Saint Paisius Velichkovsky: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me!"

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me!" 

If one with desire and ceaselessly as the breath from his nostrils forms this prayer, soon there will be in him the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and make a dwelling in him, and prayer will devour the heart and the heart prayer, and a man will begin day and night to perform this prayer and will be  delivered from all the nets of the enemy. One should say the Prayer of Jesus in this way: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!" 

Whether you are standing, whether you are sitting, whether you are eating, whether you are travelling, whether you are doing anything else, constantly say this prayer, fervently compelling yourself, for it strikes the invisible enemies as a soldier with a strong spear. Imprint it on your thoughts, and do not be disturbed or hesitate to perform it secretly even in the places of natural need. And when the tongue and lips grow faint, then pray with the mind alone. From prayer which is performed for a long time, by the tongue there proceeds prayer of the mind, and from that of the mind, that of the heart.  When the mind grows faint from constant concentration and the heart 

grows pained, then one may relax and sing a little.

One should perform the Prayer of Jesus aloud but not loudly, sufficient so that one can hear it. One should not at the time of prayer incline one's thought here and there to worldly, corruptible things, but should remain without laziness in the memory of this Prayer alone. The Prayer is nothing else but a division between the visible and invisible worlds. Wherefore, one must enclose one's mind in the Prayer. Where the body stands, there also the mind should be with it, without having any thought at the time of prayer. The Holy Fathers say, "If anyone prays with his lips but is careless about his mind, he is labouring in vain, for God heeds the mind and not much speaking.

Mental prayer does not allow that there be in the mind any fantasy or unclean thought. If one does not become accustomed to the mental Jesus Prayer, he cannot have ceaseless prayer. If the Jesus Prayer becomes one's habit and enters his heart, it will then flow as water from a spring. At all times, everywhere and no matter what one does, it will always urge him on, be he awake or asleep. When his body begins to sleep or drowse, even then it will awaken him, gushing out of his heart and never ceasing. 

Therefore this prayer is great, never left off, so that when it is being said, although the lips may grow faint, and the body may drowse, the spirit never sleeps. When some essential work is performed diligently or thoughts powerfully attack the mind or sleep overcomes one, then one must pray fervently with the lips and tongue, that the mind might heed the voice. And when the mind is in peace and calm from thoughts, one may pray with it alone. This path of prayer is the swifter one to salvation than by means of psalms, canons, and the usual prayers.

Saint Paisius Velichkovsky

Selected Passages from the Teachings of Saint Kosmas Aitolos

GOD 

It is proper to begin our teaching with God, and when we finish it to thank God - not that I am worthy to mention and utter the name of God, but I am sure that God suffers me to do so through His great and infinite compassion.

God, the all-good and most merciful, my brethren, is one, and whoever says that there are many Gods is a devil. He is triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; yet one nature, one glory, one kingdom, one God. He is all light, all joy, all compassion, all love.

This All-Holy Trinity we pious Orthodox Christians glorify and worship. He is the true God, and all other so-called gods are demons. And it is not we along that believe, glorify, and worship the Holy Trinity, but angels, archangels, and all the heavenly hosts, as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the grains of the sand of the sea unceasingly praise in hymns and worship and glorify this All-holy Trinity. Again, out of their love for the Holy Trinity men and women as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the grains of the sand of the sea spilt their blood, and as many renounced the world and went to the deserts and led a life of spiritual endeavor, and still as many lived in the world with temperance and virginity, fasting, prayer, almsgiving and other practices; and all went to Paradise and rejoice forever.

LOVE 

If we want to fare well in this life and to go to Paradise, and to call our God love and father, we must have two loves: the love for God and the love for our neighbor. It is natural for us to have these two loves, and contrary to nature not have them. Just as a swallow needs two wings in order to fly in the air, so we need these two loves, because without them we cannot be saved.

Elder Paisios of Mt. Athos on the Prayer Rope

- Elder, what meaning does the prayer rope (komboschoini) have? 

- The prayer rope is an inheritance, a blessing, which was left to us by the Holy Fathers. And for this alone, it has great worth. You see, when someone's grandfather leaves him a meaningless object as an inheritance, he keeps it like a talisman, how much more should we keep the prayer rope as an inheritance of the Holy Fathers! 

In olden times, when there were no clocks, monks counted the time with prayer with the prayer rope, but the knots of the prayer rope were simple. Once, an ascetic was doing great struggles, many prostrations, etc. and the devil went and broke the knots of his prayer rope. The poor man then did prostrations after prostrations, because he couldn't count them, as the devil broke his prayer rope to further continue his struggle. Then, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and taught him how to weave the knots, so that each knot might contain nine crosses. The devil afterwards, who trembles at the cross, could not break them. Thus the knots of the prayer rope have nine crosses, which symbolize the nine ranks of the Angels. 

- Elder, what do the 33, 50, 100 and 300 knots mean on prayer ropes? 

- Only the number 33 is symbolic, for it symbolizes the 33 years that Christ lived upon the earth. The other numbers simply help us count the prostrations that we do or how many times we say the prayer.

Yoga and Meditation

"....They are contrary to, and irreconcilable with, Orthodox Christian ascesis, especially with Prayer..."

Our times are times of extreme spiritual confusion and apostasy from the Will of God. The father of this condition is the devil, who uses the people that he seduces into fallacy in order to succeed in his homicidal plan. This confusion is cultivated mostly by groups belonging to the so-called "New Age of Aquarius". Their basic dogma is that "all religions are the same; all of them are paths that lead to the same objective" - so they say.  However our Lord Jesus Christ Himself refutes them, when He says in the Gospel: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6).  Consequently, the paths to salvation are not many, but only one alone: Christ and His Church.

These heralds of confusion identify Christian prayer with yoga and meditation, which are techniques of oriental religions and occultism. With what will follow, I believe that this confusion will be cleared.

Ascesis has been legislated by our very Lord Himself, in the sacred Gospel.  Ascesis is the means for reaching the purpose of Christian living, which is to rid oneself of passions and become united with God (theosis by Grace).  Among the kinds of ascesis are fasting, night-vigils, prayer, sincere repentance and confession, humility; the severing of one's own will by being obedient to the will of God; by  not trusting our own nonexistent powers but only God's power; by attributing to God all good things and whichever progress we make on the path of virtue while putting the blame on ourselves for our sins. Along with these, we should add the study of God's word and the conscientious participation in the Sacraments of our Church - especially in the Sacrament of repentance and confession and the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.  Ascesis is not only for monks and clergy, but for every Christian, as clearly observed in the sacred Gospel and the lives of the saints of our Church.  This path of ascesis was the path followed by the millions of saints of our Faith.

Practice of the Jesus Prayer

Anyone can use the Jesus Prayer. It can be said at any time. To begin saying the prayer as part of our daily prayer rule we must follow the direction of Jesus. He says, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile" (Mark 6:31); "Study to be quiet" (I Thess. 4: 11); then pray in secret—alone and in silence. Select a place where it will be quiet and you will not be disturbed. It is best if you can protect the senses from as much stimulation as possible. It is best to pray the Jesus Prayer early in the morning before sunrise when the mind is at rest and undistracted, the body is relaxed and there is little activity to disturb your concentration. Some may find the evening to work better.

Before you start think about who you are about to address. Make the sign of the cross and a few prostrations with the feeling of contrition and sorrow for your sinfulness.


Select a comfortable position for prayer.  Gently shut your eyes like the closing of tired eyes of a child falling to sleep. Set aside all your worldly cares telling yourself you will have plenty of time for them after you pray. Relax your body.

After you have quieted yourself begin by praising God with Glory to you.., Our Heavenly King Comforter…, the Trisagion prayer, 51st Psalm, and the Creed. Then you can begin to say the Jesus Prayer out loud, loud enough so the ears can hear it, slowly and concentrating on the meaning of the words. “The words of the prayer ought to be said without the least hurry, even lingering, so that the mind can lock itself into each word…” (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov).

Slowly say, Lord …. Jesus Christ …. Son of God …. Have Mercy …. on Me …. a Sinner.

Having Trouble Sleeping?

Sleep is a critical issue for us to live a full life, one that is watchful, following the commands of Jesus. A lack of sleep does lead to a groggy mind, a poor disposition where one is easily open to attacks from the devil. With a lack of sleep one becomes angry much quicker, lags in moral thinking and is subject to higher risks of many diseases. The need for sleep is a given for lay people (Some monks who are highly spiritual can go with very little sleep), yet in both of these articles there is no mention of prayer. They give some good advice but lack the most powerful aid for a good night's sleep.

Here are the points they suggest:

1) Establish a regular sleep schedule
2) Limit any naps to 20 minutes
3) Avoid alcohol in evening
4) Don't eat a big meal before bedtime
5) If you use medicines that are stimulants take them in the morning
6) Get regular exercises during the day
7) If pressing thoughts interfere with falling asleep, write them down
8) If you are frequently awakened by need to use the bathroom cut down on how much you drink near the end of the day
9) If you smoke, quit
10) Avoid beverages and foods containing caffeine after 3pm.

But most importantly, establish a regular prayer routine. A half hour of prayer before going to bed will quiet your mind and connect you with God. The Jesus prayer is especially helpful as it will become an aid even on those sleepless nights.

An Interpretation of the Jesus Prayer

“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me” or, more briefly, “Lord have mercy” was given to Christians at the time of the apostles and was appointed for them to say without ceasing, as, indeed, they do. But what this “Lord have mercy” means is something that very few people know today and so they say it in everyday speech, pointlessly, alas, and in vain. They don't receive the Lord’s mercy, because they don't know what they're asking.

This is why we should know that when the Son and Word of God had become incarnate, was made a human person, underwent such suffering and was crucified, shedding His most holy blood, He ransomed people from the hands of the devil. Since then He was been the Lord and Master of human nature.

Of course, even before His incarnation He was Lord of all creatures, visible and invisible, as their Creator and Maker, but not of those people and demons who, of their own volition, didn’t want Him as their Lord and Master. Our good God made people and angels free and endowed them with reason so that they would have knowledge and discretion. This is why, because He is just and true, He didn't want to remove this freedom from them and to rule over them against their will. Those who accept His rule, He does indeed govern, but those who do not, He leaves to their own devices.