“I should say the Jesus Prayer humbly, as if into His ear.”
Saint Pachomios of Chios
+
“Cultivate the Jesus Prayer and a time will come when your heart will leap with joy, just as it does when you are about to see a person who you love very much.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
+
“With each Jesus Prayer, God’s heart quietly responds: ‘I am with you.'”
Elder Raphael Karelin
+
“Let us stand devoutly before the Cross of Christ and say: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ That says everything.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
+
Someone asked Saint Ephraim of Katounakia:
Geronda, how should I say the (Jesus) Prayer?
You will think of yourself as in a port and right then a ship is departing and in that ship is Christ and all the Church. What will you do? Won’t you let out a loud yell, with all your might: “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!” That is how we should Pray – with such strength of our Soul.
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“The Jesus Prayer… has filled Paradise with Holy men and women.”
Elder Amphilochios Makris
+
“The Jesus Prayer is the life jacket of the Soul and the body.”
Elder Amphilochios Makris
+
“My children, do you Pray? And how do you Pray?… with the Prayer of Jesus you should Pray, with the ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’. Thus you should Pray. This way is good.”
Saint Nikephoros the Leper
+
“When someone is involved in manual labor, it helps him a lot to say the Jesus prayer and at the same time perform his task. When someone is doing work that needs concentration, i.e. he is driving a car, or he is operating on a patient, he should also say the Jesus prayer so God can help him and enlighten him; however, he should pray with his heart, and use his mind to concentrate on his work and thus avoid doing any mistakes.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“The Jesus Prayer is a golden thread that will not let a Christian go astray!”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
+
“Things are very simple, and there is no reason why we should complicate them. If we regard matters in this way, we will feel the Jesus Prayer as a necessity and will not grow weary. We will be able to repeat it many times and our heart will feel a sweet pain, and then Christ Himself will shed His sweet consolation inside our heart.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“Stand with your mind and attention in the heart, being very sure that the Lord is near and listening, and call to Him with fervour: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’ This will be exactly like holding an object in the sun, because this is to hold yourself before the Face of the Lord, who is the Sun of the Spiritual World.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
+
“Once you have cultivated the Jesus Prayer, you will become children of the Palace. You will know the King’s language and the ways of true Royalty.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
+
“I am sure that using a Prayer Rope when you Pray will be a deep consolation and solid support for the entire time of our life. Hold on tightly to it, dear, trust in it, and peace will descend on you. Then you will no longer be able to live without these words, connecting us with the Giver of all joy, suffering and the very life, both in this world and beyond.”
Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr and Grand Duchess of Russia
+
“We must always say the Jesus Prayer, wherever we may be.”
Saint Pachomios of Chios
+
“Now I advise you all – young and old – to make a Prayer Rope and to hold it in your left hand, and with your right hand make the Sign of the Cross and say: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of the Living God, through the intercessions of the Theotokos and of all the Saints have mercy upon me, your sinful and unworthy servant.'”
Saint Cosmas of Aitolia
+
“The komboskini works Miracles.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“During conversation with others it is no hindrance to be cautious in speech, and at the same time one can retain the Jesus Prayer in the mind.”
Saint Hilarion of Optina
+
“Set aside half an hour out of the twenty-four to say the Prayer. Whenever you are able; but the evening is best. Say it without using the Prayer Rope – in supplication, pleading, and with tears. ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ Cultivate this, and you’ll see what fruit it brings. From half an hour, it will become an hour. And guard this hour. Whether the phone is ringing, or you have this task you need to do now, or you’re sleepy, or some blasphemy is confronting you. Nothing. Turn off the phone. Finish your tasks. Do this half hour and you’ll see. You’ve planted a little tree, and tomorrow or the day after it will bear fruit. Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil both began like this and became luminaries for the whole world. Saint Symeon the New Theologian had experiences of the Uncreated Light while still a layman. He was a layman. How many laymen appear as such exteriorly, but deep down are monastics!”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“‘Geronda, how should I say the [Jesus] Prayer?” You will think of yourself as in a port and right then a ship is departing and in that ship is Christ and all the Church. What will you do? Won’t you let out a loud yell, with all your might: “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me!” That is how we should Pray – with such strength of our Soul.’”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“You should carry the Prayer Rope, so that you might not forget the Prayer, which should work internally, within the heart. When of course you exit your cell, you should remember that the enemy is ready to fight you. Thus, imitate the good soldier, who exits the barracks always with his automatic weapon ‘at hand’. The Prayer Rope has a great power, and is the weapon of the Monk, and its knots are bullets, which [when fired at the feet of the demons] make their sandals dance.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“The sun rising over the earth creates the daylight; and the Venerable and Holy Name of the Lord Jesus, shining continually in the mind, gives birth to countless intellections radiant as the sun.”
Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem
+
“At all times, whatever you may be doing: whether you are sitting, or walking, or working, say with the heart, ‘Lord have mercy.’”
Saint Nektary of Optina
+
“The Jesus prayer gives you so much sweetness, so much joy. It’s short, but it’s got so much power.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
+
“Let us do all in our power to expel demons that have entered us through our negligence by the Prayer of Jesus. It has the property of reviving those deadened by sin, and it has the property of driving out devils.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+
“We were visited once by a Catholic priest, and he saw how we Prayed the Jesus Prayer continually at the Monastery, and he said to Father Sophrony [of Essex], I cannot understand why you have to repeat the same Prayer for so long. Father Sophrony answered, ‘We repeat it because we are slow to understand it, and once we have understood it, we do not want to abandon it.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
+
“Things are very simple, and there is no reason why we should complicate them. If we regard matters in this way, we will feel the Jesus Prayer as a necessity and will not grow weary. We will be able to repeat it many times and our heart will feel a sweet pain, and then Christ Himself will shed His sweet consolation inside our heart.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“Just as snow will not produce a name, or water a fire, or a thorn bush a fig, so a person’s will not be freed from demonic thoughts, words, and actions until it has purified itself inwardly, uniting watchfulness with the Jesus Prayer, attaining humility and stillness of Soul, and eagerly pressing forward on its path. But in its lack of spiritual understanding, the inattentive Soul will be devoid of every good and perfect thought and barren and stupid as the mule. The Soul’s true peace lies in the gentle Name of Jesus and in it’s emptying itself of impassioned thoughts.”
Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem
+
“And when you repeat the Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me’, say it slowly, humbly, gently, and with Divine love. Pronounce the Name of Christ with sweetness…”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
+
“Do you happen to have a moment free? Do not waste it in idleness! Do not waste it by using it for some impracticable and fatuous castle-building, or for some vain and trivial employment! Use it for the practice of the Jesus Prayer.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+
“To say the Jesus Prayer a hundred times attentively and without haste about half an hour is needed, but some Ascetics require even longer. Do not say the Prayers hurriedly, one immediately after another. Make a short pause after each Prayer, and so help the mind to concentrate. Saying the Prayer without pauses distracts the mind. Breathe with care, gently and slowly.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+
“Hold fast to the Prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” with all your might – it is our whole life, all beauty, all consolation. At first it is difficult, but later it is priceless, all-joyful, all-loving.”
Saint Anatoly of Optina
+
“Let us not be scared, practicers of the Prayer of Jesus, either by winds or waves! By winds I mean diabolic thoughts and imaginings, and by waves the revolt of the passions aroused by thoughts and reveries. From the midst of the most furious storm, with perseverance, courage and weeping you will cry to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will rebuke the winds and waves.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+