremely strictly, without prayer this means little. There is such an instructive story. Once upon a time they found an old man who had labored in the desert for many years. He was exhausted, ate only grass and plant roots, and, nevertheless, was plagued by unclean thoughts. When they began to look for the reason for this, it turned out that the elder was not engaged in smart work, did not fight his thoughts with the help of prayer. That is why even such a strict fast and incredible feats could not rid him of passion.

Maybe someone will object to me that the main weapon in the fight against sin, the main virtue for a Christian is repentance. Yes, this is fair, but repentance itself comes, first of all, from prayer. The first cannot exist without the second, and I even believe that prayer and repentance are one and the same virtue. Prayer is its external side, and repentance is its internal side, its spirit. A prayer without repentance is a Pharisaic prayer, and repentance without prayer is only the appearance of repentance.

Of course, I do not mean that those who do not pray the Jesus Prayer are mistaken. To say so would be a kind of heresy. But why do I talk so much about the meaning of this particular prayer? Because, as Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says, it is a school of prayer. By carefully practicing it, a person learns to pray attentively, and attention is the soul of prayer. Many people believe that it is enough to pray in the morning and evening, to read the prescribed canons before Communion - and with this, the prayer duty is, so to speak, fulfilled. Not realizing that the whole value of prayer lies in attention, they read their little rules very absentmindedly, sometimes to such an extent that they themselves do not even hear what they are reading. One ascetic said the following words on this subject: “How can God hear your prayer when you yourself do not hear it?” Others, having greater, but, as it seems to me, unreasonable jealousy, take upon themselves significant rules. Some additionally read akathists, others add canons, some read one or several, sometimes even many kathismas every day. It seems to them that just by quantity alone they are already prospering and that such abundant reading of prayers brings them benefit. But if we pray without attention, then this is no longer prayer. God listens to the mind. And if a person does not know how to carefully pronounce the eight words of the Jesus Prayer, then, of course, he is not able to carefully read lengthy prayers.

If we do not care about attention, we will not learn to pray. This is very important to understand. It is possible, for example, to know the divine service perfectly well, but at the same time not be able to pray at all. But if we do not pray, then our participation in worship becomes something empty and formal, a kind of game: we pretend to be priests, deacons, praying, cross ourselves at the right time, bow, fold our hands at the right moment - and that’s all.

There is an opinion that only monks can practice the Jesus Prayer, and that this is impossible for lay people, who have a lot of worries every day. But let us remember, for example, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. What was the reason for his extraordinary success? Little is said about this, but he was a worker of unceasing prayer. Since he was a very zealous Christian, he took upon himself the extraordinary feat of serving his neighbors, figuratively speaking, he took monasticism in the midst of the world, and in order to remain focused and not succumb to vain and sinful thoughts, he needed extreme exertion of strength. In addition, the devil raised extremely strong blasphemous words against him, which Father John sometimes talks about in his diaries. Need forced him to turn to the Jesus Prayer. And so he, in addition to reading the prescribed prayers and serving the liturgy every day, constantly called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And although Father John was among people, in bustle, he retained his inner attention, which allowed him to soberly monitor himself. Moreover, constant practice of the Jesus Prayer brought him into a state of such extraordinary moral purity that at times he contemplated the presence of the Holy Trinity within himself. Of course, this does not mean that we should expect exactly these results from prayer. I just want to draw your attention to the fact that if a person is diligent in the Jesus Prayer, be he a monk or a layman, then this work will certainly bear abundant fruit.

If someone is afraid that, being overly zealous in the Jesus Prayer, he is thus showing insolence before God and that this may be offensive to God, then let him remember that this prayer itself, in its meaning, is a prayer of repentance. And God, of course, cannot be angry with a person’s boldness in repentance. The Jesus Prayer would teach us humility, even if it did not contain the word “sinner,” which exacerbates the repentant mood. The very expression “Lord, have mercy” conveys the main meaning of this prayer. It already says that we consider ourselves deprived of something, unworthy of God’s mercy, and therefore we must ask God for this mercy. Without thinking about anything, without thinking about anything, just praying carefully, we find in this prayer everything we need to humble ourselves. And the more boldly we force ourselves to pay attention (of course, everything should be reasonable and moderate, everyone should act in accordance with the measure of their success), the more repentance and humility we acquire.

So, a person seeking salvation can be given this short advice: “Pray!” This is the most important thing, and if a person does this, then everything else will gradually come, as the Savior Himself said: “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and the rest will be added to you.” The Jesus Prayer is the very Kingdom of Heaven that we need to seek. The Holy Fathers even call it that one precious bead for which a merchant, that is, every Christian, leaves all his wealth. This pearl, the Jesus Prayer, although small, is equal in value to enormous wealth. And this comparison is, of course, fair. In the short Jesus Prayer we truly gain the fullness of the action of grace. For better memorization, you can give this extremely brief instruction: you need to acquire the unceasing, attentive Jesus Prayer. We must care most about these two properties of prayer - unceasing and attentiveness - and with this everything else will come. If we neglect this and think that we ourselves can, by some cunning, fulfill a separate commandment of the Gospel or the advice of the holy fathers, then nothing will come of it. These are just dreams.

Question. Is it possible for a layman who is just beginning to become a church member to pray the Jesus Prayer and should he take a blessing for this?

Answer. Of course, it is very desirable to take a blessing, but not formally (some for some reason believe that only a hieromonk can bless this work). It is necessary to consult with a person experienced in prayer. It is also helpful to have a rosary. They are necessary both for counting when we fulfill the rosary rule, and in order not to forget about prayer. by fingering the rosary and touching it, we thereby remind ourselves of the need to pray unceasingly.

You also need to take a blessing so that you are told about the difficulties, temptations and dangers that may be encountered when practicing the Jesus Prayer, as well as so that they explain to you how to pray correctly. For example, I always advise a beginner to read several articles about the Jesus Prayer by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), so that a person has some theoretical understanding of prayer before embarking on this path, full of both difficulties and spiritual consolation, so that he knows what delusion is. At the same time, it is important to receive instruction about prayer more than once, but, if possible, to constantly consult and be nurtured by one person experienced in this activity.

Question . Father, many people believe that practicing the Jesus Prayer is dangerous, that it will inevitably cause you to fall into delusion. They say that you must first acquire repentance and humility, and then dare to say the Jesus Prayer.

Answer . This is the same as saying: first you need to eat, and then cook lunch. Is it possible to eat if your lunch is not ready yet? There may be other ways to achieve repentance and humility, but in any case they are connected with prayer. Suppose I read not the Jesus Prayer, but the psalms: I will practice attentive, repentant reading of the psalms. But if even with the help of the Jesus Prayer it is difficult for us to acquire repentance and humility, then when reading the psalms it is even more difficult to do this. It seems to me that achieving these virtues without smart doing, the Jesus Prayer in practice is almost impossible. Theoretically, you can acquire them by practicing a lot in prayer, but at the same time you need to monitor your inner life. And when reading long prayers, say the canons of repentance, this is much more difficult to do than when practicing the Jesus Prayer.

Question . Is it possible to ask the Lord for grace and spiritual consolation in prayer, or will it be too daring?

Answer. You have to be very careful with this, it can be downright dangerous. I will tell about myself. Once, in my youth, I first read the conversation of St. Seraphim of Sarov about the purpose of Christian life, and it shocked me extremely. At that time I had not yet prayed the Jesus Prayer and had not communicated with Father Andrei (Mashkov). After reading this work, I realized that the Christian life should be grace-filled, but I understood it in a primitive way. And so I began to pray for grace to come to me. I didn’t know how to pray correctly, I had never heard of the Jesus Prayer, so I endlessly repeated “Our Father” and some other prayers.

Soon, extraordinary things began to happen to me. When I went to bed and had already fallen asleep a little, I began to hear some kind of buzzing. I experienced pleasant sensations and saw some dreams in reality, as they say, in a subtle sleep. You know, it happens: it seems like you are already asleep, but have not yet lost consciousness. I dreamed of one thing and then another, then it seemed that the icon of the Savior in the corner of the room was sparkling... And I thought that grace had descended on me. And in church I cried, just like a girl: tears flowed in a stream. I cry and think: “All my friends look at me and think how pious I am.” But what kind of crying was this if I had no idea about the Jesus Prayer? Some moment of the service will strike me, say, the exclamation “Woe are our hearts,” and I will start crying. I cry, but I don’t hear the service anymore, because I keep in my head the thought that brought tears to my eyes. And I feel good at heart. Even passions didn’t particularly torment me. Of course, what passions can there be when a person is satisfied with himself?

What brought me out of this state was the fact that I had at least some sound concepts about Orthodoxy. For example, I knew what canonical icons and iconostases looked like and that there should be no non-canonical icons in the church. And then one day I had a vision that I was at the gates of Heaven with my mind. And they are similar to the Royal Doors, but made in the Baroque style: carved, through, gilded. I look at them and think: “But they are not canonical!” As soon as I thought so, these Heavenly or Royal Gates turned into some kind of long fence. The demon immediately transformed them: they say, if you don’t want this, please get something else. But I already understood: something is not right here. However, no one could explain this to me. I turned to one good, zealous priest, but he also had no idea about such things and himself could not figure out whether it was grace or not grace. As soon as these suspicions appeared in me, all sorts of temptations immediately began.

A similar incident happened with a friend of mine (now he is a hieromonk or abbot, I don’t know exactly, we haven’t seen each other for a long time). We read the same books, and he also read the conversation between St. Seraphim of Sarov and Motovilov. It was already when I came to my senses and realized that I was in delusion. But everyone believes more in themselves than in others. My friend also began to pray for grace to come to him. I don't know what he experienced, but eventually he became so ill that he had to call an ambulance. It's good that there were no serious consequences.

So there is no need to strive to acquire grace, understood in a primitive way: so that the face shines, and there is sweetness in the soul, just like Motovilov. What Motovilov experienced through the prayers of such a great ascetic as St. Seraphim of Sarov is one thing; what we are capable of is another thing. God can only give us what is useful to us, what we can accommodate. As the Gospel says, no one puts new wine into old wineskins, because the skins will burst and the wine will spill. As you know, a vessel made of sheep skin was called a fur. If it was old, then the young, still fermenting wine would tear it apart. Therefore, the Lord does not give us grace, like new, bubbling wine: we will lose it and damage our souls. But it seems to us that if there is no grace, such as we imagine it, then everything is lost, everything is useless, spiritual life is over, we perish, and so on.

You must always keep in mind the main criterion: grace for the beginner, if we talk only about subjective sensations, - this is attention in prayer. If you lose attention, it means that all your “blessed” sensations are at least suspicious. The action of grace is expressed in a person’s behavior, in his internal state: in humility, humiliation of oneself before other people, love for one’s neighbor, and so on. As the Apostle Paul says, spiritual fruit is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.”

Question. Why does prayer sometimes not help during battle?

Answer . It doesn’t help because you don’t pray well. Firstly, not diligently enough, without full dedication, without straining all your strength without reserve. After all, it is said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your strength.” With all our might! But we do not pray with all our might, but only, so to speak, with some part, and therefore the result is corresponding. When you are undergoing abuse, you need to pray as if either you will be killed or you will be killed. Imagine that someone attacked you and wants to kill you. You, of course, mobilize all your strength, otherwise, if you make even the slightest mistake, you will be stabbed or strangled. During the battle there must be extreme tension.

Secondly, it happens that we pray, but at the same time we accept thoughts and do not reject them. Then it is as if there is an effort in prayer, even, perhaps, special, extraordinary, but at the same time we have accepted the sinful thoughts with which we are fighting, we enjoy them, we have given them freedom to act in us, and they have taken root. Passion has taken possession of our soul, and we do not try to distance ourselves from these thoughts, we do not try to resist them, but we say a prayer. This type of warfare, in which there is a sinful thought in a person’s soul and at the same time prayer is active, is appropriate for a very successful person, in whom the grace and power of prayer are so powerful that gradually and even, perhaps very quickly, the fire of grace destroys the sinful thought. With us, the opposite happens: our mind gradually, gradually cleaves to sinful thoughts, since our prayer is weak, we have little grace, little jealousy, zeal, and forcing ourselves to pray. The prayer becomes formal, and the thought becomes stronger and stronger, and completely overcomes the prayer so that we either pronounce it dryly or completely forget about it and completely, so to speak, burn with passion.

The third mistake, which, however, not everyone can correct (this depends on the degree of success), is that we do not have contrition of heart. By straining our strength extremely during prayer and trying to resist the thought, we rely too much on ourselves, thinking that since we do everything correctly, there must be a result. We forget that if God does not help us, then no one will ever be able to help us - neither prayer, nor any virtue, nor a person.

Question. Prayer in the mind is always pronounced very dryly, as if insensitively and with difficulty, I am often distracted. I don’t see anything changing in me, I don’t feel like I’m praying. It seems that this is not a prayer, but simply a mechanical pronunciation of its words without end.

Answer. I think that this is not bad, but such dryness occurs either from negligence in paying attention when we say a prayer out of habit, or from the fact that we do not have mortal memory, and accordingly, we do not have tenderness, so the prayer is pronounced dryly and “tastelessly.” If we judge by the sign: “the prayer is pronounced insensitively and with difficulty, I am often distracted,” then we can conclude that the person who wrote the note does not have sufficient zeal for attention; one must try to pray simply, with faith, and the Lord will give help.

Question. My relative, a layman, wants to leave the Jesus Prayer due to insurance reasons. What advice should I give him?

Answer. I had a grandmother I knew, a gardener, I don’t know if she’s alive or not. On my advice, this old woman began to pray the Jesus Prayer - at first a little, and then she got used to it. She could not work for a long time without a break, she was tired: she would work for an hour, lie down on the bed and pray the Jesus Prayer, then go back to work for an hour and a half to two hours. She spent the whole day like this, barely walking, holding on to a hoe, as if she were working on three legs. When she lived alone, she also had all sorts of insurances: as if someone would run across the room, then as if something cold was lying next to her, or as if someone would splash their flippers under the window. There is nothing surprising here: the demon does not look at whether you are a layman or a monk, but at how you pray. If a monk prays poorly, then no demon will tempt him, but if a layman prays fervently, then the demon will begin to attack him. Let your relative cross himself and not pay any attention to such phenomena. If he is too attentive to them, they will intensify. If you neglect them and behave courageously, then everything will pass. There is no need to leave prayer.

The Jesus Prayer is known to most Orthodox believers. A short but very succinct prayerful appeal to the Lord is one of the main Christian virtues.

According to the holy fathers, the power of the Jesus Prayer is incomprehensibly great. It serves as reliable protection from enemy thoughts. It represents the shortest path to Achieving the Kingdom of God. The theologian Ignatius Brianchaninov believed that the power of the Jesus Prayer is even capable of casting out demons from a person, “at the same time, something similar to what happened when a demon was expelled from a raging youth after the Transfiguration of the Lord occurs.”

The Jesus Prayer is given great importance in the practice of hesychasm - guarding the mind and heart, first from sinful thoughts, and then from scattered thoughts. Ultimately, the mind is achieved at the level of contemplation of the Tabor light - a person meets God and the fruit of prayer.

Believers call the Jesus Prayer in all sorts of ways: “mental doing” (more often this is what they say about prayer said in the mind), “working of the heart,” “mental prayer,” “secret prayer,” “sobriety,” and many others. No other prayer has so many names, which indicates its unusual popularity.

Variants of the text of the Jesus Prayer

There are several known versions of the Jesus Prayer, differing in the length of the text and the words used.

The following texts are considered canonical:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.

The version established by the Great Moscow Cathedral of 1666-1667 is no less often used:

Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us sinners.

Nowadays, this option is not considered canonical, and some priests even consider it as one of the options for the publican’s prayer. Although, according to the council’s provisions, at the time of its adoption it was recognized as the only true one.

In addition to the full forms of the Jesus Prayer discussed above, it also has short forms:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me (me).

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord have mercy.

And a version from the Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus, the reading of which Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov considered preparation for the unceasing creation of the Jesus Prayer, intended only for already successful ascetics:

Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Listen to the Jesus Prayer

For a long time, it has been customary to consider prayer as one of the ways a believer communicates with God, and since this communication should be personal, it is customary to say prayers in a solitary environment, removed from the everyday bustle. But what if, due to circumstances, it becomes impossible to read the prayer? In such exceptional cases, it is permissible to listen to prayer, including the Jesus Prayer. For the rest, “whoever can say the Jesus Prayer with humility despite all this should not abandon it.”

One of the most popular among believers is a recording of the Jesus Prayer, said 1000 times, performed by the choir of the Valaam Monastery. You can listen to it below.

And here you can download a recording of the Jesus Prayer, although said 100 times.

About the benefits of the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is considered a person’s great repentant appeal to the Lord, by reading which the believer not only asks the Lord for mercy, but also petitions Him for help in the upcoming trials and strengthening the spirit in the fight against temptations.

Prayer provides the key to spiritual development and perfection. Burns all unclean thoughts in the heart and curbs the passions boiling in it.

The Jesus Prayer also serves another important purpose. As is known from numerous sayings of the holy fathers, the two most important components of the human soul must obey God: the mind and the heart. Such submission leads to the fact that over time the entire soul and body of a person becomes the receptacle of the Holy Spirit.

Submission of the soul to God is quite difficult to achieve: it requires constant exercise - remembrance of the Lord, which is praying the Jesus Prayer. If the reading of the Jesus Prayer is not carried out, then the human soul “will constantly exercise in those thoughts and feelings that are born within itself, in other words, it will develop its fall, develop in itself the lies and evil with which it is infected.”

About the danger of the Jesus Prayer

In addition to the enormous benefits for the soul, reading the Jesus Prayer can also pose a danger to the person praying. It is mainly due to the fact that it is believed that dark forces more often “attack” people who pray to the Son of God. Regular, thoughtful reading of the Jesus Prayer can lead a person to heaven, and in order to lead the “victim” to the dark side, demons begin to reveal his sins to a person and instill thoughts and impossibility of salvation. Unfortunately, not all people cope with the demonic machinations and give up, dooming themselves to eternal torment.

No less dangerous for the believer is spiritual delusion - “deceptive holiness”, which is the lot of proud and self-willed people. It often manifests itself in the later stages of the prayer feat.

In a state of delusion, a person begins to think that he has achieved personal holiness, learned to communicate with angels and saints, and even perform miracles. He easily succumbs to temptation and deception, which the devil takes advantage of with pleasure. According to the teachings of Ignatius Bryanchininov, all people, to one degree or another, are in delusion, and awareness of this, in his words, “is the greatest protection against delusion.” He also concludes: “The greatest delight is to recognize oneself as free from delusion.”

In order not to succumb to temptations and not to go astray from the intended path when seriously practicing the Jesus Prayer, a believer must constantly consult with an experienced spiritual mentor who was able to successfully walk this path.

Optina elders about the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer was and continues to be recommended for reading by all the holy fathers. Each of them has different reasons for doing this, but the most convincing and understandable for the flock are the statements about the Jesus Prayer of the Venerable Optina Elders. Just read these words filled with spirituality and purity.

How to see Christ? The path to this is possible: the unceasing Jesus Prayer, which alone is capable of instilling Christ in our souls (Barsanuphius).

We have one sword - the Jesus Prayer. It is said: “Strike the invisible warriors with this sword, for there is no stronger weapon either in heaven or on earth” (aka).

Drive away the enemy and the evil thoughts that bring temptation with the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer can be performed during all activities (Nectarius).

And the best thing of all the crosses and crusaders, all the portraits and their originals is to draw on a soft young heart the Sweetest Name, a luminous prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Then there will be the height of joy, endless joy. Then, when Jesus is established in your heart, you will not want either Rome or Jerusalem. For the King Himself with His all-sung Matter and all the Angels and saints will come to you and will live with you. “I and the Father will come to him and make an abode with him” (Anatoly).

Always say the Jesus Prayer, because calling on the name of the Lord helped even the pagans. Refrain from distraction and idle talk by working with the Jesus Prayer, and save yourself from despondency by crying over your sins. When you are depressed, says the Apostle, pray, and when you are cheerful, then sing psalms and spiritual songs (Joseph).

Practice of reading the Jesus Prayer for the laity

There is a fairly widespread opinion among the laity that only monks can say the Jesus Prayer. Of course, this is not so, and lay people can take up the Jesus Prayer, but only for those for whom the time has come, i.e. people who have already gained sufficient prayer experience. As Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said: “First learn to pray correctly, and having learned correctly, pray constantly.” In addition, constantly performed heartfelt prayer, gaining strength, requires from a person more and more complete dedication, more and more new steps, devoting himself entirely to prayer work, later called mental work. And you need to be especially prepared for it - fasting, abstinence from extraneous entertainment and strict fulfillment of the commandments of Christ are required. Without such a foundation, instead of great benefit, prayer can bring significant spiritual harm.

Before starting practice, it is very advisable to take a blessing from an experienced person who has already practiced reading the Jesus Prayer. Talk with him about the difficulties and temptations that may arise when practicing prayer. You need to consult regularly, because no one knows what awaits you on the difficult path of prayer.

It is worth reading the articles about the Jesus Prayer by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, in which he introduces the reader to the theoretical aspects of prayer practice, gives an explanation of what delusion is and why one should not set oneself any high goals.

A number of believers believe that the Jesus Prayer can replace the reading of all others, including the most important prayer - the Our Father. On this score, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov noted that in all cases of life, the cell prayer rule allowed only illiterate people to replace other prayers with the Jesus Prayer (as the simplest and shortest).

At the same time, there will be nothing wrong with including the Jesus Prayer in the established prayer rule. So, when reading morning prayers, we can read it ten times before each prayer. Sometimes, immediately after the initial prayers, you can read the Jesus Prayer instead of the morning prayers and repeat it, for example, for 5 or 10 minutes, i.e., during the time that is usually needed to read the morning prayers. During evening prayers, we can also practice the Jesus Prayer.

An akathist to the Sweetest Jesus serves as a wonderful help in the practice of reading the Jesus Prayer. Be sure to read it 2-3 times a week.

You can determine whether a person is following the right path in his prayer work by his fruits. The fruit of incorrect prayer can be pride of mind. A person begins to do everything for show, tries to show everyone that he has been praying for a long time, that he knows how to say the Jesus Prayer.

Often in such a situation, people begin to experience a nervous disorder, noticeable from the outside - nervous sudden movements, excitability, a desire to prove something, to argue. This also shows that the person is praying incorrectly.

Practice reading the Jesus Prayer 1000 times

There is a fairly widespread opinion among believers that in order to be successful in the practice of the Jesus Prayer, you should do it 1000 times a day, and in one sitting. Only in this case can you achieve the necessary concentration and enlightenment.

For most ordinary people, it is certainly impossible to say the Jesus Prayer so many times in one sitting. On this score, Elder Jonah of Odessa said: “For a beginner, whatever opportunity there is, one must pray. Pray to a layman at least 300-500 times a day. For a monk, as St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming says, seven thousand Jesus Prayers a day and seven thousand prayers a night. This is how a monk should create - constantly be in prayer. But even such a drop as 200-300 times also helps: the angel writes everything. When a person constantly prays, he experiences an influx of joy, and he constantly feels it and strives to strengthen his prayer even more.”

Rules for reading the Jesus Prayer

You can read the Jesus Prayer both out loud and silently. While reading, be sure to adhere to the following conditions: 1) understanding the meaning of each word and the entire prayer and the purpose of prayer; 2) systematicity; 3) abstinence; 4) solitude - if not physical, then in the sense of immersion in oneself; 5) inner peace and tranquility; 6) moderate duration of prayer - depending on the situation, but above all, until prayer causes fatigue; 7) lack of imitation in prayer to saints.

Based on the experience of the holy fathers, it is worth remembering that when saying the Jesus Prayer, the heart should become the main spiritual center. The second spiritual center - the mind - at this moment needs to be “turned off”.

The ancient church ascetic writers developed a technique of “bringing the mind into the heart,” in which the Jesus Prayer was combined with breathing, and while inhaling, one said: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” and while exhaling, “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” A person’s attention seemed to naturally switch from the head to the heart. Such a practice cannot be called universal, suitable for every believer. In principle, it will be sufficient to pronounce the words of prayer with great attention and reverence. If, while reading, you notice that the words of the prayer have merged into a single mass and its meaning has been lost, then you need to stop doing such a prayer. Always remember that it’s not the quantity of what you read, but the quality: it’s better to read fifty prayers and calm down than to read three hundred at the level of mechanical movement.

There are no special recommendations for how many times a day to read the Jesus Prayer. Some people set themselves the task of saying the Jesus Prayer fifty, one hundred or even a thousand times a day. In this case, it is easier to keep track of the fulfillment of the prayer rule by having a rosary on hand, which will also serve as a reminder of the need to pray unceasingly.

Stages of perfection of the Jesus Prayer

The Monk Barsanuphius identified several stages of the Jesus Prayer:

“The first step is oral prayer; when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood.

The second stage is mental-heart prayer, when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time; then prayer is performed continuously, no matter what a person is doing: eating, drinking, resting - the prayer is still being performed.

The third stage is creative prayer, which is capable of moving mountains with one word. Then, for example, the Venerable Hermit Mark the Thracian had such a prayer.

Finally, the fourth step is such a high prayer that only angels have and which is given only to one person for all of humanity.”

In addition to these steps, Monk Anthony in his work “The Path of Smart Doing. About the Jesus Prayer and Divine Grace” adds two more:

A smart, active prayer, which is pronounced mentally (smart) with the effort of the person himself (active).

And mental-heart prayer, in which the mind is concentrated in the words of the prayer, and the heart sympathizes with the meaning of the words. Unlike the identically named stage identified by Barsanuphius, this stage is lower and does not provide for continuous action.

More details about the stages of perfection of the Jesus Prayer are written in the book by Nikolai Mikhailovich Novikov “The Jesus Prayer. The experience of two millennia,” which pays special attention to the transition from verbal prayer to mental-heart prayer, as well as methods of managing attention and connecting the mind with the heart. The book is available for reading on the author's website

The history of prayer

The history of petitioning the Lord for help goes back hundreds of years. We find references to the calling of Christ already in the New Testament. For example, here is what is written in chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark: “47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and say: Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me." And here is an excerpt from the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: “22 And behold, a Canaanite woman came out of those places and cried out to Him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is cruelly raging.”

The appearance of the Jesus Prayer itself is associated with the apothegmas of St. Macarius of Egypt, who lived in the 4th century. From the book “From the virtues of our righteous father, the great Abba Macarius,” we learn the following story of a certain Evargius who came to the monk for help, tormented by passionate carnal thoughts: “Father,” he said, “tell me a word so that I can live.” Macarius answered metaphorically: “Tie the rope to the mast, raise the sail, and by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the boat will sail across the stormy ocean, pass through the treacherous sea waves, and pass the dull darkness of this vain world.” And Evagrius asked: “What is a boat, what is a rope and what is a mast?” Abba Macarius explained: “The boat is your heart: test it! The rope is your mind: attach it to our Lord Jesus Christ; He is the mast, He calms the waves of the raging ocean that seek to drown the righteous. Is it difficult to say with every exhalation: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” Blessed are You, our Lord Jesus Christ: help me”? The appeal “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” what is this if not a short form of the Jesus Prayer?

For ten centuries, the short form of the Jesus Prayer of Macarius of Egypt remained the only one. The full form of the prayer familiar to us: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners” appears only in the 14th century. It is recorded by St. Gregory of Sinaite in Crete.

Quite quickly the Jesus Prayer becomes popular. In Russia it was preached by Nil Sorsky, Joseph of Volotsky, Paisy Velichkovsky, Tikhon of Zadonsky, Theophan the Recluse, John of Kronstadt, and supporters of name-glorification. But there were also those who spoke out sharply against the Jesus Prayer. For example, a contemporary of Gregory of Sinaite, Barlaam of Calabria, criticizing the replacement of the word “God” with “Son of God”, which supposedly contradicts the “monarchy” of God the Father existing in Orthodoxy and the Orthodox teaching about the Holy Trinity, but at the same time ignoring the impeccability of a very short form of prayer : "Lord have mercy".

Today, all disputes between priests have already subsided and more than a dozen different forms of the Jesus Prayer are in use, both with the words “Our God” and “Son of God.”

Lecture on the Jesus Prayer

There are many very polar views regarding the content, interpretation and rules for reading the Jesus Prayer. You can find one of them, voiced by Hieromonk Irin (Pikovsky) as part of the Orthodox educational courses “Orthodoxy” below.