The Jesus Prayer: A Gift from the Fathers

"O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me." This prayer has been on the lips of Christians since the time of the Desert Fathers. What is its history? How do we make it our own? This booklet traces the development of the Jesus Prayer through the early centuries of the Church, and follows its progression through Mount Athos, the teachings of St. Gregory Palamas, and others, and discusses its modern revival in the 19th and 20th centuries. It concludes with a brief discussion of how this prayer can be appropriated by the individual believer today.

Fr. David Hester