Abstract
To my knowledge Abbot David Geraets (1935–2012) of the Pecos Benedictine Monastery has been the only Christian witness and writer, past or present, to join the practice of the ancient Jesus Prayer and the prayer tongue. He simply says that “repeating the name of Jesus can become a masterful art of glossolalia prayer.” Abbot David’s statement is not found as such in the centuries of Eastern Orthodox literature about the Jesus Prayer. Nor is such a joining found among classical Pentecostal Christians who, while fully familiar with the prayer tongue and with life and power in Jesus’ name, commonly have no particular awareness of the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Such a joining moves across the boundary between the ecclesiastical cultures that normally separates Eastern Christian communities and Western Pentecostal communities. It is a matter of spiritual practice.
Recommended Citation
Glandon, Clyde
(2024)
"The Prayer Tongue and the Jesus Prayer: The Witness of Abbot David Geraets,"
Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology: Vol. 9:
No.
1, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31380/2573-6345.1344
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