In this study the author explores the understanding and practice underpinning the Jesus Prayer. He does this by means of an investigation of the importance of psalmody in desert monasticism, an exploration of the influence of Evagrius of Pontus and a thorough examination of selected psalm-commentaries in circulation in the contemporary East.

Originally published under the title (1979), this publication reveals for the first time the entire magnitude of Byzantine kalophony serving as a systematic introduction to the Greek Byzantine music culture, that of the Byzantine Psaltic Art, at the height of its expression.