Speaking at the general audience June 9, the pope recommended the short prayer at the heart of Eastern Christianity's mystical tradition.

Referring to the 19th-century Russian spiritual classic "The Way of a Pilgrim," he said: "The spiritual journey of the Russian pilgrim begins when he comes across a phrase of St. Paul in the First Letter to the Thessalonians: ‘Pray constantly, always and for everything give thanks' (5:17-18)."

"The Apostle's words struck the man and he wondered how it was possible to pray without interruption, given that our lives are fragmented into so many different moments, which do not always make concentration possible."

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