A quiet companion for stillness.
Hesychia, the Greek word for stillness, holds space for a practice you already have, and offers a few words if you would like them.
How to say it
Hesychia comes from the Greek ἡσυχία, meaning stillness, quiet and rest. There is no single correct way to say it in English, so here are two.
- In English: HESS-ih-kee-uh. Say “hess” as in “less”, “ih” as in “sit”, “kee” as in “key”, and a soft “uh” to finish. This follows the usual English way of saying the related word hesychasm (HESS-ih-kaz-um), with the stress on the first syllable.
- In Greek: ee-see-HEE-ah. The stress falls on the third syllable. The “ch” is a soft, breathy sound, like the “h” in “huge”, and the opening “h” is silent in modern Greek.
Either will be understood. The English version follows the way English says hesychasm; the Greek is how the word sounds in Greece today.
What it is
- Sit. Set a length and begin. A ring around the clock slowly disappears as time passes. A soft bell marks the start and the end, and is the only sound.
- Lectio divina. Type or paste a short passage of your own, or ask for a few words from the early church, and move through lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio. The middle movements hold for five minutes so the pace can't be rushed.
- A few words, if you want them. A small set of short readings from the Psalms and the Odes of Solomon, offered one at a time, with where each comes from always shown. “My own words” is the default, and you never have to use them.
- Record. A quiet calendar of the days you sat. A mark for a day and nothing more: no streaks, no totals, no targets.
- A phrase for the day. The app starts you with five to sit with: be still, thy will, let go, abide, be present. One is held for the whole day. Keep them, change them or replace them with a phrase of your own. It appears in Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets with the canonical hour.
- Ten palettes. Or follow your device's light and dark setting. Works in portrait and landscape on iPhone and iPad.
Get it
Coming soonA single upfront purchase for iPhone and iPad. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads.
Not yet on the App Store. A link will appear here once it is.
Questions
Is this a wellness app?
No. It deliberately refuses what that genre does: no streaks, scores, badges, content feed, music, narration or subscription. It is a companion for contemplative prayer in the Christian desert tradition.
Where do the suggested words come from?
The practice is yours first, so your own passage is the default. If you would rather not choose, the app can offer a few lines from the Psalms, in Brenton's Septuagint translation of 1844, or from the Odes of Solomon, in J. Rendel Harris's edition of 1911. Both are in the public domain, and the source is always shown beside the words.
Are the readings changed?
Gently. The old grammar is modernised, language that used “man” for all people is made inclusive, and God is not given masculine pronouns. In the Odes the Holy Spirit is “she”, following the feminine Syriac. Each reading says that it is adapted.
Does it need an account or a connection?
No. The app makes no network connections.
St Peters, Kirby Bellars
Hesychia is made by the same developer as Threshold, which supports the restoration of St Peters, a Grade I listed medieval church in Leicestershire, England, still in active worship. If you would like to know more about the church, or to support it, visit stpeterskirbybellars.co.uk (opens in a new tab).
Privacy
Hesychia collects nothing and makes no network connections. Your sittings, passages, notes and settings stay on your device.