Prayers

Contents Daily prayer to St. Philaret Prayer on the day of remembrance of the millennium of Russia Prayer of a prisoner in prison Prayer for the 700th anniversary of Moscow Memorial written by the hand of His Eminence dated October 9, 1844 Funeral memorial compiled by St. Philaret Daily prayer to St. Philareta Lord: I don’t know what to ask of You? You alone know what I need. You love me more than I know how to love myself. Father! Give to Your servant - what I myself cannot ask for. I don’t dare ask - no cross, no consolation! Only I stand before You; my heart is open. You see needs that I don’t know. Look! - and do to me according to Your mercy: strike and heal, overthrow and raise me. I am in awe and silent before Your holy will and Your destinies, incomprehensible to me. I sacrifice myself to You. I surrender to You. I have no desire except the desire to fulfill Your will... Teach me to pray. Pray within me yourself. See more details: Daily prayer of St. Philaret (Drozdov) Prayer on the day of remembrance of the millennium of Russia Lord God, King of the ages, speak of the tongue and the kingdom and create and plant them! (Jer. 18:9). Falling before Your Majesty with fear and reverence, we gratefully confess Your mercies, which have been manifested in many parts and in many ways over ten centuries to the people and the kingdom of Russia. For You, Lord, spoke Your creative word to this people, and You created a kingdom in them, and You planted, and rooted, and grew, and You expanded it into the lands of its habitation, And You established real power over it from You, and You strengthened it against those who opposed it, and You protected it with laws, and above all, You enlightened and inspired it with saving by faith, and even sometimes with a rod you visited his unrighteousness, but you did not remove your mercy and do not move away from us. We glorify You, Lord, Lord and Benefactor, we praise, thank, sing and magnify, and, from Your very bounty in faith and hope, confirmation and boldness before You is acceptable, we humbly pray: preserve the throne and kingdom of the Most Pious Autocratic Great Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich of all Russia in true greatness, firmness and glory. Forgive, O all-merciful Lord, all our sins and our Father, and direct our steps to the doing of Thy commandments. Keep the Orthodox faith in us in its purity and strength, and may it remain, as it were, the focus of social unity, the source of enlightenment, the foundation and stronghold of national good morals, the truth of laws, the beneficence of government, the inviolability of well-being. May the ancient planting of goodness not wither and wither, but may a new stem of the best be grafted onto it, and may a new flower of splendor and the fruit of perfection come forth. So look upon us and be gracious to us, so that we may be blessed by You, from day to day and from century to century we bless You, Lord. Glory to Thee God, our Benefactor, forever and ever. Amen. At the end of the prayer service and after the proclamation of many years to the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor and the Highest Family, the protodeacon made the following proclamations: Who enlightened Russia with the Christian Orthodox faith, Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Olga, who successively over the centuries created and strengthened the autocracy of Russia by the Blessed Tsar and Grand Duke, who newly created the Russian kingdom and expanded and glorified it in God to the deceased Most Pious Emperors and Empresses, eternal memory. To all the chosen sons of Russia, who for centuries faithfully fought for its unity, good and glory, in the fields of piety, enlightenment, governance and victorious defense of the Fatherland, eternal memory. Having placed times and seasons in Your hand, Lord, by Your wise all-good Providence, preserved and restored to the All-Russian kingdom for a thousand years, add to Your great mercy and preserve it in faith and truth, in God’s law and well-being for many years and centuries. Prayer of a Prisoner in a Dungeon Lord God, my Creator and Savior, blessed be your holy name! Thanks and glory to You, Lord, for all the good things that I have received from You in this life. Now I have found sorrow and illness, and I call on Your name. The reproaches of the attack on me. Placing me in the pit of the grave, in the darkness and the shadow of death. I grieve over this, and through this sorrow I understand that I have sinned before You, and because of my sin troubles have come upon me. For Your righteous women did not lose heart, even in prison they worshiped You, and in their suffering they rejoiced. And if you see lawlessness, Lord, Lord, who will stand? For there is no man but he cannot sin. But You, Lord, bear the sins of the whole world and cleanse them with repentance. I believe, just as you did not reject me, a sinner, from Your presence. For the whole world, Your Only Begotten Son poured out His Divine Blood. I believe that he can and wants to wash me from my sins. For this reason, with David, I say: I will confess my iniquity against me, but You, who are Good, forsake the wickedness of my heart. I am afraid of human judgment and condemnation, but most of all let Your unwashed Judgment and eternal condemnation be in my fear. If unrighteousness arises against me: I dare to pray to You in the word of David: Hear, O Lord, my righteousness, and attend to my judgment, and deliver me with Your righteousness. If I have committed unrighteousness, by Your mercy heal my unrighteousness. Do not allow my heart to wander into words of deceit, to conceal the truth and to false justification. Help me to understand and hate my unrighteousness, to love the truth and in the truth to find relief for my soul. Ease my time of trouble. And even if I am destined to bear it, let me bear it with patience for the sake of cleansing my sins and for the sake of appeasing Your justice. Even if shame covers me before some people, may I endure with humility, may I appease You, Lord, may I not be ashamed before the face of the whole world at Your Last Judgment. I come to You mournful and sad, do not deprive me of spiritual consolation. I come to You darkened, show me the light of the hope of salvation. I fall to You, exhausted, raise me up and strengthen me with Your grace. Most of all, grant me the desire and help me, Lord, to do Your will in everything, so that in the peace of conscience I will glorify Your holy name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Translation: Lord God, my Creator and Savior, blessed be your holy name! Thanks and glory to You, Lord, for all the good things that I received from You in this life. At present I have acquired sorrow and illness, and I call on Your name. Insults attacked me. You put me in the pit of the grave, in darkness, in the abyss (Ps. 87:7). I grieve over this, and after this sorrow I understand that I have sinned before You, and because of my sins, troubles have come upon me. For Your righteous did not lose heart and sang Your praises in prison and rejoiced in their suffering. If You, Lord, notice iniquities, - Lord! who can resist? ( Ps. 129:3 ) Because there is no man who does not sin. But You, Lord, bear the sins of the whole world and cleanse them with repentance. I believe that you will not cast me, a sinner, away from Your presence (Ps. 50:11). For the whole world, Your Only Begotten Son shed His Divine Blood. I believe that he can and wants to wash me from my sins. That is why I say, together with David: I confess my crimes to the Lord (Ps. 31:5), but You, since You are Good, have taken away from me the guilt of my sin (Ps. 31:5). I am afraid of human judgment and condemnation, but especially may Your incorruptible Judgment and eternal condemnation be in my fear. If unrighteousness arises against me: I dare in the word of David to pray to You: Hear, O Lord, my prayer for justice (Ps. 16:1), and stand in my defense (Ps. 34:23) and save me in Your righteousness! (Ps. 71:2) If I have done something wrong, correct my mistake with Your mercy. Do not allow my heart to wander into deceitful words, to hide the truth and to false justification. Help me both to understand and to hate my untruth, to love the truth and in the truth to find relief for my soul. Ease my time of distress. And if I am destined to bear it, may I bear it with patience for the sake of cleansing from my sins and for the sake of appeasing Your justice. Even if shame covers me in front of some people, may I endure with humility, may I appease You, Lord, may I not be caught in the face of the whole world at Your Last Judgment. I come to You mournful and sad, do not deprive me of spiritual consolation. I come to You darkened, show me the light of hope of salvation. I fall on my knees before You, exhausted; lift me up and strengthen me with Your grace. Most of all, grant me desire and help me, Lord, teach me to do Your will (Ps. 143:10), so that in peace with conscience I will glorify Your holy name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Prayer for the 700th anniversary of Moscow Lord God Almighty, having established the heavens with Your Word and the Spirit of Your mouth with all their power, placing the lights in the firmament of heaven for signs, and in times, and in days, and in years, and in the existence of Your visible creatures in the circles of times, concluding the blessings of the first fruits of times, and sanctifying the dates of their fulfillment! Thou, O Lord, the mouth of Thy prophet Moses, the first in the months of summer Thou hast called the month, in which Thou hast prefigured the saving sacrament of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the lamb of deliverance of the Passover, to Thy people Israel. Thou, in Thy ancient law, set forth Thy feasts within the bounds of weeks of days and weeks of weeks, in memory of Thy good deeds; and the fulfillment of weeks of weeks, in renewing the memory of Your destinies, You crowned with the summer of abandonment; with the blessing of effortless abundance. Behold, now Your new Israel has passed from the ancient image to the newly revealed truth, the first in months, and the new summer begins with the appearance in the manger of Bethlehem of the Lamb, taking away the sins of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the beginning of His all-saving sacrifice on the cross, in the passive shedding of the blood of circumcision. The reigning city of this city not only sees the beginning of the month and summer before itself, and does not count weeks of days and years, but remembering the seven centuries that have passed over it, it wonders about Your destinies, and in thinking about the destinies of its eighth century, before Your face, the King of ages, it reveres. We confess Your ancient mercies, and we give thanks for the present, and we pray for the future. We glorify Your gracious election, and your rich Providence for us, as if you once grew the entire small city into a great city; and, before the coming to pass, that this city would be glorious in all the Russian cities, and that its enemy would lay hands on its shoulders, and that You would be glorified in it, You foretold it as Your saint Saint Peter; You also established the brought throne of Orthodoxy here; and Thou hast planted the root of the All-Russian Monarchy here, and Thou hast exalted the throne of the Kingdom, and Thou hast granted to the extinguished lamp of the royal family to shine forth with greater lordship, and Thou hast pleased Thy saints to live here and honor them in the fragrance of the shrine, whose prayers have always been like adamantine with a wall, you protected this city from misfortunes, and even then you quickly delivered the distressed city, and in our days, which was about to perish, you raised it from ashes and destruction, and adorned it with new splendor, and filled it with abundance. Father of generosity and Lord of mercy! Look with mercy on this grateful confession of ours and do not leave Your mercy from us. Bless the crown of the new summer with Your goodness: and the crown of seven centuries, which is on the verge of this reigning city, may not fade away. Renew and multiply Your blessings on Your exalted servant, Our Most Pious Most Autocratic Great Sovereign, Nicholas Pavlovich, and on His sovereign family. Grant them longevity and prosperity, and success in the affairs of the kingdom and in all virtues. Keep Your Holy Church unshakable on the basis of Your Divine word, on the rock of the Apostolic faith, and let no daring human wisdom touch the ark of God. Rivers, Lord, peace upon Thy people, and upon those who turn their hearts to Thee. Let Your salvation be near those who fear You, bring glory to our land. Let mercy and truth meet in her, and let truth and peace kiss each other. Do not let us look upon false vanity and confusion, but let us look upon all Thy commandments and not be ashamed. Grant us grace and good zeal, so that Your eternal kingdom and truth we seek first and most of all, for all that is good for temporary life will be added to us, through the intercessory and patronizing prayers of the Most Blessed Ever-Virgin Mother of God and Saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, with them in the conversion of faith to You, the One Trinitarian God, the Beginningless To the Father and the Co-Eternal Son and the Co-Eternal Holy Spirit we offer due thanksgiving, and worship, and glory, forever and ever. Memorial written by the hand of His Eminence dated October 9, 1844 Memorial, “written by the hand” of St. Philaret, in 1855 was transferred to the sacristy of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, where the archive of the Saint was collected. Now the original is in the Russian State Library; in 1999 it was shown at the exhibition “Spiritual Lights of Russia” at the Andrei Rublev Museum in Moscow. Even if the priceless autograph and the flying handwriting of St. Philaret's text would be known only in a copy; its very content is such that it leaves no doubt about the authorship of the Saint. Who else could place almost at the very beginning of the commemoration of those who suddenly died, who died a “disastrous death” (from natural disasters) and all the lonely and forgotten, for whom there is no one to pray, and only after them - the Most Pious Emperor and Empresses. Who else besides St. Philaret, could “most especially” remember among the kings and queens those who contributed to “the peace of the Holy Church and the good life of man.” Among the deceased archpastors commemorated separately, the first is the name of Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) (†1812) - the mentor of St. Philaret; then the metropolitans who were members of the Holy Synod during his service are commemorated, including the famous Church historian Metropolitan. Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov) (†1837); Archbishop Augustine (†1819), who ruled the Moscow diocese during the war with Napoleon, Archbishop Kirill (Theological-Platonov) (†1841), who was at one time vicar of St. Philareta, Archbishop Simeon (Krylov) (†1834) - the successor of the Saint, first at Tver and then at the Yaroslavl See; finally, Bishop Innocent (Smirnov) (†1819) – an opponent of the subordination of the Church to the “Double Ministry”, who was removed from St. Petersburg for this and died in Penza at the age of 35. The memorial, judging by its content, was compiled by St. Philaret not for himself personally, not for cell prayers, but for prayerful remembrance in the “monastery of this one,” apparently, in the Gethsemane monastery of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, consecrated on September 28, 1844, two weeks before the commemoration was compiled. In the first lines, Metropolitan Philaret commemorates “our Fathers and brothers who served in the monasteries of St. Sergius and in this monastery.” In this monastery, one might think, the memorial was read, starting from Dimitrievsky Saturday in October 1844 (the frequent reading of it, not in a cell setting, but in the church, is evidenced by numerous folds of sheets and drops of wax from a church candle, frozen on the last page). When publishing, we preserve the spelling features of the original, written in Slavic; all spellings of words with capital letters also belong to St. Philaret. Remember, Lord, Your departed servants, who bore fruit and did good in Your Holy Churches and in the monasteries of St. Sergius, and the creators of this monastery, and our fathers and brothers who served in the monasteries of St. Sergius, and in this monastery, who had mercy on the poor, who visited the sick, who stood up for the weak, who fought for righteousness, and all who commanded us unworthy to pray for them; and rest their souls wherever the light of Your face greets them. Amen. Lord rest the souls of Your departed servants, those who died suddenly or needily, and those who died of dying repentance and the communion of the Holy Mysteries were not worthy of the parting words of those who were not worthy, as if illness had taken away their mind and memory, who were struck down, or killed in battle, from robbers and slanderers, deprived of various ways of life, from thunder, from fire, from heat, from filth, from rage animals that died, drowned, were deprived of burial due to a disastrous death, from poverty, loneliness and uncertainty, without a neighbor praying for them. Remember them Yourself, Lord, Knower of each name and spiritual need, and grant them purification and forgiveness, and grant them peace and weakening, with the invincible power of the Life-giving Cross, with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints. Amen. Lord, remember the Most Pious Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, Empresses Elisaveta Alekseevna, Maria Feodorovna, Blessed Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna 2. Lord, remember the departed servants of Your Eminence Metropolitans: Plato, Ambrose, Michael, Theophylact, Eugene, Seraphim, Archbishops Augustine, Simeon, Sergius, Cyril, Stephen, Athanasius; Bishops: Samuel, Innocent, Augustine 3. Remember, Lord, all Your servants, from the beginning to the present, who have reposed in true faith and trust in Your mercy, and who have sinned in this life, in word, deed, thought, and with every feeling of soul and body, willingly or unwillingly, in knowledge or in ignorance, forgive them, and forgive them from all guilt and debts, and give them rest. their souls, where the light of Your face is present. Amen. Lord, remember Your departed servants, the Pious Emperors and Empresses, Kings and Queens, the blessed Grand Dukes, Grand Duchesses, Tsareviches and Princesses, especially the peace of the Holy Church and the good life of mankind, and rest their souls, where the light of Your face is present. Amen. Lord, remember Your departed servants, the Orthodox, the Most Holy Patriarchs, the Most Reverend Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops, the Holy Archimandrites, Abbots, Hieromonks, Archpriests, Priests and all the priestly, monastic and clergy ranks, and especially those who served the Orthodox faith and souls your neighbors, in word, and in deed, and in prayer, and give them rest, where the light of Your face shines. Amen. Lord, remember Your departed servants from the ruling Synclite, military leaders, city governors, and in all leadership, power, and service for the good of the common good, Orthodox soldiers, citizens, villagers, and all Christians who died in the Orthodox faith and in repentance, and rest their souls, where the Light of Your face is present. Amen. (OR RSL, f. 316, item 63, storage unit 13, sheets 3–4 vol.) Funeral memorial compiled by Saint Philaret Funeral memorial compiled by St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, read in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra during the continuous reading of the Psalter Remember, Lord, all of Your servants from the beginning to the present, who have passed away in true faith and trust in Your mercy, and whoever in this life has sinned in word, deed, thought and every feeling of soul and body, willingly or unwillingly, in knowledge or in ignorance, forgive them and absolve them from all guilt and debts and give them rest, where the light of Your face comes. Amen. Remember, Lord, Your departed servants: the pious emperors and empresses, kings and queens, the faithful great princes, great duchesses and duchesses, princes and princesses, especially those who contributed to the peace of the Holy Church and the good life of man, and rest their souls, where the light of Your face is present. Amen. Remember, Lord, your departed servants: the Orthodox most holy patriarchs, the most reverend metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, holy archimandrites, abbots, hieromonks, archpriests, priests and all the priestly, monastic and clergy ranks, and especially those who served the Orthodox faith and souls your neighbors in word, and in deed, and in prayer, and give them rest, where the light of Your face shines. Amen. Remember, Lord, Your departed servants, those from the government, military leaders, city governors and in all leadership, power, and service for the good of the common good, Orthodox soldiers, citizens, villagers and all Christians who died in the Orthodox faith and in repentance, and rest their souls, where the light of Your face is present. Amen. Remember, Lord, Your departed servants, who bore fruit and did good in Your holy churches, and in the monasteries of St. Sergius, and the creators of this monastery, and our fathers and brethren, who served in the monasteries of St. Sergius and this monastery, who had mercy on the poor, who visited the sick, who interceded for the weak, who fought for the truth, and all who commanded us, the unworthy, to pray for them, and rest their souls, where the light of Thy face shines. Amen. Rest in peace, O Lord, the souls of your departed servants, those who died by sudden or needy death and of dying repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries, those who were not worthy of the parting words of illness, as if by illness, the mind and memory were taken away, struck down, or killed in battle, from robbers and slanderers, deprived of various ways of life, from thunder, from fire, from heat, from filth, from the rage of animals and livestock who died, drowned, were deprived of burial due to a disastrous death, because of poverty, loneliness and uncertainty, without a neighbor praying for them. Remember them Yourself, Lord, who knows each name and spiritual need, and grant them purification and forgiveness, and grant them peace and weakening with the invincible power of the Life-giving Cross, the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints. Amen. Necessary, i.e. violent death (glory) Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna - wife of Alexander I; Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna - mother of Alexander I and Nicholas I; Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna - the youngest daughter of Nicholas I, who died of consumption on July 29, 1844 at the age of 19 years. Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) of Moscow, Metropolitans of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Ambrose (Podobedov), Mikhail (Desnitsky), Seraphim (Glagolevsky), Exarch of Georgia Metropolitan. Theophylact (Rusanov), Metropolitan. Eugene of Kiev (Bolkhovitinov), Archbishop of Moscow Augustine (Vinogradsky), Bishop of Orenburg Augustine (Sakharov) and other archbishops and bishops. With coercion, violence; in need. You might be interested in: