Phos Hilaron

55 Maxims

2011-11-18T01:21:00.001-05:00

by Fr Thomas Hopko

Be always with Christ, and trust God in everything.
Pray as you can, not as you think you must.
Have a keepable rule of prayer, done by discipline.
Say the Lord’s Prayer several times each day.
Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied.
Make some prostrations when you pray.
Eat good foods in moderation, and fast on fasting days.
Practice silence: inner, and outer.
Sit in silence 20 to 30 minutes each day.
Do acts of mercy in secret.
Go to liturgical services regularly.
Go to confession, and holy communion regularly.
Do not engage intrusive thoughts, and feelings.
Reveal your thoughts, and feelings to someone regularly.
Read the scriptures regularly.
Read good books, a little at a time.
Cultivate communion with the saints.
Be an ordinary person, one of the human race.
Be polite with everyone, first of all with family members.
Maintain cleanliness, and order in your home.
Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.
Exercise regularly.
Live a day, even a part of a day, at a time.
Be totally honest, first of all with yourself.
Be faithful in little things.
Do your work, then forget it.
Do the most difficult, and painful things first.
Face reality.
Be grateful.
Be cheerful.
Be simple, hidden, quiet, and small.
Never bring attention to yourself.
Listen when people talk to you.
Be awake, and attentive, fully present where you are.
Think, and talk about things no more than necessary.
Speak simply, clearly, firmly, directly.
Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out.
Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
Don’t complain, grumble, murmur, or whine.
Don’t seek, or expect pity, or praise.
Don’t compare yourself with anyone.
Don’t judge anyone for anything.
Don’t try to convince anyone of anything.
Don’t defend, or justify yourself.
Be defined, and bound by God, not by people.
Accept criticism gracefully, and test it carefully.
Give advice only when asked, or when it is your duty.
Do nothing for people that they can, and should, do for themselves.
Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim, and caprice.
Be merciful with yourself, and with others.
Have no expectations, except to be fiercely tempted until your last breath.
Focus exclusively on God, and light, and never on darkness, temptation, and sin.
Patiently endure your faults, and sins peacefully, under God’s mercy.
When you fall, get up immediately, and start over.
Get help when you need it, without fear, or shame.

Two readings

2011-11-18T01:03:00.001-05:00

From Daily Readings in Orthodox Spirituality (ed. P. Bouteneff, Templegate, 1996, 94 pp)

p 42 The Struggle and the Kingdom

Amma Theodora said, “Let us strive to enter through the narrow gate. Just as the trees, if they have not stood before the winter’s storms cannot bear fruit, so it is with us; the present age is a storm and it is only through many trials and temptations that we can obtain an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven.”

Amma Synclectica said, “Great endeavors and hard struggles await those who are converted, but afterwards inexpressible joy. If you want to light a fire, you are troubled at first by smoke, and your eyes water. But in the end you achieve your aim. Now it is written : ‘Our God is a consuming fire.’ So we must light the divine fire in us with tears and struggle.”

:: :: :: :: :: ::

p 43 Temptation and Humility

Abba Anthony said to Abba Poemen, “This is the great work of a man : always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.”

He also said, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” He even added, “Without temptations, no one can be saved.”

He also said, “I saw all the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, ‘What can get one through such snares?’ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Humility.’”

St John of Kronstadt

2011-05-04T00:59:00.000-04:00

We must not return anger for anger, pride for pride; those who are angry or proud towards us we must pity as overcome by the flames of hell, and by spiritual death; we must pray for them from the depths of our hearts, that the Lord may take away the darkness from them, enlighten them by the light of his grace.

From the Liturgy of St Basil the Great

2010-10-16T01:21:00.001-04:00

Remember, Lord, those who have brought You these gifts, and for whom and through whom and the intentions for which they were offered.

Remember, Lord, those who bear fruit and do good works in Your holy churches, and those who remember the poor. Reward them with Your rich and heavenly gifts. Grant them in return for earthly things, heavenly gifts; for temporal, eternal; for corruptible, incorruptible.

Remember, Lord, those who are in the deserts, on mountains, in caverns, and in the chambers of the earth. Remember, Lord, those living in chastity and godliness, in asceticism and holiness of life.

Remember, Lord, this country and all those in public service whom you have allowed to govern on earth. Grant them profound and lasting peace. Speak to their hearts good things concerning your Church and all your people that through the faithful conduct of their duties we may live peaceful and serene lives in all piety and holiness. Sustain the good in their goodness; make the wicked good through Your goodness.

Remember, Lord, the people here presented and those who are absent with good cause. Have mercy on them and on us according to the multitude of Your mercy. Fill their treasuries with every good thing; preserve their marriages in peace and harmony; nurture the infants; instruct the youth; strengthen the aged; give courage to the faint‑hearted; reunite those separated; bring back those in error and unite them to Your holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Free those who are held captive by unclean spirits; sail with those who sail; travel with those who travel; defend the widows; protect the orphans; liberate the captives; heal the sick.

Remember, Lord, those who are in mines, in exile, in harsh labor, and those in every kind of affliction, necessity, or distress; those who entreat your loving kindness; those who love us and those who hate us; those who have asked us to pray for them, unworthy though we may be.

Remember, Lord our God, all Your people, and pour out Your rich mercy upon them, granting them their petitions for salvation.

Remember, O God, all those whom we have not remembered through ignorance, forgetfulness or because of their multitude since You know the name and age of each, even from their mother's womb. For You, Lord, are the helper of the helpless, the hope of the hopeless, the savior of the afflicted, the haven of the voyager, and the physician of the sick.

Be all things to all, You who know each person, his requests, his household, and his need. Deliver this community and city, O Lord, and every city and town, from famine, plague, earthquake, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreign enemies, and civil war.

[ :: :: :: ]

Remember, Lord, the presbyters, the diaconate in Christ, and every order of the clergy, and do not confound any of us who stand about Your holy altar. Visit us with Your goodness, Lord; manifest Yourself to us through Your rich compassion. Grant us seasonable weather and fruitful seasons; send gentle showers upon the earth so that it may bear fruit; bless the crown of the year of Your goodness. Prevent schism in the Church; pacify the raging of the heathen. Quickly stop the uprisings of heresies by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Receive us all into Your kingdom.

Declare us to be sons and daughters of the light and of the day. Grant us Your peace and love, Lord our God, for You have given all things to us.

"Let us extol ..."

2010-10-11T19:11:00.001-04:00

Let us extol with heart and lips incessantly the most glorious divine mother, who is more holy than the holy angels, confessing that she is the Theotokos, for in truth she bare for us God Incarnate, and she prayeth ceaselessly for our souls.

Olivier Clément on the Theotokos

2010-10-08T04:26:00.000-04:00

She is the mother we no longer have, or never had; she is the consolation we have always sought from a woman — in vain, naturally, as a woman is also in need of consolation. She is already wholly in the Kingdom and is our help in reaching the other side. She is the ultimate synthesis, within a created person, of every tenderness and all beauty.

from O. Clément, Three Prayers: The Lord’s Prayer, O Heavenly King, Prayer of St Ephrem, trans. Michael Breck (SVS Press, 2000), p. 29

O Virgin Pure

2010-08-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

Rejoice, O peace and happiness, and cause of our rejoicing.
O sacred chamber of the Word, the flower of incorruption.
Rejoice, delightful Paradise of blessed life eternal.
Rejoice O sacred Tree of life, and fount of immortality.

O, rejoice, Bride Unwedded!

Vladimir Lossky

2010-02-06T10:08:00.001-05:00

If we reject the Trinity as the sole ground of all reality and of all thought, we are committed to a road that leads nowhere; we end in an aporia, in folly, in the disintegration of our being, in spiritual death. Between the Trinity and hell there lies no other choice.

V. Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (SVS Press, 1976), p. 66

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

2009-11-12T06:55:00.003-05:00

He died on the cross, and the operative words are the most tragic words of history: He, who is the Son of God, because he has accepted total, final, unreserved and unlimited solidarity with men in all their conditions, without participating in evil but accepting all its consequences; He, nailed on the cross, cries out the cry of forlorn humanity, 'My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?'

People who are keen on exegesis explain to us that at that point He was rehearsing a verse of a prophetic song. If you have seen anyone die a violent death you can't well imagine Him at the last moment rehearsing a prayer He had been taught when he was a little boy! Besides, it is an error of vision -- for it is prophecy that is turned towards its fulfilment, not fulfilment that is supposed to recite words of prophecy. No, it was something real. When Christ said 'My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me', he was crying out, shouting out the words of a humanity that had lost God, and he was participating in that very thing which is the only real tragedy of humanity -- all the rest is a consequence. The loss of God is death, is forlornness, is hunger, is separation. All the tragedy of man is in one word, 'Godlessness'. And He participates in our godlessness, not in the sense in which we reject God, but in a more tragic way, in a way in which one can lose what is the dearest, the holiest, the most precious, the very heart of one's life and soul.

:: :: :: :: ::

from God and Man (London: Darton, Longman & Todd), pp. 86 & 87

Prayers of Thanksgiving

2009-10-09T22:22:00.002-04:00

We, thy thankful and unworthy servants, praise and glorify thee, O Lord, for thy great benefits which we have received; we bless thee, we thank thee, we sing to thee and we magnify thy great goodness, and in lowliness and love we hymn thee : O Benefactor and Saviour, glory to thee.

We, unworthy recipients of thy benefits and gifts, as unprofitable servants dare to turn to thee, O Master, bringing thee thanks according to our powers, and glorifying and hymning thee, the Benefactor and Creator : glory to thee, O most bountiful God.

O Mother of God, help of Christians, we thy servants, having obtained thy protection, gratefully sing to thee : Hail, purest Virgin, Mother of God, our most speedy succour, ever deliver us by thy prayers from all evils.

Exaltation of the Honourable and Life-giving Cross

2009-09-14T06:32:00.001-04:00

We venerate the wood of thy Cross, O thou who lovest mankind, for upon it thou, the life of all, wast nailed. O Saviour, thou hast opened paradise to the thief who turned to thee in faith, and thou hast counted him worthy of blessedness when he confessed to thee crying, 'O Lord, remember me.' Accept us like him, as we cry : We have all sinned, in thy merciful kindness despise us not.

St Isaac the Syrian

2009-06-21T12:37:00.001-04:00

No one ascends to heaven with comfort.

(Quoted by Patriarch Bartholomew in his book Encountering the Mystery)

St Ephrem

2009-06-19T06:10:00.001-04:00

Immaculate and pure Virgin Mary, Mother of God, queen of the universe, you are above all the saints, the hope of the patriarchs and the joy of the saints.

Through you we have been reconciled with God. You are the only advocate of sinners and the safe refuge of those who sail the sea of life.

You are the consolation of the world, the ransom of captives, the joy of the sick, the comfort of the afflicted, the refuge and the salvation of the whole world.

A Prayer of St Basil the Great

2009-06-13T07:33:00.002-04:00

O Lord Almighty, God of Angelic hosts and of all flesh, that dwellest in the highest, and carest for the humble, that searchest the reins and the heart, and clearly discernest the hidden things of men, Light from eternity and ever-existent, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning : Do thou, O King immortal, receive our prayers which we, trusting in the multitude of thy mercies, offer to thee at this present time from our soiled lips; forgive us our transgressions which we have committed knowingly or unknowingly in thought or word or deed; and cleanse us from all stain of body or soul. Grant us to pass through all the night of this present life with vigilant heart and sober thought, in expectancy of the coming of the bright and manifest day of thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in which shall come with glory the Judgement of all men, when to each shall be given the reward of his works : may we not fall away into sloth, but take courage and, being roused to action, be found ready and enter into the joy and the divine bride-chamber of his glory, where the voice of those that feast is never silent, and the delight of those that behold the inexpressible beauty of thy countenance passeth all telling; for thou art the true Light that enlighteneth and sanctifieth every manner of thing, and thee doth every creature hymn. Amen.

A Prayer by St Antiokh

2009-06-10T18:16:00.003-04:00

O Almighty Lord, Word of the Father, Jesus Christ, who art thyself perfect, for thy great mercy's sake do thou never depart from me, thy servant, but ever abide in me. O Jesus, Good Shepherd of thy sheep, let me not fall into the disobedience of the serpent, nor leave me to the will of Satan, for the seed of corruption is in me. Do thou, therefore, O Lord God whom we worship, O Holy King Jesus, preserve me while I sleep with thy unchanging light, thy Holy Spirit, wherewith thou didst sanctify thy disciples. Grant, O Lord, even to me, thy unworthy servant, thy salvation upon my bed; enlighten my mind with the light of the understanding of thy holy Gospel, my soul with the love of thy Cross, my heart with the purity of thy Word, my body with thy passionless passion; preserve my thought in thy humility, and rouse me at the fit time to glorify thee. For thou art glorified above all, with thy Eternal Father and with the most Holy Spirit for evermore. Amen.

Staretz Silouan of Mount Athos

2009-06-08T12:40:00.001-04:00

It is one thing to speak of God; it is quite another thing to know God.

Points to Remember

2009-06-06T20:21:00.003-04:00

(from Archbishop Paul of Finland's The Faith We Hold, p. 90)

When you pray you meet the holy God in person.

In order to succeed in your life of prayer, try sincerely to make your conscience clear in relation to God, your neighbour and earthly possessions.

Nevertheless, do not hesitate to approach God in prayer, however bad you feel yourself to be; all our sins are but a drop compared to the ocean of God's love.

Our Inmost Self

2009-06-05T08:34:00.002-04:00

It is just as impossible for a man to prevent thoughts as it is to stop the wind by spreading one's cloak. That is what an elder told his disciple. Nevertheless there is something essential that can be done. The elder explained it in the following parable: "You are walking along a road and come to a place where there is a restaurant. Enticing odors of food come from the restaurant. But still it rests with you whether you go in and have a meal or pass by." By enticing odors the elder meant involuntary bad thoughts that enter our consciousness. We can stop to examine them: then we "go in"; in other words, we take a liking to them and admit them into our hearts. Thus we have already sinned in our thoughts and hearts. But we can also "pass by," in which case the evil thought or image that passed our consciousness is not considered a sin.

Archbishop PAUL of Finland, The Faith We Hold (SVS Press, 1980), p. 68

After Holy Communion

2009-05-31T15:57:00.002-04:00

Freely Thou hast given me Thy Body for my food, O Thou who art a fire consuming the unworthy. Consume me not, O my Creator, but instead enter my members, my veins, my heart. Consume the thorns of my transgressions. Cleanse my soul and sanctify my reasonings ...

Show me to be a temple of Thy One Spirit, and not the home of many sins. May every evil thing, every carnal passion, flee from me as from a fire as I become Thy tabernacle through Communion ...

Prayer before Holy Communion

2009-05-19T13:58:00.002-04:00

I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who camest into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first. I believe also that this is truly Thine own most pure Body, and that this is truly Thine own precious Blood. Therefore I pray Thee: have mercy upon me and forgive my transgressions both voluntary and involuntary, of word and deed, committed in knowledge or in ignorance. And make me worthy to partake without condemnation of Thy most pure Mysteries, for the remission of my sins, and unto life everlasting.

Of Thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant; for I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies, neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss; but like the thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.

May the communion of Thy holy Mysteries be neither to my judgment, nor to my condemnation, O Lord, but to the healing of soul and body.

Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity, by St Basil the Great

2009-05-06T16:00:00.002-04:00

Arising from sleep I thank thee, O Holy Trinity, that, for the sake of thy great kindness and long-suffering, thou hast not had indignation against me, for I am slothful and sinful, neither hast thou destroyed me in my transgressions : but thou hast shown thy customary love towards man, and hast raised me up as I lay in heedlessness, that I might sing my morning hymn and glorify thy sovranty. Do thou now enlighten the eyes of my understanding, open my ears to receive thy words and teach me thy commandments. Help me to do thy will, to hymn thee, to confess thee from my heart, and to extol thine All-holy name, of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, now and for ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Wisdom 15:1-3

2009-04-27T18:23:00.000-04:00

But thou, O God, art gracious and true, longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things,

For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy power: but we will not sin, knowing that we are counted thine.

For to know thee is perfect righteousness: yea, to know thy power is the root of immortality.

Olivier Clément

2009-04-22T18:40:00.002-04:00

We need to discover our own finiteness, and at the same time our longing for the infinite, that we are not self-sufficient, that we have not the source of joy within ourselves, that at every moment we must receive ourselves at the Gospel's merciful hand -- and this word "Gospel" resounds with all the depth of the Unknowable and the wonderful trust of the child discovering his origin. In the Gospel the very root of sin is the pretense that we can save ourselves by our own effort, that we can find security in ourselves and one another. This was the condition the Pharisees had been brought to in the end by their strict keeping of the law. To save ourselves we must give up all security, any notion of being self-sufficient; we must look at the world with wonder, gratefully receiving it anew, with its mysterious promise of the infinite. Everything -- the world, history, other people and myself -- can be a source of revelation, because through everything we can discern, like a watermark, the face of the Risen Christ, the Friend who secretly shares with each of us the bread of affliction and the wine of mirth. To this paradox, that the Inaccessible has allowed himself to be crucified for us to reveal that "God is love," our only response can be one of humility and trust, tearing ourselves away from all that holds us back, in our desire to worship, even in the midst of our suffering. The publicans and harlots enter the Kingdom before the just because they are well aware that they cannot save themselves; knowing the wretchedness of their condition, they are open to the Love that has come within their reach. [...] It is the consciousness of a desire that cannot be satisfied, the inner emptiness crying out to be filled with it knows not what. "The hearts of human beings," says Nicolas Cabasilas, "were made great enough to contain God himself." If they do not contain the Uncreated they will turn their desire toward created objects, and then only nothingness can spring forth, for every person is a gaping space waiting to be filled with God.

(from On Human Being)

St John Chrysostom

2009-04-15T20:44:00.000-04:00

As long as we remain sheep, we overcome. Even though we may be surrounded by a thousand wolves, we overcome and are victorious. But as soon as we are wolves, we are beaten: for then we lose the support from the Shepherd who feeds not wolves, but only sheep.

(from Homily 34 on St Matthew)

St Ephrem the Syrian

2009-03-06T15:41:00.002-05:00

Woe is me, a sinner! For because of my weakness I have become defiled, and ever do I defile the purity of my heart. Apathy and slothfulness have shamed the boldness of my heart. Evil desire commands me, like a master commands his slave, and I, like a child, immediately obey with fear. It leads me into sin and this gladdens me.

Woe is me, O Lord! Your grace draws me toward life, but I instead prefer death. You take pains that I might become as honorable as the angels; but I, in my depravity, debase myself. My sins have multiplied, O Lord, and ceaselessly do they multiply and there is no limit to their multitude.

And who will mourn for me or pray for me? Do you, O my Savior, yourself condescend to have mercy on me through your grace and regard me who despair with compassion! For how will I pray to you, O Master, when my mouth is filled with vile words? Or how will I sing praises to you, when my conscience is defiled? Or how will I love you, when I am filled with passions? Or how will truth dwell in me, when I have cursed myself with lies? Or how will I call upon you, when I have not kept your commandments?

Prayer for the Departed

2009-01-24T06:58:00.002-05:00

With the souls of the righteous dead, give rest, O Saviour, to the soul of thy servant N., preserving him unto the life of blessedness which is with thee, O Thou who lovest mankind.

In the place of thy rest, O Lord, where all thy Saints repose, give rest also to the soul of thy servant N., for thou alone lovest mankind.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

Thou art the God who didst descend into hell and loose the bonds of the captives. Do thou give rest also to the soul of thy servant N.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

O Virgin, alone pure and undefiled, who without seed didst bring forth God, pray thou that his soul may be saved.

With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of thy servant N., where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.

Prayer

2009-01-19T16:24:00.002-05:00

O Lord,
when we consider what we are
and remember our mistakes,
then, conscious of our misdeeds,
our thoughts turn
to your terrible day of judgement;
our assurance of a favourable verdict
lies in our one and only refuge
who loves all mankind;
and so it is right
that we pray you now
to grant us
the great gift of your merciful forbearance.

Through the grace, mercy
and all-embracing love
of your only-begotten Son,
to whom with you
and your holy and life-giving Spirit
be all blessing,
now and for ever,
to the ages of ages. Amen.

St Leontius of Cyprus

2009-01-17T16:44:00.002-05:00

Through heaven and earth and sea, through wood and stone, through all creation visible and invisible, I offer veneration to the Creator and Master and Maker of all things. For the creation does not venerate the Maker directly and by itself, but it is through me that the heavens declare the glory of God, through me the moon worships God, through me the stars glorify him, through me the waters and showers of rain, the dews and all creation, venerate God and give him glory.

:: :: :: :: ::

(Quoted by Bishop Kallistos Ware in The Orthodox Way, SVS Press, 1995, with the comment that "man is priest of the creation through his power to give thanks and to offer the creation back to God"; op. cit., p. 54)

Prayer at the Beginning of the Day

2009-01-11T07:29:00.002-05:00

(by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, d. 1867)

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon thy holy will. In every hour of the day reveal thy will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with firm conviction that thy will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events let me not forget that all are sent by thee. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray thou thyself in me. Amen.

Paul Evdokimov

2008-11-30T19:21:00.001-05:00

In the catacombs, the most frequent image is the figure of a woman in prayer, the Orans; she represents the one true attitude of the human soul. It is not enough to say prayers; one must become, be prayer, prayer incarnate. It is not enough to have moments of praise. All of life, each act, every gesture, even the smile of the human face, must become a hymn of adoration, an offering, a prayer. One should not offer what one has, but what one is. ... It translates the message of the Gospel : khaíre, "rejoice and be glad," "let everything that has breath praise the Lord." This is the astonishing lightening of the weight of the world, when man's own heaviness vanishes.

Via Daily Readings in Orthodox Spirituality, ed. P. Bouteneff (Templegate Publishers, 1996), p. 55. Originally appeared in The Sacrament of Love (SVS Press, 1985), pp. 61-63.

Paul Evdokimov

2008-11-30T19:12:00.001-05:00

Eve is called "mother of all the living," but the author of Genesis who, in his prophetic clear-sightedness assigned this name, envisioned infinitely more than a mere biological continuation, more than a "seal of grace promised," more than the prospect that from such a race, would arise "the queen arrayed in gold of Ophir" (Ps 45:10). Our biological conformity to the life of our species reflects our spiritual conformity to eternal life. The second Eve was proclaimed "God-bearer" (Theotokos) by the Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus, 431). The one who gives birth to the Eternal God, the one who gives human life to the Ever-Living One, is herself immortalized. It is in this magnificent sense that Eve is called Life (Gen 3:20). Now we can understand why it is the woman who received the message of salvation. The message of the Annunciation is addressed to a woman; the risen Christ appears first to a woman, and it is "the woman robed with the sun" (Rev 12:1) who represents the New Jerusalem. Scripture exalts woman as the religious element of human nature. Woman is the mouth of humanity through with the humble "Be it done unto me" (fiat) of the servant of God replied to the creative fiat ("Let it be done") of the heavenly Father. Woman is this free "Amen" of all humanity which, in the work of the Incarnation, becomes the indispensable human foundation.

Paul Evdokimov, Woman and the Salvation of the World : A Christian Anthropology on the Charisms of Women, trans. A. P. Gythiel (St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1994), pp. 155-6.

Paul Evdokimov

2008-11-20T00:34:00.000-05:00

From his book Woman and the Salvation of the World (St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1994), pp. 223-5

To woman belongs the task of correcting the masculine zeal that blunders so frequently, deeper and deeper, into a profanation of the mysteries, to the detriment of the spiritual values.

:: :: ::

In the Kontakion of the Annunciation, the Virgin is called the "victorious leader of triumphant hosts" -- not as a woman warrior but as one who is, by nature, deadly to demons and invincible by her triumphant purity. She has the power to bruise the head of the serpent, but not by her deeds (the domain of the masculine). It is through her very being that "in her invincible power, she keeps us free from every peril."

:: :: ::

The fact that a woman gave birth to God shows the power of every woman, when she is indeed a "new creation," to bring forth God in devastated souls.

:: :: ::

Salvation will come only from holiness; but in the conditions of actual life, sanctity is more at home to woman. The Virgin "treasured up all these things in her heart" (Lk 2:51); every woman holds an innate intimacy, almost a complicity, with the tradition, with the continuity of life. In God, existence coincides with essence. In holiness, a woman is more apt to come close to this relationship of essence and existence through the power of humility, since "humility is the art of finding oneself exactly at one's place." In contrast to all egalitarianism and all demands, this is the most natural resplendence of her charismatic state. This is the ministry of the Paraclete, the grace of consolation and of joy, which presupposes a feminine being as a mother for whom each being is a child. The world will be saved by Beauty -- not just any beauty, but that of the Holy Spirit, that of the woman "robed with the sun."

Paul Evdokimov

2008-11-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

In the immense cathedral which is the universe of God, each man, whether scholar or manual laborer, is called to act as the priest of his whole life -- to take all that is human, and to turn it into an offering and a hymn of glory.

(Quoted by Bishop Kallistos Ware in The Orthodox Way, SVS Press, 1995, p. 65)

A Prayer of St Basil the Great

2008-10-24T16:04:00.005-04:00

O Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, our God, the well of life and immortality, the Maker of every thing visible and invisible, the co-eternal and co-everlasting Son of the everlasting Father, who for the abundance of his goodness, in these latter days, didst put on flesh and wast crucified and buried for us unthankful and ungracious men, and hast by thy own blood renewed our nature corrupted by sin: do thou, O immortal King, accept the repentance of me, a sinner, and incline thine ear to me, and hearken to my words: for I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned before heaven and before thy face, and I am not worthy to gaze upon the height of thy glory; for I have provoked thy goodness, I have transgressed thy commandments, I have not obeyed thy ordinances. But thou, O Lord, since thou rememberest not evil, but art long-suffering and of great mercy, hast not given me to destruction for my lawlessnesses, but hast ever awaited my conversion. For, O thou that lovest all men, thou hast said by thy Prophet, I desire not the death of a sinner, but that he may turn and live; because thou dost not wish, O Master, that the work of thine hands should perish, neither dost thou take pleasure in the destruction of men, but thou desirest that all men should be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. Wherefore even I, although I am unworthy both of heaven and of earth, and of this temporary life, having wholly yielded myself to sin, and become the slave of pleasures, and defiled thine image, yet being thy creature and of thy shaping, I despair not of my salvation in my wretchedness; but, emboldened by thine infinite compassion, I draw nigh. Receive, therefore, O Christ who lovest all men, even me, as the Harlot, as the Thief, as the Publican, as the Prodigal; and take away the heavy burden of my sins, O thou that takest away the sin of the world, and healest the infirmities of men, and dost call to thyself and give rest to those who are weary and heavy-laden; who camest not to call the just, but sinners to repentance: cleanse me from every stain of flesh and spirit; teach me to fulfil holiness in thy fear; that having the witness of my conscience clean, and receiving my share of thy hallowed things, I may be united to thy holy Body and Blood, and may have thee to dwell and abide in me, with the Father and thy Holy Spirit. Yea, O Lord Jesus Christ, my God, may the partaking of thy most pure and life-giving Mysteries not bring me into judgement, nor may I become weak in soul and body by reason of unworthily partaking thereof: but grant me, even unto my last breath uncondemned to receive my share of thy hallowed things, and thereby to receive participation of the Holy Ghost, provision for the journey of eternal life, and an acceptable answer at thy dread judgement-seat; that I, together with all thine elect, may also be a partaker of the spotless good things which thou hast prepared for those that love thee, O Lord, among whom thou abidest and art glorified for evermore. Amen.

Flowers for God

2008-10-19T13:43:00.000-04:00

by Fr Sergei Fudel (1901-77), married Russian Orthodox priest, bearer of light and love for the Church during and beyond his years in prison and exile at the hands of the Communist régime

People who believe in God in their own way, yet do not believe in the Church, often say, "Does God really need all this ritual? Why do we have to have all these formalities? We only need love, beauty, and humaneness." A man, on his way to the woman he loves, seeing flowers, buys them or picks them and brings them to her, never stopping to think whether this is a formality or not. Yet this is the very concept of church ritual.

Love for God gives birth to the beauty and humanity of the ritual, which we lay, like flowers, at the feet of God. Faith is love, and the essence of Christianity is to be in love with God and to feel that the Church is His body which has remained with us and lives with us on earth. This feeling expresses itself in actions which we call ritual.

However, if only external and dead action remains, then such action will be sterile and self-deceptive, not only in Christianity but in any sphere of human life, even in science. This truth should be clear to everyone.

Formalism and sanctimoniousness is not Christianity. Each one of us has to move along this long and narrow way from non-Christianity to Christianity, from artificial flowers to live ones.

To thee, O Mother of God ...

2008-10-16T12:34:00.002-04:00

To thee, O Mother of God, victorious leader of triumphant hosts, we, thy servants, delivered from evil, sing our grateful thanks: but since thou possessest invincible might, set us free from every calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Hail, O Bride Unwedded.

Most glorious ever-virgin Mother of Christ our God, bring our prayer unto thy Son and our God, that by thee he may save our souls.

All my hope I lay upon thee, Divine Mother, preserve me beneath thy protection.

O Virgin Mother of God, despise me not, a sinner, who seek thy help and thy intercession; for in thee hath my soul hoped; have mercy upon me.

On the Mother of God

2008-10-11T09:58:00.001-04:00

by Jacob of Serug (451-522)

O cloud of mercy, which is full of hope for all the world, all the earth which had been ravaged was pacified by it.

O ship of riches in which the Father's treasury was sent to the poor in a needy place and it enriched them!

O field, which without a ploughman yielded a sheaf of life, and all creation that had been needy was satiated by it.

O virginal vine, which though not pruned gave a cluster, behold by whose wine creation, which was mourning, rejoices.

Daughter of poor ones, who was mother to the only rich One, behold whose treasures are lavished on mendicants to enrich them!

From the Syrian Orthodox Church

2008-10-07T14:32:00.001-04:00

Open to us, Lord, your great door; O Fountain of all mercy, hear our prayer and save our souls. Shine upon me, Lord, and I shall be light like the day; I will sing your praise in light while I marvel; may the morning awaken me to the praise of your Godhead and I will pursue the study of your word all the day long. With the day may your light shine on our thoughts and may it drive away the shadows of error from our souls. The creation is full of light, give light also to our hearts that they may praise you with the day and the night.

(via The Oxford Book of Prayer, ed. George Appleton)

"Just flood into my parched soul, my Life and my Salvation"

2008-08-27T16:35:00.002-04:00

Prayers by the lake by (Orthodox) St Nikolai of Zicha.

John Betjeman

2008-07-25T20:29:00.002-04:00

The domed interior swallows up the day.
Here, where to light a candle is to pray,
The candle flame shows up the almond eyes
Of local saints who view with no surprise
Their martyrdoms depicted upon walls
On which the filtered daylight faintly falls.
The flame shows up the cracked paint -- sea-green blue
And red and gold, with grained wood showing through --
Of much kissed ikons, dating from, perhaps,
The fourteenth century ...
Thus vigorously does the old tree grow,
By persecution pruned, watered with blood,
Its living roots deep in pre-Christian mud.
It needs no bureaucratical protection.
It is its own perpetual resurrection.

Prayers for our Enemies

2008-07-17T12:16:00.002-04:00

Thou who didst pray for them that crucified thee, O Lord, Lover of the souls of men, and who didst command thy servants to pray for their enemies, forgive those who hate and maltreat us, and turn our lives from all harm and evil to brotherly love and good works: for this we humbly bring our prayer, that with one accord and one heart we may glorify thee who alone lovest mankind.

As thy first martyr Stephen prayed to thee for his murderers, O Lord, so we fall before thee and pray: forgive all who hate and maltreat us and let not one of them perish because of us, but all be saved by thy grace, O God the all-bountiful.

St John Chrysostom

2008-07-17T12:14:00.001-04:00

He who is seated upon the cherubim washed the traitor's feet, and do you, O man, who are but earth and ashes, and cinders, and dust, magnify yourself and act arrogantly?

Prayer for All the Deceased

2008-05-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

By Thy resurrection from the dead, O Christ, death no longer hath dominion over those who die in holiness. So, we beseech Thee, give rest to Thy servants in Thy sanctuary and in Abraham's bosom. Grant it to those, who from Adam until now have adored Thee with purity, to our fathers and brothers, to our kinsmen and friends, to all men who have lived by faith and passed on their road to Thee, by a thousand ways, and in all conditions, and make them worthy of the heavenly kingdom.

Wisdom 7:7 - 8:1

2008-04-12T19:43:00.002-04:00

7: Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

8: I preferred her before sceptres and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her.

9: Neither compared I unto her any precious stone, because all gold in respect of her is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before her.

10: I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her instead of light: for the light that cometh from her never goeth out.

11: All good things together came to me with her, and innumerable riches in her hands.

12: And I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom goeth before them: and I knew not that she was the mother of them.

13: I learned diligently, and do communicate her liberally: I do not hide her riches.

14: For she is a treasure unto men that never faileth: which they that use become the friends of God, being commended for the gifts that come from learning.

15: God hath granted me to speak as I would, and to conceive as is meet for the things that are given me: because it is he that leadeth unto wisdom, and directeth the wise.

16: For in his hand are both we and our words; all wisdom also, and knowledge of workmanship.

17: For he hath given me certain knowledge of the things that are, namely, to know how the world was made, and the operation of the elements:

18: The beginning, ending, and midst of the times: the alterations of the turning of the sun, and the change of seasons:

19: The circuits of years, and the positions of stars:

20: The natures of living creatures, and the furies of wild beasts: the violence of winds, and the reasonings of men: the diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:

21: And all such things as are either secret or manifest, them I know.

22: For wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in her is an understanding spirit holy, one only, manifold, subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good,

23: Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most subtil, spirits.

24: For wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness.

25: For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into her.

26: For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.

27: And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets.

28: For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom.

29: For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it.

30: For after this cometh night: but vice shall not prevail against wisdom.

1: Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things.

St Ephrem the Syrian

2008-04-09T15:58:00.002-04:00

Lo, I try to gather my thoughts from every corner, but I am unsuccessful, for the things responsible for the passions of my thoughts remain in me. I have not yet been freed from the influence of the evil spirits that will detain me on my upward path toward heaven. I have not yet acknowledged the weight of the multitude of my sins. Those who have plunged me into sin now bear fruit in the flesh of my body.

How long shall I who am wretched continue to become intoxicated in the absence of wine, and neglect my self as if it were alien to me? Like a wicked servant who concocts plots to harm his master, so do I scheme to undermine my own salvation, as if someone else were to suffer the injury my actions produce. I do not want to be vigilant; daily do I offend your great patience. My wickedness stands before mine eyes. Yet you will be patient with me according to your kindness.

Grant me, O Lord, the remedy of conversion, that I might be healed of all the evil that is in me. Grant that I might enter the realm of restraint. Grant that I might spend all the days of my life in contrition of heart. Enlighten the clouded eyes of my mind, that I might rush zealously to embark on the path that leads to your vineyard.

The time of my life has run low, spent in vain cares and shameful thoughts. My life has come upon the eleventh hour. O Lord, steer my ship with its cargo and grant understanding to this powerless merchant, that I might complete my purchase while I still have time. For the hour of departure has arrived -- it already looms before my eyes -- and I took fright exceedingly when I saw my poverty.

From the Homilies of St Macarius

2008-04-05T07:50:00.002-04:00

To all souls that love God, to all true Christians, there shall come a first month of the year, as the month of April, a day of resurrection.

An Invocation to the Holy Spirit

2008-03-24T16:46:00.002-04:00

Come, true light.

Come, life eternal.

Come, hidden mystery.

Come, treasure without name.

Come, reality beyond all words.

Come, person beyond all understanding.

Come, rejoicing without end.

Come, light that knows no evening.

Come, unfailing expectation of the saved.

Come, raising of the fallen.

Come, resurrection of the dead.

Come, all-powerful, for unceasingly you create, refashion and change all things by your will alone.

Come, invisible whom none may touch and handle.

Come, for you continue always unmoved, yet at every instant you are wholly in movement; you draw near to us who lie in hell, yet you remain higher than the heavens.

Come, for your name fills our hearts with longing and is ever on our lips; yet who you are and what your nature is, we cannot say or know.

Come, Alone to the alone.

Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me.

Come, my breath and my life.

Come, the consolation of my humble soul.

Come, my joy, my glory, my endless delight.

-- St Symeon the New Theologian

Theophilus of Antioch

2008-03-15T16:01:00.002-04:00

The form of God is ineffable and indescribable, and cannot be seen with eyes of flesh. He is in glory uncontainable, in greatness incomprehensible, in loftiness inconceivable, in strength incomparable, in wisdom inaccessible, in love inimitable, in beneficence inexpressible.

Just as the soul in a man is not seen, since it is invisible to men, but we know of its existence through the movements of the body, so God cannot be seen by human eyes, but he is seen and known through his providence and his works.

St Gregory of Nyssa

2008-03-14T20:13:00.000-04:00

God's name is not known; it is wondered at.

Prayer

2008-03-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

In the morning are we filled with Your mercy, O Lord, and we rejoice and delight in all of our days. Let us delight therefore even in the days that you make us lowly and for the years that we have seen evils. And look upon Your servants and upon Your works and lead their sons aright. And let the light of the Lord our God be upon us, and the works of our hands may You guide aright. Yea, the works of our hands may You guide aright.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

You are more holy than all the Powers of Heaven, More honored than all, you are our foundation, O Theotokos, Mistress of the World. Entreat the Savior to save us from the multitude of stumbling blocks and rescue from danger those who pray to you, as you are the good one.

It is good to give praise to the Lord and to chant Your name O Exulted One. To proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your truth in the night!

Orthodox hymnody

2008-03-05T19:33:00.002-05:00

[For the Sunday of the Last Judgment. Via Mere Comments.]

Thy judgement is without respect of persons; no cunning argument or skill in eloquence can deceive Thy judgement-seat; false witnesses cannot pervert Thy sentence. For in Thy sight, O God, every secret stands revealed.

Alas, black soul! How long wilt thou continue in evil? How long wilt thou lie in idleness? Why dost thou not think of the fearful hour of death? Why dost thou not tremble at the dread judgement-seat of the Saviour? What defence wilt thou make, or what wilt thou answer? Thy works will be there to accuse thee; thine actions will reproach thee and condemn thee. O my soul, the time is near at hand; make haste before it is too late, and cry aloud in faith: I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned against Thee; but I know Thy love for man and Thy compassion. O Good Shepherd, deprive me not of a place at Thy right hand in Thy great mercy.

Daily Confession of Sins

2008-02-20T16:00:00.000-05:00

I confess to Thee, my Lord, God and Creator, to the One glorified and worshipped in Holy Trinity, to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all my sins which I have committed all the days of my life, at every hour, in the present and in the past, day and night, in thought, word and deed; by gluttony, drunkenness, secret eating, idle talking, despondency, indolence, contradiction, neglect, aggressiveness, self love, hoarding, stealing, lying, dishonesty, curiosity, jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, and remembering wrongs, hatred, mercenariness; and by all my senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch; and all other sins, spiritual and bodily, through which I have angered Thee, my God and Creator, and caused injustice to my neighbours. Sorrowing for this, but determined to repent, I stand guilty before Thee, my God. Only help me, my Lord and God, I humbly pray Thee with tears. Forgive my past sins by Thy mercy, and absolve me from all I have confessed in Thy presence, for Thou art good and the Lover of men. Amen.

St Andrew of Crete (+740)

2008-02-18T19:04:00.001-05:00

I persist in caring only for my outer garment, while neglecting the temple within -- one made in the image and likeness of God.

Through love of pleasure has my form become deformed and the beauty of my inward being been ruined.

A woman will search her house for one lost coin until she finds it. But in me has been lost the beauty of my original image, buried in the passions. Come now, O Savior, search to recover it.

Like the sinful woman I will cry to Thee, O Savior, "I have sinned." I alone have sinned against Thee! Accept my tears as once [Thou didst] hers when she came to anoint [Thy] feet.

Like the Publican I will cry to Thee : "Have pity on me, O Savior." Have pity on me, for among the children of Adam none has sinned more than I!

I have no tears, no change of heart, no remorse -- O my God and Savior, grant these to me!

O Lover of mankind, whose wish it is that all be saved, in Thy goodness receive me as I return to Thee.

Give ears to the groaning of my soul, and accept the tears that fall from mine eyes, O Savior, and save me.

Prayer

2008-02-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

You are more holy than all the Powers of Heaven, More honored than all, you are our foundation, O Theotokos, Mistress of the World. Entreat the Savior to save us from the multitude of stumbling blocks and rescue from danger those who pray to you, as you are the good one.

St Ephrem the Syrian

2008-01-26T20:53:00.000-05:00

O Lord, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and acquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.

Grant instead to me your servant the spirit of purity and humility, the spirit of patience and neighborly love.

O Lord and King, bestow upon me the grace of being aware of my own sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brothers and sisters.

For You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

O God, be gracious to me a sinner, and have mercy on me.

Yes, O Lord and King, bestow upon me the grace of being aware of my own sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brothers and sisters.

Prayer of St John of Damascus

2008-01-22T00:11:00.000-05:00

(To be said pointing at the bed.)

O Lord, Lover of men, is this bed to be my coffin, or wilt Thou enlighten my wretched soul with another day? Here the coffin lies before me, and here death confronts me. I fear, O Lord, Thy Judgment and the endless torments, yet I cease not to do evil. My Lord God, I continually anger Thee, and Thy immaculate Mother, and all the Heavenly Powers, and my holy Guardian Angel. I know, O Lord, that I am unworthy of Thy love, but deserve condemnation and every torment. But, whether I want it or not, save me, O Lord. For to save a good man is no great thing, and to have mercy on the pure is nothing wonderful, for they are worthy of Thy mercy. But show the wonder of Thy mercy on me, a sinner. In this reveal Thy love for men, lest my wickedness prevail over Thy unutterable goodness and mercy. And order my life as Thou wilt.

(As sleep is the image of death, at night we pray for the departed.)

With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy servants where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing, but life everlasting.

(When about to lie down in bed, say:)

Lighten my eyes, O Christ God, lest I sleep in death, and lest my enemy say: I have prevailed over him.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Be my soul's Defender, O God, for I step over many snares. Deliver me from them and save me, O Good One, in Thy love for men.

Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Let us not silently hymn the most glorious Mother of God, holiest of holy Angels, but confess her with heart and mouth to be the Mother of God, for she truly bore God incarnate for us, and prays without ceasing for our souls. Amen.

St Symeon the New Theologian

2008-01-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

You, O Christ, are the kingdom of Heaven; You the land promised to the gentle; You the grazing-lands of paradise; You the hall of the celestial banquet; You the ineffable marriage-chamber; You the table set for all; You the bread of life; You the unheard-of drink; You both the urn for the water and the life-giving water; You moreover the inextinguishable lamp for each of the saints; You the garment and the crown and the One who distributes the crowns; You the joy and the rest; You the delight and the glory; You the gaiety and the mirth; and Your grace, grace of the Spirit of all sanctity, will shine like the sun in all the saints; and You, inaccessible sun, will shine in their midst and all will shine brightly to the degree of their faith, their asceticism, their hope and their love, their purification and their illumination by Your Spirit.

St Isaac of Syria

2008-01-07T00:16:00.000-05:00

Do not fall into despair because of your stumblings.

I do not mean that you should not feel pain because of them, but that you should not consider them incurable.

For it is better to be wounded than dead.

There is indeed a healer : he who on the cross asked for mercy on those who were crucifying him, who pardoned murderers as he hung on the cross.

Christ came on behalf of sinners, to heal the broken-hearted and to bind up their wounds.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he says; for that reason he has anointed me in order to proclaim good tidings to the poor. 'He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind' [Lk 4.18], and to strengthen the bruised by forgiveness.

And the Apostle says in his Letter, 'Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners' [1 Tm 1.15]. And his Lord also testifies, 'I am not come to call the righteous, for they who are in good health have no need of a doctor; only those who are sick' [Mk 2.17].

Theodotus, bishop of Ancyra (d. 445)

2008-01-04T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with you!

Hail, O longed-for object of our delight!

Hail, O source of the Church's rejoicing!

Hail, O name redolent of fragrance!

Hail, O countenance radiant with God and aglow with beauty!

Hail, O repository of everything revered!

Hail, O soft fleece, health-giving and spiritual!

Hail, O fairest mother of dawning light!

Hail, O unblemished mother of holiness!

Hail, O gushing spring of living water!

Hail, O bright new mother, shaper of the new birth!

Hail, O mother inexplicable and full of mystery!

Hail, O alabaster vase of the ointment of sanctification!

Hail, you who show the value of virginity!

Hail, O little space that held within it Him whom the world cannot contain!

Ethiopian salutations to Mary

2008-01-04T22:18:00.000-05:00

Salutation unto the memorial of thy name, O thou who dost resemble a star that is seen by thy people, even when dark clouds have enveloped the light thereof ...

Salutation unto thy face, O lowly and glorious face, the splendour of which is sweeter than the splendour of the sun and the moon ...

Salutation unto thy cheeks, which are like unto roses and pomegranates, the languor thereof is fire and the tears thereof are mingled with flame; by thy covenant, O Mary, lift thou me up into the field of delight ...

Salutation unto thy mouth, the mouth of abundant blessing and the holy gate, the book. I have taken refuge, O Mary, in thy covenant, which hath been accepted; therefore let me not be put to shame ...

Salutation unto thy voice, which returned speech unto the word of the angel of mystery, Gabriel, whose apparel shone with splendour. O Mary, thou holy woman of God, the place of his power. Hail! Hail!

Salutation unto the departure of thy body into the house of life, and the making thereof anew ... I entreat thee to redeem my soul by thy covenant, and let my wounds be anointed ...

Salutation unto thee, O thou covenant of mercy, thou gold which comprehendeth all riches; thou art the storehouse of him that is poor and needy. O Mary, bestow a portion of thy blessings and make supplications unto thy good son on our behalf.

Prayers of St John Chrysostom

2008-01-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

(1) O Lord, deprive me not of thy heavenly blessings.

(2) O Lord, deliver me from eternal torments.

(3) O Lord, if I have sinned in mind or thought, in word or deed, forgive me.

(4) O Lord, deliver me from every ignorance and heedlessness, from littleness of soul and stony hardness of heart.

(5) O Lord, deliver me from every temptation.

(6) O Lord, enlighten my heart which evil desire hath darkened.

(7) O Lord, I, being man, have sinned: do thou, being God, in lovingkindness forgive me, for thou knowest the weakness of my soul.

(8) O Lord, send down thy grace to help me, that I may glorify thy holy Name.

(9) O Lord Jesus Christ, enrol me, thy servant, in the book of life, and grant me a blessed end.

(10) O Lord my God, even if I have done nothing good in thy sight, yet grant me, according to thy grace, to make a beginning of good.

(11) O Lord, sprinkle on my heart the dew of thy grace.

(12) O Lord of heaven and earth, remember me, thy sinful servant, cold of heart and impure, in thy Kingdom.

(13) O Lord, receive me in repentance.

(14) O Lord, leave me not.

(15) O Lord, lead me not into temptation.

(16) O Lord, grant me thought of good.

(17) O Lord, grant me tears, a remembrance of death, and a sense of peace.

(18) O Lord, grant me mindfulness to confess my sins.

(19) O Lord, grant me humility, charity, and obedience.

(20) O Lord, grant me endurance, magnanimity, and gentleness.

(21) O Lord, plant in me the root of all blessings, the fear of thee in my heart.

(22) O Lord, vouchsafe that I may love thee with all my heart and soul and in all things obey thy will.

(23) O Lord, shield me from evil men and devils and passions and all other unlawful things.

(24) O Lord, who knowest thy creation and what thou hast willed for it; may thy will also be fulfilled in me a sinner; for thou art blessed for evermore. Amen.

Compline prayer

2007-12-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

Grant us, Master, as we depart for sleep, rest for body and soul. Protect us from the gloom of sinful sleep and from all dark pleasures of the night. Calm the impulses of passion, and quench the fiery darts of evil which are treacherously cast against us. Check the turbulence of our flesh and lull all our earthly and mundane thoughts. Grant us, O God, a watchful mind, prudent reason, a vigilant heart and tranquil sleep, free from all evil dreams. Raise us up at the hour of prayer, strengthen us in your commandments, and keep unshaken within us the remembrance of your judgments. Grant us to glorify you all night long that we may praise and bless and glorify your all honorable and magnificent name, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Most glorious, ever virgin, blessed Theotokos, present our prayers to your Son and our God, and plead with him, that through you he may save our souls.

My hope is the Father, my refuge the Son, my protection, the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity, glory to you.

My every hope I place in you, Mother of God. Keep me under your protection.

Prayer

2007-12-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

O Lord our God,
through our turning to you
you grant us forgiveness;
you have given us a pattern
the repentance of David
in order to receive forgiveness,
so that we might acknowledge and confess
our own sinful state;
Lord have mercy on us
according to your great compassion
and in your unfailing love
blot out our sins
and the errors into which we have fallen,
for they are too many to count.
We have sinned against you, O Lord,
against you who know
all the secrets of men's hearts,
and who alone have the power to forgive sins.
When you have created in us a pure heart
and have renewed a steadfast spirit within us,
grant us the joy of your salvation;
do not turn away from us
but in your goodness and gracious favour
and in your love for all mankind
grant that until our dying breath
we may offer you a righteous sacrifice and oblation
at your altars.

Through the grace, compassion
and unceasing love
of your only-begotten Son,
who with you
and your most holy and life-giving Spirit
is to be blessed and glorified
now and for ever,
to the ages of ages. Amen.

The Nativity of Christ

2007-12-24T23:04:00.000-05:00

Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath revealed to the world the Light of wisdom : for in it those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to adore thee, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know thee, the Dayspring from on high. Glory be to thee, O Lord.

The Virgin to-day giveth birth to him who is above all creation; and the earth offereth the cave to him whom none can approach unto. Angels and shepherds sing glory, and wise men journey with a star, since for our sake hath come as a new-born Child he who from all eternity is God.

Isaiah 35

2007-12-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

1: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2: It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

3: Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4: Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6: Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7: And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8: And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9: No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Saint John Damascene

2007-12-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

Mary opened to us the unspeakable abyss of God's love for us. Through her the old enmity against the Creator is destroyed. Through her our reconciliation with him is strengthened, peace and grace are given to us, men and women are the companions of angels, and we, who were in dishonor, are made the children of God. From her we have plucked the fruit of life. From her we have received the seed of immortality. She is the channel of all our goods. In her God was man and man was God. What more marvelous or blessed? I approach the subject in fear and trembling.

With Mary, the prophetess, O youthful souls, let us sound our musical instruments, mortifying our members on earth, for this spiritual music. Let our souls rejoice in the Ark of God; the walls of Jericho will yield, I mean the fortresses of the enemy. Let us dance in spirit with David; the Ark of God is at rest. With Gabriel, the great archangel, let us exclaim, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." Hail, inexhaustible ocean of grace. Hail, sole refuge in grief. Hail, cure of hearts. Hail, you through whom death is expelled and life is installed.

First Prayer of St Basil the Great

2007-11-12T19:03:00.000-05:00

Almighty Lord, God of the Powers and of all flesh, Who livest in the highest and carest for the humble, Who searchest our hearts and affections, and clearly foreknowest the secrets of men; eternal and everliving Light, in Whom is no change nor shadow of variation; O Immortal King, receive our prayers which at the present time we offer to Thee from unclean lips, trusting in the multitude of Thy mercies. Forgive all sins committed by us in thought, word or deed, consciously or unconsciously, and cleanse us from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Grant us to pass the night of the whole present life with wakeful heart and sober thought, ever expecting the coming of the radiant day of the appearing of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, when the Judge of all will come with glory to render to each according to their deeds. May we not be found fallen and idle, but awake and alert for action, ready to accompany Him into the joy and divine palace of His glory, where there is the ceaseless sound of those keeping festival and the unspeakable delight of those who behold the ineffable beauty of Thy Face. For Thou art the true Light that enlightens and sanctifies all, and all creation sings to Thee throughout the ages. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Mother of God

2007-11-02T14:26:00.000-04:00

O gracious Mother of our gracious King, most pure and most blessed Mother of God, Mary, pour out the mercy of thy Son and our God upon my passionate soul, and by thy prayers establish me in acts of righteousness, that I may pass the remaining time of my life without fault, and by thy guidance find paradise, O Mother of God and Virgin alone pure and blessed. Amen.

Prayer for the Acceptance of God's Will

2007-11-01T13:39:00.000-04:00

(by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, d. 1867)

O Lord, I know not what to ask of thee. Thou alone knowest what are my true needs. Thou lovest me more than I myself know how to love. Help me to see my real needs which are concealed from me. I dare not ask either a cross or consolation. I can only wait on thee. My heart is open to thee. Visit and help me, for thy great mercy's sake. Strike me and heal me, cast me down and raise me up. I worship in silence thy holy will and thine inscrutable ways. I offer myself as a sacrifice to thee. I put all my trust in thee. I have no other desire than to fulfil thy will. Teach me how to pray. Pray thou thyself in me. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Mother of God

2007-10-29T15:10:00.000-04:00

My most holy Lady, Mother of God, by thy holy and all-powerful prayers banish from me, thy humble, wretched servant, despondency, forgetfulness, folly, carelessness, and all impure, evil and blasphemous thoughts out of my wretched heart and my darkened mind. And quench the flame of my passions, for I am poor and wretched, and deliver me from my many cruel memories and deeds, and free me from all their bad effects; for blessed art thou by all generations, and glorified is thy most honorable name to the ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm 51 (50)

2007-10-27T23:16:00.000-04:00

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness; * according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences.

2 Wash me throughly from my wickedness, * and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my faults, * and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; * that thou mightest be justified in thy saying, and clear when thou shalt judge.

5 Behold, I was shapen in wickedness, * and in sin hath my mother conceived me.

6 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts, * and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.

7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; * thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, * that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Turn thy face from my sins, * and put out all my misdeeds.

10 Make me a clean heart, O God, * and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence, * and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

12 O give me the comfort of thy help again, * and stablish me with thy free Spirit.

13 Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked, * and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou that art the God of my health; * and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness.

15 Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord, * and my mouth shall show thy praise.

16 For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee; * but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.

17 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: * a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.

18 O be favourable and gracious unto Sion; * build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations; * then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar.

Hymn to the Theotokos

2007-10-26T15:28:00.000-04:00

(from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos, who are ever blessed and all-blameless, and the mother of our God. More honourable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, you who without stain barest God the Word, and are truly Theotokos: we magnify you.

Prayer to the Most-Holy Theotokos

2007-10-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

Spotless, undefiled, incorruptible, most-chaste, pure Virgin, Bride of God, Lady, who unites God the Word to man by your wondrous conception, and who joins the fallen nature of our race to heavenly things; the only hope of the hopeless, and the help of the persecuted; the ready help of those who flee to you, and the refuge of all Christians: do not reject me the sinner, the accursed one, who have rendered myself altogether useless by my shameful thoughts, words, and deeds, and who through indolence have become a slave to the pleasures of this life.

But as Mother of the God Who loves mankind, show your love for me a sinner and a prodigal, and receive from me the prayers offered to you by unhallowed lips, and, using your boldness as a Mother, entreat your Son, and our Lord and Master, to extend His goodness to me in His wondrous love for mankind, and, overlooking my numberless transgressions, turn me to repentance, showing me to be a zealous doer of His commandments.

And be ever near me as merciful, and compassionate, and gentle; in this present life an ardent protection and help, defending me from assaults of adversaries, and leading me to salvation; and in the hour of my departure, encompass my struggling soul, and drive the dark visions of evil spirits far from it; in the fearsome day of judgment, deliver me from eternal punishment, and present me as an inheritor of the ineffable glory of your Son and our God.

May this be my lot, my Lady, most-holy Theotokos, through your mediation and help; by the grace and love for mankind of your only-begotten Son, the Lord and God, and our Savior Jesus Christ. To Whom belongs all glory, honor, and worship, with His eternal Father, and His All-Holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Midnight Song to the Most Holy Mother of God

2007-10-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

I sing thy grace, O Sovereign Lady, and pray to thee to grace my mind. Teach me to step right in the way of Christ's commandments. Strengthen me to keep awake in song and dispel the dream of despondency. Release me, bound with bonds of sin, O bride of God, by thy prayers. Guard me by night and also by day, and drive away my foes who defeat me. O Bearer of God, the Giver of Life, enliven me who am deadened by passions. O bearer of the unfailing Light, enlighten my blinded soul. O Marvellous Palace of the Master, make me a house of the Divine Spirit. O Mother of the Healer, heal the perennial passions of my soul. Guide me to the path of repentance, for I am tossed in the storm of life. Deliver me from eternal fire, from wicked war and from hell. Expose me guilty as I am of many sins. Renew me, grown old from senseless sins, O most Immaculate One. Present me untouched by all torments, and pray for me to the Lord of all. Grant me to receive the joys of Heaven with all the Saints. O most holy Virgin, hear the voice of thy unprofitable servant. Grant me torrents of tears, O most Pure One, to cleanse my soul from impurity. I offer the groans of my heart to Thee unceasingly. Strive for me, O Sovereign Lady. Accept my service of supplication and offer it to compassionate God. O thou who art above the Angels, raise me above this world's confusion. O Light-bearing heavenly Tabernacle, direct the grace of the Spirit in me. I raise my hands and lips in thy praise, defiled as they are by impurity, O All-Immaculate One. Deliver me from soul-corrupting evils, and fervently intercede to Christ to Whom is due honour with adoration, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Hail, gladdening Light

2007-10-20T17:40:00.001-04:00

O Heavenly King

2007-10-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

O Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

from Psalm 130 (129)

2007-10-19T10:28:00.000-04:00

3 If thou, LORD, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, * O Lord, who may abide it?

4 For there is mercy with thee; * therefore shalt thou be feared.

Phos hilaron

2007-10-18T13:24:00.000-04:00

O joyful light of the holy glory of the immortal Father, the heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ. Now that we have reached the setting of the sun and behold the evening light, we sing to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is fitting at all times to praise you with cheerful voices, O Son of God, the Giver of life. Behold, the world sings your glory.