In honor of his ordination in June, we have asked the Rev. Matthew Roberts to select the next Spiritual Practice for us.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
This simple phrase has a rich history in Christian tradition, but it’s a little awkward at first. It’s between a shorter centering prayer (usually one word or phrase) and a longer, more eloquent prayer (like the Lord’s Prayer or a Hail Mary). It does have variations (later additions add “have mercy on me, a sinner” or “Jesus Christ, son of the living God”), but adding or subtracting too much takes away from the unique impact of this prayer. Unlike centering prayer, the Jesus Prayer gives some definitional content to frame the devotion. But unlike longer prayers, the Jesus Prayer calls our imagination to read into the words rather than to expand on the words.
Find a formulation of the prayer that works well enough to start out with, and try it out. The orthodox practice is to have a prayer rope of either 33, 50, 100, or 300 knots, and to pray the Jesus Prayer once for each knot. Unlike the Anglican or Catholic rosary traditions, which lace in other prayers within the practice, the Jesus Prayer is meant to be the only words prayed. And this means you can count on your hands too, or with your fingers, or just repeat the words for a timed period. The point is the repetition—not how you repeat it. Just say it. And say it in whatever way surfaces and feels right for you. It feels strange to say, but the prayer will do the rest.
Image: Eastern Orthodox prayer rope, photo by Daniel Tibi (Dti) | daniel-tibi.de – http://www.daniel-tibi.de/jesusgebet_komboskini.html (own work), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern-Orthodox-prayer-rope_2006-06-02.jpg
