A dialogue between a disciple and his elder (Elder Efraim Katounakiotis): ‘Elder, I say the prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, but I don’t understand anything’. ‘You might not, but the devil does. It burns him and he flees. Ah, well, son, you want to see a miracle through prayer, through the Jesus Prayer?’ ‘Of course I do’. ‘Very well, then, I’ll pray to God to show you a miracle so you can understand the power of the prayer - the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me”, to which all the Patristic books refer, but particularly the Filokalia’. The Elder prayed and kept a three-day fast with only a little water. ‘Come here now, son’, he said to him after the three ...
