My thoughts on the Jesus Prayer

 

I am amazed at the presence of Jesus Christ almost daily. As someone who has been dealing with medical issues, my life has been turned completely on its head the past few weeks as I struggle to overcome my own illness and weakness. I am not a monk, nor a member of the clergy, but I find solace in the Lord through prayer more as I practice. One of the prayers that I currently have been practicing is the Jesus Prayer. Now you can find many articles on the Jesus Prayer on the internet and you can also find books entirely dedicated to it, like The Way of the Pilgrim. Today I would like to share my thoughts and my experiences with the Jesus Prayer and hope to give you some comfort in this time as well.

The Jesus Prayer is simple. It is simply the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” These words contain the entirety of the gospel within a single phrase. The arrow prayer as it is. Monks on Mount Athos have been known to repeat this phrase 10,000 times a day while working or performing the services and contemplate the meaning of the words. The monks as the highest source of religious service to the Lord are connected in such a way that through the Jesus prayer they are able to grow stronger and deeper in their faith. They also are able to recall the words of scripture in this prayer, through the words of the publican In Luke 18:10-14 where he stood a far off from the altar as he prayed to the Lord. It also calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who as Acts 4:12 says there is no other name in heaven or earth upon which a man can be saved. Not Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, not even Vishnu.  In the Old Testament, God would not give anyone his name, because having a person’s name gave power of that person over to another. Through Jesus Christ we have the power of God living inside of us and we can call upon God to rescue us from our sin through prayer and confession. In regards to my research I came across St. Ignatius Brianchaninov who writes, “By the power of the name of Jesus the mind is freed from doubt, indecision and hesitation, the will is strengthened and correctness is given to zeal and other properties of the soul.” 

But reciting the prayer is not enough. Oh no. Many people view God today as a magic sky wizard who grants to them whatever their heart desires through their prayer. We see this in the prosperity gospel, where God wants us to be healthy, happy and having everything we want to live our best life. But that is not the case and has never been the case. We must do the will of God in accordance with the prayer we must live in total surrender to God and his wishes without thinking about ourselves and the desires of our heart. We are called to act as the stewards of the faith, the stewards of the earth. Repenting of our sins and focusing on God. The prayer states “have mercy on me.” Without sin there is no mercy. There are some in this world today that say that humans are not sinful, that everything we do is natural and that we cannot change human nature. God on the other hand clearly defines sin in both the scriptures and the natural world and even in the lives of the saints. He clearly defines the laws in which we should act.

The Jesus prayer therefore acts as a way in which we can contemplate the life in which we live, and meditate on the world. It is a practice of hesychasm, which many would consider pagan and foreign. I have been told many times, “Seraphim, why do you recite the words of the prayer over and over again?” It is not the repetition of the words that makes the prayer meaningful, it is the heart of the person. Over time the prayer breaks down the barriers between you and God and allows you to enter into his grace fully with a clean heart. St. Basil the Great writes, “But if someone claims that it is written: “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”, and that therefore a Christian need only invoke the name of God to be saved, let him read what the Apostle has said: “How can they call upon him if they do not believe in him?” And besides this there are the words of the Lord himself: “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Moreover, if someone is doing the will of the Lord and does not do it exactly in the way ordained or does not do it out of the proper motive of love for God, then all the effort he puts into the action is useless. And Jesus Christ himself has said in His gospel: “Hypocrites do these things as to be seen by men: I tell you truthfully, they have already received their reward” (Matt. 6:16). We wee then that we must either accept the words of the prayer without questioning God or render ourselves as hypocrites. I have witnessed in many protestant churches that people will pray with long winded expressions and yet they are really never saying anything. That is not to say that many people within those churches do not have wonderful prayer lives, I’m assured they do. Misguided though they are, they try their best. But only Orthodoxy can be the full aspect of prayer and the Jesus Prayer as well.

            Though none of us reading might be monks, it is always good to think of your home as a little monastery in the world. Where you can go and be away from the cares of this life and focus solely on God. To that end, I would like to leave you with a quote that I read by St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople. He says, “A monk when he eats, drinks, sits, officiates, travels or does an other thing must continually cry: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me!” so that the name of the Lord Jesus, descending into the depths of the heart, should subdue the serpent ruling over the inner pastures and bring life and salvation to the soul. He should always live with the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the heart absorbs the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one.” Our only goal in life is to become one with God that he might use us to further his glory. We pray and we fast and we do all things that we are asked of, but if we do not have the heart, then we will spin our wheels without really ever doing anything.

            May God have mercy on us all.

Amen.

The Invisible Elders: A Short Summary of the Invisible Elders of Mount Athos

 

            When the Holy Spirit wants you to write something, you better listen. The Holy Spirit is important as He will guide you and work in your life to bring about salvation in your heart and desire for God. I as I normally do I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos and been heavily involved in Orthodox Miracles and Prophecies. In one of the videos, he discussed the twelve invisible monks of Mount Athos.  According to tradition they will perform the last divine liturgy on Mount Athos. These naked hermits live with no clothes and pray for the entire world at the top of the Mountain. These are men who have completely rejected all earthly glory, their names forgotten, their faces not well known, they go to the peak of Mount Athos are rarely even seen unless they want to be. These men are the epitome of what it means to be an Orthodox Christian. Though their earthly bodies will die, and they will be replaced, the monks at the end will not taste death and will usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Let’s take a look at what information we have on these twelve monks of Mount Athos and what we can glean from their holy wisdom.

            From what we understand of these monks, they are the twelve invisible, naked monks, secret elders gather at the top of Mount Athos. There is a sacred area that is set off from the rest of Mount Athos. It is called the Desert of Athos. These monks do not wear material garments and appear to whoever they wish. Sometimes they appear to monks, other times with pilgrims, but always to those who have lived a pure Christian life. Those who know the names of these monks, will always keep it a secret. They consider themselves to be the unimportant and feeble among themselves. They have mastered fasting and are fed through the Lord Jesus Christ. They are give special grace through the Theotokos.  Hieromonk Athanasios has met with St. Paisios and had many conversations with the beloved saint. Of course, the topic of these monks was brought up at some point during their extensive conversations. When one dies, they know that their numbers must remain the same, so they call from below to an elder and he ascends to the peak and becomes one of their number. They pray without ceasing and do not sleep for they pray for the whole world as I said day and night.  One the most amazing things about these monks, is that living at the top of Mount Athos under the snow they require no shelter. These men do not sleep in huts, or houses, but they are so full of the grace from God they sleep in the open. These are anchorites that have become living saints. Devoid of all earthly passions they seek only to glorify God at the peak of Mount Athos.  Here is a quote I found from a Father Ephraim it says, ““That the invisible elders exist is a fact. A few years ago, a revered elder, Fr. Gerasim of Little St. Anne’s Skete, reposed on Mt. Athos. He told us that some people would come into his cell at midnight, and then leave. One of these men would approach the elder to take Communion, and silently leave” He also said this in regard to the monks of Mount Athos, but I believe it can be applied here to the invisible elders of the Holy Mountain. He says, “There is no greater blessing in this world, than to experientially live and experience grace,” Abbot Ephraim said. “We have known virtuous people on Athos who lived by grace, because they loved Christ. We often saw them in the Uncreated Light, and we were often witnesses to how they saw the future,” he added. The Uncreated Light is the Light of Mount Tabor, or the Tabor Light, we associate this as Orthodox Christians with the transfiguration of our Lord on Mount Tabor on August 6^th. It is not uncommon for those who have become living saints, such as the elders of Mount Athos to experience this Divine Light and joy in their lifetime. So beyond the normal monks, one might meet on Mount Athos, these invisible monks are like the special forces of monks, they have had more extensive training and more in tune with central command as it is aka God and are able to complete the work of God more fully than those who live within the confines of a skete or monastery. They radiate joy and love, and as I have said do not seek earthly glory. Why then are they so important?

            I believe they are important because of a few things. One, is that they show that God is always watching over us. He never leaves us without a witness to follow and examples to give us of how our lives should be. Secondly, these monks praying for the whole world, are living saints, examples of men who have gone to Mount Athos seeking nothing but their own salvation and have come away with the light of God flowing through them with the special divine grace given to them. Thirdly these men are intercessors for the world and are granted the grace to intercede at the footstool of God for the salvation of the world. Holding back the demons by their prayers, keeping the devil at bay for just a while longer, allowing the plan of salvation to come to completion. As I said they will perform the last divine liturgy ever on Mount Athos and then the trumpets will sound and Jesus will come. The world will be renewed. It is this renewal that we see in them. They have already experienced what those of us living in the world have not yet seen, the transformation of our souls and bodies into the incorruptible and transfigured bodies of heaven. They are given to us as a sign of what is to come, of what will be. We may not see them, they may not reveal themselves to us, but they are there. They are watching over the world and protecting it until their final breath. I pray that I may be prayed for by these holy ascetic monks on the peak of Mount Athos and I pray that God will continue to use them for a little while longer, though I do not know the hour of the Second Coming. May God have mercy on us through their prayers. Amen.