Oh, heavenly food! When shall the hour come when I am totally immolated for thee
and consumed, not by some other fire, but by the fire of thy love? O uncreated
love, O Bread of life! When shall I live by thee alone, for thee alone and in thee
alone? When, O my life, beautiful, sweet and eternal, when, O Manna from heaven,
shall I turn away from all other earthly food, when shall I desire only thee and be
fed by thee alone? When will it be, O my all-satisfying sweetness, O my highest
good! O my Lord, most desired! And most good! Tear this poor heart of mine from
every wrong attachment and tendency, adorn it with thy holy virtues and fill it with
that good disposition which would make me, in all sincerity, do all things solely to
please thee! Then, at last, I shall attain to opening to thee my heart, no longer
unworthy of thee, and, invoking thee with love, shall make thee enter it. And then,
my Lord, having entered it, thou wilt not meet with resistance but wilt perform
therein all the actions thou art wont to perform in souls dedicated to thee.
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'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.
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Thou seest, O my all-merciful Lord, how easily I fall into sin, to my ruin, what
power the passion that attacks me has over me, and how powerless I am to free
myself from it. Help me, give power to my powerless struggles, or rather take up
thyself my weapons and fight for me, finally to overthrow my cruel enemy.
{St Theophan the Recluse- Unseen Warfare- p. 228}
Almighty King of heaven and earth! who made thee enter my unworthy heart, when
I am accursed, and poor,
and blind, and naked? No one, of course, but thy immeasurable love for me. O
uncreated love! O love most sweet! What dost thou want of me, beggar that I am?
Nothing, as I see and understand, except my love for thee; nothing; except that
no other fire should burn on the altar of my heart but the fire of my love for thee,
which would consume all love and all desire other than that of bringing myself to
thee as a burnt offering and fragrant incense. Nought else didst thou desire or seek
from me, and nought else dost thou desire or seek from me now. So hear now, O
Lord, the vows of my heart! See, I combine my desire with thy desire; and as thou
hast given the whole of thyself to me, so I give the whole of myself to thee, to be
wholly in thee. I know, O Lord, that this cannot be, unless I renounce myself
wholly, it cannot be if any trace of self-love remains in me, if I harbour some
sympathy or disposition towards a will of my own, thoughts of my own, or some
self-pandering habits of my own. Therefore I desire and I strive from now onwards
to oppose myself in all that is not acceptable to thee, but which my soul may
desire, and to compel myself to do all things pleasing to thee, even if everything in
me and outside me should rebel against it. By myself, I have not strength enough
to succeed in this. But since from now on thou art with me, I daringly trust that
thou thyself wilt accomplish in me all that is needed. I seek and strive that my
heart may be one with thy heart; and I trust that thy grace wilt grant me this. I
trust and strive to see nothing and to hear nothing, to think of nothing and have
sympathy with nothing, except that which thy will, determined by thy
commandments, leads me to and shows, and I trust that it will be granted me by
thy power working in me. I strive and I seek not to let attention stray from the
heart, where thou dewllest, there to gaze at thee unceasingly and be warmed by
the rays of light issuing from thee; and I trust that this will be given me by the
touch and embrace of thy hands. I strive and seek for thee alone to be henceforth
my light, strength and joy, and I trust to be given this by thy saving action on my
inner man. It is of this that I pray and shall always continue to pray. O merciful
Lord, grant me this, grant me this.
{St Theophan the Recluse- Unseen Warfare- p.233}
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- Short Prayers by St. John Chrysostom
PRAYER 4, OF THE SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
0 Lord, of Thy heavenly bounties deprive me not. 0 Lord, deliver me from the
eternal torments. 0 Lord, forgive me if I have sinned in my mind or my thought,
whether in word or in deed. 0 Lord, free me from all ignorance and forgetfulness,
from despondency and stony insensibility. 0 Lord; deliver me from every
temptation. 0 Lord, enlighten my heart which evil desires have darkened. 0 Lord, as
a man have I sinned, have Thou mercy on me, as the God full of compassion,
seeing the feebleness of my soul. 0 Lord, send down Thy grace to help me, that. I
may glorify Thy name. 0 Lord Jesus Christ, write me down in the book of life and
grant unto me a good end. 0 Lord my God, even if I had not done anything good
before Thee, do Thou help me, in Thy grace, to make a good beginning. 0 Lord,
sprinkle into my heart the dew of Thy grace. 0 Lord of heaven and earth, remember
me, Thy sinful servant, full of shame and impurity, in Thy kingdom. Amen.
O Lord, receive me in my penitence. O Lord, forsake me not. O Lord, lead me not
into misfortune. O Lord, quicken in me a good thought. 0 Lord, give me tears and
remembrance of death, and contrition. 0 Lord, make me solicitous of confessing my
sins. 0 Lord, give me humility, chastity and obedience. 0 Lord, give me patience,
magnanimity and meekness' 0 Lord, implant in me the root of all good -- Thy fear in
my heart. 0 Lord, vouchsafe that I may love thee from all my soul and mind and in
everything do thy will. 0 Lord, shelter me from certain men, from demons and
passions, and from any other unbecoming thing. 0 Lord, Thou knowest that Thou
dost as Thou willest, let then Thy will be done in me, sinner, for blessed art T h o u
unto the ages. Amen.
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- Morning Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Writings from the Philokalia)
I give thanks to thee O all-wise God for thy loving kindness and solicitude for
me, in allowing me, in thy infinite mercy, to cross safely the abyss of the past
night, and to see the bright scene of the day.
I pray thee to grant me strength to weather the ominous raging tempest of
passions and demons. Amen.
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- Prayers of the Holy Hierarch Saint John Chrysostom
Before Reading the Word of God, the Lives of the Saints,
or Any Spiritual Reading
+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
Illumine my heart, O Master who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine
knowledge. Open Thou the eyes of my mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel
teachings. Implant also in me a love for Thy blessed commandments. Grant me the
grace to overcome all my carnal desires, so that I may enter more completely into a
spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well pleasing
to Thee. For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God,
and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-
creating Spirit; now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and
understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy
commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of
Thy law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom. On Thee do I
set my hope, O my God, that Thou shalt enlighten my mind and understanding with
the light of Thy knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but
to do them; that in reading the lives and sayings of the Saints I may not sin, but
that such may serve for my restoration, enlightenment and sanctification, for the
salvation of my soul, and the inheritance of life everlasting. For Thou art the
enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from Thee cometh every good deed
and every gift. Amen.
Having finished the reading one should say:
+By the intercessions of Thine All-immaculate Mother and of all Thy Saints, Lord
Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
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Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst command us to love our enemies, and those who
defame and injure us, and to pray for them and forgive them; Who Thyself didst
pray for Thine enemies, who crucified Thee: grant us, we pray, the spirit of
Christian reconciliation and meekness, that we may heartily forgive every injury and
be reconciled with our enemies. Grant us to overcome the malevolence and offences
of people with Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor.
We further beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant to our enemies true peace and
forgiveness of sins; and do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and
sincere conversion. And help us repay evil with goodness, and to remain safe from
the temptations of the devil and from all the perils which threaten us, in the form
of visible and invisible enemies. Amen.
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- 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.
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