Orthodox Hesychasm and the Prayer of the Heart
One of the oldest Christian contemplative traditions, hesychasm aims at deification (theosis) through the grace of the divine energies, and not at a psychotherapy in the proper sense. It rests on three principles: hesychia (inner silence), the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me) and the Palamite doctrine of the uncreated energies, with nepsis (sober vigilance) and diakrisis (discernment). The technique combines the formula repeated until it becomes self-moving, a concentrated posture and slowed breathing associated with the name, with the descent of attention into the heart. Clinically it acts on the pacification of the passions, anxiety, ruminations, sleep and bereavement, but the author warns that, cut off from faith and community, the practice exhausts itself and risks going astray (plani).
| Code | TI103 |
|---|---|
| Name (EN) | Orthodox Hesychasm and the Prayer of the Heart |
| French name | Hesychasm Orthodoxe et Prière du Cœur |
| Acronym (FR) | HES |
| Founder(s) | Pères du désert (Évagre, Cassien, Jean Climaque) ; Grégoire Palamas (XIVe s.) ; Philocalie (1782) ; au XXe s. le père Sophrony et saint Silouane l'Athonite |
| Year | origines au IVe siècle ; systématisation palamite au XIVe siècle ; Philocalie 1782 |
| School / wave | Spiritualité orthodoxe / monachisme oriental (Mont Athos) ; voie hésychaste, théologie palamite des énergies incréées |
| Source volume | Volume 8 of the Mémento des Psychothérapies |
This therapy is covered in detail (principles, indications, protocol, level of evidence) in Volume 8 of the Mémento des Psychothérapies. See the volume.