Prayers
Jesus Prayer
Christogram with Jesus Prayer in Romanian:
Doamne Iisuse Hristoase, Fiul lui Dumnezeu, miluieşte-mă pe mine păcătosul.
Translation:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.
Variations
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord have mercy.
Jesus have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Son of God have mercy.
Most Holy Trinity have mercy.
Most Holy Theotokos save us.
St [name of the saint one was baptized with], my protector, have mercy
Theologically, the Jesus Prayer can be considered to
be an extension of the lesson taught by the parable of
the Publican and the Pharisee, in which the Pharisee
demonstrates the improper way to pray by exclaiming:
"Thank you Lord that I am not like the Publican",
whereas the Publican prays correctly in humility, saying
"Lord have mercy on me, the sinner."
(Luke 18:10-14.)
The prayer's origin is most likely the Egyptian desert, which was settled
by the monastic Desert Fathers in the fifth century. Antoine Guillaumont
reports the finding of an inscription containing the Jesus Prayer in the
ruins of a cell in the Egyptian desert.
The practice of repeating the prayer continually dates back to at least
the fifth century. The earliest known mention is in the Gnostic Chapters
of Saint Diadochos of Photiki (400-486).
The Jesus Prayer is described in the Gnostic Chapters in terms very
similar to St John Cassian's and the repetitive use of a passage of the
Psalms.
St Diadochos ties the practice of the Jesus Prayer to the purification of
the soul and teaches that repetition of the prayer produces inner peace.
The use of the Jesus Prayer is recommended in the Ladder of Divine
Ascent of St John of Sinai (523–603) and in the work of St Hesychios (?
8th Century).
