The method of prayer known as Hesychast or the Prayer of Jesus, as practiced in the Eastern Orthodox Church, has in the past few years become a central focus of Western Catholics and Christians in general who are interested in devotional or contemplative practices (such as the Centering Prayer movement). In this anthology of writings from the Fathers of the Roman Church, Rama Coomaraswamy shows that this interest is not just a recent phenomenon, but that the invocation of the Holy Name extends throughout the history of Catholicism, especially as "individual prayer (as opposed to canonical)" which "has as its aim…the purification of the soul" and "has the virtue (strength) of re-establishing equilibrium and restoring peace, in a word, of opening us up to grace." Coomaraswamy stresses that this renewal is especially necessary for contemporary individuals who have so often lost sight of both the purpose and method of prayer in their lives and no longer have any real connection with a traditional praxis that "makes the divine Logos present in man." 

In the stunning way it blends wisdom with erudition, the Introduction of this book could have appeared as a free standing book in its own right. As it is, it provides the framework for thirteen short chapters, each devoted to a giant of the Christian Church, which taken together put to rest the mistaken notion--occasioned by the extraordinary popularity of the 19th century Russian classic, The Way of the Pilgrim--that the Jesus prayer belongs primarily if not exclusively to Eastern Orthodoxy. It accomplishes this task definitively, and goes on to show that the "deep structure" of the Prayer resonates through different idioms in all the world's authentic religious traditions.                                    

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Excerpt from: "The Invocation of the Name of Jesus":

Now, let us behold and consider how this blessed Son of God, spiritually conceived, is spiritually born in the soul. He is born when, after proper thought, sufficient pondering, and holy and divine patronage, the resolve is brought into effect: that is, when the soul sets out to do in fact what it had long entertained in mind, but had been reluctant to undertake for fear of eventual failure…

At this point, O devout soul, if you rejoice in happy birth, remember that first you must be Mary. For the name Mary means “bitter sea,” “giver of light”, and “masterful.”

Be therefore a BITTER SEA through your tearful repentance, regretting bitterly your past sins, bemoaning profoundly the good you failed to do deploring without cease days you wasted and lost. Be also a GIVER OF LIGHT, through honest living, virtuous deeds and zealous efforts to teach others the ways of good. Finally, be MASTER of your senses, of your fleshly desires, and of all your works, conforming your acts to right reason, ever seeking and desiring salvation for yourself, edification for your neighbor, and praise and glory for God.

This indeed, is being like Mary, the fruitful one, who pines and weeps over the sins of the world, who shines and sparkles with virtue, who dominates the passions of the flesh. From such a Mary, Jesus Christ does not disdain to be spiritually born in joy without pain or labor. After such a happy birth, this Mary knows and tastes how good the Lord Jesus is.

For he is truly sweet as we feed him with holy meditation, bathe him in a flow of warm and devout tears, swaddle him in the cloth of chaste desire, carry him in the arms of holy love, kiss him over and over again with heartfelt devotion, and keep him warm in the folds of our inner mind. That is how the Child is spiritually born.

- Saint Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure (+1274) was an Italian Franciscan. He is a Doctor of the Church.

The Invocation of the Name of Jesus, Rama Coomaraswamy, Ed., pp. 143-144 © 1999, Fons Vitae

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