Science Journal of VolSU. History. Area Studies. International Relations. 2023. Vol. 28. No. 6 151  Патрин В.Г., 2023 ВИЗАНТИЙСКОЕ ПРАВОСЛАВИЕ  www.volsu.ru DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2023.6.11 UDC 248.3(271)(281.4) Submitted: 25.05.2023 LBC 86.37-3 Accepted: 31.10.2023 THE ORIGIN OF THE “JESUS PRAYER”. A CRITIQUE OF TRADITIONAL OPINION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PHENOMENON OF SPONTANEOUS PRAYERS Viacheslav G. Patrin Center for Training Church Specialists of the Volgograd Eparchy, Volgograd, Russian Federation; Volgograd State University, Volgograd, Russian Federation Abstract. Introduction. The history of Byzantine spirituality is inextricably linked with the mystical tradition of Hesychasm, in which the practice of the “Jesus Prayer” occupied the central place. Both in the patristic literature and scientific historiography, particular attention has been paid to the question of the appearance of the formula of the “Jesus Prayer”. The generally accepted opinion was and remains that the formula of the “Jesus Prayer” was compiled on the basis of the texts of the New Testament. We find this opinion in the late Byzantine literature analyzing the formula of the “Jesus Prayer”. Modern scholarly literature also contains its own line of argumentation in favor of this opinion. Methods and analysis. Our scholarly interest in this topic was largely motivated by disagreement with this generally accepted view. This disagreement was initially intuitive, and it took us some time to be able to express our intuition logically and factually. The main line of our argumentation is based on the attraction of the phenomenon of spontaneous prayers to the analysis of the history of the “Jesus Prayer”. Results. This article summarizes the work that we have done. The fallacy of the traditional scientific approach to the “Jesus Prayer” as a fixed formula compiled on the basis of the texts of the New Testament is pointed out. Key words: “Jesus Prayer”, origin of the prayer, Egyptian monasticism, meditation on the Holy Scriptures, spontaneous prayers. Citation. Patrin V.G. The Origin of the “Jesus Prayer”. A Critique of Traditional Opinion in the Context of the Phenomenon of Spontaneous Prayers. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2023, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 151-160. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/ jvolsu4.2023.6.11 УДК 248.3(271)(281.4) Дата поступления статьи: 25.05.2023 ББК 86.37-3 Дата принятия статьи: 31.10.2023 ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЕ «МОЛИТВЫ ИИСУСОВОЙ». КРИТИКА ТРАДИЦИОННОГО МНЕНИЯ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ФЕНОМЕНА СПОНТАННЫХ МОЛИТВ Вячеслав Геннадьевич Патрин Центр подготовки церковных специалистов Волгоградской епархии, г. Волгоград, Российская Федерация; Волгоградский государственный университет, г. Волгоград, Российская Федерация Аннотация. История византийской духовности неразрывно связана с мистической традицией исихазма, в которой центральное место занимает практика «молитвы Иисусовой». Как в святоотеческой литературе, так и в научной историографии отдельное внимание было уделено вопросу появления формулы «молитвы Иисусо- вой». Общепринятым было и остается мнение, что формула «молитвы Иисусовой» была составлена на основе текстов Нового Завета. Это мнение мы встречаем еще в поздневизантийской литературе, рефлексирующей над формулой «молитвы Иисусовой». Современная научная литература также содержит свою линию аргумента- ции в пользу данного мнения. Наш научный интерес к данной теме был во многом продиктован несогласием с