Hesychia

silent prayer & lectio divina

£3.99 · Designed for iPad

A quiet companion for silent prayer and lectio divina. It opens on one word and the hour. No account, no streaks, no scores: a bell, and the practice you already have. Hesychia — the Greek word for stillness — is a quiet companion for contemplative prayer in the Christian desert tradition: silent sitting, the Jesus Prayer lineage, and lectio divina. It holds space for a practice you already have. It does not supply one. There is no music, no narration, no feed of content, and nothing to score. A soft bell marks the start and the end of a sit, and that is the only sound. PAUSE Hesychia opens on a pause: today's word, the hour, and nothing to do. A moment to stop, then on — or sit for longer. The widget and the watch open on the same word. There are thirty-five words to begin with, plain ones from the desert tradition and a few lifted unchanged from the psalms and the Odes of Solomon, with where they come from. Your own words can join them or stand alone, and any starting word can be taken away. Each word comes up once, in a shuffled order, before any repeats. SIT Set a length and begin. You choose what fills the circle: the ring and the time, the ring around today's word, a candle that slowly burns down, or just the word. Never two cues at once, and the time remaining is always there for VoiceOver. Tap anywhere when you notice you have wandered and come back — each return is counted, not as a score, only as a record of how often you returned. A small desert beneath follows the real time of day: the sun crosses by day, and at night the moon shows its true phase. None of it needs your location. LECTIO DIVINA Type or paste a short passage, then move through the four movements in order: lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio. Meditatio and contemplatio each hold for five minutes by default (you can change this in settings) before the next movement opens, so the pace can't be rushed — though you can pause, or leave, at any time. While you meditate you can tap words in the passage to keep them, and your passages and reflections are saved to an archive on your device. Your own words come first. If you would rather not choose, Hesychia can offer a line or two, one at a time and always with where it comes from: from the Psalms (Brenton's Septuagint), the Odes of Solomon, and a few New Testament lines from the World English Bible, shown only for the tradition you chose. A single switch narrows it all to psalms. Nothing is edited. RECORD A quiet calendar of the days you sat or sat with a passage. A mark for a day, and nothing more — not how long, not how many returns. No streaks, no totals, no targets. ON YOUR WRIST The Apple Watch app does one thing: the sit. Choose a length, begin, and tap the face when you notice you have wandered. A soft tap marks the start and the end, and nothing makes a sound. Each sit is sent to your iPhone and appears in your record. Put today's word on your watch face, or begin a sit from Siri or the Action button. AND • The hours of the day and the seasons of the church year, in the tradition you keep: western, Orthodox (new or old calendar), or plain names only • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets showing today's word and the canonical hour • Begin a sit, open lectio, or hear today's word with Siri, Shortcuts or the Action button; a quiet countdown on your Lock Screen while you sit • Your own words, a place to keep your own links, and a short, hand-picked list of monasteries, retreat houses and contemplative groups and networks • Nine optional colour palettes, or follow your device's light and dark setting; a choice of four typefaces, including one designed for low vision; Dynamic Type, Bold Text, Reduce Motion and VoiceOver are respected • iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, in one purchase PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything stays on your device. There is no account, no analytics, no tracking, and the app itself makes no network connections. A single purchase. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads. The sale helps fund the ongoing restoration of St Peters, Kirby Bellars, Leicestershire, England — a Grade I listed medieval church still in active worship.

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    Information

    Provider
    Alan McPherson
    Size
    11.1 MB
    Category
    Lifestyle
    Compatibility
    Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
    • iPhone
      Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
    • iPad
      Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later.
    • Mac
      Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
    • Apple Watch
      Requires watchOS 10.0 or later.
    Languages
    English
    Age Rating
    4+
    Copyright
    © 2026 Alan S McPherson
  • Privacy Policy

    • Supports

    • Family Sharing

      Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.