The Jesus Prayer
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This teaching on the Jesus Prayer is the fruit of a thirty-day retreat made by Sr. Ruth Starman, OSB, of Clyde Missouri. She did lectio using notes from a book soon to be published by Joseph Wong, OSB Cam, from Sr. Meg Funk’s book Tools Matter, and from a day on the Jesus Prayer sponsored by the Merton Society in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 16, 2001. The keynote address on that day was given by Bishop Kallistos Ware. Sr. Ruth’s concluding reflections about the similarities and differences between the Jesus Prayer and ways of oriental meditation make her paper especially appropriate for inclusion in our bulletin.
The Jesus Prayer is the traditional practice of ceaseless prayer in the Christian tradition. The standard formula of the Jesus Prayer reads: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” In practice, a variety of forms can be used. For example, the designation “a sinner” may be added to the ending: “have mercy on me, a sinner.” Likewise, the invocation “have mercy on me” may be expressed in the plural, that is, “have mercy on us.” Some omit the title “Son of God.” Or the prayer can be simply shortened to the following invocation: “Lord Jesus, have mercy.” The shortest form is simply “Jesus.”
The Jesus prayer has a biblical foundation. It is based on the combination of two prayers in the Gospel: that of the blind man in Jericho, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38), and that of the publican, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). The title “Son of David” in the first prayer is changed to “Son of God,” and the title “Lord” is added to the name Jesus.
To make the prayer a habit we must say the words slowly, mindfully, and with respect for their meaning. We can do this at specific times with a certain number of repetitions in mind. The Jesus Prayer, however, is meant to be cultivated ceaselessly, not just during our specified prayer times. We concentrate on making it happen while we are doing our ordinary tasks of walking, driving, cleaning, cooking, managing children, or teaching a class. It is most helpful to do upon awakening and before going to sleep. When this prayer is practiced over time, it drops into the heart and becomes what is called “the prayer of the heart.” The invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus, which continues our baptismal immersion, brings our attention to Christ and Christ, in turn, dwells in us. The prayer warms the heart and becomes an experience of Presence.
Western Christians have become familiar with the Jesus Prayer above all through The Way of the Pilgrim, the story of an anonymous Russian pilgrim who lived in the middle of the nineteenth century. We are told that the pilgrim began by saying the Jesus Prayer a certain number of times everyday, increasing from several hundred to several thousand times a day with unremitting effort. Then to his surprise, as he tells us, “Early one morning the prayer woke me up as it were.” Ever since then he found the prayer repeating itself constantly in keeping with the rhythm of each heartbeat. It was as though he were carrying a small “murmuring stream” flowing unceasingly in his heart. Prayer in such a person is no longer a series of acts but a permanent state. Kallistos Ware, however, warns the readers of the Pilgrim against gaining the wrong impression that this passage from strenuous prayer to self-acting prayer is easily attained. The rapid achievement of the pilgrim is something altogether exceptional. More usually prayer of the heart comes only after a lifetime of ascetic practice.
The human mind is always active. Thoughts keep moving restlessly and aimlessly in our mind like the buzzing of flies (Theophan the Recluse) or the capricious leaping of monkeys from branch to branch (Ramakrishna). It is of little use to say to ourselves “stop thinking” we might as well say “stop breathing.” The rational mind cannot remain completely idle. But while it lies beyond our power to make the continual chattering of the thoughts disappear, what we can do is to detach ourselves from it, gently but persistently. In order to let go the multiplicity of thoughts we must, as Diadochus of Photike recommends, give the mind “some task which will satisfy its need for activity,” that is, something which will keep it sufficiently occupied, without allowing it to be too active. For the same purpose Theophan teaches that “to stop the continual jostling of your thoughts you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only.” This strategy is fully in keeping with the Chinese saying which forms the basic rule on one-pointedness necessary for any sitting meditation: to replace “the ten thousand thoughts” with one single thought. In our case, this one single thought or “the thought of One only” is the holy name of Jesus. The Jesus Prayer is thus a way of keeping guard over the mind or the heart.
Although it uses words, the invocation of the name of Jesus, because of its brevity and simplicity, is capable of leading us beyond the words into the eternal silence of God. The Jesus Prayer is not just a technique devised for leading people into quiet and stillness. According to the biblical tradition, the name stands for the person. The name Jesus was announced by an angel to indicate his saving mission. During his ministry on earth saving power constantly came forth from his person to heal the sick and deliver the possessed from the dominion of evil spirits. The invocation of the holy name of Jesus has a quasi-sacramental effect that renders the Savior present to us, enabling us to experience his power over the evil spirit. Jesus’ parable of the strong man and the stronger one is relevant here: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder” (Luke 11:21). The strong man is the evil spirit and the stronger one is Jesus our Savior. By invoking the name of Jesus with faith we are inviting him to come to us, to drive away the evil spirit, and to take possession of our hearts.
The idea of presence is essential to the Jesus Prayer. However, it deals with a non-iconic or imageless presence of the Lord. The prayer is distinguished from methods of discursive meditation on episodes in the life of Jesus. St. Gregory of Sinai gives this instruction to those who practice the Jesus Prayer: “Keep your intellect free from colors, images and forms.” Our awareness of the presence of Jesus must not be accompanied by any visual concept but must be confined to a simple conviction or feeling. Through the invocation of the name we are united with Jesus in a direct, unmediated encounter, that is, without any intermediary concept or image. We feel his nearness with our spiritual senses, much as we feel the warmth with our bodily senses on entering a heated room.
As long as the prayer remains in the mind, or in the head, it is incomplete. It is necessary to descend from the head to the heart, to “find the place of the heart.” This means also searching for the physical heart as a symbol and abode of the deep personal heart. To be more exact, we must descend with the mind to the heart: to “bring down the mind into the heart.” Our aim is “prayer of the mind in the heart.” It is the special power of the Jesus Prayer to accomplish the union of the mind and the heart.
The Jesus prayer has a biblical foundation. It is based on the combination of two prayers in the Gospel: that of the blind man in Jericho, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38), and that of the publican, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). The title “Son of David” in the first prayer is changed to “Son of God,” and the title “Lord” is added to the name Jesus.
To make the prayer a habit we must say the words slowly, mindfully, and with respect for their meaning. We can do this at specific times with a certain number of repetitions in mind. The Jesus Prayer, however, is meant to be cultivated ceaselessly, not just during our specified prayer times. We concentrate on making it happen while we are doing our ordinary tasks of walking, driving, cleaning, cooking, managing children, or teaching a class. It is most helpful to do upon awakening and before going to sleep. When this prayer is practiced over time, it drops into the heart and becomes what is called “the prayer of the heart.” The invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus, which continues our baptismal immersion, brings our attention to Christ and Christ, in turn, dwells in us. The prayer warms the heart and becomes an experience of Presence.
Western Christians have become familiar with the Jesus Prayer above all through The Way of the Pilgrim, the story of an anonymous Russian pilgrim who lived in the middle of the nineteenth century. We are told that the pilgrim began by saying the Jesus Prayer a certain number of times everyday, increasing from several hundred to several thousand times a day with unremitting effort. Then to his surprise, as he tells us, “Early one morning the prayer woke me up as it were.” Ever since then he found the prayer repeating itself constantly in keeping with the rhythm of each heartbeat. It was as though he were carrying a small “murmuring stream” flowing unceasingly in his heart. Prayer in such a person is no longer a series of acts but a permanent state. Kallistos Ware, however, warns the readers of the Pilgrim against gaining the wrong impression that this passage from strenuous prayer to self-acting prayer is easily attained. The rapid achievement of the pilgrim is something altogether exceptional. More usually prayer of the heart comes only after a lifetime of ascetic practice.
The human mind is always active. Thoughts keep moving restlessly and aimlessly in our mind like the buzzing of flies (Theophan the Recluse) or the capricious leaping of monkeys from branch to branch (Ramakrishna). It is of little use to say to ourselves “stop thinking” we might as well say “stop breathing.” The rational mind cannot remain completely idle. But while it lies beyond our power to make the continual chattering of the thoughts disappear, what we can do is to detach ourselves from it, gently but persistently. In order to let go the multiplicity of thoughts we must, as Diadochus of Photike recommends, give the mind “some task which will satisfy its need for activity,” that is, something which will keep it sufficiently occupied, without allowing it to be too active. For the same purpose Theophan teaches that “to stop the continual jostling of your thoughts you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only.” This strategy is fully in keeping with the Chinese saying which forms the basic rule on one-pointedness necessary for any sitting meditation: to replace “the ten thousand thoughts” with one single thought. In our case, this one single thought or “the thought of One only” is the holy name of Jesus. The Jesus Prayer is thus a way of keeping guard over the mind or the heart.
Although it uses words, the invocation of the name of Jesus, because of its brevity and simplicity, is capable of leading us beyond the words into the eternal silence of God. The Jesus Prayer is not just a technique devised for leading people into quiet and stillness. According to the biblical tradition, the name stands for the person. The name Jesus was announced by an angel to indicate his saving mission. During his ministry on earth saving power constantly came forth from his person to heal the sick and deliver the possessed from the dominion of evil spirits. The invocation of the holy name of Jesus has a quasi-sacramental effect that renders the Savior present to us, enabling us to experience his power over the evil spirit. Jesus’ parable of the strong man and the stronger one is relevant here: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder” (Luke 11:21). The strong man is the evil spirit and the stronger one is Jesus our Savior. By invoking the name of Jesus with faith we are inviting him to come to us, to drive away the evil spirit, and to take possession of our hearts.
The idea of presence is essential to the Jesus Prayer. However, it deals with a non-iconic or imageless presence of the Lord. The prayer is distinguished from methods of discursive meditation on episodes in the life of Jesus. St. Gregory of Sinai gives this instruction to those who practice the Jesus Prayer: “Keep your intellect free from colors, images and forms.” Our awareness of the presence of Jesus must not be accompanied by any visual concept but must be confined to a simple conviction or feeling. Through the invocation of the name we are united with Jesus in a direct, unmediated encounter, that is, without any intermediary concept or image. We feel his nearness with our spiritual senses, much as we feel the warmth with our bodily senses on entering a heated room.
As long as the prayer remains in the mind, or in the head, it is incomplete. It is necessary to descend from the head to the heart, to “find the place of the heart.” This means also searching for the physical heart as a symbol and abode of the deep personal heart. To be more exact, we must descend with the mind to the heart: to “bring down the mind into the heart.” Our aim is “prayer of the mind in the heart.” It is the special power of the Jesus Prayer to accomplish the union of the mind and the heart.
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