The Absolute Necessity of the Jesus Prayer

Having read many discourses on the Jesus prayer, Archimandrite Zacharou’s writing is unique and distinctive; not in the sense of diverging from centuries of tradition in regard to its practice but rather in it’s emphasis on the absolute necessity of the prayer for the spiritual life. Not only must the Jesus prayer become attached to every breath of the monk but its absence prevents the soul from reaching the divine state. Zacharou emphasizes the necessity of constant prayer and calling upon the holy name of the Lord in order for there to be an exchange of lives in the Divine Liturgy. In other words, to become what we receive in the Eucharist, the soil of the heart must be well prepared in order to receive the profound grace that is given to it. If the seed of grace lands on rock ground, it will wither quickly. We must persevere in the practice of the Jesus prayer and allow quantity to give way to quality over the course of time. The most magnificent transformation will begin to take place; not in the way that we envision, but rather because the Name of the Lord creates an incision in the heart. Over the course of time, the wound deepens and grows until the heart can bear the image of Christ himself. This is not a path that many desire and even those who do fewer still will choose to walk upon it. Such a path requires a willingness to allow the heart to be crushed and broken in order that it might be formed anew.  

Introducing us into the realm of the spiritual world the Name of the Lord chases away despondency from our life. Even if we keep the prayer albeit sporadically throughou the day, while at work, when we are alone or when we are walking, then, at the end of the day, when we come to stand at prayer in our cell, we will have acquired a foundation, we will have done some preliminary work and prayer will embrace us without delay.

The Name of Jesus becomes our continuous companion, the very breath of our life, if we bear it continuously on our lips, in our mind and in our heart. It instills in us the strength to perform every act in a way pleasing to God and to be faithful to the word we received from our Elder.

Unless the Name of the Lord Jesus is stuck unto the very breath of the monk, he cannot reach a divine state. In other words, he will be deprived of experiencing the exchange of lives which takes place in the Divine Liturgy, and of the enlargement of heart through which he may love his brother as his own life.

Speaking a little boldly about this matter, if we persevere in the invocation of the Name, that Name will grant us the most incredible things of God. Saint Theophan the Recluse says that 'quantity will bring quality. If we Persevere even with a little grace, this will cause an incision in our heart, a wound, which will increasingly intensify and enrich our invocation of the Name. It will enable us to call upon that Name more and more worthily as the life-bearing pain of its engraving imprints Christ's image on our heart.

Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou 

“Monasticism”