About the Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is of enormous importance in the life of a Christian. This is the shortest path to achieving the Kingdom of Heaven, although this path is not easy, and having embarked on it, we must be prepared for sorrow. True, other prayers are also of considerable importance, and a person who goes through the Jesus Prayer listens to prayers and hymns in church, and performs the obligatory cell rules. And yet, it is the Jesus Prayer that, more than others, brings a person into a repentant mood and shows him his weaknesses, therefore, it brings him closer to God. A person begins to feel that he is the greatest sinner, and this is all God needs. The enemy tries in every possible way to divert the Christian from this prayer; he fears and hates it most of all. Indeed, a person who always performs this prayer is preserved by the power of God unharmed from enemy snares. When a person is completely imbued with this prayer, then it opens the gates of heaven for him, and even though he did not receive special gifts and grace on earth, his soul will boldly cry out: “Open for me the gates of righteousness” (Ps. 117:19). And so the enemy instills various thoughts to confuse the foolish, saying that prayer requires concentration, tenderness, and so on, and if this is not the case, then it only angers God. Some listen to these arguments and abandon prayer to the delight of the enemy. One who begins the Jesus Prayer is like a high school student who has entered the first grade of a gymnasium and put on his uniform. One might think that he will later graduate from high school and maybe go to university. But then the temptations of the first lesson pass, for example, the student did not understand arithmetic, and his thought says to him: “I didn’t understand the first lesson, much less understand the second, and then, you see, they will call you. It’s better to say you’re sick and stay at home.” If the student has wealthy relatives, then there are even more temptations, the same seductive voice says: “Your grandfather and uncle are rich, why should you study, stay with them.” A high school student listens to these speeches, stops studying, wastes time, and after a few years grows up to be a worthless idiot. Time has passed, what kind of teaching is there - and they expel him from the gymnasium. The same can happen with prayer. You should not listen to tempting thoughts, you should drive them far away from yourself and, without being embarrassed, continue your prayer work. Even if the fruits of this labor are unnoticeable, even if a person does not experience spiritual delight and tenderness, still prayer cannot remain ineffective. She silently does her job. During the stay of the famous elder Father Leo in Optina, one monk, who had been going through the Jesus Prayer for twenty-two years, fell into despondency - it seemed as if he did not see any favorable results of his work. He went to the elder and expressed his grief to him. “Here, father, I’ve been doing the Jesus Prayer for twenty-two years and I don’t see any point.” – What use do you want to see? – asked the old man. “Why, father,” the monk continued, “I read that many, by performing this prayer, acquired spiritual purity, had wondrous visions, and achieved complete dispassion.” And I, the accursed one, sincerely realize that I am the greatest sinner, I see all my depravity and, thinking about this, walking along the road from the monastery to the monastery, I often tremble lest the earth open up and swallow up such a wicked person as me. – Have you ever seen how mothers hold their children in their arms? - Of course, I saw it, father, but how does this relate to me? - Here's how. If a child is drawn to the fire and even cries because of it, will the mother allow the child to get burned? Of course not, she will take him away from the fire. Or women and children went out in the evening to get some air, and one baby reached out to the moon and cried: let him play with it. What should a mother do to console him? You can't give him the moon. She will take him into the hut, put him in a shaky spot, rock him: “Speak up, speak up, be silent!” This is what the Lord does, my child. He is good and merciful and could, of course, give a person any gifts he wants, but if he does not do this, then it is for our own good. A feeling of repentance is always useful, but great gifts in the hands of an inexperienced person can not only cause harm, but also completely destroy him. A person can become proud, and pride is worse than any vice: God opposes the proud. Every gift must be suffered. Of course, if the king simply gives a gift out of his generosity, then you cannot refuse and throw it back in his face; we must accept it with gratitude, but also try to use it profitably. There have been cases when great ascetics, having received special gifts, fell into the depths of destruction for pride and condemnation of others who did not have such gifts. “Still, I would like a little gift from God,” the monk continued, “then my work would be calmer and more joyful.” – Do you think it’s not God’s mercy towards you that you sincerely recognize yourself as a sinner and work hard, saying the Jesus Prayer? Continue to do the same, and if the Lord pleases, He will give you heartfelt prayer. A few days after this conversation, through the prayers of Father Leo, a miracle happened. One Sunday, when that monk obediently served food to the brethren and, putting the bowl on the table, said: “Receive, brethren, obedience from me, the poor one,” he felt something special in his heart, as if some kind of blessed fire had suddenly set him on fire. From delight and awe, the monk’s face changed and he staggered. The brothers, noticing this, hurried to him. - What's wrong with you, brother? - they asked him in surprise. - Nothing, my head hurts. - Yes, that’s right, I’m crazy, help me, for the Lord’s sake, get to my cell. He was escorted out. He lay down and completely forgot about food, forgot everything in the world and only felt that his heart was burning with love for God and for his neighbors. Blissful state! From then on, his prayer became no longer verbal, as before, but mental-heartfelt, that is, one that never stops and about which the Holy Scripture says: “I sleep, but my heart watches” (Song. 5:2). However, the Lord does not always send mental-heart prayer; some people pray verbal prayer all their lives. They die with it, without feeling the delights of heartfelt prayer, but such people should not lose heart. For them, spiritual delights will begin in the Future Life and will never end, but will increase with every moment, comprehending more and more of God's perfections, saying in awe: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Such a case is known from the Life of St. Pimen the Great 1. One day his mother came to him from distant Africa and wanted to see him. When the monk was informed about this, he replied: “Why not,” they objected to him, “this woman who arrived convincingly says that she is your mother.” “I don’t have a mother,” the saint repeated, “but still ask my mother if she wants to see me.” “It’s a strange question, father, if she didn’t want to see you, she wouldn’t have taken such a trip.” - No, ask her where she wants to see me, in this life or in the future? When this was conveyed to the mother of Saint Pimen, she understood its meaning and replied: “I wish to meet my son in the Hereafter,” and went back. This incident is very edifying. Perhaps if the mother had insisted on seeing her son, she would not have seen him in the Hereafter. When her great son promised to see her beyond the grave, he promised her eternal salvation. From this we can draw the following conclusion: when performing the Jesus Prayer, we may not feel holy delights in this life, but we will feel them in full force in the future. The Jesus Prayer is divided into three, even four steps. The first stage is oral prayer, when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood. The second stage is mental-heart prayer, when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time. Then prayer is performed continuously, no matter what a person is doing: eating, drinking, resting - the prayer is still being performed. The third stage is creative prayer, which is capable of moving mountains with one word. For example, the Venerable Hermit Mark the Thracian had such a prayer. One day a monk came to him for edification. In the conversation, Mark asked: “Do you now have prayer books that can move mountains?” As he said this, the mountain they were on shook. Saint Mark turned to her as if she were alive: “Stay calm, I’m not talking about you.” Finally, the fourth step is such a high prayer that only Angels have and which is given, perhaps, to one of all humanity. The late Father Ambrose had a smart-hearted prayer. This prayer sometimes placed him outside the laws of nature. So, for example, during prayer he was separated from the ground. His cell attendants were honored to see this. Recently, the priest was sick and was lying in bed all the time, so he could not go to church. All services, except mass, were performed in his cell. Once they celebrated an all-night vigil. Father, as always, was reclining. One cell attendant stood in front of the icon and read, and the other stood behind the priest. Suddenly he sees that Father Ambrose sits down on the bed, then rises ten inches, separates from the bed and prays in the air. The cell attendant was horrified, but remained silent. When it was his turn to read, another, standing in the place of the first, was granted the same vision. When the service was finished and the cell attendants went to their rooms, one said to the other. “I saw that the priest separated from the bed and prayed in the air. “Well, that means it’s true, otherwise I thought it was just me imagining it.” They wanted to ask Father Ambrose about this, but they were afraid: the elder did not like it when they said anything about his holiness. He would sometimes take a stick, hit the curious person and say: “You fool, you fool, why are you asking the sinful Ambrose about this?” - and nothing more. Father Hilarion is currently being saved in the Caucasus Mountains. He first lived in a communal monastery on Mount Athos, but now he has left everything and serves God in the feat of hermithood. Another young (30 years old) monk, Father Benedict, lives with him. The elder gave him some instructions and, among other things, to find out how the Jesus Prayer is performed in monasteries. He visited many monasteries (male and female) and came to a sad conclusion. This essential prayer has been abandoned almost everywhere, especially in nunneries. Its performers are burning out here and there, like candles. Previously, not only monks performed the Jesus Prayer, it was also obligatory for lay people (for example, the famous historical figure Speransky 2, publisher of laws, practiced the Jesus Prayer and was always joyful, despite his many different works). Now even the monks are distrustful of this feat. One, for example, says to another: – Yes, Father Peter began to say the Jesus Prayer. - Really? Well, that's right, it will go crazy. There is a proverb: there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, there have been cases when people went crazy, but why? Yes, they took up this prayer on their own, without blessing, and, having started, they immediately wanted to become a saint, they climbed straight to Heaven, as they say, and then they broke down. (Father Benedict was recently in Optina, he left after the Transfiguration of the Lord. He had long conversations with Father Barsanuphius and when asked about the Jesus Prayer he received the answer: “All servants of God - both in the monastery and in the skete - go through the Jesus Prayer, only the labor one, that is, the first stage.”) However, at this level there are up to a thousand gradations, and those who go through this prayer rise, so to speak, from one line to another. But a person cannot determine for himself at what level he stands. To count one's own virtues would be pharisaical pride. We must consider ourselves lower than everyone else and strive to receive from the Lord those gifts that the Jesus Prayer undoubtedly brings with it - repentance, patience and humility. Venerable Pimen the Great († c. 450; commemorated on August 27) - Egyptian ascetic. Speransky Mikhail Mikhailovich (1772–1839) – advisor to Emperor Alexander I. He led the codification of the laws of the Russian Empire. Being the son of a village priest, at the end of his life he received the title of count. You might be interested in: