Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov: The Prayer of Jesus

Teaching on the Prayer of Jesus appears in Church writers of the fourth century, such as John Chrysostom and Isaiah the Solitary. A writer of the fifth century, St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, already complains that the practice of this prayer has greatly declined among monks. As time went on, this decline increased more and more. So the holy Fathers tried by their writings to encourage the practice.

The last writer on this prayer was the blessed elder Hieromonk Seraphim of Sarov. The elder himself did not write the instructions bearing his name; they were written down from his words by one of the monks under his direction, but they are written with remarkable unction.

Now the practice of the Prayer of Jesus has been almost abandoned by monks and nuns. St. Hesychius names carelessness as the cause of this neglect. It must be admitted that this accusation is just.

On the Prayer of Jesus

Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov