“Prayer is truly a Heavenly armour, and is alone can keep safe those who have dedicated themselves to God. Prayer is the common medicine for purifying ourselves from the passions, for hindering sin and curing our faults. Prayer is an inexhaustible treasure, an unruffled harbour, the foundation of serenity, the root and mother of myriads of blessings.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“The most powerful sword for a soldier is the Prayer of Jesus.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Just pray: ‘Lord, grant me Thy Grace!’ For when there is a cloud of griefs over you and you Pray: ‘Lord, grant me Thy Grace’ the Lord will carry you past the storm.”
Saint Nektary of Optina
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“Keep saying the Prayer! Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! This is what will save you. The Name of Christ will illumine your mind; it will strengthen your Soul; it will help you in the war against the demons; it will cultivate the virtues; and it will become everything for you.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“We should constantly and unceasingly repeat the Jesus Prayer. Only the Name of Christ must remain inside our heart and mind; when we neglect our Prayer, that is our communication with God, the devil finds the chance to confuse us with negative thoughts. Thus, we end up not knowing what we want, do, or say.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Before temptation has the opportunity to draw the tempting thought into your mind, destroy it with the [Jesus] Prayer. Don’t let it be!”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“When the Jesus Prayer is absent, all manner of harmful things assail us, leaving no room for anything good in the Soul. But when our Lord is present in the Prayer, everything alien is banished.”
Saint Gregory Palamas
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“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
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“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. Then only thoughts and feelings pleasing to God… are allowed to remain in the Soul. There is then no place for other thoughts and feelings… Having conquered and dispersed the enemies by the Name of Jesus, the mind joins the ranks of the Blessed spirits and enters for true Worship into the temple of the heart… singing a new Spiritual song, singing Mystically.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“If you ever feel fear in your heart, close your eyes and say the Jesus Prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me’…”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“The Jesus Prayer is a work common to the Angels and to men. With this Prayer, men quickly approach the life of the Angels. The Prayer is the source of all good deeds and virtues, and drives far away from man the dark passions. In a short time, it makes man worthy to obtain the Grace of the Holy Spirit… The Prayer is Divine rejoicing. There is no other Spiritual weapon that can so efficiently hinder the demons. It burns them like fire burns the brush.”
Saint Paisios Velichkovsky
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“One who leans on the staff of Prayer shall not stumble, and even if he does, will not fall.”
Saint John Climacus
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“My child, Prayer is a weapon against the devil, never let it go!”
Saint George Karslides of Drama