The Jesus Prayer

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 120 pages
• Published by: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr
• Edition: Revised Edition April 16, 1987
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0881410136
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0881410136
• Book Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Weighs: 4 ounces

Product Description
This unique study provides the reader with both a historical and spiritual understanding of the prayer which simply invokes the name of Jesus.

To pronounce the name of Jesus in a holy way is an all-sufficient and surpassing aim for any human life We are to call to mind Jesus Christ until the name of the Lord penetrates our heart, descends to its very depths The Name of Jesus, once it has become the center of our life, brings everything together.

So writes the "Monk of the Eastern Church" in the course of the present work. To those who wonder how such claims can be advanced on behalf of the Jesus Prayer, and how it is that this particular way of praying continues to appeal so powerfully to contemporary Christians, Eastern and Western, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, this short book provides an answer. Starting with the veneration of the Holy Name in the Old and the New Testament, the author traces the gradual development of the Jesus Prayer first in Byzantium and then in the Slav lands. He concludes with practical suggestions for its use today, showing how it is a prayer not only of the past but equally for the twentieth century.

Indeed, there are good reasons to believe that the "way of the name," as he call it, is being followed by more Christians in our own day than ever before - a striking sign of hope in an age of anxiety. Simple yet profound, this book reveals to us the secret of the continuing attraction exercised by the Jesus Prayer. Since its first appearance some thirty-five years ago, it has become a minor "classic" of the spiritual life, and it still remains the best introduction to the subject. - Bishop Kallistos Ware, from the Foreword

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Reader Reviews
Fr Lev Gillet attempting a historical survey of Jesus Prayer renders a very good introduction on the subject that whets one's appetite for more. This short book provides answers to a few fundamental questions about the Jesus Prayer as to what it is and why it continues to appeal to Christians both in the East and the West. The book not only furnishes some historical information but guides one to a special love for this form of prayer which is sure to lead one to Jesus Christ. Ever since its appearance some fifty years ago, this book has remained somewhat a 'minor classic' of spiritual life. The author, self-styled as "The monk of the Eastern Church" or 'Archimandrite Lev Gillet' is somewhat an enigmatic personality whose life and search for truth are rather elaborately dealt in the 'Forward' by Bishop Kallistos Ware of Diokleia. This Forward is very helpful in situating the importance of this book. Being a theological study, the book contains some theological terms as well as a few words in Greek and in Latin.