Prayers
  • Before communion

'I am unworthy, O Lord, to receive Thee for many and many a time have I angered
Thee by my sins, and have not yet mourned all my wicked deeds. I am unworthy, O
Lord, to receive Thee, for I have not yet cleansed myself of the dispositions and
attachments to what is not pleasing to Thee. I am unworthy, O Lord, to receive
Thee, for I have not yet surrendered in all sincerity to Thy love, Thy will and
obedience to Thee. O my God, all-powerful and infinitely good! In Thy merciful loving-
kindness, do Thou Thyself make me worthy of receiving Thee, for I run to Thee with
faith.'
{St Theophan The Recluse- Unseen Warfare - p 332.
  • St Ephraim's Spiritual Psalter

From A Spiritual Psalter by our Holy Father St Ephraim of Edessa, the Syrian;
excerpted and arranged by Bishop Theophan the Recluse according to the manner
of the psalter of the Old Testament.
The text presented here is of the 120th 'Psalm' in St Ephraim's Spiritual Psalter.

"How Many Times Have I Promised,
Yet Every Time I Failed to Keep My Word.
But Disregard This According to Thy Grace."

Grant forgiveness, O Lord, send also strength. Convert me, that I might live in
sanctity,
according to Thy holy will. Sanctify my heart that has become a den and dwelling-
place of demons.
I am unworthy to ask forgiveness for myself, O Lord, for many times have I
promised to repent and proved myself a liar by not fulfilling my promise. Thou
hast picked me up many times already, but every time I freely chose to fall again.
Therefore I condemn myself and admit that I deserve all manner of punishment
and torture. How many times hast Thou enlightened my darkened mind; yet every
time I return again to base thoughts! My whole body trembles when I
contemplate this; yet every time sinful sensuality reconquers me.
How shall I recount all the gifts of Thy grace, O Lord, that I the pitiful one have
received? Yet I have reduced them all to nothing by my apathy -- and I continue
on in this manner. Thou has bestowed upon me thousands of gifts, yet miserable
me, I offer in return things repulsive to Thee.
Yet Thou, O Lord, inasmuch as Thou containest a sea of longsuffering and an
abyss of kindness, do not allow me to be felled as a fruitless fig tree; and do not
let me be burned without having ripened on the field of life. Snatch me not away
unprepared; seize not me who have not yet lit my lamp; take not away me who
have no wedding garment; but, because Thou art good and the lover of mankind,
have mercy on me. Give me time to repent, and place not my soul stripped naked
before Thy terrible and unwavering throne as a pitiful spectacle of infamy.
If a righteous man can barely be saved, then where will I end up, I who am
lawless and sinful? If the path that leads to life is strait and narrow, then how
can I be vouchsafed such good things, I who live a life of luxury, indulging in my
own pleasures and dissipation? But Thou, O Lord, my Saviour, Son of the true
God, as Thou knowest and desirest it, by Thy grace alone, freely turn me away
from the sin that abides in me and save me from ruin.
                                      Prayer of Saint Ephraim
O Lord and Master of my life,
Grant not unto me a spirit of idleness,
of discouragement,
of lust for power,
and of vain speaking.
But bestow upon me, Thy servant,
the spirit of chastity,
of meekness,
of patience,
and of love.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant that I may perceive
my own transgressions,
and judge not my brother,
for blessed art Thou
unto ages of ages.
Amen.
                                 Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian
                                               to the Most Holy Spirit
O Lord, Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, have compassion and mercy on
Thy sinful servant and pardon my unworthiness, and forgive me all the sins that I
humanly committed today, and not only humanly but even worse than a beast -
my voluntary sins, known and unknown, from my youth and from evil suggestions,
and from my brazenness, and from boredom. If I have sworn by Thy Name or
blasphemed it in thought, blamed or reproached anyone, or in my anger have
detracted or slandered anyone, or grieved anyone, or if I have got angry about
anything, or have told a lie, if I have slept unnecessarily, or if a beggar has come
to me and I despised or neglected him, or if I have troubled my brother or
quarrelled with him, or if I have condemned anyone, or have boasted, or have
been proud, or lost my temper with anyone, or if when standing in prayer my mind
has been distracted by the glamour of this world, or if I have had depraved
thoughts or have overeaten, or have drunk excessively, or have laughed
frivolously, or have thought evil, or have seen the attraction of someone and been
wounded by it in my heart, or said indecent things, or made fun of my brother's
sin when my own faults are countless, or been neglectful of prayer, or have done
some other wrong that I cannot remember - for I have done all this and much
more - have mercy, my Lord and Creator, on me Thy wretched and unworthy
servant, and absolve and forgive and deliver me in Thy goodness and love for
men, so that, lustful, sinful and wretched as I am, I may lie down and sleep and
rest in peace. And I shall worship, praise and glorify Thy most honourable Name,
with the Father and His only-begotten Son, now and ever, and for all ages. Amen.