God only establishes His one Church, once and for all. At the beginning of the second century, Saint Ignatius of Antioch was the first to call the only Church founded by Jesus Christ the "Catholic Church". And for all these centuries, as God willed, there really was only one Catholic Church in the whole world. There is no other church.

However, due to geographical and cultural factors, since the beginning of its development, the one true Catholic Church was divided into two: the Eastern Catholic Church which consisted of four patriarchates (namely Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Western Catholic Church which was represented by the Roman Church. Despite having the same substance of faith, both of them gave birth to different liturgical and devotional traditions. In the prayer tradition, in the Eastern Church a mental prayer known as the Jesus Prayer has developed, while in the Western Church a devotional prayer known as the Rosary Prayer has developed.


The Jesus Prayer From Eastern Christian Tradition

The Jesus Prayer is a short prayer that is said repeatedly in the heart. The formula now commonly used is, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." This formulation is based on the prayer taught by the Lord Jesus in the parable of the publican's prayer (Luke 18:8-14), and also from the cry of the blind man near Jericho (Luke 18:38). Usually this Jesus Prayer is recited with the help of a prayer rope or komboskini to count the number of repetitions of the prayer.

There is no official record of who started this prayer tradition. But it is estimated that this prayer has become known at the time of the desert fathers, who began to appear in the area of Egypt and Palestine around the third or fourth century. The prayer formula used at that time was still simple, for example "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me..," "Lord, have mercy..," "Kyrie Eleison..," and so on. This short, repeated prayer was used by desert hermits who were generally illiterate, to fill their ascetic days by obeying the Apostle Paul's advice, "...pray all the time.." (Eph.6:18).

By repeating this short prayer hundreds if not thousands of times a day, these humble ascetics make the powerful Name of Jesus as their source of strength and inspiration in their spiritual lives. The experience and spiritual power of this simple prayer that these ascetics experienced then attracted many other Christians to join in practicing this simple prayer.

This prayer tradition then developed rapidly in the Byzantine Empire, which was popularized by monks from Mount Athos (Greece) around the eighth century. Furthermore, this simple prayer spread widely, and has become the favorite prayer of people in Eastern Christianity until now.

The formulation of the prayer also developed gradually until it finally became the formula of the prayer that is now commonly known, namely "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Usually this short prayer is recited 100 times, 300 times, 1000 times or even more. To count the number of prayer repetitions, a prayer rope / komboskini is usually used, which according to tradition has been known since the time of St. Anthony the Great who lived in the 3rd to 4th centuries.

In fact, according to legend, the distinctive komboskini knot was first taught directly by Our Lady who appeared to Saint Anthony through a dream. At that time St. Antonius had difficulty making prayer ropes, because every time he slept the knots he had made were always unraveled by the devil. After St. Anthony made a prayer rope with the knots taught to him by Our Lady, the devil could no longer unravel it because each knot taught by Our Lady was made up of 7 crosses. While other sources say the knot was taught by the Archangel St. Gabriel to St. Pachomius the Great through a dream with an almost similar story. Furthermore, the use of the komboskini as an aid in reciting short prayers such as the Jesus Prayer was popularized by St. Pachomius who lived in the 4th century, the same era with St. Anthony the Great. Which legend is correct is not too important, what is clear is that the exact same knot is still used today to make the komboskini.

Meanwhile, the efficacy of the simple Jesus Prayer has also been proven around the 10th century in the event of the miraculous shift of the Mokattam Hill in Egypt. At that time the Egyptian Christians received threats to be killed or expelled by Caliph Al Muiz li-Din Allah if they could not prove the truth of the Bible about the faith that can move mountains. Under the leadership of Patriarch Abraham, Egyptian Christians then prayed "Kyrie Eleison" repeatedly 400 times. Miraculously, the Mokattam Hill lifted and moved several kilometers in front of many people's eyes. As a result of this extraordinary miracle, Christians in Egypt survived the threat of massacre and expulsion, while the Caliph Al Muiz li-Din Allah converted to Christianity.


The Rosary, The Favorite Prayer of the Western Church

If the Eastern Church has the Jesus Prayer as a favorite prayer, then the Western Church has the Rosary as their favorite prayer. The Rosary is rooted in the custom of lay Catholics around the 11th century who tried to imitate the custom of the monks in reciting the Psalms every morning. Since the laity at that time were generally illiterate, they replaced the reading in the Psalms by praying the Our Father repeatedly 150 times, according to the number of Psalms. This form of prayer became known as the Paternoster. This custom, which began to spread widely among the laity, was later adapted by the Cistercian monks who replaced the Our Father with the Hail Mary. They call this form of prayer consisting of 150 Hail Marys the "Psalter of Mary."

The most important moment for the development of this prayer came in the 13th century. Saint Dominic who was praying for days in his struggle against the albigensian heresy, had a vision from the Blessed Mother. At her apparition, Our Lady asked St. Dominic to "preach her Psalter" in trying to convert the albigensian heretics.

According to the request and instructions of Our Lady, St. Dominic added 15 mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ to the previously known Psalter of Mary. Furthermore, he taught the "new Marian Psalter" that Our Lady gave him to many people. With the help of this prayer St. Dominic was successful in converting many albigensians, even including defeating them in physical warfare.

Until the early 15th century, the prayer taught by Our Lady to Saint Dominic was still known as the Psalms of Mary. It was only in the 15th century that this prayer began to be called the Rosary to express how the series of prayers in the "Psalter of Mary" were beautiful strands of roses offered to Our Lady. This is the forerunner of the Rosary we know today.

In 1569, Pope St. Pius V through the document "Consueverunt Romani Pontifices" officially approved the the Rosary in the form of 15 mysteries of Our Lord's life, and 15 decades of Hail Mary Prayers, each of which is preceded by the Lord's Prayer and ends with the Glory Be.

Not long after, in 1571 the Prayer of the Rosary showed its efficacy as a spiritual weapon in the Lepanto naval war. At that time Europe was at its weakest point because of the divisions and feuds between the kingdoms on the continent, which were caused by Martin Luther's reform movement. This weakness was immediately seen by the Turkish Islamic Caliphate as a good opportunity to attack and conquer Europe. Facing this threat, Pope St. Pius V painstakingly gathered the remaining fleet strength of the existing European Catholic kingdoms. Later they joined the Holy League Fleet under King Don Juan of Austria.

Seeing the limited strength of the Holy League Fleet and not being comparable to that of the Turkish Islamic Caliphate, which at that time was the strongest naval power in the world, Pope St. Pius V placed the fleet of the Holy League under the protection of Our Lady through the Rosary. Meanwhile, King Don Juan and all the Christian troops who were members of the Holy League fleet also relied on the power of the Rosary by praying it all the way before the sea battle took place.

On October 7, 1571, a great naval battle broke out between the Fleet of the Holy League and the fleet of the Turkish Islamic Caliphate. The wind conditions which before the battle had been very favorable to the Turkish Islamic Caliphate fleet, suddenly reversed course at an unexpected moment and gave the Holy League Fleet a strategic advantage. As a result, the Holy League fleet under King Don Juan managed to win this historic naval battle against a much stronger enemy. On the day of the battle, Pope St. Pius V, who supported the struggle of the Holy League Fleet through praying the Rosary, already knew of the victory before the fleet returned from the battlefield. The Lepanto naval war was recorded as the most decisive naval battle in maritime history, because since its defeat in that war the Turkish Islamic Caliphate fleet has never again become a serious threat to Europe and Christianity.

These two forms of prayer, namely the Jesus Prayer of the Eastern Church and the Rosary Prayer of the Western Church, are two simple yet extraordinary forms of prayer that have arisen from the long history of the traditions of their respective faithful. These two favorite prayers have been proven to be the source of spiritual strength to build a strong foundation of Christian faith, to be the spiritual weapons to fight evil forces, and at the same time the spiritual means to build a close relationship with God as a source of strength and inspiration for every Christian's life.