1983 May/June issue Part 4

An Old Prayer

Christians in the Orthodox Church used a prayer called the Jesus prayer. Sometimes they pray it in the rhythm of breathing, learning in this way to pray almost “without ceasing.” The words are simple, but they cover everything we need to ask for ourselves and others: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.

The Lord did not say we should not use repetition. He said we should not use vain repetition. A prayer prayed from the heart of the child to the Father is never vain.

The Very reverend Kenneth R.Waldron, a priest of both the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and of the Anglican Church, wrote to me of his having had surgery. “The last moment of consciousness before the anesthetic took over, I heard my surgeon repeating in a whisper: HOSPODI, PUMILUY, HOSPODI PUMILUY, HOSPODI PUMILUY (Dr Waldron put the Russian words into phonetic spelling) –Lord have mercy on us…It is wonderful to drift off into unconsciousness hearing these words on the lips of the man whose hands you trust to bring you out of your troubles. It is great to have a surgeon who knows how to pray at such a time. Think of the comfort and help that this simple prayer has brought to thousands the years, a prayer that was a big help to me in January 1982. Some of my hospital friends thought they would not see me alive again, but the good Lord had a bit more work for this old priest to do.”

The Jesus prayer was one my husband Add and I often used together when he was dying of cancer and we seemed to have “used up” all the other prayers. I recommend it to you.