The Jesus Prayer

Many of us find repetitive prayer helpful. One of the simplest and most powerful repetitive prayers known as the Jesus Prayer or The Prayer of the Heart dates back to the fifth century and enjoyed a resurgence in the early twentieth century when a book entitled The Way of a Pilgrim (by an unknown Russian peasant) was translated into English. The prayer has reentered modern monastic use and is simply:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.    

In the Eastern Rite Christians use a knotted rope of wool to keep track of the repetition of the prayer much as we would use a Rosary.