All-glorious God, who dwells in inscrutable silence! With all my bones and with all my heart I offer You a service worthy of You, and my soul bows its head to the ground. For the sake of my renewal You have built on earth a tabernacle of love (the human body of Jesus Christ, note ed.), a resting place of Your will, a temple of flesh built by the holy oil that surpasses every sanctuary. You have filled it with Your holiness, so that the service of all may be performed in it; in it you have indicated the worship of the eternal hypostases of Your Trinity and of the worlds which You have created by Your grace, You have revealed the unspeakable secret and power that cannot be felt or recognized by the senses of Your creations that have received life from You. Before her, the angelic beings are silent in amazement before the cloud of this eternal mystery and before the stream of glory flowing from the astonishment, because in silence every rational being worships her, sanctifying himself and becoming worthy of Thee.
I fall at the foot of Your feet and before Your holy right hand, which created me and made me a man to know You. But I have sinned and done evil before myself and before You, forsaking holy conversation with You and giving my days to conversations with lusts. I beseech thee, O Lord, regard not the sins of my youth, nor the ignorance of my old age, nor the weakness of my nature, which hath overcome me, and drowned me in thoughts of hateful things. But from the tedious wandering of my heart in lusts, turn it to You, so that the hidden light may live in me. Your favor to me has always anticipated my every desire for good and every readiness of my heart for virtue. You never cease Your care for me to test my free will, on the contrary, as a father cares for his little son, so Your care accompanied me, Your paternal grace visited my weakness and You did not seek to test my will, because you have known me forever — You knew that I was worse than a little child aware of where I was going.
I beg You, God, send me help from Your high heavens and remove from my heart every evil action and every carnal desire. Do not deprive me, Lord, of Your protection, lest my enemy find me and defeat me as he pleases, and destroy me completely. For You are the One who gives repentance and a weeping heart to the repentant sinner, so that with the consolation of weeping and the gift of tears You free his heart from the oppressive burden of sin.
I knock at the door of Your compassion, Lord, send me help because of my indiscriminate impulses, poisoned by many passions and the power of darkness. Arouse in me suffering at the sight of my wounds, even if it does not correspond to the strength of my sins, for if I realize the extent of my sins, Lord, my soul will not bear the bitter pain of them. Help my feeble urges to true repentance, and may I receive relief from the burden of sins through this suffering which is Your gift, for without the power of Your grace I am utterly unable even to look within myself and know my sins, so , seeing them, that I may calm down from my excessive distraction.
Oh, name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open the door for me to enter into Your treasury and praise You with all my heart for Your mercies that have come upon me at the end of time, because You have come and renewed me with the knowledge of the future century.
I praise Thy holy nature, O Lord God, for Thou hast made my nature a sanctuary of Thy treasure and an ark of Thy secrets, a place of Thy habitation, and a holy temple of Thy Divinity — a temple of Him who holds the scepter of the kingdom of God, Who governs all that exists, Who is a treasury of the eternal glory of God, a renewal for the fiery ranks that serve You, a way to know You, a door to the house of Your appearing, a sum of Your power and great wisdom – Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of Your womb and the “remnant” gathered from Your creation — both of the visible and of the intelligible.
O Mystery, towering beyond the bounds of speech and silence, Who became incarnate to renew us by voluntary union with the flesh, reveal to me the way by which I may ascend to Your mysteries, walking the clear path of silence, abandoning thoughts in this world. Collect my mind in silent prayer and silence my wandering thoughts thanks to this enlightened conversation of prayer and mystery-filled wonder.
Before the throne of Your majesty, my Lord, I fall, who am dust and ashes and the scum of mankind. Countless thousands of angels and uncountable legions of seraphim with fiery praises and holy motions offer spiritual service to You in the secret of their nature — to You, who have a holy nature hidden from the senses and knowledge of every creature, for with Your help, Lord, You are near to every one in times of trouble, and Thy door is open in season and out of season to the petitions of all. You do not abhor sinners, and Your majesty does not turn away from souls stained with all kinds of sins, but You lead everyone from infinite evils, as well as me, Lord, completely defiled, You deigned to fall on my face before You, so that I dare to utter Your holy name with my mouth, though I am a vessel of all impurity and unworthy to be numbered among the descendants of Adam. Grant me, Lord, to sanctify myself with praises to You and purify myself through the memory of You, renew my life by changing thoughts and beneficial thoughts that You with Your grace arouse in me. Be the guide of my mind in my meditations on Thee, and through the renewal of the mind which Thou causest in me, help me to forget about the things which lead me astray from the true path. Awaken in me such supplications as are beneficial because of the agreement of my will with Yours, for You are the One who gives prayer to those who pray. Strengthen in me a will that looks to Thee at all times, and a thought that would never weaken in hope in Thee through constant dying for Thee. Grant me, Lord, that I may not pray to You with insensible words of my mouth, but that I may throw myself on the ground in secret humility of heart and repentance of reason.
God, thanks to Your patience with my sins You give me life in this world; do not deprive me of life in the world to come, which awaits with hope those who seek You here amid sorrows.
Christ, Whose love caused the saints to separate themselves from family, kindred, and comfortable human dwellings, so that the power of natural ties is silent in them before the sweetness of Your love, You, Lord, grant me for love of You to hate everything vain in life and in my lifetime to become as dead to all the pleasures of this world. By Thy power, O Lord, may the storms that rage in my members be stilled, and may Thy love separate me from the world and from communion with it. Draw in my mind a single invisible image, so that the attraction to all sweet memories of the temporary and visible world is defeated.
I bow my knees before Your majesty and I fall before You on the ground, God, because You brought me into existence, although I did not ask You for it, and I did not exist at all. Before you formed me in my mother’s womb You knew that my life would be disorderly and apostate, but this did not prevent You from creating me and giving me all the rights with which You have endowed human nature, although You knew beforehand about all my vices. You know of my petitions even before they are known to me, and of my prayers before they are uttered before You, but give me, my God, at this hour also what You think necessary for my wretched nature , which is in danger. You know the sorrow of my soul, and in Your hands is its healing.
O Might, by which the ancient fathers broke the mighty and terrible attacks of the rebel Satan. These men, being of human nature with its many needs, were similar to those who have no needs, and on earth showed a likeness to the future reality; and Thou hast made the graves of men, the caves, and the clefts of the rock, into places where Thy revelations to them dwell. Pour into my heart the ardor of their thoughts, so that I may be strengthened by them and trample on the natural desire and fear of the “adversary”, sow in me the knowledge of humility and an irresistible desire to walk straight to You. You are a refuge for the weak, a straight path for all who go astray, a place of refuge for those who are overtaken by storms. Thou alone hast broken down the pride of my adversary before me, destroyed the power of his wiles against me, humbled his exalted pride, smoothed Thy hidden ways before my thoughts, be my comfort in the time of my calamities, and guide me in dangerous places.
Sun of truth, thanks to Whom the righteous saw themselves and became a mirror for their generations, open in me the door of knowledge about You, grant me an alert mind that will not stumble in the pitfalls of transgressions, so that I can reach that a bright harbor reached by the ancient fathers who pleased You with all their exploits.
Sanctify me with Your secrets, enlighten my mind with the knowledge of You, let the hope in You shine in my heart, deign me to pray for it inwardly. God, my Father and Lord of my life, light Your lamp in me, put Your everything in me so that I forget about mine. Awaken in me the power of wonder from You, so that it prevails over the compulsion of nature. Awaken in me the ability to see Your mysteries, so that I realize what has been invested in me through holy Baptism. You, God, have given me the Guide, may He show me Your glory at all times. You have appointed me to be the light and the salt of the world, may I not become a stumbling block to my friends. Since I have left the world, let me not look back on it and on the things I rejected when I vowed to You. Place pleasant bridles upon my heart, that my senses may not perceive that which is outside the ways of Thy laws. Focus my urges on the ship of repentance, so that in it I may enjoy life in the midst of the sea, until I reach the harbor of Your hope. May through the memory of Thee my mind muster courage in temptations. Through the radiance of knowledge about You, let the path of darkness be illuminated before me.
God, grant me to understand the mystery of Your love, reflected in Your providence for the sensible world, in Your creation of the created world and in the mystery of the death of Your beloved Son!
Our Creator, Who knows about the pain of my nature, You alone removed the violence of the enemy over me! Banish from my members the urges of sin! Extinguish its fire in my heart, extend Your healing hand to my fallen soul! Bind the temptations of my flesh with the fetters of the Cross! Multiply in me the fullness of love for You, which comes from knowing the Crucified One! Make my mind inwardly focused through the hidden secrets contained in the Cross! Strengthen in me the memory of the humility of Your beloved Son! Increase in me the astonishment before Your providence for me!
God, even before You were reconciled to the world, You gave it Your Only Begotten Son, and after the reconciliation You gave Him to inherit the throne of Your deity. Do not let me, deprived of hope, go down to the grave and find myself sitting in the shackles of the darkness of my sins, dead for eternity.
Thank you, God, for your gift to the world! Indeed, created beings are unable to describe its riches, and since I too am a part of this world, I will not spare my share of the thanks I am bound to offer Thee. Therefore let me praise You and give thanks to Your name. You gave all Your treasure to the world: if You gave the Only Begotten from Your womb and from the throne of Your being for the benefit of all, is there anything greater that You did not give to Your creation? The world became one with God and the creation became one with the Creator. Praise be to You for Your unfathomable providence! Indeed, great is this mystery! Glory to You for Your secrets that are hidden from us! Grant me, O Lord, to taste of this great, hidden, and treasured mystery, which the world is not yet worthy to know. Perhaps You have shown Your saints something of it—those who live above the world and who are above carnal movements in all ages.
The stream of Christ’s mysteries, like the waves of the ocean, floods my mind. I would like to be silent before them, Lord, and not speak, but they are like a burning flame in my heart that burns my bones. My conscience convicts me and shows me my sins. Your secret stuns me, but forces me to stare at it. Silently she declared to me: “Sinner, do not delay for fear of your sins to draw near, for it is by meditating on them that the impurity of sin will be removed from your mind.”
Liberator of our nature, loose me from the hidden bonds with which my internal members are entangled, and from the apparent obstacles to my external senses, that I may strive to enter the paradise of Thy mysteries, and taste of the tree of life from which Adam was not allowed to eat.
My savior, save me from demonic seduction! My God, deliver me from a fainting of conscience! My hope, pour into my heart the intoxication of hope in You! Jesus Christ, who is resurrection and light for all worlds, put on the head of my soul the crown of knowledge about You! Open unexpectedly for me the doors of mercy, so that the rays of Your grace may shine in my heart! Be a guide for the feet of my thoughts, till I reach Zion, Thy holy mountain! Reward me with that holy city into which the saints entered at the end of their journey. My Creator and my hope, anchor of my life in storms, support in my infirmities, honor in my dishonor, raise up my head bowed to the ground, deliver me not to the will of my adversary, give no opportunity to his shamelessness. Put a great chasm in front of him so that he does not obstruct my path and disturb me. Grant me in Your service to end my short and transitory life, to be close to You at the end of my days, to be in Your spiritual vineyard at the sunset of my life. Reward me even before the time of my death with that denarius which you have appointed for the workers. By grace, O Lord, and not by my works, grant me the honor even at the eleventh hour of my life to be awake in your service.
Let not the world overwhelm me with its talks full of temptations, and let me not be imprisoned in the cage of its cares.
Christ, Who clothed Himself with light as with a garment, and for my sake stood naked before Pilate, clothe me with Your power, with which You overshadowed the saints and because of which they emerged victorious in the struggles with this world. Lord, let Your Divinity rest in me and lead me above the world to dwell with You.
O Christ, Whom the many-eyed cherubim cannot behold Because of the glory of Thy countenance, For Thy love Thou hast received spitting in Thy face: remove shame from my face, And grant me prayer with open face before Thee.
Christ, Thou, owing to our nature’s debt to God, went into the wilderness, and defeated the prince of darkness, taking from him the victory which he had enjoyed for five thousand years; make him flee from me—he who through all ages compels the human race to sin.
Let the disgraceful Cross you bore for me be like a bridge to a peaceful haven. May the crown of thorns with which Thy head was crowned be my helmet of salvation in the hot day of battle. Let the spitting received from Thy face prepare me to have an open face before the judgment of Thy coming. Thy holy Body, which was laid bare on the Cross, through the love of Thee, let me be crucified for this world and its lusts. Let your garment, for which lots were cast, tear to pieces before my eyes the garment of darkness in which I am inwardly clothed. May the water and blood that flowed from You be a testimony to my release from former slavery. Let Thy Body and Thy Blood, joined to my body, abide in me as a pledge that I shall not cease to look upon Thee continually in that place which has no end. May the sacraments of faith, which I have kept intact within me, preserve something glorious for me in that day when the world shall prepare to meet Thy coming, and may they fill there the deficiency of my asceticism.
In the terrible hour, Lord, when Your Body and Your Blood are sacrificed for the salvation of the world, let all the fathers and brothers who are in the mountains, in the caves, in the forests, in the rocks, in the harsh and desolate places be mentioned on Your holy altar , who are hidden from the world and only You know where they are – those who have died and who are still alive and serve You body and soul. Holy Lord, who dwells among the saints in whom Your Divinity rests, remember those who have left the temporal world and have already become as dead to life in it, because they went out to seek You and sought You diligently in the midst of their troubles and sufferings.
King of all the worlds and of all the Orthodox fathers who, in the name of the true faith, suffered exile and suffering from the persecutors, may those who are in monasteries, monasteries, deserts and deserted places throughout the world, who in every place and in every locality strive to please You with works of virtue, may Your help accompany them, O Lord, and may they be protected at all times. Send them constant intrepid consolation, and fix their minds on Thyself in all their struggles. May the power of Your Trinity dwell in them and may they serve You until the end of their lives with a good conscience and good behavior. Grant them quiet harbor while they are still in body. And those who wage fierce battles with demons, openly or secretly, send them help, Lord, and overshadow them with the cloud of Your grace; placed upon their heads the mental helmet of salvation; trample the power of the enemy before them; may the power of Thy right hand support them at all times, so that in their thoughts they may constantly look to Thee. Clothe them in the armor of humility, so that in every moment a sweet fragrance pleasing to Your will wafts from them.
Remember, Lord, also those who suffer from severe pains and severe bodily diseases. Send them the angel of mercy and pacify their souls, tormented by the strong sufferings of their bodies. Have mercy, Lord, even those who are under the power of cruel, evil and godless people. Send them an angel of mercy soon and save them from the hands of the wicked. My Lord and my God, send comfort to all who without fault suffer all kinds of calamities.
Fall, Lord, Your holy Church, redeemed with Your blood, so that Your true peace, which You gave to Your holy apostles, may live in it, connect its children with the holy bonds of unbreakable love. Let no troubler have power over her, and remove from her persecutions, tumults, and wars, both within and without. And may rulers and priests be bound by lasting peace and great love, so that their minds may at all times be filled with Thy image, and holy faith may be a bulwark for Thy flock. And me, the sinner, also honor through their prayers to keep myself at all times under the powerful protection of Your holy hand, which is Your all-encompassing providence. Amen.
I beseech Thee and beseech Thee, O Lord, grant that all the lost may know Thy glory through the true knowledge of Thee.
And for those who have passed away from this world, deprived of a virtuous life, and had no faith, be their protector for the sake of the body that You received from them, so that from the one united body of the world we may glorify the Father, Son and Holy One Spirit in the kingdom of heaven. And be that delight that has no end forever and ever. Amen.
Note: We bring to the attention of our readers a remarkable prayer of the Reverend Isaac of Nineveh or the Syrian. The Church has appointed his memory to be celebrated on January 28, together with the other very famous Syrian father – Rev. Ephrem (4th century).
St. Isaac lived in the second half of the 7th century. Born Syrian, he was an excellently educated and highly spiritual churchman. He lived as a hermit, but also in a monastery not far from the biblical city of Nineveh. For some time he was the bishop of Nineveh, and then he again returned to the monastic life and until his death labored, wrote and taught in the so-called Scythian desert, south of the Nitrian desert and west of the Nile delta, where he is to this day Deir Suriani monastery exists. He wrote many works in Syriac. He was canonized by both the Orthodox and pre-Chalkidonian churches.
The ascetic-mystic thoroughly explains St. Scripture, divine secrets, Christ’s judgment, spiritual guidance, describes and analyzes contemplation and prayer, the essence of monastic life, the state of righteousness and sinfulness, the means of self-improvement.
The text of the long, but very deep in content and poetic in language prayer is translated from Russian. Source: Azbuka.ru.
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