The Jesus Prayer is a short, formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated within the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. It is, for the Orthodox, one of the most profound and mystical prayers and is often repeated endlessly as part of a personal ascetic practice. In a modern context the continuing repetition is regarded by some as a form of meditation, the prayer functioning as a kind of mantra. Anyway, it is not a mantra or magic formula, but a prayer.
The Jesus Prayer according to numerous Church Fathers is “essential“ to our spiritual growth. The Jesus Prayer proclaims our faith and humbles us by asking mercy for our sinfulness. The Jesus Prayer is thought to be as old as the Church itself.
This prayer song is sung in Church Slavonic language. Phrase is very similar to the Russian language. Church Slavonic is the primary liturgical language of the Orthodox Church in Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, and some other countries.
In this arrangement, one sentence repeated again and again, “Lord Jes