The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me, a sinner.
Variations:
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Have mercy on me a sinner.
Have mercy on me.
There was a young Russian that lived during the 19th century, who began a pilgrimage - not a journey to Rome or Jerusalem but to a place of prayer. Being challenged by Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing” and to “pray in the Spirit at all occasions,” he set out on a pilgrimage to see if this was really possible.
Going from town to town, and priest to monk, and to any wise man he could find, the young pilgrim sought the answer to unceasing prayer. While walking down a country road a hermit/ monk came to walk along side of him. The pilgrim posed his question to this monk, is “ unceasing prayer possible?” After answering in the affirmative the hermit/monk invited him to his nearby monastery for further discussion. “The ceaseless Jesus Prayer is a continuous, uninterrupted call on the holy name of Jesus Christ with the lips, mind, and heart; and in the awareness of His abiding presence it is a plea for His blessing in all undertakings, in all places, at all times, even in sleep.
The words of the Prayer are: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”
The hermit/monk gave the writings of the Desert Fathers to the pilgrim, who spent the next week studying the passages on the Jesus Prayer. When he returned to the monk, he was told to return to his hut and pray the Jesus Prayer 3,000 times a day. He also gave him a rope with 100 knots to keep track of the number of recitations.
The first couple of days were a struggle, but the Prayer soon became easy and joyful. He returned to the hermit/monk and described his experience. The hermit/monk increased the repetitions to 6,000 per day, then 12,000. There were challenges with the increasing repetitions, including his tongue going numb, his jaw becoming tight, his thumb and arm hurting from working the rope and the need to rise early and retire late. However, he grew so accustomed to the Prayer that when he was not praying he felt something was missing.
After the monk’s death the pilgrim began wandering the country side, continually praying the Jesus Prayer and teaching it to those he met along the way. The name of the young Russian pilgrim is not known. However, he left us the story of his pilgrimage in prayer in a book called “The Way of a Pilgrim”.
There was a young Russian that lived during the 19th century, who began a pilgrimage - not a journey to Rome or Jerusalem but to a place of prayer. Being challenged by Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing” and to “pray in the Spirit at all occasions,” he set out on a pilgrimage to see if this was really possible.
Going from town to town, and priest to monk, and to any wise man he could find, the young pilgrim sought the answer to unceasing prayer. While walking down a country road a hermit/ monk came to walk along side of him. The pilgrim posed his question to this monk, is “ unceasing prayer possible?” After answering in the affirmative the hermit/monk invited him to his nearby monastery for further discussion. “The ceaseless Jesus Prayer is a continuous, uninterrupted call on the holy name of Jesus Christ with the lips, mind, and heart; and in the awareness of His abiding presence it is a plea for His blessing in all undertakings, in all places, at all times, even in sleep.
The words of the Prayer are: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”
The hermit/monk gave the writings of the Desert Fathers to the pilgrim, who spent the next week studying the passages on the Jesus Prayer. When he returned to the monk, he was told to return to his hut and pray the Jesus Prayer 3,000 times a day. He also gave him a rope with 100 knots to keep track of the number of recitations.
The first couple of days were a struggle, but the Prayer soon became easy and joyful. He returned to the hermit/monk and described his experience. The hermit/monk increased the repetitions to 6,000 per day, then 12,000. There were challenges with the increasing repetitions, including his tongue going numb, his jaw becoming tight, his thumb and arm hurting from working the rope and the need to rise early and retire late. However, he grew so accustomed to the Prayer that when he was not praying he felt something was missing.
After the monk’s death the pilgrim began wandering the country side, continually praying the Jesus Prayer and teaching it to those he met along the way. The name of the young Russian pilgrim is not known. However, he left us the story of his pilgrimage in prayer in a book called “The Way of a Pilgrim”.
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