Master Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the Source of life and immortality, of all creation, visible and invisible to the Creator, co-essential with the Son and co-originating with the beginningless Father, much for the sake of goodness in the last days, he clothed himself in flesh, and was crucified, and was buried for us, ungrateful and evil-willed, and with Your Blood renewing our nature corrupted by sin; Immortal King Himself, accept my sinful repentance, and incline Your ear to me, and hear my words. For I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned in heaven and before You, and I am not worthy to look upon the height of Your glory; I was angered by Your goodness, having transgressed Your commandments and not obeyed Your commands. But You, Lord, are kind, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, and did not give me up to perish with my iniquities, waiting in every possible way for my conversion. For Thou art, O Lover of Mankind, as Thy prophet: for by will I do not want the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. You do not want, Master, to destroy your creation by hand, and you are less than pleased with the destruction of mankind, but you want everyone to be saved, and to come into the mind of truth.
Likewise, I, even though I am unworthy of heaven and earth, and sow temporary life, having subjected myself to sin, and enslaved myself with pleasure, and desecrated Your image; but having become Thy creation and creature, I do not despair of my salvation, the accursed one, but daring to receive Thy immeasurable compassion, I come. Accept me, O Lord, who loves mankind, as a harlot, as a thief, as a publican and as a prodigal, and take away my heavy burden of sins, take away the sin of the world, and heal the infirmities of man, call those who labor and are burdened to Yourself and give rest to Him who has not come to call the righteous, but sinners for repentance. And cleanse me from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and teach me to perform holiness in Thy passion: as if my conscience is pure. Having received part of Your holy things, I will unite with Your Holy Body and Blood, and I have You living and abiding in me, with the Father and Your Holy Spirit.
To her, Lord Jesus Christ, my God, may the communion of Thy most pure and life-giving Mysteries not be in judgment for me, nor may I be weak in soul and body, which makes it all the more unworthy to partake; but grant me, even before my final breath, to uncondemnably receive part of Thy Holy Things, into communion with the Holy Spirit, into the path of the eternal life, and into a favorable answer at Thy Last Judgment; for I, too, with all Thy chosen ones, will be a partaker of Thy incorruptible blessings, which Thou hast prepared for those who love Thee, O Lord, in which Thou art glorified forever. Amen.
Co-essential - also eternal (ever-essential - eternally existing). Co-original - also without beginning (eternal) and authority (omnipotent). clothed in flesh - incarnate (clothed in flesh). (The following are also participial forms of verbs: crucified - who gave himself up to crucifixion, buried - who gave himself up to burial). For us - for us. My verbs are my words. Thou art declared... Thy prophet - for Thou hast spoken through Thy prophet. To come into the mind of truth is to achieve knowledge of the truth. That’s why I am, too. Even though I am unworthy, I am also unworthy. Sowing temporary life - this short-term life. We indulge in sensual pleasures. Benevolence is mercy. Like the prodigal - that is, like the prodigal son; Sin of the world - taking upon yourself the sins of the world (hereinafter again a series of participles: heal - healing, call - calling, rest - giving peace). To perform holiness - to demonstrate complete, perfect holiness, to become completely holy.
As if by the pure knowledge of my conscience - so that I am with the pure testimony of my conscience (information is evidence, literally - co-knowledge; the word conscience itself consists of the same parts: conscience, knowledge shared with God, the voice of God in the soul). Those who are unworthy to receive communion are from unworthy communion. Until my last breath - until my last breath (literally: my last exhalation). Receive the part - receive communion. As a farewell to the eternal life - as a farewell to eternal life. A commoner is a participant, one who has a common part. The incorruptible ones are here: pure, unalloyed, remaining in their full composition... What You have prepared - which You have prepared. In them - in which.
+ Part of this prayer coincides with the secret prayer of the priest at the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, read during the litany of petition, before the Lord’s Prayer.
In prayers for Communion, words and episodes of Holy Scripture are especially often recalled - first of all, the Gospel, and this is understandable: it is in the Sacrament of Communion that God most clearly enters our lives, but another way must always be open for His entry into us: through His word, which is living and active (Heb. 4:12), which must constantly act in us and be perceived as personally addressed to us, as something most important for our entire life. Therefore, it is very important not to “skip” episodes of Holy Scripture in prayers, but to renew them in your memory, in your heart.
Thou hast declared, O Lover of Mankind, as Thy prophet: For by will I do not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. -Tell them: As I live, says the Lord God, I do not want the sinner to die, but for the sinner to turn from his way and live. Turn yourselves, turn from your evil ways; Why should you die, O house of Israel? (Ezek.33:11).
You do not want, Master, to destroy the hand of Your creation, nor do you have any good will about the destruction of mankind, but you want to save everyone and come into the mind of truth. Here are the words of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul, where it is said that the Lord wants all people to be saved and to achieve the knowledge of the truth (in the Slavic Bible: He wants all men to be saved, and to come into the understanding of the truth) (Tim. 2:4).
Accept me, O Lord, who loves mankind, as a harlot, as a thief, as a publican, and as a prodigal. This and subsequent prayers turn us to the image of the sinful wife who anointed the feet of Jesus with ointment (Luke 7:36-47), the prudent thief who cried on the cross: Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! (Luke 23:42), the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32); the image of the publican is most likely a collective one: we can remember the apostle, the evangelist, the publican Levi-Matthew, who, leaving everything, followed the Lord and was worthy to receive Him in his home (Luke 5:27-32), and the repentant chief of publicans Zacchaeus, who was also worthy of a visit from Christ (Luke 19:2-10) and the humble publican of Christ’s parable, who went to his house more justified than the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14), and, finally, numerous tax collectors and sinners who repeatedly shared meals with Christ and his disciples and followed Him (Matt. 9:11, 11:19; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:1).
Take away the sin of the world, and heal the infirmities of man, call those who labor and are burdened to Yourself and give them rest, not coming to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Let us recall the passages in the Gospel from which these words are taken: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt. 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32).