O great and glorious prophet of God Elijah, for the sake of your zeal for the glory of the Lord God Almighty, not patient to see the idolatry and wickedness of the sons of Israel, you exposed the lawbreaking king Ahab and, as punishment for them, a three-year famine on the land of Israel, through your prayer you asked from the Lord, the widow of Zarephath in He was wonderfully fed by the famine and her son died through your prayer, resurrected, after the passage of the time of famine, the people of Israel were gathered on Mount Carmel for apostasy and wickedness, reproaching the same fire for your sacrifice from heaven, and by this miracle Israel who turned to the Lord, who put to shame and put to death the cold prophets of Baal, who through prayer again resolved the sky and asked for abundant rain on the earth, and made the people of Israel rejoice! To you, wonderful servant of God, we diligently resort to sin and humility, rainlessness and languid heat. We confess that you are unworthy of the mercy and blessings of God, but are worthy of your wrath more than the cruel punishments.
We did not walk in the fear of God and in the ways of His commandments, but in the lusts of our depraved hearts, and without shame we created every kind of sin: for our iniquities have surpassed our head, and we are not worthy to appear before the face of God and to see into heaven. We also humbly confess that for this reason the heavens were closed and like copper were created, for this reason our hearts were first closed with mercy and true love: for this reason the earth was hardened and became barren, because the fruits of good deeds were not brought to our Lord: for this reason there was no rain, lower dew, like tears the tenderness and life-giving dew of thought are not the imams: for this reason every grain and grass withered, as if every good feeling had dried up in us: for this reason the air has become darkened, for our mind has been darkened with cold thoughts and our heart has been defiled with lawless lusts. We confess that we are unworthy and you, prophet of God, should beseech you.
You, having become a servile man to us, became like an angel in your life, and like an incorporeal being, you were caught up into heaven: but with our cold thoughts and deeds we became like dumb cattle, and made our soul like flesh. You surprised angels and people with fasting and vigil: but we, indulging in intemperance and lust, become like senseless cattle. You were constantly burning with the utmost zeal for the glory of God: but we, carelessly about the glory of our Creator and Lord, are ashamed to confess His venerable name. You have eradicated wickedness and evil customs: but we have enslaved the spirit of this age, observing the customs of the world more than the commandments of God and the statutes of the church. What a sin and untruth we have not created! And so our iniquities exhaust the long-suffering of God. Moreover, the just Lord was righteously angry with us, and in His anger punished us.
Moreover, knowing your great boldness before the Lord and trusting in your love for the human race, we dare to pray to you, most praiseworthy prophet: be merciful to us, unworthy and indecent, beg the Great and All-Bountiful God, so that he will not be completely angry with us and may he not destroy us with our iniquities, but yes abundant and peaceful rain will fall on the thirsty and parched earth, may it bestow fruitfulness and goodness in the air: bow with your effective intercession to the mercy of the King of Heaven, not for us for the sake of the sinful and nasty, but for the sake of His chosen servants, who did not bend their knees to the Baal of this world, for the sake of the gentle babies, for the sake of dumb cattle and birds of the air, who suffer for our iniquity and are consumed by hunger, heat and thirst.
With your favorable prayers we have asked from the Lord the spirit of repentance and heartfelt tenderness, the spirit of meekness and self-control, the spirit of love and patience, the spirit of the fear of God and piety, so that, having returned from the path of wickedness to the right path of virtue, we walk in the light of God’s commandments and achieve the good things promised to us, by the good will of the Beginning Father, by love of mankind His only begotten Son and the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.