The Name

A Word That Burns the Heart

“The Name of the Son of God is great and boundless, and it upholds the whole universe.”

— Hermas

A brother came to the cell of the elder and said:

“Abba, teach me how to pray.”

The elder said:

“Say:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

The brother said, “Only this?”

The elder replied:

“Only this.”

The brother said, “But my mind runs everywhere.”

The elder said:

“Then let it run.

You remain with the Name.”

The brother said, “Sometimes the words feel empty.”

The elder answered:

“Strike the stone long enough and fire will appear.”

The brother asked, “What does the Prayer do to a man?”

The elder said:

“It gathers him.

The Name calls the mind back from the ends of the earth.”

The brother said, “And if a man says it all his life?”

The elder said:

“Then the Name enters his heart.

And the heart remembers God.”

The brother asked, “Is the Prayer strong enough for this?”

The elder said:

“The Name of Jesus made the demons tremble.

It raised the dead.

Do you think it cannot awaken your heart?”

The brother said nothing.

After a long silence he asked:

“Abba, what should I do when darkness comes?”

The elder said:

“Hold the Name.

When a drowning man finds a rope he does not discuss it.”

The brother said, “And if I grow tired?”

The elder replied:

“Then say it tired.

The Lord listens even to a broken voice.”

The brother asked:

“Abba, when will the Prayer become alive?”

The elder said:

“When you no longer wish to live without it.”

Then the elder said quietly:

“A day will come when the Prayer prays itself within you.

Then you will understand.

The Name is not a sound.

It is the presence of the Lord.”