Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

prayers_of_saints

7 Entries

A Prayer of Glory to Christ

What shall I give you, Lord, in return for all Thy kindness?
Glory to Thee for Thy love.
Glory to Thee for Thy mercy.
Glory to Thee for Thy patience.
Glory to Thee for forgiving us all our sins.
Glory to Thee for coming to save our souls.
Glory to Thee for Thy incarnation in the virgin's womb.
Glory to Thee for Thy bonds.
Glory to Thee for receiving the cut of the lash.
Glory to Thee for accepting mockery.
Glory to Thee for Thy crucifixion.
Glory to Thee for Thy burial.
Glory to Thee for Thy resurrection.
Glory to Thee who were preached to men and women.
Glory to Thee in whom they believed.
Glory to Thee who were taken up into heaven.
Glory to Thee who sit in great
glory at the Father's right hand.
Glory to Thee whose will it is that the sinner should be saved through Thy great mercy and compassion. St. Ephrem of Syria (ca. 306-373)

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It happened that when Abba Arsenius was sitting in his cell one day that he was harassed by demons. His servants, on their return, stood outside his cell and heard him praying to God in these words, "O God, do not leave me. I have done nothing good in your sight, but according to your goodness, let me now make a beginning of good." The Desert Fathers

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Let the soul then, brothers, teach wisdom to this thick body every day when we come to our bed at evening, and say to each member of the body, "O feet, while you have power to stand and to move before you are laid out and become motionless, stand eagerly for your Lord." To the hands, let it say, "The hour comes when you will be loosened and motionless, bound to each other and having no motion whatever; then, before you fall into that hour, do not cease stretching yourselves out to the Lord." And to the whole body let the soul say, "O body, before we are separated and removed far away from each other, and before I am taken down to Hades to receive everlasting fetters under darkness, and you are changed into primal matter and dissolved into the earth, consumed in stench and corruption, stand boldly, worship the Lord. Make my perception made known by tears; make known to the Master your good service. Bear me as I eagerly confess God, before you are borne by others; do not condemn me to eternal punishment in your desire to sleep and to take your rest. For there will be a time when that most heavy sleep is going to overtake you. If you listen to me, we shall together enjoy the blessed inheritance. If you do not listen to me, then woe to me that you have been bound to me; because of you I also, wretched as I am, am condemned."

If you train yourselves daily in this manner, truly you will be a true temple of God. And since God is dwelling in you, what satanic wile is able to deceive you? For instead of having a myriad of teachers, the word of God is dwelling in you, teaching you more and making you yet wiser by his own knowledge. And whatever human speech cannot say, the all-holy Spirit teaches. For as it is said, we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself expresses our plea for us with groanings that cannot be put into words. St Pachomius, Armand Veilleux, trans., "Pachomian Koinonia -- Volume II," (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1981), pp. 41 - 44

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May God, who seeth all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all flesh--who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar(1) people--grant to every soul that calleth upon His glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power, and honor, both now and for evermore. Amen. First Epistle Of Clement To The Corinthians, Chap. LVIII

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Now therefore know that the saints and the righteous, clothed in the Spirit, pray for us always that we may be humbled before God, and put on again the garment that we had put off, in our intellectual substance. For often also has that voice come from God the Father to all who are clothed in the Spirit, saying to them, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord: priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem.' (Isa. 40:1-2) For God always visits His creatures, and bestows His goodness upon them. the Letters of St. Antony the Great

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On that dreadful and amazing day, Thou shalt say to us sinners, O Lord: "You men know well what I have undergone for you...what have you suffered for Me?" What shall I say to that; I who, though penitent, am evil, sinful and polluted? The martyrs will point to their wounds, their sufferings, the severed parts of their bodies, and to their endurance to the end. The ascetics will point to their asceticism, to their long fasts and vigils, to their liberality, their tears and their endurance to the end. But I, idle, sinful, transgressing as I am, what shall I be able to point to? Spare me, O merciful One! Spare me, O Thou Lover of mankind!" St. Ephraim the Syrian quoted in the Prologue, Vol. 2, 5/10, p.163

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O Giver of all good things, O fountain of healing and treasure of compassion, Thou only good and kindhearted God, Who ever grantest good things to those who ask! I beseech Thee, that Thine abundant grace might descend upon me and gather together my mind and heal my hidden sores anew, for distractions and wandering thoughts constantly renew my secret sores.

O long-suffering Lord, Who ever curest with grace and compassion, heal the great spiritual infirmities that are within me, a sinner!

I have nothing to give Thee, O Master, in return for Thy cures. And what price could be put on Thy cures? Neither heaven nor earth can give a reward worthy of them. It is impossible to purchase these holy heavenly cures, for they are priceless. Thou givest them only in return for tears, O our Savior; and in return for bitter weeping dost Thou grant them to all. St. Ephraim the Syrian, 4th century

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