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The Way of the Name
 MANY OF the early, saints tell us that it is from this Prayer they organized
their entire spiritual lives. Regular use of the Jesus Prayer can unify our
spiritual lives in a most powerful but simple way. Yet, we are warned that
this is not a magical formula and presupposes that one believes in God and
lives by God's commands.
It has been said that those who take up
this Prayer receive special grace as they succeed in establishing such as a
habitual practice. Not only does the recitation of the Prayer train the mind
to dwell upon the divinity of Christ, but also in moments of crisis, anxiety
or temptation it can be the anchor keeping us steady and helping us realize
we are continually "in the Presence of God."
History of the Prayer
We know that the first time in the New Testament the name of Jesus is
mentioned is when the Archangel Gabriel, Angel of the Annunciation, appears
to Mary informing her that she would conceive in her womb the Son of God. Jesus’ name was pronounced in Hebrew to the Blessed Mother as Yeshua, which
is identical to Yeshoshua or Joshua.
The name "Yeshua" in Hebrew means
"salvation of Yahweh" or more commonly translated as "Savior."
The Jesus Prayer came from the
spirituality of the Desert Mothers and Fathers of Egypt and the Sinai School
of Spirituality, founded in the Fifth Century.
Recitation
The Prayer is repeated over and over
again. In monastic tradition it is first spoken softly, out loud;
then, it is spoken without making a sound; finally, it is repeated as a
mental prayer. The Holy Name Prayer may also be chanted. Also,
there are many variations in the words themselves, such as "Jesus Christ,
Son of God, have mercy on us (me)."
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I will proclaim
your name, for it is good.
Psalms 52:9
Very truly, I tell you, if you ask
anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Gospel of John 16:23
Let Him, the ever-living God,
be always present in thy mind; for this mind itself is His likeness, for it,
too, is invisible and impalpable, and without form...As He exists forever,
so thou also, when thou shalt have put off this which is visible and
corruptible, shalt stand before Him forever, living and endowed with
knowledge.
St Meliton, Bishop of Sardis
Oration to Antonius Cæsar
The most sublime mental
activity is extraordinarily simple. It needs for its acceptance childlike
simplicity and faith. But we have become so complicated that it is just this
simplicity which is inaccessible, incomprehensible to us. We want to be
clever, we want to revive our own ego, we cannot bear self-renunciation or
self-denial, we have no desire to live and act by faith. It is for this
reason that we need a guide to lead us out of our complexity, out of our
cunning, out of our vanity and self-confidence, into the breadth and
simplicity of faith.
St Ignatius Brianchaninov
On the Prayer of Jesus |
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