Variants of Repetitive Formulas
A number of different repetitive prayer formulas have been attested in the history of Eastern Orthodox monasticism: the Prayer of St. Ioannikios the Great (754–846): "My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my shelter is the Holy Ghost, O Holy Trinity, Glory unto You," the repetitive use of which is described in his Life; or the more recent practice of St. Nikolaj Velimirović.
Similarly to the flexibility of the practice of the Jesus Prayer, there is no imposed standardization of its form. The prayer can be from as short as "Lord, have mercy" (Kyrie eleison), "Have mercy on me" ("Have mercy upon us"), or even "Jesus", to its longer most common form. It can also contain a call to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), or to the saints. The single essential and invariable element is Jesus' name.
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- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (a very common form) (Sometimes "τον αμαρτωλόν" is translated "a sinner" but in Greek the article "τον" is a definite article, so it could be translated "the sinner.")
- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. (a very common form in the Greek tradition)
- Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. (common variant on Mount Athos)
- Jesus, have mercy.
- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Read more about this topic: Jesus Prayer
Famous quotes containing the words variants of, variants, repetitive and/or formulas:
“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“Psychobabble is ... a set of repetitive verbal formalities that kills off the very spontaneity, candor, and understanding it pretends to promote. It’s an idiom that reduces psychological insight to a collection of standardized observations, that provides a frozen lexicon to deal with an infinite variety of problems.”
—Richard Dean Rosen (b. 1949)
“It is sentimentalism to assume that the teaching of life can always be fitted to the child’s interests, just as it is empty formalism to force the child to parrot the formulas of adult society. Interests can be created and stimulated.”
—Jerome S. Bruner (20th century)