Some quotes on the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me” from our Holy Fathers.
In the First Epistle to the Thessalonians the Apostle Paul says “pray without ceasing”.
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St John Chrysostom in his speech about sobriety and prayer says the following: “Brothers, be always occupied with the intellectual prayer and do not move far away from God until you receive God’s mercy and pity. Never ask for anything but for His infinite mercy and this is enough for your salvation. When asking for His mercy, cry aloud
in entreaty with humble and contrite heart from morning to night and, if possible, during the whole night saying unceasingly: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.”
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St John Climacus says the following: “Defeat the enemies with the name of Jesus, for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or on earth.” (‘The Ladder’, Ch.20 -On unmanly fear-, §6) and elsewhere: “Similarly you will manage both to appease your passions inside yourself and to efface them with the aid of the prayer.”
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St Seraphim of Sarov says: “When mind and heart are united in prayer and the soul is wholly concentrated in a single desire for God, then the heart grows warm and the light of Christ begins to shine and fills the inward man with peace and joy. We should thank the Lord for everything and give ourselves up to His will;
We should also offer Him all our thoughts and words and strive to make everything serve only His good pleasure.”
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St Isihios writes about the prayer: “Through the constant remembrance and invocation to Jesus Christ, a holy condition is created in our mind. This happens, if we appeal to Jesus Christ with fervour, crying aloud towards Him in entreaty day and night so that repetition leads to habit and habit becomes second nature!”
A few more quotations about the need to pray, what prayer is and what fruits it could bring, but not about how to pray.
“Prayer is, by its nature, the joining and union of man and of God, while by its work, the sustainer of the world.” (‘The Ladder’, Ch.28, §1, 6th century )
“Many people reason quite the wrong way round about prayer, thinking that good actions and all sorts of preliminary measures render us capable of prayer. But quite the reverse is the case, it is prayer which bears fruit in good works and in all the virtues.” … “Christians are bound to perform many good works, but before all else what they ought to do is to pray, for without prayer no other good work whatsoever can be accomplished.” (‘The Way of the Pilgrim’, Ch.1, 19th century)
“When grace is operative in the soul of someone who is praying, then he is flooded with the love of God, so that he can no longer bear what he experiences. Afterwards, this love turns towards the world and man, whom he comes to love so much that he seeks to take upon himself the whole of human pain and misfortune so that everyone else might be freed from it. In general he suffers with every grief and misery, and even for animals, so that he weeps when he thinks they are suffering. These are the properties of love, but it is prayer that activates them and calls them forth. This is why those who are advanced in prayer do not cease to pray for the world. To them belongs even the continuation of life, however audacious and strange this may seem. And you should know that, if such people disappear, then the end of this world will come”. (Saintly Elder Joseph the Hesychast, 20th century)
“…we ought to think of God even more often than we draw our breath; and if the expression is permissible, we ought to do nothing else.” ( St. Gregory the Theologian, 4th century )
“When the Jesus Prayer is absent, all manner of harmful things assail us, leaving no room for anything good in the soul. But when our Lord is present in the prayer, everything alien is banished.” ( St Gregory Palamas, 14th century )
Archimandrite Iosif
Reprinted text published in “Agioritiki Martiria” by the Hiropotamos Monastery of the Holy Mountain Athos.
Issue no 12-13, page 155-1991
First prototype edition in English: “The Prayer Rope ΄ Meditations of a Monk of the Holy Mountain”
New Sarov Press, Blanco, Texas, 78606 – 1049 USA
Printed with the Blessing of His Grace, Bishop Hilarion,
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
New Edition by the Church of Panagia Ahiropeetos Thessaloniki
The booklet is distributed by The Holy Monastery of Transfiguration of Christ Saviour Sohos Lagadas, Thessaloniki – Greece, 0030 23950 22562
