Elder Teofil Paraian: St. Gregory Palamas and the Prayer of the Heart

When you remember it, say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and you will see how much light there will be in your souls.

St. Gregory Palamas was deeply preoccupied with this prayer that purifies the soul. How does this prayer purify the soul? Because it helps the one who prays to discover oneself. And before you can meet the Lord Jesus Christ by praying and saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” you will meet yourself with all the impurity inside you. But you should not be afraid. Say the prayer when you can, however often you can. Nobody says you should say it continuously, because you can’t say it continuously - but when you remember it, say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and you will see how much light there will be in your souls, how much peace there will be in your souls.

A Saint from the Western Church, St. Therese of Lisieux, wrote somewhere about herself (she was a nun) that she said to God, “Lord, because there is no one in hell to give glory to You, send me to hell so that someone there can extol You!” And this is what I want to say to you: you know that so many people don’t pray, use inappropriate words, or dress inappropriately, and so many bad things are happening in this country and this world. Then you should think like St. Therese of Lisieux did: where people don’t pray, let me pray silently - be it on the bus, or while waiting for someone, or in the hospital - wherever it may be, say silently, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” as St. Gregory Palamas taught us. And if you do this, you will see how much joy God will give you. And if He gives you as much joy as He gave to me, you should know it will be good, very good. 

Translated from Romanian. Source: