Prayers

Contents Prayer 6th, of St. Simeon the New Theologian Prayer before confession Prayer of St. Simeon the New Theologian for finding a spiritual mentor Prayer of repentance, who repents with a contrite and humble spirit to God Prayer for deliverance from temptations Prayer 6, Saint Simeon the New Theologian (Proceeding to Holy Communion) From unclean lips, from a vile heart, from an unclean tongue, from a soul defiled, accept this prayer, my Christ, and do not despise my words, below images, below lack of study. Grant me to boldly say what I want, my Christ, and even more so, teach me what I should do and say. Having sinned more than the harlot, even though I knew where you were, having bought myrrh, I came boldly to anoint Your nose, my God, my Lord and Christ. Just as you did not reject the one that came from your heart, abhor me below, the Word: Give yours to my nose, and hold and kiss, and boldly anoint this with streams of tears, like a valuable ointment. Wash me with my tears, cleanse me with them, O Word. Forgive my sins and grant me forgiveness. Weigh a multitude of evils, weigh my scabs, and see my ulcers, but also weigh my faith, and see my will, and hear my sighing. There is no hidden part of you, my God, my Creator, my Savior, below a drop of tears, below a drop of a certain part. Thy eyes have seen what I have not done, and in Thy book the essence of what has not yet been done is written to You. See my humility, see my great labor, and forgive me all my sins, O God of all: so that with a pure heart, a trembling thought, and a contrite soul, I may partake of Your undefiled and most holy Mysteries, by which everyone who eats and drinks with a pure heart is revived and adored; For you have said, my Lord: everyone who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, he abides in Me, and in Him I Am. The word of every Master and my God is true: for you partake of the divine and adoring graces, for I am not alone, but with You, my Christ, the Trisunlar Light, enlightening the world. For I will not be alone except You, the Life-Giver, my breath, my life, my joy, the salvation of the world. For this reason, I come to You, as I see, with tears, and with a contrite soul, I ask for your acceptance of the deliverance of my sins, and to partake of Your life-giving and immaculate Mysteries without condemnation, so that You may remain, as You have said, with me, the repentant: so that not only having found me Your grace, the deceiver will delight me more flatteringly, and deceiving will lead away those who idolize Your words. For this reason I fall down to You, and cry out to You warmly: as You received the prodigal, and the harlot who came, so receive me, the prodigal and the defiled, Generously. With a contrite soul, now coming to You, we know, Savior, as another, like I, did not sin against You, lower than the deeds I did. But we know this again, because not the greatness of sins, nor the multitude of sins exceeds my God’s great patience, and extreme love for mankind; but by the grace of compassion, warmly repentant, and purifying, and brightening, and creating light, partakers, fellow-participants of Your Divinity, doing things unenviably, and strange things both with the Angel and with human thought, conversing with them many times, as if with Your true friend. This is the bold thing they do to me, this is what they force me to do, O my Christ. And daring to show us Your rich kindness, rejoicing and trembling together, the grass partakes of the fire, and strangely, it is a miracle, we water it without burning, just as the bush of old did not burn without burning. Now with a grateful thought, with a grateful heart, with grateful hands, soul and body, I worship and magnify and glorify Thee, my God, for being blessed, now and forever. Translation: From foul lips, from a vile heart, from an unclean tongue, from a defiled soul, accept this prayer, my Christ, and without rejecting my words, my character, or my shamelessness, let me freely say what I want, my Christ, but better yet, teach me what I should do and say. I have sinned more than the harlot, who, having learned where You are, having bought peace, dared to come to anoint Your feet, my Christ, my Lord and my God. Just as You did not reject her, who came from a pure heart, do not disdain me, Word! Allow me to hold and kiss Your feet, and boldly anoint them with a stream of tears like precious myrrh. Wash me with your tears, cleanse me with them, Word! Forgive my sins and grant me forgiveness. You know many vices, you know my wounds, and you see my ulcers, but you also know my faith, and you see my zeal, and you hear my groans. Not a drop of tears, not a drop of a certain part is hidden from You, my God, my Creator, my Redeemer. Your eyes have noticed what I have not done, but in Your book there is also what has not yet been written down by You. Look at my humility, look at my suffering, and forgive me all my sins, O God of the universe, so that with a pure heart, a trembling thought and a contrite soul, I may partake of Your most pure and all-holy Mysteries, by which everyone who eats You and drinks with a sincere heart is revived and deified. After all, You, my Lord, said: “Whoever eats My Flesh, as well as drinks My Blood, abides in Me, and I am in him.” In everything, the word of my Master and God is true: after all, partaking of the divine and deifying Gifts, I am truly not alone, but with You, my Christ, the Light, bright as three suns, enlightening the world. Therefore, so that I would not be left alone, without You, the Giver of my life, my breath, my life, my joy, the salvation of the world, I came to You, as You see, with tears and a contrite soul, begging that I might receive deliverance from my sins and receive Your life-giving and immaculate Sacraments, not in condemnation; so that You may remain, as You said, with me, who am thrice unhappy; so that the deceiver, finding me deprived of Your grace, does not steal me insidiously and, having deceived me, does not lead me away from Your deifying words. Therefore, I fall at Your feet and fervently cry out to You: just as You accepted the prodigal son and the harlot who came to You, so, O Merciful One, accept me, the prodigal and the vile, who now comes to You with a contrite soul. I know, Savior, that no one else has sinned before You like I have, or done the deeds that I have done. But I also know that neither the severity of sins, nor the multitude of sins, does not exceed my God’s great patience and great love for mankind, but with merciful compassion You both cleanse and enlighten those who ardently repent, and introduce them to the light, generously making them partakers of Your Divinity; and - what is marvelous both to Angels and to human thoughts - You converse with them many times, as with Your true friends. It gives me courage, it inspires me, my Christ! And, boldly trusting in Your rich benefits to us, rejoicing and trembling together, I, the grass, partake of the fire, and am - a wondrous miracle - inexplicably watered, like in ancient times a thorn bush that burned without being consumed. So, with a grateful thought and a grateful heart, with all my grateful feelings, my soul and body, I worship, and magnify, and glorify You, my God, as blessed both now and forever. God and Lord of all! He who alone has the power of every breath and soul can heal me, hear the prayer of the accursed me, and consume the serpent nesting in me through the influx of the All-Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, killing me. And grant me, poor and naked, all virtues, to fall at the feet of my holy (spiritual) father with tears, and draw his holy soul to mercy, to have mercy on me. And grant, O Lord, in my heart humility and good thoughts, befitting a sinner who has agreed to repent to You, and may not in the end abandon the one soul that united with You and confessed You, and instead of the world chose and preferred You: I know, Lord, that I want to be saved, even if my evil custom is an obstacle: but it is possible for You, Master, the essence of all, great impossible essence from a person. Amen. Translation: God, Lord of all living things and every soul, Who alone can heal me. Hear my pitiful words and destroy the root of evil that has grown into me through the influx of the All-Holy and Life-Giving Spirit. And help me, who have lost all virtues, with tears, bowing down, approach my spiritual father and tune his pious soul to mercy, so that he has mercy and forgives me. And grant, Lord, to my heart humility and good thoughts/feelings, befitting a sinner who has decided to repent before You. And the soul that followed You and obeyed You, that chose You and not this world, do not reject at the end of life. For You, Lord, know that I want salvation, although my evil life prevents this, but everything that is impossible with our strength is possible for You, Master. Prayer of St. Simeon the New Theologian for finding a spiritual mentor Lord, not wanting the death of a sinner, but turning back and living to be him, descended to this earth, so that those lying and killed by sin raised up and saw You, the true light, as it is possible for a person to see, vouchsafe them, send me a man who leads You, yes, like You, having worked for him and with all my strength, submitting to him, and Yours in him Do your will, I will please You, the only God, and I, a sinner, will be worthy of Your kingdom. Translation: Lord, who does not want the death of the sinner, but his conversion to life, who came down to earth for this purpose, in order to raise those lying and killed by sin and make them worthy to see You, the true light, as far as it is possible for a person to see. Send me a man who knew You, so that, like You, serving him and submitting to him with all my strength, and fulfilling Your will according to his will, I would please You, the only God, and I, a sinner, would also be worthy of Your kingdom. Prayer of repentance, who repents with a contrite and humble spirit to God You see everything, Lord, and there is nothing that You have not seen. Although I am the work of Your hands, I did not do the works according to Your commandments, but out of my great foolishness I did every bad thing, not thinking that You, my Creator and God, are as good as you are just. Now, having brought this to mind, I trembled and don’t know what to do. I feel Your condemnation, and I cannot find a word of justification in my mouth. I have no virtue and have not done any deed of repentance worthy of forgiving me even one idle word of my mouth. Moreover, whoever has all the virtues and does all sorts of good deeds, does so as a slave and a debtor, but for his sin in all this he will not find any replacement: here Thy mercy alone precedes. Sin is death, and which of those who died through it can be resurrected by itself? Truly no one. You alone died and rose again, because You did not commit sin and no flattery was found in Your mouth. So, Lord Almighty, having done many evil deeds, I repent, but repentance alone is not strong enough to justify me. Translation: You see everything, Lord, and there is nothing that You have not seen. Although I am the creation of Your hands, I did not act according to Your commandments, but out of my great madness I did all kinds of evil, not thinking that You, my Creator and God, are as kind as you are just. Now, remembering this, I trembled and don’t know what to do. I understand Your sentence, and I cannot find words of justification in my mouth. I have no virtues and have not performed any deed of repentance worthy of forgiving me even one empty word. Moreover, whoever has all the virtues and does all sorts of good deeds, does this as a slave and debtor, but does not exchange his sin for all this: here only Your mercy anticipates. Sin is death, and who of those who die from it can resurrect themselves? Truly no one. You alone died and rose again, because You committed no sin, and there was no lie in Your mouth. So, Lord Almighty, having done many evil deeds, I repent, but repentance alone is not able to justify me. Prayer for deliverance from temptations Sovereign Lord, do not allow temptation, or sorrow, or illness beyond my strength to come upon me, but deliver me from them, or grant me the strength to endure them with thanksgiving. Translation: Do not allow me, Lord God, trials, or sorrow, or illness beyond my strength, but deliver me from them, or grant me the fortitude to endure them with thanksgiving. 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