A Prayer for 'Contemplatives in the Midst of the World'

One might think sometimes, 'I wish I had more time for prayer,' or, 'I want to pray, but I need to go to work. I don't have time to pray like a monk or a nun does' or even, 'It is the end of the semester and final exams are coming up, I simply don't have time to pray.' A thought that is common among mothers is, 'My kids won't leave me alone for five minutes to pray, much less a half an hour or an hour to pray'.

Surprisingly enough, the answer to this need for prayer in a busy world of ringing cell phones, football practices, deadlines, final exams, and nagging bosses can be found with the desert fathers of the Christian East. You might wonder what the monks who lived in the desert have to offer us in our quest to balance our time of prayer with our hectic schedules as professionals, students, or family members. The most important lesson those austere saints of the Christian East can teach us is the 'Jesus Prayer': 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.'

This 12-word prayer, of which the name of Jesus forms the core, is the most beloved prayer among the faithful of the Eastern Churches. There has been an ever-growing popularity of this prayer among western Catholics in recent years, especially since the Second Vatican Council proclaimed that 'Catholics are earnestly recommended to avail themselves of the spiritual riches of the Eastern Fathers which lift up the whole man to the contemplation of the divine. The very rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern Churches should be known, venerated, preserved and cherished by all.' Unitatis Redintegratio, Decree on Ecumenism. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions this prayer four times:

#435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayerâ?|the Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

#2616 The urgent request of the blind men…has been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer…

# 2667 This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West, the most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.'â?|By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior's mercy.

# 2668 The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and 'brings forth fruit with patience.' This prayer is possible 'at all times' because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.

The prayer is offered by repeating 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,' either vocally or mentally. This prayer can be said continually throughout the day, any time we have a free moment, if only a few seconds, for example while walking to the copy machine in the office, or while taking a break at the water cooler during construction work on a hot summer's day. Eventually the prayer becomes, as it were, an 'automatic prayer', fostering a continual longing to pray it. This is the answer to St. Paul's exhortation to 'Pray without ceasing'. (1 Thess. 5:17) It is inspired from the Gospel in the the prayer of the blind man at Jericho, 'Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me' (St. Luke 18:38), the prayer of the ten lepers, 'Jesus! Master! Have pity on us' (St. Luke 17:13) and the prayer of the publican, 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner' (St. Luke 18:14).

In Western terms we would call this prayer an 'invocation'. In the East, the 'Jesus Prayer' is much more than an invocation. It is a spirituality, a way of life. It is essentially not so different from the devotion of Divine Mercy given to St. Faustina Kowalska by Our Lord. It is interesting to note that in the Manual of Indulgences the Church grants a partial indulgence to those who pause for a moment to make a 'pious invocation'. What can be said then about the benefits of this prayer which is said in a continual manner?

Traditionally, the faithful of the Eastern Churches pray the 'Jesus Prayer' on a prayer rope ('chotki' in Russian or 'comboschini' in Greek). This is a rope that can have 33 knots (in honor of the age of Our Lord when he died and rose from the dead), 100, or any number of knots. Some 'chotki' are even composed of beads in sets of 10 similar to the Rosary. These beads are used to count the number of times the Jesus Prayer is said, but mostly to help concentration on the prayer. There is no reason why a Western Rosary couldn't be used for the same purpose. The use of the rope is by no means an absolute necessity but rather an aid to the prayer.

One can also use variations of this prayer such as 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of thy most pure Mother, have mercy on me a sinner,' or 'Most Holy Theotokos (Mother of God), save us.' One can also pray to the saints or pray for a deceased loved one in this continuous manner by using the prayer, 'Saint (name), pray to God for me,' or 'Give rest to the soul of thy servant, (name)'

Let us then, whatever our state in life, our professional or social duties, resolve to say this prayer throughout the day, raise our minds to God and unite our prayer to the prayers of those monks, clerics, and lay people in the Eastern (and especially in the Slavic lands) who ceaselessly have the Divine Name in their mind and on their lips, calling down mercy upon themselves and the world.

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