In his teaching on prayer at the April 21 general audience, Pope Francis, who was once a literature teacher, recommended a book that could help us learn about vocal prayer.
It is beautiful, the story of the Russian pilgrim: It is a book that is accessible to all. I recommend you read it; it will help you to understand what vocal prayer is.
The book is called The Way of a Pilgrim. It is the story of an anonymous pilgrim who travels across Russia.
We all have something to learn from the perseverance of the Russian pilgrim … who learned the art of prayer by repeating the same invocation over and over again: ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Lord, have mercy on us, sinners!’ He repeated only this…
This prayer is known as the Jesus prayer, and the Holy Father has recommended it on other occasions.
It is referenced in the Catechism, and the citation was noted in the general audience, in numbers 2616 and 2667.
The pontiff reflected that “in the end, [this prayer] becomes part of his breathing.”
And today we celebrate...