In this rare audio recording, St. Sophrony of Essex (+ 11 July 1993) answers a common question: why do we repeat “Lord have mercy” so many times in the Orthodox Church? He explains that these repetitions aren’t just mechanical, but a way to help our prayer become like fire in the heart. He also talks about the “Our Father” and how saying it truly even once can change a person’s whole life.
Essex Monastery, October 15th, 1990
English translation adapted after the Romanian version of Fr. Rafail Noica, Cuvantari Duhovnicesti II (9).
St. Sophrony:
Thus, when a man pronounces this Name — “Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Who takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon me, a sinner” — the experience of these words can and must shake and captivate our entire being. Perhaps this is how it will be in Heaven. But on earth, in this body, we could not endure it and, surely, we would soon depart this world. Therefore, the working of prayer unfolds over years, over decades, with patience and in expectation of the moment when God Himself will come to live His name within us.
On Mount Athos, a certain monk, who had formerly been the governor [of the Holy Mountain], asked me:
“Father Sophrony, does it not seem superfluous to you to say ‘Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy…’ forty times? Just say it three times, and that is enough!”
I told him:
“In the Church, the custom is sometimes to say it but once, sometimes twelve times, and at other times forty — according to the inclination of people’s hearts. For there are those who desire to say it day and night… And so, one must bear with it; not everyone prays in the same measure: the Church prays in manifold ways.”
But, in truth, technically this prayer is always performed somewhat “defectively,” I would say. What is the shortcoming in this? A certain elder used to say Kyrie eleison in a rush: “Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyr… son, Kyr… son.” And, of course, it ought not to be so. But how does one cultivate the practice of saying forty times, “Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy…” in such a way as to keep the attention of the mind? What does “have mercy” mean? — “Heal my sin; make me capable of perceiving Thy will.” This is what “have mercy” means! The word “mercy” is spoken because I am begging God for mercy — to condescend to me.
These words, Kyrie eleison, sound somewhat different in Greek and in Russian than they do in French, Seigneur, aie pitié, or in English, Lord, have mercy. The French do not like the word pitié, and what can you do with them?
But prayer can reach such a state wherein God is with us, and the pronouncing of His Name truly consumes us like a fire. This is how the “Our Father” should also be uttered. Essentially speaking, if we say these words but once in our entire life with their authentic meaning, corresponding to the reality of Being itself — “Our Father” — it is enough. Herein lies the mystery of how to be reborn from our sinful state into that state which the Lord expects of us.
Thus, the subject of the Jesus Prayer occupies a profoundly significant place in the life of the Church, for it is the matter of the salvation of the world, because Christ is the Savior of the world. Very much does not depend upon us; yet one might also say the reverse: much depends upon us. In the Church, it has been ordained that we pray thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner” — first and foremost as a prayer of repentance. However, we say “a sinner” only when we pray alone [in our cell]: we cannot say that our brother is a sinner. Therefore, when we say “have mercy upon us,” the word “sinners” is not pronounced. We do this in accordance with the Apostolic Epistles, where all the members of a given local Church are called saints. And the deeper our painful awareness of the presence of sin within us, the greater the fruit borne of every invocation of the Name of God. But for many, many years yet must this prayer be spoken, until our whole being grows together as one with the Name of Christ, our Savior.
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