Praying the Jesus Prayer

by Frederica Mathewes-Green

Overview

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This very simple prayer was developed in the deserts of Egypt and Palestine during the early centuries of Christian faith, and has been practiced in the Eastern Orthodox Church ever since. It is a prayer inspired by St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray constantly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and its purpose is to tune one’s inner attention to the presence of the Lord. This series of “little books” is designed to enable you to grasp the meaning of one ancient method of Christian prayer in a relatively short amount of time. In Praying the Jesus Prayer, one of today’s most respected voices on Orthodoxy in America introduces you to: • The history and meaning of this popular but rarely understood method of talking to God • What it means to really pray with both heart and mind • How to get started incorporating the Jesus Prayer into your life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612610610
Publisher:	Paraclete Press
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	228,851
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Frederica Mathewes-Green received her B.A. in English from the University of South Carolina and her M.A. in Theological Studies from Virginia Episcopal Theological Seminary. Considering herself a Hindu, in 1974 Frederica married Gary Mathewes-Green and set off for a back-packing honeymoon in Europe. There she experienced a "totally undeserved miraculous conversion" that changed the course of her life. Returning to the U.S., she and Gary both attended seminary, and Gary became an Episcopal priest. After spending fifteen years in the Episcopal Church, Gary fell in love with Orthodoxy and became a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1993 the couple founded the Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Frederica's initial struggle with and eventual reception into the Orthodox Church became the catalyst for her widely acclaimed book, Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey into the Mystery of Orthodoxy. Two years later, she published At the Corner of East and Now: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy. Frederica is a regular columnist for Beliefnet.com and a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. She has written hundreds of articles in secular and religious periodicals and has been interviewed extensively in national newspapers, magazines, and television programs, including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, Time magazine, CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN. A sought-after speaker, editor, and commentator, Frederica has worked with The Odyssey Television Network, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," World magazine, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today, among others.