Jesus Prayer

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The Jesus Prayer,

Roman Catholicism
:

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

Apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament.[d] Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus.[3]

Though identified more closely with Eastern Christianity, the prayer is found in

Eastern Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. The ancient and original form did not include the words "a sinner", which were added later.[3][6]
The Eastern Orthodox theology of the Jesus Prayer as enunciated in the 14th century by Gregory Palamas was generally rejected by Latin Church theologians until the 20th century. Pope John Paul II called Gregory Palamas a saint,[7] a great writer, and an authority on theology.[8][9][10] He also spoke with appreciation of hesychasm as "that deep union of grace which Eastern theology likes to describe with the particularly powerful term "theosis", 'divinization'",[11] and likened the meditative quality of the Jesus Prayer to that of the Catholic Rosary.[12]

Origins

The prayer's origin is the Egyptian desert, which was settled by the monastic Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers in the 5th century.[13] It was found inscribed in the ruins of a cell from that period in the Egyptian desert.[14]

A formula similar to the standard form of the Jesus Prayer is found in a letter attributed to

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy" and "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on us" being used as ceaseless prayer.[15]

What may be the earliest explicit reference to the Jesus Prayer in a form that is similar to that used today is in Discourse on Abba Philimon from the

John S. Romanides writes that "We are still searching the Fathers for the term 'Jesus prayer'."[2]

A similar idea is recommended in the

Ladder of Divine Ascent of John Climacus (circa 523–606), who recommends the regular practice of a monologistos, or one-worded "Jesus Prayer".[6] The use of the Jesus Prayer according to the tradition of the Philokalia is the subject of the 19th century anonymous Russian spiritual classic The Way of a Pilgrim, also in the original form, without the addition of the words "a sinner".[18]

Eastern Orthodoxy

The hesychastic practice of the Jesus Prayer is founded on the biblical view by which God's name is conceived as the place of his presence.[19] Orthodox mysticism has no images or representations. The mystical practice (the prayer and the meditation) doesn't lead to perceiving representations of God (see below Palamism). Thus, the most important means of a life consecrated to praying is the invoked name of God, as it is emphasized since the 5th century by the Thebaid anchorites, or by the later Athonite hesychasts. For the Orthodox the power of the Jesus Prayer comes not only from its content, but from the very invocation of Jesus' name.[20]

Scriptural roots

The Jesus Prayer combines three

Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican of Luke 18:9–14, in which the Pharisee demonstrates the improper way to pray (verse 11: "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican"), whereas the Publican prays correctly in humility (verse 13: "God be merciful to me a sinner").[e]

Palamism, the underlying theology

James, and John

]

For the Eastern Orthodox the knowledge or noesis of the uncreated energies is usually linked to apophatism.[25][26]

Repentance in Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox Church holds a non-juridical view of sin, by contrast to the

Mystery of Confession for which, not being limited to a mere confession of sins and presupposing recommendations or penalties, it is primarily that the priest acts in his capacity of spiritual father.[19][28]
The Mystery of Confession is linked to the spiritual development of the individual, and relates to the practice of choosing an elder to trust as his or her spiritual guide, turning to him for advice on the personal spiritual development, confessing sins, and asking advice.

As stated at the local Council of Constantinople in 1157, Christ brought his redemptive sacrifice not to the Father alone, but to the Trinity as a whole. In the Eastern Orthodox theology redemption isn't seen as ransom. It is the reconciliation of God with man, the manifestation of God's love for humanity. Thus, it is not the anger of God the Father but His love that lies behind the sacrificial death of his son on the cross.[28]

The redemption of man is not considered to have taken place only in the past, but continues to this day through theosis. The initiative belongs to God, but presupposes man's active acceptance (not an action only, but an attitude), which is a way of perpetually receiving God.[27]

Distinctiveness from analogues in other religions

The practice of contemplative or meditative chanting is known in several religions including

zikr). The form of internal contemplation involving profound inner transformations affecting all the levels of the self is common to the traditions that posit the ontological value of personhood.[29]

Although some aspects of the Jesus Prayer may resemble some aspects of other traditions, its Christian character is central rather than mere "local color". The aim of the Christian practicing it is not limited to attaining humility, love, or purification of sinful thoughts, but rather it is becoming holy and seeking union with God (theosis), which subsumes all the aforementioned virtues. Thus, for the Eastern Orthodox:[30]

A magistral way of meeting God for the Orthodox,[31] the Jesus Prayer does not harbor any secrets in itself, nor does its practice reveal any esoteric truths.[32] Instead, as a hesychastic practice, it demands setting the mind apart from rational activities and ignoring the physical senses for the experiential knowledge of God. It stands along with the regular expected actions of the believer (prayer, almsgiving, repentance, fasting etc.) as the response of the Orthodox Tradition to Paul the Apostle's challenge to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17).[21][30]

Practice

Eastern Christian prayer rope
Christ the Redeemer by Andrei Rublev (c. 1410, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

Techniques

There are no fixed rules for those who pray, "the way there is no mechanical, physical or mental technique which can force God to show his presence" (Metropolitan Kallistos Ware).[31]

In The Way of a Pilgrim, the pilgrim advises, "as you draw your breath in, say, or imagine yourself saying, 'Lord Jesus Christ,' and as you breathe again, 'have mercy on me.'"[18]

The Jesus Prayer can be used for a kind of "psychological" self-analysis. According to the Way of the Pilgrim account and Mount Athos practitioners of the Jesus Prayer,[33] "one can have some insight on his or her current psychological situation by observing the intonation of the words of the prayer, as they are recited. Which word is stressed most. This self-analysis could reveal to the praying person things about their inner state and feelings, maybe not yet realised, of their unconsciousness."[34]

Also, a person might want to consciously stress one of the words of the prayer in particular when one wants to express a conscious feeling of situation. So in times of need stressing the 'have mercy' part can be more comforting or more appropriate. In times of failures, the 'a sinner' part, etc....)."[34]

Levels of the prayer

Icon of The Ladder of Divine Ascent (the steps toward theosis as described by John Climacus) showing monks ascending (and falling from) the ladder to Jesus

philosopher and theologian, writes[35] about beginner's way of praying: initially, the prayer is excited because the man is emotive and a flow of psychic contents is expressed. In his view this condition comes, for the modern men, from the separation of the mind from the heart: "The prattle spreads the soul, while the silence is drawing it together." Old fathers condemned elaborate phraseologies, for one word was enough for the publican, and one word saved the thief on the cross. They only uttered Jesus' name by which they were contemplating God. For Evdokimov the acting faith denies any formalism which quickly installs in the external prayer or in the life duties; he quotes Seraphim of Sarov
: "The prayer is not thorough if the man is self-conscious and he is aware he's praying."

"Because prayer is a living reality, a deeply personal encounter with the living God, it is not to be confined to any given classification or rigid analysis", says the

GOARCH.[21] As general guidelines for the practitioner, different number of levels (3, 7 or 9) in the practice of the prayer are distinguished by Orthodox fathers. They are to be seen as being purely informative, because the practice of the Prayer of the Heart is learned under personal spiritual guidance in Eastern Orthodoxy which emphasizes the perils of temptations when it's done by one's own. Thus, Theophan the Recluse, a 19th-century Russian spiritual writer, talks about three stages:[21]

  1. The oral prayer (the prayer of the lips) is a simple recitation, still external to the practitioner.
  2. The focused prayer, when "the mind is focused upon the words" of the prayer, "speaking them as if they were our own."
  3. The prayer of the heart itself, when the prayer is no longer something we do but who we are.

Once this is achieved the Jesus Prayer is said to become "self-active" (αυτενεργούμενη). It is repeated automatically and unconsciously by the mind, becoming an internal habit like a (beneficial) earworm. Body, through the uttering of the prayer, mind, through the mental repetition of the prayer, are thus unified with "the heart" (spirit) and the prayer becomes constant, ceaselessly "playing" in the background of the mind, like a background music, without hindering the normal everyday activities of the person.[34]

Others, like Father

theosis, more slenderly differentiated:[36]

  1. The prayer of the lips.
  2. The prayer of the mouth.
  3. The prayer of the tongue.
  4. The prayer of the voice.
  5. The prayer of the mind.
  6. The prayer of the heart.
  7. The active prayer.
  8. The all-seeing prayer.
  9. The contemplative prayer.

Variants of repetitive formulas

A number of different repetitive prayer formulas have been attested in the history of Eastern Orthodox monasticism: the Prayer of St. Ioannikios the Great (754–846): "My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my shelter is the Holy Ghost, O Holy Trinity, Glory unto You," the repetitive use of which is described in his Life; or the more recent practice of Nikolaj Velimirović.

Similarly to the flexibility of the practice of the Jesus Prayer, there is no imposed standardization of its form. The prayer can be from as short as "Lord, have mercy" (

Kyrie eleison), "Have mercy on me" ("Have mercy upon us"), or even "Jesus", to its longer most common form. It can also contain a call to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), or to the saints. The single essential and invariable element is Jesus' name.[31]

Catholic Church

The Jesus Prayer is widely practiced among the 23

Eastern Catholic Churches
.

Part four of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is dedicated to Christian prayer, devotes paragraphs 2665 to 2669 to prayer to Jesus.

To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners." It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6–11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior's mercy. The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and "brings forth fruit with patience." This prayer is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.[41]

Similar methods of prayer in use in the Catholic Church are recitation, as recommended by

Centering Prayer; the method used by The World Community for Christian Meditation, based on the Aramaic invocation Maranatha; the use of Lectio Divina; etc.[42]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". The Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus". The Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.[43] The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners."[4]

See also

Notes

  1. romanized
    igizi'o meḥarene kirisitosi. John Romanides uses Greek: προσευχή εν Πνεύματι, romanizedprosefchí en Pneúmati, lit.'prayer by the Spirit', or Greek: νοερά προσευχή, romanized: noerá prosefchí, lit.'noetic prayer'.[1] "Note: We are still searching the Fathers for the term 'Jesus prayer'. We would very much appreciate it if someone could come up with a patristic quote in Greek."[2]
  2. ^ Greek: η ευχή, romanizedi efchí, lit.'the wish'.
  3. Ancient Greek
    : ἡσυχάζω, isycházo, 'to keep stillness'.
  4. ^ 1 Thes 5:17: Pray without ceasing.
  5. Blind near Jericho of 18:35–43 (verse 38: "Ἰησοῦ, υἱὲ Δαυίδ, ἐλέησόν με", lit.'Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me'). Similar: Matthew 9:27–31, 20:29–34 (verses 9:27 and 20:30–31: "ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, υἱὲ Δαυίδ", lit.'son of David, have mercy on us'), Mark 10:46–52 (verse 47: "υἱὲ Δαυὶδ Ἰησοῦ, ἐλέησόν με", lit.'Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me').[4][21]
  6. ^ Unite if referring to one person; reunite if talking at an anthropological level.

References

  1. ^
    Romanides, John S. (5–9 February 1982). "Jesus Christ-The Life of the World". The Romans: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Archived
    from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  2. ^ from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  3. ^ pages xxiii–xxiv
  4. ^ a b c "Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2667". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Anglican Prayer Beads". King of Peace Episcopal Church. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ Pape Jean Paul II (30 November 1979). "Messe à Ephèse". Vatican.va (in French). Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  8. ^ Pope John Paul II (14 November 1990). "The Spirit as 'Love Proceeding'". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 20 August 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  9. ^ Pope John Paul II (12 November 1997). "General Audience". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  10. ^ Pope John Paul II (25 May 2000). "For the Jubilee of Scientists". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  11. ^ Pope John Paul II (11 August 1996). "Eastern Theology Has Enriched the Whole Church". CatholicCulture.org. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  12. ^ Pope John Paul II (16 October 2002). "Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 27 October 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  13. ^ Antoine Guillaumont reports the finding of an inscription containing the Jesus Prayer in the ruins of a cell in the Egyptian desert dated roughly to the period being discussed – Antoine Guillaumont, Une inscription copte sur la prière de Jesus in Aux origines du monachisme chrétien, Pour une phénoménologie du monachisme, pp. 168–83. In Spiritualité orientale et vie monastique, No 30. Bégrolles en Mauges (Maine & Loire), France: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.
  14. ISSN 0029-5973
    .
  15. ^ Epistula ad abbatem, p. 5
  16. .
  17. .
  18. ^ a b French, R. M. (1930). French, R. M. (ed.). The Way of a Pilgrim. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  19. ^ .
  20. .
  21. ^ from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  22. ^ Eastern Orthodox theology doesn't stand Thomas Aquinas' interpretation to the Mystycal theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (modo sublimiori and modo significandi, by which Aquinas unites positive and negative theologies, transforming the negative one into a correction of the positive one). Like pseudo-Denys, the Eastern Church remarks the antinomy between the two ways of talking about God and acknowledges the superiority of apophatism. Cf. Vladimir Lossky, op. cit., p. 55, Dumitru Stăniloae, op. cit., pp. 261–262.
  23. .
  24. )
  25. .
  26. Nikitas Stithatos
    (Nikitas Stethatos)
  27. ^ a b John Chryssavgis, Repentance and Confession - Introduction Archived 2008-03-17 at the Wayback Machine, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  28. ^ a b An Online Orthodox Catechism, Russian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  29. .
  30. ^ .
  31. ^ .
  32. .
  33. ^ "greek news: Οι τρόποι της ευχής". Dailygreece.com. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  34. ^ a b c "On the Jesus Prayer". Prayercraft.byethost8.com. 2004-11-27. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  35. .
  36. ^ (in Romanian) Ilie Cleopa Archived 2011-09-16 at the Wayback Machine in Dicţionarul teologilor români (Dictionary of Romanian Theologians), electronic version, Univers Enciclopedic Ed., Bucharest, 1996.
  37. ^ [2] Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ "The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios" by Dionysios Farasiotis
  39. ^ "The Rule of St. Pachomius".
  40. ^ "The Prayer of the Trinity". 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  41. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 2666–2668". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  42. ^ Thomas Keating, Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Tradition (Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, Bulletin 40, January 1991) Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 435". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

Further reading

  • The Jesus Prayer: Learning to Pray from the Heart, by Per-Olof Sjögren, trans. by Sydney Linton; First Triangle ed. (London: Triangle, 1986, cop. 1975)