The days between Ascension and Pentecost are always
privileged days. We think back to the first disciples gathered with Our Lady in
the Upper Room constantly devoting
themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14). This year this liturgical reminder about
prayer is reinforced by our Archbishops’ Call to Prayer. In consequence there
are extra services next week so that each day St Giles folk will be gathering
in prayer and we have the Premier Radio resources at hand for daily use.
The Russian Classic Way of a Pilgrim is a
book people have been picking up for a century or so, as for example
J.D.Salinger in his 1961 book Franny and
Zooey in which one of the heroines Franny is caught reading it and explains
it as, I quote, ‘the story of how a Russian wanderer learns the power of
"praying without ceasing’.
Here it is,
relevant to our call to prayer at this season, and here’s a key scene where the
wanderer engages his spiritual guide: ‘Be
so kind, Reverend Father, as to show me what prayer without ceasing means and
how it is learnt?’ ‘The continuous interior Prayer of Jesus is a constant
uninterrupted calling upon the divine Name of Jesus with the lips, in the
spirit, in the heart; while forming a mental picture of his constant presence,
and imploring his grace, during every occupation, at all places, even during
sleep. The appeal is couched in these terms, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, [Son of God] have
mercy on me [a sinner]’. One who accustoms himself to this appeal experiences
as a result so deep a consolation and so great a need to offer the prayer
always, that he can no longer live without it, and it will continue to voice
itself within him of its own accord. Now do you understand what prayer without
ceasing is?’ ‘Yes, indeed, Father, and in God’s name teach me how to gain the
habit of it, I cried filled with joy’. ‘Read this book’, he said.
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
This is the so-called Jesus Prayer and it’s changed my
life over the last 9 years helping free me from anxiety, planting peace of
mind, deepening devotion to God and even helping me sleep at night – so it’s
worth an occasional sermon! Better than that it’s been worth hours of trouble
writing this book Using the Jesus Prayer commissioned by the Bible Reading
Fellowship that’s sold so far well over a 1000 copies and which builds from the
Russian classic I quoted from.
Repetition of the ancient prayer Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner fulfils
Paul’s invitation to pray without ceasing
and can serve entry into a simpler and more spacious approach to living,
including freedom from anxiety.
The Prayer expresses the good news of Christianity. It affirms both
the coming of the Saviour and our need for his salvation. Based on incidents in
the life of Our Lord it combines Peter’s act of faith in Jesus – You are the Son of God (cf Matthew
16v16) – with the cry of the Publican – have
mercy upon me a sinner (Luke 18v13b).
It exalts the name which is
above every name (Philippians 2v10b). You can’t repeat the name of Jesus
with a good intention without touching his person, God’s person. It’s a form of
Holy Communion without bread and wine though it comes into its own in my
experience as an extension of sacramental communion. The Name of Jesus, present in the human heart, communicates to it the
power of deification…Shining through the heart, the light of the Name of Jesus
illuminates all the universe writes Fr Sergei Bulgakov
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
The Jesus Prayer is thoroughly evangelical and uncompromisingly
catholic. To pray it continually is to centre upon the good news of Jesus with
the faith and prayer of the church through the ages.
This gospel encounter is in recollected repetition of the holy name of
Jesus which is found eventually to convey his close presence. I say eventually. Long labour in prayer and considerable time are needed for a man with a
mind which never cools to acquire a new heaven of the heart where Christ dwells
wrote Orthodox Saint John Karpathus.
The Jesus Prayer of Eastern Orthodoxy is said to help those with over
active minds because it fills the mind with the thought of Jesus. That is
certainly my experience. It could be yours if you try it and persevere. Call to our Lord Jesus, often and patiently,
and thoughts will retreat, for they cannot bear the warmth of the heart
produced by prayer, and flee as if scorched by fire wrote St Gregory of
Sinai. Powerful words, true in my experience. It’s ironic that stillness in the
centre of our being is helped by constant voicing Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner - but its
true!
What about all that repetition – how purposeful is it?
One of the main obstacles to my taking up this form of prayer in the
past was fear of consigning my life to rote repetition. I have come though now
to discover that the reverent repetition of the phrase, though it needs
repeated acts of the will, actually brings with it the momentum of the Holy
Spirit. This is brought out in The
Way of a Pilgrim where the pilgrim travels across Russia seeking
spiritual counsel. He finds that, as we heard earlier, after learning from a
guide to repeat the Jesus Prayer thousands of times a day. This form of prayer
eventually catches on – it has for me - and it prays itself involuntarily deep
within you.
You can pray the Jesus Prayer in both formal and free ways. The
traditional advice for set formal prayer is close your eyes, focus upon the
Lord and, after invoking the Holy Spirit, repeat the phrase Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy
upon me a sinner pausing briefly between each prayer. Guides recommend that
prayer be neither gabbled nor offered in too intense a manner.
To help focus the body’s engagement in the exercise prayer ropes
of 25, 50 or 100 woollen beads are available. I use such a Jesus Rope for half
an hour in my Oratory at the start of my morning prayer time before saying
Church of England Morning Prayer and praying for the people of Horsted Keynes.
Usually I follow this pattern which I commend to each one of you. Read
a short biblical or spiritual reading, then sitting on an upright chair keep
still, close your eyes and repeat for as long as you can at this sort of pace Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy
upon me a sinner. Aside from this daily set prayer time it’s a
matter of gently repeating the prayer as you go about your life which is the
free form of the prayer.
You must be very busy people say
to me as a priest! God forbid we put busy-ness before holiness, what we do
before what we are as daughters and sons of God. The Lord of the work should
come before the work of the Lord. I believe
the greatest resource any such worker or priest can have is that of their sense
of need of divine mercy which is voiced in the Jesus Prayer which is why I’m
delighted our Bishop has made 2016 a year dedicated to seeking the divine
mercy.
I applaud that sentiment and it’s
applauded in me each time I say the Jesus Prayer with its reminder to live
reliant on God’s loving mercy.
I want to end by leading 5 Jesus
Prayers for us, not for you to voice with me, but to listen to, and to allow the
prayer to permeate you before we engage with our ongoing prayerful reflection.
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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