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Blessed is he who in the Lord has become completely free from everything earthly in this vain life and has loved the only good and merciful God. Blessed is he who has become a doer of virtues and, like a fruitful field, bears a great abundance of the fruits of life in the Lord. Blessed is the one who, standing at God's service in prayer, and every hour, like a heavenly angel, has pure thoughts and does not give access to the evil one, lest he take his soul captive and lead it away from God the Savior. Blessed is he who loves holiness (purity) as light, and has not desecrated his body before the Lord with the shameful deeds of the evil one. Blessed is the one who always has in himself the remembrance of God, because such a person on earth is like a heavenly angel, constantly serving the Lord with fear and love. Blessed is he who loves repentance, which saves sinners, and does not delight in sin, lest he appear ungrateful before our Savior God. Blessed is he who, like a courageous warrior guarding the royal treasures, keeps his soul and body blameless in the Lord. Blessed is he who, like an angel in heaven, has pure thoughts and with his lips sings songs to Him who has power over every breath. Blessed is he who has become like the seraphim and cherubim and is never lazy for spiritual service, constantly praising the Lord. I adore You, Master, I bless You, O Good One, I beg You, Holy One, I fall before You, O Lover of Mankind, and I glorify You, Christ, because You, the Only Begotten, the Lord of all, the One Sinless One, for me, an unworthy sinner, were put to death, and death on the cross, in order to free the soul of a sinner from sinful bonds. And what will I repay You for this, Master? Glory to Thee, Lover of Mankind! Glory to Thee, Merciful One! Glory to Thee, Long-suffering One! Glory to You, Forgiveness of all sins! Glory to Thee, Who descended to save our souls! Glory to Thee, Incarnated in the womb of the Virgin! Glory to You, Who bore the bonds! Glory to Thee, Thou Who Accepted Scourging! Glory to Thee, Devoted to ridicule! Glory to Thee, Crucified One! Glory to Thee, Buried One! Glory to Thee, Risen One! Glory to Thee, Preached One! Glory to Thee, in whom we have believed! Glory to You, Ascended into Heaven! Glory to You, Who is seated with glory at the right hand of the Father and who comes again with hosts of Angels to judge every soul that has humiliated Your holy sufferings! In that trembling and terrible hour, when the heavenly Powers will move, when all the angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim will stand before Your glory with fear and trembling, when the foundations of the earth will shake and every breath will be horrified by the incomparable majesty of Your glory - in that hour may Your hand cover me under Your wings and may my soul be delivered from the terrible fire, and gnashing of teeth, and pitch darkness, and eternal weeping, so that I too could say, blessing You: “Glory to Him who wanted to save the sinner according to the great bounties of His mercy!” Grant all-satisfying grace! Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed! O One Wise and Merciful Physician, I beseech Thy goodness: heal the ulcers of my soul and enlighten the eyes of my mind, so that I may understand Thy constant dispensation for me! And since my heart and mind have become foolish, may Thy grace, this true salt, correct them. What shall I tell you, O Heart-Knower, who searches hearts and bellies? You Yourself know that, like a waterless land, my soul thirsts for You and my heart longs for You. Your grace has always satisfied the one who loves You. For this reason, as You always listened to me, so now do not despise my prayer! For my mind, like a captive, seeks You, the only true Savior. Send Your grace, may it satisfy my hunger and quench my thirst, for I insatiably long for You, my Lord! And who can be satisfied with You if he truly loves You and thirsts for the light of Your truth? Giver of light! Fulfill my request and grant me, according to my prayer, exude into my heart a single drop of Thy grace, may the flame of Thy love burn in my heart like fire, and, like thorns and thistles, may gulp down evil thoughts! Grant me this richly, like God to man, give it to me like the King of kings, multiply it like a good Father! You are everything for us, Lord! We seek You, Lord, in prayer, because everything is contained in You. Let us be enriched by You, because You are wealth that does not change with the changes of times. May Your mercy come to our aid! May Your grace protect us! From Your treasure pour out medicine on us to heal our wounds! We must seek You instead of everything else and not seek anything besides You, for whoever seeks You finds everything in You. In You is wealth for those in need, heartfelt joy for those who mourn, healing for all the wounded, consolation for all who mourn. Accept our prayer, our Lord, and give us Yourself. May we live in You, may we possess You instead of everything else, and then everything will be ours. Let us, Lord, be Yours! In Your mercy, be You ours, because the Righteous Father gave You to us as a cure for our wounds. Our You are according to the will of Your Father, our You are also according to Your will. You are with us – Emmanuel! You are with us as our Lord. Accept our prayers from us, our God who has descended to us, accept the tears of sinners and show mercy to the guilty. By Your will You united with us, be the Intercessor of our prayer. Raise her to Your Father and establish peace in our souls! Be everything to us and let us dedicate everything we have to You! Save me like the apple of my eye, Lord God, protect me and shelter me from temptations under Your wings. Be the guardian of the eye, so that it does not look like a Tat 1; be a guardian of the ear, so that it does not listen to untruth. Be a guardian of your lips so that slander, condemnation, blasphemy and even idle words do not come from them. Be a guardian of the heart so that it does not deviate into wickedness and commit iniquities. Grant us, Lord, knowledge (what to do) and impart to us knowledge (the ability to do). Grant us, our Lord, to be more pleasant to You than incense and aromas. Grant us, our Lord, to love You and hate the world. Grant to us, our Lord, that instead of passing possessions we may acquire You alone. Grant us, our Lord, to bring You three chosen gifts. Grant us, our Lord, to burn three fragrant incense before You. Grant to us, our Lord, to light three brightly burning lamps for You: spirit, soul and body, these three gifts to the One Trinity. We will dedicate the Spirit to the Father, we will dedicate the soul to the Son, we will dedicate the body to the Holy Spirit - the Spirit, who will again raise him from the dust. Father, sanctify our spirit to You! Son, sanctify our soul to Yourself! Holy Soul, sanctify Yourself our body, exhausted from ulcers! Grant us, our Lord, to rejoice in You, and You will rejoice in us on the last day! Praise be to You from spirit, soul and body! And for us - Your bounties. The Son of Jesse, having set up his horse, sings: Blessed are those who are blameless in the way of the Lord, who walk in His law (Ps. 119:1). And our Savior in the Gospel of Life said: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God; blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted; Blessed are those who weep, for they will rejoice (see: Matt. 5:4, 8). To those who have renounced the world and its vain affairs, who have hated its lusts and abhorred its pleasures, the Gospel of Salvation has given the promise of reward - an imperishable palace and endless life. Out of love for their Lord, they left their relatives, parents, wealth and property in this world, for they heard that blessed are the poor in spirit and for this the Heavenly Kingdom awaits them (Matthew 5:3). They made their bodies a temple of the Holy Spirit, conquered lusts with the severity of life, bore the yoke of hard labor, and out of love for their Lord they despised their lives. They crucified their souls, nailed their bodies to the cross, and through their asceticism they propitiated their Creator. They abhorred gluttony and loved abstinence, drove away carnal impurity and loved chastity. They chose suffering (all kinds of hardships) and hated peace, put off pride and put on humility. They defeated the enemy and triumphed over him, put him to flight and gained glory for themselves; defeated him - and were exalted; they despised him - and were crowned. The Father loves them, and the Son embraces them with love, and the Holy Spirit dwells in their pure bodies. Christ calls to them, saying: “Come, you who have labored in My name, enter the palace from which those who are called will never come out!” The Lord places crowns on such, and they taste bliss in His palaces for the sorrows they endured with Him from morning to evening. The Kingdom on High awaits those who have won victory in battle and become famous for it. Angels, according to their custom, descend to reinforce fighters during battle. The spirits strive to meet the victors, call them blessed and say: “Come, you who are weary, rest from your labors: through the patience of suffering you have overcome the evil one.” Paradise opens its gates to them; they move into the abodes of light and rest there. In their mouths is the voice of glorification and praise to the One who strengthened them in battle. A soul that has felt salvation in the Lord You, Christ the Savior, have become for me the path of life leading to the Father. This one path is my joy, and its end is the Kingdom of Heaven. You, Master Jesus, Son of God, have become for me the path of life and enlightenment. Thy grace in the heart of Thy servant became light and joy, which are sweeter than honey and honeycomb to the lips of Thy servant. Thy grace in the soul of Thy servant became a treasure, enriched his poverty, drove out poverty and corruption. Thy grace became for Thy servant refuge, strength, intercession, exaltation, praise, food for all life. How will Thy servant, O Master, remain silent, having tasted the great sweetness of Thy love and grace? And how again will I dare to put a barrier to the waves of grace pouring into the heart of a sinner and filled with sweetness according to the multitude of gifts? I will sing the glory of the Lord of the heavenly Powers, I will magnify Your grace, O Christ the Savior, I will not cease to praise Your love with my tongue. Your love draws me to You, Savior, the praise of my life. Your grace makes it sweet for me that my mind is drawn after You. May my heart be a kind land for You and may Your grace water it with the dew of eternal life. May Your grace reap the good hand on the earth of my heart: contrition, worship, holiness and everything that is always pleasing to You. Return my soul to the fence of paradise of sweetness, may it abide in the light, so that in the midst of heavenly pleasure I can say with all the saints: “Glory to the Immortal Father, worship to Him who gives heavenly gifts to the insignificant, so that he too may bring a drachma of glory to the King of all!” Like a thief. – Note. ed. You might be interested in: