On the Prayer of Jesus

[Photini]

Just wanted to tell you all about this book, in case you haven't already been aware of it. It was written by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and in barely 100 pages, goes into detail about the benefits and dangers too, of praying the Jesus Prayer. It is an amazing little book.

Here's a little excerpt:

"What a wonderful gift! It is a guarantee of unending, infinite blessings! It came from the lips of the unlimited God, clothed in limited humanity and called by the human name of Savior. The name by its exterior form is limited, but it represents an unlimited object, God, from Whom it borrows infinite, divine value or worth, the power and properties of God.
O Giver of a priceless, incorruptible gift! How can we sinful mortals receive the gift? Neither our hands, nor our mind, nor our heart are capable of receiving it. Do Thou teach us to know, as far as we are able, the greatness of the gift, and its significance, and the ways of using it, that we may not approach the gift in a sinful manner, that we may not be punished for indiscretion and audacity, but that for the right understanding and use of the gift, we may receive from Thee other gifts, promised by Thee, known only to Thee."

On the Prayer of Jesus by Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov

[MattMMMan17]

Pardon my ignorance, are you talking about the Prayer of the Heart? "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." ? Or is there another one you're talking about? Thanks

[MariaRegina]

Pardon my ignorance, are you talking about the Prayer of the Heart? "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." ? Or is there another one you're talking about? Thanks

The prayer is called by the same name; however, few reach the stage where the prayer is prayed in the heart ceaselessly.

[MattMMMan17]

The prayer is called by the same name; however, few reach the stage where the prayer is prayed in the heart ceaselessly.
Sounds like a challenge ;) Thanks

[MariaRegina]

Sounds like a challenge ;) Thanks

Mattman:

That is why people become monks and nuns!

Want a heavenly challenge? Go to the desert!

[MattMMMan17]

Mattman:

That is why people become monks and nuns!

Want a heavenly challenge? Go to the desert!

We who are possessed of extra padding are disinclined to venture into warmer climates ;) I'll take it into consideration though.

[Matrona]

We who are possessed of extra padding are disinclined to venture into warmer climates ;) I'll take it into consideration though.
Oh, don't worry, the ascetic's fast is the best weight loss program there is. ;)

[MariaRegina]

Oh, don't worry, the ascetic's fast is the best weight loss program there is. ;)
:D

Good for body and soul!


WASHINGTON BUREAU: Terry Mattingly's religion column for 3/24/04


Depending on who is counting, somewhere between 5 million and 50 million
Americans are on low-carbohydrate diets -- give or take a few million.

Trend watchers are even tossing around this monster statistic -- one in
four Americans has caught the low-carb bug. That's a lot of bacon, sausage,
eggs and cheese for the Atkins disciples and turkey, fish, egg substitutes
and low-fat cheese for those who walk the way of the South Beach Diet.

This also means -- with 5 million Eastern Orthodox Christians in America --
that lots of people are trying to reconcile low-carb diets with the fasting
discipline of Lent.

"I know that I'm struggling and everywhere I go I discover I'm not the only
one," said Chuck Powell of the national Orthodox radio program Come Receive
the Light (www.receive.org). "Lent is always a challenge and that's a good
thing. But combine Lent with trying to stay on a low-carb and it's like,
'What is there left we can eat?' "

This leads to new questions, he said, such as: "What is the purpose of food
anyway? What is the spiritual lesson to be learned here?"

Fasting is a part of life for many religious believers, including Jews at
Yom Kippur and Muslims in the season of Ramadan. During the 40-day season
of Lent, which precedes Easter, faithful Catholics will abstain from meat
to varying degrees. Christians in other flocks may give up sweets or some
other favorite food.

But Eastern Orthodox churches urge their members to follow an ancient fast
that means abstaining from meat, eggs and dairy products. Orthodox
believers do eat shrimp, scallops and other shellfish, but avoid meats with
bones. There are subtle fasting differences between Greeks, Russians, Arabs
and other Orthodox.

Nevertheless, these traditions tend to push those keeping the fast toward
rice, pasta, corn, potatoes and bread -- the very foods shunned in low-carb
diets. For many dieters the fear is real: What if they strive to keep the
fast and, with a burst of carbohydrates, start regaining the weight they
have struggled to lose?

"It seems like everybody in America is concerned about their weight and
their health right now and you'd have to say that is a good thing," said
Father Christopher Metropulos of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., founder of Come Receive the Light. "At the same
time, it seems that this is making everyone totally consumed with food and
the reason we fast is to try to learn not to be consumed with food. ... The
goal of the fast is to learn to crave God, not food."

And it's not just the lay people who are struggling with the fast, or being
tempted to deny that these diet conflicts are real.

"I know priests who doing these diets and they are working for them," said
Metropulos. "But I asked a priest who is doing the Atkins Diet, 'What are
you going to eat during Lent?' And he said, 'I'll be busy. I just won't
eat. I won't have time to eat.' I told him, 'Good luck. You'll need it.' "

Some Orthodox people cope by sharing recipes for tofu desserts, falafel,
oriental salads (the key is the right sesame-seed dressing) and every
imaginable casserole that can be made with beans. They know the microwave
properties of every soy product on the market. They can read food labels
like scientists.

In the end, many find it easy to lose sight of what Lenten fasting is
supposed to be about in the first place, said Father Matthew Streett of
Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Potomac, Md. The goal
is to discipline the will and to encourage repentance. Anyone who thinks of
fasting as a form of dieting is missing the point.

"Fasting from food is only one aspect of fasting," he said, in a commentary
written for strugglers. "Lent is a time for turning away from the emptier
pleasures of our society: television, video games and the other forces that
often do more to harm family communication and bonding rather than help.

"In Lent, we should examine our lives and isolate the influences that are
destructive or silly, the habits that draw us away from God."



Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic University
and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges &
Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News
Service.

-30-

[Photini]

[bumper beenie]

*bump

[/beenie]

[Moros]

What are the dangers of praying the Jesus prayer? That's something I'm struggling to understand. My general assumption would be that a proud and unrepentant sinner praying the Jesus prayer could be chalked up to blasphemy and vanity, but that's just me.

[Photini]

The main concern, I believe, would be prelest.

[Moros]

What is "prelest?" :)

[Photini]

What is "prelest?" :)
Delusion. Or spiritual pride.

[pnotc]

I think some kind of emotionalism or focus on spiritual pleasure might also be a problem. From reading the "Way of the Pilgrim", it is clear the prayer can be addictive in some sense, and without proper guidance can lead an individual into dangerous territories. I have a book, "A Method of Prayer" - I can't remember the author right now, but it talks about the necessary balance between food prayer (liturgical) and breath prayer (the Jesus prayer). Just as we can't survive without food or air, we have to incorporate both types of prayer into our lives for good health.

[gzt]

There's the danger of thinking of it as a formula, which is a type of prelest - do XYZ and ABC will occur, and bam, you have a vision of the uncreated light. Reducing God to simple cause-and-effect. The most common version of this is quietism - the belief that if you quiet all of your passions and listen, you will see God. You very well might, but you might also see the devil. Discernment is needed!

There's also the danger of focussing on the prayer and the feelings it produces itself, rather than God Himself. Also prelest, and very similar to the above, really. There are certainly many interesting pleasures to be had, but "in order to arrive at having pleasure in everything, desire to have pleasure in nothing".

You may not have a vocation to true contemplative prayer. Everybody is called to be a saint, but not everybody will be healed and made perfect by contemplation using the Jesus Prayer. Different people require different treatments, and while you may desire to be a great hesychast, it may not be the treatment you need.

Etc etc. That's what I could think of off the top of my head, there's certainly more. Really, it's all about idolatry and pride. Our vision of God must be God Himself.