Thanks for introducing me to the Jesus prayer. I just copied it and will put it in my prayer book.

I have found it very important to have a structure to my daily prayer. And the only way to do that is to commit to prayer and to certain prayers or devotions. I too prefer what I call the “basic rosary”, the additional prayers can be a little much but I know they are offered with the right intentions.

I also think it is important to focus on the prayer and not on the “promises” of certain devotions. We should be focused on how it transforms us and brings us closer to Christ and not on any other rewards (like not going to purgatory) as beneficial as those may be.

I do love the Fatima prayer!

God bless.

The Fatima Prayer was given by Mary, the Mother of God, during her famous apparitions - recognized by the Church as “worthy of belief” - in Fatima Portugal in 1917.  She asked the 3 children to whom she appeared to pray these words, following the “Glory Be” at the end of each Rosary decade:

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy! Amen.”

This prayer has been called the common (or popular) Roman Catholic version of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s “Jesus Prayer” (which likely began in the 5th century):

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Just like the Jesus Prayer, the Fatima Prayer is addressed directly to Jesus, and pleads for His mercy on sinners, thus meeting your desire for Christocentric prayer!  However, the WHOLE Rosary is (contrary to popular belief) centred on Christ, as Pope John Paul II explains beautifully in his 2002 encyclical “Rosary of the Virgin Mary” (“Rosarium Virginis Mariae”).

The Fatima Prayer has become an important popular addition to the Rosary, but the Church hasn’t so far “officially” added it.  This may be because it was only given 93 years ago, or because it was given during an apparition - which, although considered private revelation and therefore “not necessary” for salvation, has been deemed by the Church worthy of pious regard.  I for one would favour the Fatima prayer over the Jesus Prayer, since it came from Mary herself!  Of course, I’m not discounting a valid practice of the beautiful and powerful Jesus Prayer either.

You seem to have made a departure from the praying of the Rosary, in favour of using only prayers & methods of contemplation that you feel drawn to!  Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you’re using Rosary beads to pray decades of Jesus Prayers, but none of the mysteries from Our Saviour’s life.  (“Between decades I usually read a short scriptural text…We don’t have formal mysteries; we simply contemplate Christ. The mysteries are crucial to the regular rosary’s Christocentricity, but the Jesus Prayer is as Christocentric as prayer can be” and “is so short that you can easily pray ten decades in the time it takes to pray five regular rosary decades”.

I’m afraid this article could be misleading to those uninitiated in their understanding and practice of the Holy Rosary, by giving the impression that one can freely personalize the Rosary away from its intended form.

Nova, thanks for your comments. A few points possibly worth clarifying:
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As you note, the Jesus Prayer goes back to the undivided Church of the first millennium and is thus an ecumenical prayer, belonging to both Eastern and Western Christians. While most characteristic of Eastern prayer, it isn’t “the Eastern Orthodox Church’s” prayer.
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I hadn’t heard the Fatima Prayer called a Roman Catholic version of the Jesus Prayer, but it makes sense, thanks for pointing that out. The Jesus Prayer takes different forms (the simplest being the recitation of Jesus’ name).
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I did say that I appreciate the Fatima Prayer, and that it is a part of our family rosary, though as you note the Church does not recognize it as belonging to the rosary itself. In fact, in the letter on the rosary you refer to, Pope John Paul II makes no mention of the Fatima Prayer—though he DOES mention the Jesus Prayer.
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Incidentally, the Jesus Prayer in its traditional form also appears in the Catechism of the Catholic Church—twice.
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I respect your reasons for preferring the Fatima Prayer to the traditional form of the Jesus Prayer. It is a matter of Christian liberty in which differing views are permitted. I appreciate the Jesus Prayer for its antiquity, its ecumenicity, and for connecting me as a Westerner to the Church’s “other lung” (as per Orientale Lumen). I also appreciate the Fatima Prayer. I don’t see a horse race here and don’t intend to buy a ticket.
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I’m not at all sure why you suspect I may have “made a departure from the praying of the Rosary, in favour of using only prayers & methods of contemplation that I feel drawn to”! This is far from the truth on many levels and from what I said. Let’s remember to seek to understand one another’s words in a favorable light.
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As I noted, we pray the traditional rosary five times a week, with the mysteries of course. My general approach to the spiritual life is to trust my Mother and eat everything she puts on the table, not to pick and choose what appeals to my appetites. In fact, my native assumption is that what does NOT instinctively appeal to me is precisely what I most need, since this is where I need to grow. In making a place for the Jesus Prayer in our family’s prayer life, I am trying to do justice to the whole Catholic table, not just the platters that happen to be nearest at hand.
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No one should conclude that the rosary can be “freely personalized away from its intended form.” (As I said, our “Jesus Prayer rosary” isn’t really a rosary at all; rather, we use the rosary beads as an analog to a prayer rope, for praying the Jesus Prayer.) By the same token, no one should conclude that the rosary is either immutable or of such unique value as to render other devotions superfluous. As JP2 says:
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“...the Rosary is simply a method of contemplation. As a method, it serves as a means to an end and cannot become an end in itself. All the same, as the fruit of centuries of experience, this method should not be undervalued. In its favour one could cite the experience of countless Saints. This is not to say, however, that the method cannot be improved…”
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The same can be said for the Jesus Prayer, which can claim 1500 years of Christian experience and the witness of the living Magisterium on its behalf.

Of course there is (and should be) NO competition between the Jesus & Fatima prayers!!  I just thought it was noteworthy to point out that, while they basically say the same thing & serve the same purpose, the much newer Fatima prayer came to us from the lips of Mary, the Mother of God.  This should not be underestimated just because the Fatima Prayer is not mentioned in Pope John Paul II’s RVM (Rosarium Virginis Mariae) encyclical letter, or in the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
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Far from trying to imply that the Rosary somehow separates West from East, renders other prayer devotions superfluous, or is immutable, I was just concerned that someone with little or no experience with the Rosary could get the impression from this article that it’s fine to pick up Rosary beads and substitute one or more Rosary prayers with other Christian prayers, as you’ve done with the Jesus Prayer (whose message and intention is duplicated in the Rosary’s Fatima Prayer).  Granted, you do say in your article that you use Rosary beads to pray the Holy Rosary on weekdays and your own ‘Jesus Prayer Chaplet’ on weekends (just as the Divine Mercy chaplet may be prayed using traditional Rosary beads)!
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Perhaps a clearer distinction could have been made between Rosary beads and other bead configurations out there for praying a variety of existing chaplets - of which you and your family have quite legitimately improvised one of your own using the Jesus Prayer.  Or, perhaps leaving “the Rosary” out of the article’s title, i.e. in favour of a title like “A Jesus Prayer Chaplet”, could serve to clarify. 
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I found it a little confusing that the article mixed your family’s new ‘Jesus Prayer Chaplet’ with much to do about the Holy Rosary, such as:
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- Rosary beads
- your own inspiration to “introduce some variation into this discipline”
- John Paul II’s encyclical on the Rosary in which he speaks both of local variations in its practice, and
- improvements such as suggested manners of recitation & his proposed addition of the Luminous Mysteries (I don’t think using Rosary beads to pray other devotions is what the Pope meant!), and
- JP2’s teaching in RVM on the Rosary’s Christocentricity, wherein he characterizes the Rosary as “corresonding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East” 
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The article’s close association between your ‘Jesus Prayer Chaplet’ and the Rosary could mislead some people, uninitiated in the practice of the Rosary, to think that they can feel free to use Rosary beads in other ways.  At a time when so many Catholics and others don’t even know what a Rosary is, we want to be clear about how Rosary beads are used.
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I hope this serves to clarify my concern :)

Hi Nova,
I think we have converging views. A couple of quick points:
- I’m fine with the term “Jesus Prayer chaplet”; I called it a “rosary” (while acknowledging that it’s not the rosary prayer) only because we use rosary beads. (Each prayer in arosary is a “rose” given to Mary; I don’t see why one couldn’t couldn’t call the Jesus prayer “roses” to Christ, and thus a rosary. But “chaplet” is fine. Clarity seems to be the thing.)
- By “introducing variation into this discipline” I meant our family’s prayer regimen, not the discipline of the rosary itself.

Thanks very much for your article, and for taking time to read and respond to my comments :)  It’s an interesting and worthwhile discussion to be sure!  God bless…Nova

Last year I came across a beautiful compact book ” The Jesus Prayer Rosary ” by Michael Cleary SVD published by Canterbury Press, Norwich, England (ISBN 978-1-85311-811-1).It comprises four sets of meditations on the Infancy Narratives,plus scenes from the ministry of Jesus, his passion, death and resurrection plus additional prayers and biblical canticles.

Is saying the Rosary Prayer important to you?  If so, please take part in this anonymous online research study to provide more understanding about the place of the Rosary Prayer in Catholics’ lives.  This doctoral research is intended to provide information that can help mental health professionals to better serve their Catholic clients.  Thank you for your help. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rosaryprayer

I found one of the nicest rosary websites that has a link to pray alongside others. It is just so nice to feel connected to others through the power of prayer.
www.therosarycellar.com/pray_the_rosary
God Bless!

The Jesus prayer is a beautiful prayer. I love to keep it “on hand” for praying “in between times”... while waiting in line at the store, while sitting in traffic… and when I am tempted to be frustrated with another driver! It’s always a good reminder of who I am, and who God is.

Thanks for reminding me to keep praying this prayer.

http://www.christianprayersdaily.com

Patricia rose Thomas
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Patricia rose Thomas
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