“Continuity of attention produces inner stability; inner stability produces a natural intensification of watchfulness; and this intensification gradually and in due measure gives contemplative insight into spiritual warfare. This in its turn is succeeded by persistence in the Jesus Prayer and by the state that Jesus confers, in which the intellect, free from all images, enjoys complete quietude.”
-St. Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness
The Jesus Prayer, also called the Prayer of the Heart, is a mystical prayer attributed to early Christian monks and ascetics known as the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers.
This beautiful prayer is still used within the Eastern Orthodox tradition to invoke the sacred name of Jesus Christ.
This simple prayer begins by invoking the name, calling on Master Jesus.
The Son of God, Human and Divine.
Bearing the burdens of humanity for divine redemption.
With God’s mercy, God’s strength, God’s grace, through Christ.
To sin means literally to “miss the mark”. We sin by missing the mark, by being ignorant, ignoring.
We sin by having disoriented hearts.
Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God
Have mercy on me
A sinner