Sin does not exist. God, the creator of everything that is, did not create something as the sin. Sin only is a deformation of a right thing; vice only is a contortion of a virtue; there is no evil as such, evil does not exist; there is no lie as such, lie does not exist, there must always be a truth that a lie distorts - there is no pure lie, there cannot be such thing. (Father Rafail Noica)
The Boat
⛵ We need to always be aware that we are on the boat of the One that does not leave us drowning (Dr Constantin Necula, Professor of Theology)
Thoughts
🔆 Be patient, be patient, be patient!
🔆 When in hard times, keep God as your biggest strength
"...and do not despair" (St. Silouan the Athonite)
do not get disappointed at all!
🔆 Love everything and everyone,
leave yourself for later,
be humble and give everything to the others!
🔆 The brightness of Mary and the kindness of the saints overcome darkness and hardships or dangers
🔆 God, help us leave in peace 🕊 and in love ♡ everywhere in the world! And what a change there would be throughout the Earth, up to its smallest corner!
Prayer to Mother Mary
💕 My too good-hearted Empress, my hope,
you who are the birth giver of Lord, the hospitality giver to the poor, support to the travelers, joy to the upset people, and protection for the ones in sorrow, would you please see my need, see my trouble, help me to overcome it exactly as you would do with a helpless someone, exactly as you would feed a stranger; you so well know the nature of my trouble so fix it please, upon your will, since there is no other help for me, and no other great comfort, except for you, Mother of the Lord, who can guard and cover me until the end of days. Amin.
Very short
Mercy and forgiveness for our sins and wrongs we ask You to grant us, Lord! (The Liturgy)
- - -
Give us Your holly gifts, so we always walk Your paths and follow Your sacred Will. (adapted from Prayer for siblings)
The type of offering that God expects people to make to Him: their sense of humility. A crushed and humbly heart is not to be punished by God. (from Psalm 50 by David)
Into the depth of sins being sunk, I call the unequaled depth of Your mercy: save me, God, from falling! (Canon)
- - -
The type of offering that God expects people to make to Him: their sense of humility. A crushed and humbly heart is not to be punished by God. (from Psalm 50 by David)
- - -
Into the depth of sins being sunk, I call the unequaled depth of Your mercy: save me, God, from falling! (Canon)
- - -
From the Morning Prayers – the 8th prayer by Saint John Golden-Mouthed, for the hours of the day
🙏 Lord, admit me as I repent, and Lord, don’t leave me.
Lord, don’t lead
me into temptation. Lord, give me right thought.
Lord, give me tears and remind
me of death and humility.
Lord, give me conscience to be aware of my sins.
Lord,
give me humbleness, honesty, and submission; give me patience, and strong
will, and kindness.
Lord, plant the root of the good things in me, and the respect for You in my soul.
Lord, make me capable of loving You from the bottom
of my heart and my mind, and of always doing as You please.
Lord, protect me
from quarrelsome people, the devils, and excess of everything, as well
as of any other wrongs.
Lord, I know that You only do what You wish to, so
Your Will be upon me, the sinner, because You are forever the blessed One. Amin.
From the Evening Prayers, a small piece
🙏God, be protective to my soul since everywhere I walk there are many
traps on the way; please save me from them, and save my soul, You, Good God, Who love all humans.
“The Spring of Healings” ACATIST – excerpt
There is an Acatist celebrating the healing power of Virgin
Mary, in connection with a story from the 5th century CE about a
holy spring: One day a female voice (Mary’s voice) revealed to a soldier and to a thirsty blind man a place with natural water that was hidden in a forest. She instructed the soldier on how to use the water and a bit of clay to heal the blind man, who
started seeing right after. The soldier was told he would become an emperor,
and later he was indeed crowned as Leo I the Thracian.
The 10th Ikos
Our life on Earth sank in
the swamp of our sins, our souls got ill because of our sins, and our bodies
suffer pain, because God’s anger has been challenged and He is punishing us for these sins. So we run
to You, Mother of Jesus, and we kneel in front of your spring, praying to you:
wash the mud of our sins, heal our ill souls and bring our suffering bodies back
to good shape, so that we heartily tell you in a loud voice:
Joy to you, who are healer to our souls` addictions,
Joy to you, who are healer to our bodies` pains and sufferings,
Joy to you, who win God’s
good will in favour of us, the sinners,
Joy to you, who are the
true redress for those who regret their sins in front of God,
Joy to you, who are the shower
that washes out our dirty-with-misdeeds conscience,
Joy to you, who gave
us the Saviour as a gift, to help us get cleaned of our misdeeds,
Joy to you, because with your
mediation we are given healing, and the more faith we have, the more healing
we receive,
Joy to you, who are the
intermediary for the humans to get the eternal rejoicing,
Joy to you, who are a Life Giving Spring!
The Opening Prayers - excerpts
What follows is a part of what it is called the opening prayers. Each praying person is recommended
to always start with such short meaningful and beautiful prayers, and then to continue with whatever else they choose.
Glory to You, God, glory to You!
Heavenly Emperor, our Comfort, Spirit
of truth, You Who are everywhere and make everything happen, Treasurer of good
things and Life Giver, come and take shelter inside us, and clear all the
spoliation in us, and save, You, Who are the Kind One, our souls.
Holly God, Holly Strength, Holly Eternity, have
mercy on us!
Glory to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holly Spirit, now and forever! Amin.
Humbleness Hymns
Your mercy be upon us, God, Your mercy be upon us! Not knowing
how else to answer to You, we, sinful serfs, bring this prayer to You, as to our master: Your mercy be upon us!
Glory to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holly Spirit, now and forever! Amin.
Your mercy be upon us, God, since we put all our hopes into You; don’t
You be very angry on us, neither mention our wrongs, on the contrary always check our condition and health and protect us from enemies, because You are our God and we, all of us, are Your
people, the outcome of Your hands, and it is Your name that we call.
Glory to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holly Spirit, now and forever! Amin.
Blessed Mother of God, open for us the door to your charity,
in order for the ones that count on you to be saved from perishing and
freed from difficulties, because it is you who are people`s salvation on Earth.
God, Your mercy be upon us! (twelve
times)
“Glory to God for Everything” ACATIST – excerpt
Acatist
is a word of Greek origin and means standing up hymn. Nowadays this type of
prayer is performed on knees. There is at least one Acatist for each major saint
in the Orthodox calendar, apart from the ones dedicated to God, and Virgin Mary. The following excerpt is taken from a superb thank-you acatist
called “Glory to God for Everything”
The 5th Ikos
I see Your sky shining with stars. Oh, how
rich You are and how many lights You have! Eternity is watching me through the
rays of the distant luminaries; I am so small and insignificant, but God is
with me and everywhere I go I am protected by His loving hand.
Glory to You, for Your endless care for me,
Glory to You, for the people that Your divine
will made me come across,
Glory to You, for the love of my relatives and
for the devotion of my friends,
Glory to You, for the gentleness of the
domestic animals that serve me,
Glory to You, for all the bright moments in my
life,
Glory to You, for the authentic joys You gave
to my heart,
Glory to You, for the joy of living, for suffering, and for contemplating,
Glory to You, God, forever!
Special Prayer in the time of this pandemic disease
There is a beautiful special prayer issued recently, asking
for God's help against the pandemics, and I tried to translate it for wider use
and benefit, so here it is
Lord, God, You who are rich in mercy, and who rule our lives
with wise care, listen to our prayer, accept our repentance, and stop this new
contagious disease, exactly like You did back to king David’s days, when You
ended up Your punishment upon Your people. You Who are the Doctor of our souls
and bodies, do offer the ill ones recovery, promptly lift them off their beds of pain, and they will glorify You, the Merciful Redeemer. While for the
healthy ones You provide protection against any kind of illness. Lord, with
Your holly grace, You bless, give strength, and guard all those who, filled with
love and self-sacrifice, are taking care of the ill ones at home or in
hospitals. You take all the diseases and sufferance away from Your people and
teach us to value life and health as gifts coming from You. Lord, give us Your
peace and fill our hearts with an iron-like faith in Your protection, as well
as with hope for Your help, and with love for You and for our neighbour.
Because it is in Your power, God, to allow mercy and forgiveness for us, and
for this reason we glorify You. Amin.
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