Two prayers of John Chrysostom

Prayer one * Prayer two Prayer of John Chrysostom, when there is an intention to read, or listen to another reading Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, open the ears and eyes of my heart, so that I, Lord, may listen to Your word, understand and do Your will, since “I am a stranger on earth; do not hide Your commandments from me. Open my eyes, and I will see the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:19, 18). My God, I hope in You to enlighten my heart. Second prayer of John Chrysostom**. Lord, my God, great, terrible and glorious, the organizer of all visible and imaginable creation, the keeper of His covenant and His mercy for those who love You and keep Your commandments; Now and constantly I thank You for all Your benefits to me, obvious and implicit. And until now (time) I praise, glorify and exalt You, for the fact that You aroused amazement at Your rich mercies on me and at Your mercy, when you took me to Yourself from my mother’s womb, provided for everything, observed it and, only out of kindness and your love for mankind, governed holyly what concerns me. You did not despise my baseness, due to my unworthiness and passion, but you did not abandon me, being kind and providential, due to Your philanthropy and compassion. “Even to old age and to gray hair, do not forsake me, O God” (Ps. 70:18), (You), Jesus Christ, beautiful name, my sweetness, my desire and my hope, who became incarnate for us, having suffered death on the cross and wisely arranging and bequeathing everything for our salvation. I confess to You, Lord, my God, with all my heart, I bow my knees, body and soul, expressing to You, my God, all my sins. And You yourself incline Your ear to my prayer, and forgive the wickedness of my heart. I sinned, committed lawlessness, made mistakes, irritated, upset My good Master, nourisher and trustee; There is no type of vice, sayable or unspeakable, that I would not commit in deed and word, in knowledge and ignorance, in desire and thought - having sinned from excess to excess; and, having often promised to repent, so many times I fell into the same thing. Drops of rain will be more easily counted than the multitude of my sins; they rose above my head and became heavy, like a heavy burden. Having opened the door to foolish desires, from my youth to the present time, I have used unbridled and disorderly impulses, desecrating the divinely woven garment of my holy baptism, staining the church of my body, polluting my unfortunate soul with dishonest passions and committing all other iniquities and untruths; which, if I partially wish to remember, there will not be enough time for my story. But since you yourself know everything - because there is no creature hidden before You, but everything is naked and open to Your eyes - (then) why talk to someone who knows about things that are unknown to You? My heart and the bones of my soul are crushed, and I am completely plunged into the depths of doubt, thinking to myself that, being such and such a sinner, I have not shown any sign of repentance in myself; The time of my visitation is near, the appointed hour of death is near, and there is never (no) time for repentance. Therefore my soul is confused, in great torment and full of shame; Being unprepared and unprepared, reflecting and discussing my own, I do not find anything sufficient for protection, nor any way or means by which I will be delivered from eternal fire. If the righteous can barely escape (1 Peter 4:18), where will I appear, a sinner? And if the kingdom of heaven is given to the worthy through many tribulations (Acts 14:22), the path of life is narrow and sorrowful (Matthew 7:14), how will I be worthy of salvation, I, who spend all my time on pleasure and constantly debauchery? And if every righteousness of a person is like the bandage of an unclean woman (Isaiah 64:6), how will so much uncleanness and unrighteousness be counted? If I must be justified even for an idle word (Matthew 12:36), what plausible excuse will I have for so many sins? Woe to me, soul, that we managed to do this in ours! Life is short and very limited, quickly passing and accompanying death; The punishment of sinners is eternal, as is the kingdom of the righteous, and the life of both is not interrupted by death. So what should I do? What to do for yourself? What abyss to throw yourself into? Death is also terrible, and especially of sinners, since it is also evil: “the death of sinners is cruel” (Ps. 33:22); Posthumous horrors are also terrible, but the most terrible thing is to fall into the hands of the living God, from which no one can remove himself. So, when He comes to be glorified among His saints, and to render to each one according to his deeds; when the thrones are set, the incorruptible, terrible Judge will sit, a fiery river will flow ahead, splendor and joy will be prepared for the righteous, all the countless angels, and all people (who have been) from the ages, all together the visible and invisible creation will appear with trembling - what then will I do for myself, filled with shame, condemned by my conscience, deprived of all boldness and justification? Moans from everywhere. Woe to me (for) wickedness! What will I pay first? What am I going to moan about next? What am I going to worry about? About deprivation of benefits, or about sorrowful torment? About the limitlessness of punishment, or about excommunication from God? Cry, unfortunate soul, thinking about this to yourself, and (about) what will meet you at the end, how very difficult and painful it is, and cry out: God of strength, eternal God, God of pity and mercy, do not leave me, do not despise me, do not put me outside of Your mercy: “hasten to help me, O Lord, my Savior!” (Ps. 37:23). And being in such a state and thinking like this, I do not give up good hope, and do not despair in my fear. I know about the compassion of my Master, I know about the forgiving nature of the lover of mankind, and that He is a desirer of mercy, not desiring the death of a sinner, for his conversion and life (Ezek. 33:11), who wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), and especially those who turn from sin. You “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17); “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick” (Luke 5:31); “Behold, I have decided to say to the Master, I am dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27), “I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach among men and contempt among the people” (Ps. 21:7). Give me the “word” to proclaim “with my mouth” (Eph. 6:19), Giver of prayer. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from You, the Father of lights” (James 1:17), so that I may pray worthily and plead profitably. Let me not be turned away with humiliation, in disgrace, but having received what I hoped for; and so I will depart, rejoicing from the fullness of my heart. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy” (Ps. 50:3), “for my soul trusts in You” (Ps. 56:2); “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak” (Ps. 6:3), Physician of souls and bodies. As if standing at Your terrible throne, as if touching Your pure feet, I ask, pray and implore, with a contrite and humiliated heart: “God! be merciful to me, a sinner! (Luke 18:13), descend upon me, worthless and low, look from Your holy dwelling at my misfortune, look from Your holy heights at the prayer of Your low servant, and do not despise my prayer; let me go so that I can refresh myself before I go away, from where I will never return. I sinned as a man, descend as God; You know, Master, the instability of human nature, and that from youth a person’s thoughts are zealously directed towards evil. Remember that we are dust; remember that You are only pure, pure and unsullied, and we are all under punishment; remember Your mercy from all eternity and Your mercy, and do not condemn me with my iniquities, do not repay me for my sins. You know the multitude of my iniquities - that they are great and cannot be counted; but I also know about the sea of ​​Your love for mankind, that it is indescribable and invincible. You are the one who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29), who came down from heaven to earth to find lost and lost sheep, a wonderful Shepherd who lays down His soul for the sheep (John 10:11), and who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first (1 Tim. 1:15). Have mercy, have mercy on the creation of Your hands; do not disdain me, unworthy, but have mercy on Your creation, - (You), who endured the cross for me and accepted suffering wounds, - but, having healed, blot out everything with the medicine of compassion and the sponge of Your love for mankind: “I know that You can do everything, and that Your intention cannot be stopped” (Job 42:2). Pierce my hardened heart, ease the burden of conscience, accept my tears and groans, like a harlot, like Peter, the chief of the apostles; accept this small confession and repentance of mine, - (You), who accepted the prudence of a thief on the cross; Receive the fruit of my lips as a living sacrifice, pleasing, with a fragrant aroma. Please, be begging; I’m ashamed, be ashamed. That king, Manasiah, also sinned, but, having repented, he did not perish; before him, David also sinned, but after mourning his sin, he was pardoned. I have many such examples that console and encourage my cowardice, drive away despair from me and nourish my hope for salvation. You console my heart too, Father of mercies and God of all comfort; attract the soul and do (it) good, - the Source of mercy and goodness. From eternity You have done many great and wondrous, glorious and extraordinary things, of which there is no number; but if you save me, the dissolute one, if you place me, unworthy, next to (Yourself), you will be even more amazing, because the power of Your alms and love for mankind is so great that You even make pearls out of mud, and You bring the son of Gehenna into the son of the kingdom. And I will also cry to my Lord and pray to my God: rule the rest of my life according to Your desire; establish me in Your fear; strengthen me in Your love and in the abundance of Your kindness; Grant me a good end worthy of Your love for mankind; look at my bones and connections and the entire composition of my foundation, according to Your mercy and love for mankind, and, having brought my unfortunate soul to a place of rest and tranquility, restore (it), since You have many distributed dwellings (Jn. 14:2), for each according to his dignity. I also pray and ask: give, Lord, now to my unworthiness also the grace of understanding, so as to recognize what is pleasant for You, and what is useful for me, and not only to recognize, but also to do, so as not to get carried away and not to cleave to the empty, not to do unnecessary things, to humiliate myself with the lowly without vanity, to have compassion for the suffering and to be condescending to sinners. I know that if I don’t forgive, I won’t be forgiven. Therefore I ask: condescend in all things to those who sin against me; It is not they who are guilty, but I, the unfortunate one, who does not do Your will and does not keep Your commandments. And repay those who love us with Your rich gifts; Having mercy and lovingkindness, have mercy on my spiritual father, and on the brothers whom You, the merciful, gave with me, according to the judgment that you know. Let these words of my prayer be my request both in life and in death; Let this confession and tears be directed to You like incense; and I expect inexorable death every day. And my unfortunate body, consigned to burial, will be destroyed, resolved into that from which it was composed - You, the life-giver, will resurrect it incorruptible during the resurrection; and I commend my spirit into Your hands. Holy Master, rest in the light of the living, in the monastery of the rejoicing, my parents, ancestors and brothers, and Your grateful servants - because, although we sinned, we did not depart from You, and did not stretch out our hands to a foreign god, but recognized You, and we remain in love for You, in faith in You, and we worship You alone in the Trinity God, in You we pray and we provide You with the hope of salvation. Have mercy on us according to Your great mercy, and save us for Your heavenly eternal kingdom. Truly, my Lord, Lord, so let it be in us who trust in You, according to Your many and invincible kindness, and according to Your ineffable mercy and love for mankind, through the intercession of the all-glorious, all-sung, most blessed and endowed with the graces of our Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Ever-Virgin Mary, the heavenly and reasonable powers, and all those who have pleased You from eternity. True. The following two prayers are not considered authentic. The first of these is taken from the Discourse on Patience, which is given below in the number Spuria. There, with us, it is marked with asterisks. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: