Pray with Love and Yearning

When we pray we must pray with love and yearning. Through prayer our soul is filled with divine love.


Elder Porphyrios says,

Lord Jesus Christ Have Mercy On Me

Pray to God with love and yearning. And when you repeat the prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Say it slowly, humbly, gently and with divine love. Pronounce the name of Christ with sweetness. Say the words one at a time: "Lord...Jesus...Christ...have mercy on me,"  smoothly, tenderly, affectionally, silently, secretly, mystically, but with exaltation, with longing, with passion, without tension, force of unbecoming emphasis, without compulsion and pressure. In the way a mother speaks to the child she lovesL "my little boy...me darling girl...my little Johnny...my sweet Mary!" 

This prayer will lead you to silence.  Gradually the words are lost. The soul prefers silence. There comes a time of true prayer where there is nothing but silence.  And as the Elder says, "The flood of divine love fills the soul with joy and exultation."


Reference: Wounded by Love, p 127