Encyclopaedia of the Holy Spirit

Mercy and repentance

The Jesus Prayer

Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ

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

In Greek

Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλόν.

When this prayer is prayed

Continuously — with the breath, on a knotted cord, while walking, while waiting, while unable to sleep. The prayer of the Christian East since the fourth century, built from the cry of blind Bartimaeus and the tax collector at the back of the temple.

Pray also

All prayers