Every person sometimes has to experience many different difficulties in their life, the impact of which may determine their future outcome. And when one’s own efforts are not enough, the only hope remains a direct appeal to God.
In the Orthodox Church culture, the souls of people find themselves alone with their main earthly savior during the reading of a certain prayer. At the same time, her words coming out of her mouth must be learned by heart.
If we look in more detail at the features of all existing prayers, it turns out that they all differ from each other not only in meaning, but also in direction. Therefore, in difficult times, finding yourself in a difficult or hopeless situation, it would not hurt any person to use Christian prayers. There are a huge number of them, but three of them are the most common and important.
4"King of Heaven"
Text
Heavenly King, Comforter (Adviser, Mentor), Spirit of truth, present everywhere (located) and filling everything (with His presence), Treasure of blessings and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, cleanse us from all sin and save, O Most Good One, our souls . In the Church Slavonic text, when addressing, the vocative form “To the Heavenly King” is used.
What is this
One of the most famous prayers, an appeal to the third person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit. Included in the morning and evening rules. Daily morning and evening prayers that Christians perform, sounds during many services. Authorship and origin unknown; it is believed that it arose no earlier than the 8th century.
Priest's comment
“In this prayer we turn to the Holy Spirit who descends from heaven. That is, he reigns where the perfection of God is. We cannot yet say this about the earth, because our sin and imperfection reign here. We talk about the Comforter, we quote the words of Christ: “If I go away, then my Father, your Heavenly Father, will send you the Holy Spirit; if I don’t go away, he will not send it.” “But I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go; for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). That is, with his departure, the action of the Holy Spirit became more obvious, more tangible for people. Further we say: “Which exists everywhere, fills everything.” It is clear that as God, the third person of the Trinity, he exists everywhere. And we ask that he come, move into our hearts, cleanse us from all filth and save our souls. That is, we ask for a special cleansing action of God, which the Lord gives through this special grace of the action of the Holy Spirit.
St. Seraphim of Sarov said that the goal of Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. This is a special joy. Let's say, when a person falls in love, he is filled with a special state, everything becomes different for him. So the action of the Holy Spirit is, as it were, an awakening of our special love for God. When we love Christ, we open our hearts to the action of God, and the Holy Spirit comes to us, and it becomes easy to be better, easy to forgive, easy to overcome something, not to be offended, not to envy.
There is a tradition of reading this prayer before starting every important task. Before doing anything, any person first gets into shape: singers sing, athletes warm up. And Christians pray to the Holy Spirit.”
7Prayer of the Optina Elders
Text
Lord, let me meet with peace of mind everything that the coming day will bring me. Let me completely surrender to Your Holy will. At every hour of this day, instruct and support me in everything. Whatever news I receive during the day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul and a firm conviction that everything is Your holy will. In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings. In all unforeseen cases, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by You. Teach me to act directly and wisely with each member of my family, without confusing or upsetting anyone. Lord, give me strength to endure the fatigue of the coming day and all the events during the day. Guide my will and teach me to pray, believe, hope, endure, forgive and love.
What is this
The most famous prayer in Russian. Presumably, it was written by the monks of Optina Monastery at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. It was transmitted in lists and became especially widespread at the end of the 20th century.
Priest's comment
“This prayer is very popular. Firstly, it is written in Russian, so it is clearer and easier to understand. Secondly, it contains the most important things that we need in everyday life. And it’s all about how important it is to accept the circumstances of our lives as allowed by God.
“Lord, let me meet with peace of mind everything that the coming day will bring me” - not to be indignant, but to accept everything completely and with trust, because there are many surprises and it is important not to react too violently to any unexpected events.
“Let me completely surrender to Your holy will” - we understand that what is required of us here is the same humility that is expressed in other words.
“Instruct and support me at every hour” - this is understandable. We do not rely only on our own strengths, but ask for help in all big and small matters.
“Whatever news I receive during the day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul and the firm conviction that Thy holy will is for everything” - this is a difficult moment, because God’s will cannot be for crime, for murder, for Auschwitz, and so on Further. But God allows this to happen in the world, gives a person the freedom to commit sins, even the most terrible crimes. This is the mystery of freedom, which, on the one hand, is the greatest happiness, a manifestation of God's love. God's love gives us freedom to choose what we want, freedom to be creative. We ourselves create our lives, and this is the creativity of each of us. But the terrible consequence of this freedom is the evil that dominates the world. And the words that seem simple in this prayer are actually a request to understand that there is no other evil god reigning in the world, but that God the Creator allows evil to exist. The mystery of evil is incomprehensible to us. The answer to a person’s question is only a personal meeting between a person and God, similar to the one experienced by the righteous Job, who reproached God for world injustice: “I have heard about You by the ear of the ear; now my eyes see You; therefore I renounce and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6).
“In all words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings” - we freely ask him to guide us. Because we understand that our thoughts and feelings may wander somewhere or be incorrect.
“In all unforeseen cases, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by You” - a repetition of the same thing: not just some evil force exists in the world, besides God, which defeats Him and acts - no, He allows it. Although, of course, an evil force exists, it is itself a created one - the Devil. When Father Alexander Me was asked whether the devil exists, he answered: “Alas.”
The rest of the text is simple and clear: we ask for strength so that we can spend the day calmly. Of course, we will get tired, but so that everything goes according to the will of God. “Teach me to pray, to believe, to hope, to endure, to forgive and to love” - in other words, to become disciples of Christ, to learn how to manifest all these virtues in our daily behavior. If we say this seriously and really want it, then we open our heart, our mind, our will to God’s actions.”
Symbol of faith
I believe in One God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible, in One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, God is truth and from God is truth, born, not created, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were. For our sake, man and our salvation came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried. And rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. And the future will bring about the living and the dead, and His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father. Let us worship and glorify those who spoke with the Father and the Son. Into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. Tea of the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen.
Morning prayer for the sending of grace for this day
Lord, bless me to pass this day without sin, and all the days of my life do not leave me, so that I, the accursed one, will not perish. (Bow)
Most Holy Lady and Lady Theotokos, do not forsake me from Your intercession, so that on this day and all the days of my life, I, the accursed one, will not perish. (Bow)
Angel of God, my holy Guardian, save me on this day without sin and all the days of my life from every misadventure, so that I, the accursed one, will not perish for my iniquity. (Bow)
Glory to Thee, Christ my God, that Thou hast not destroyed me with my iniquities, but to this day Thou hast still endured my sins. Grant me, Lord, to make a good start, so that on this coming day neither deed nor thought will anger You, my Creator, but so that all deeds, desires, advice and thoughts will be for the glory of Your Most Pure Name.
“Our Father” is the main prayer of a Christian
“Our Father” is the fundamental, main prayer of all Christians for all occasions, with it the service in the temple begins, and every Christian should begin the morning with it and end his difficult day. It should be read before a conspiracy ritual in order to give even more power to any ritual. It is believed that this is the only prayer that does not belong to the human mind. The Lord himself gave it to us.
“Our Father” is read before starting any serious business, it accompanies any conspiracy, they begin treatment of a patient, and they thank our Lord with it. The prayer is read three times.
Our Father, who art in heaven! (can be replaced with the phrase “who is in heaven”)
Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors;
and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Now forever and forever and ever. Amen.
With the help of this prayer, thieves and atheist robbers repented and turned to God and received God's help. The power of prayer is learned not only in trouble. If you read “Our Father” every day, your life will be filled with goodness and light.
Whether to believe these words or not is a personal matter for everyone, but for believers this prayer is of great importance.
The second most important is the appeal to the mother of our God Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, the Virgin Mary.
5 Beatitudes
Icon “The Beatitudes”. Russia, no later than the 18th century State Historical Museum / Wikimedia Commons
Text
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The text is given in the Synodal translation.
What is this
The Gospel text is the nine commandments that Jesus Christ gave during the Sermon on the Mount in addition to the Ten Commandments of Moses (Matthew 5:3–11). These commandments express the essence of the Gospel teaching and are sung at every liturgy.
Priest's comment
“Bliss is when the will of God ceases to be something abstract, distant, but comes into our heart, into our everyday life. When it is said “blessed are the poor in spirit,” we are talking about the concept of “the poor of the Lord” - these are strangers who, for the sake of the spirit, choose a different, unusual life, a life without the pursuit of wealth, without the pursuit of social status, power, and so on.
The Lord says that “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” that is, people who passionately desire goodness and justice. We know dissidents and other truth-seekers and lovers of truth. It's people like them that we're talking about. Akin to Solzhenitsyn’s “don’t live by a lie.” By following Christ, in the Kingdom of Heaven they will receive that truth, that truth that they so strive to find in this world.
There are two possible interpretations about “blessed are those who mourn”: those who cry about their own sins, that is, those who are aware of their sinfulness, and those who cry about the sad events that surround us in the world, that is, these are people with a sympathetic heart, sensitive to other people’s misfortune, to other people’s grief, not indifferent .
The merciful will be comforted, because justice will be restored in everything, the Lord will wipe away every tear.
“The peacemakers will be called sons of God,” because God brings peace. As the Lord said in his farewell conversation with his disciples: “My peace I give to you.” “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He brought into the ordinary earthly world, full of sorrows, another world, another dimension, other principles and principles of life.
“Blessed are they when they persecute you, speak evil of you, and so on.” It’s a paradoxical thing, but people who really suffer for the truth, for the truth, don’t even feel physical pain so acutely. They understand that they are suffering for the truth, for what is worth living and dying for. They are blissful, because the highest happiness is when a person understands that at the cost of suffering, at the cost of some hardships, he still remained true to his word, true to his duty - to what he considers the truth.
When an unjustly persecuted person suffers, but remains true to himself, you can call it stubbornness, but in fact it is loyalty - the same root as in the word “faith.”
And at the end: “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” This is not necessary in the other world. Heaven is also a dimension of human life, its spiritual hypostasis.”
Our Savior
In order to atone for our sins, He had to be executed on the cross and die for it, and to defeat death, He had to be resurrected on the third day. Only after this did he ascend to heaven to His Father, where he remains as the God-man.
Jesus Christ is considered the founder of the Kingdom of God, which is called the Church. It is there that many believers can find spiritual peace, be saved from various misfortunes, and also strengthen their faith. Many believers believe that before the end of the world, Christ will descend to earth again in order to judge the living and the dead. According to the prediction, after this there will come paradise, the Kingdom of His Glory, where all the saved will be illuminated with eternal joy.
All of His educational activities and life were aimed at cultivating new spiritual principles and dogmas in human life. In them He laid down such concepts as:
- holiness,
- love for neighbors and the Lord,
- pure faith
- the desire for moral improvement.
He also introduced certain commandments into the lives of people, following which one can achieve the grace of God. He addressed people with requests that we build our lives and religious worldview based on these foundations.
As the history of Christianity shows, not all nations and people manage to achieve and follow the high spiritual principles of Holy Scripture. To establish the Orthodox faith, some sometimes had to sacrifice their lives. And faith itself was affirmed, going through the thorny paths of its formation.
Some people have read the Gospel, but without much desire to change their hearts. It also happened that it was rejected, or even persecuted. But those who nevertheless accepted the fundamentals of this scripture into their souls brought into their lives such humane concepts as:
- Brotherhood
- Equality
- Liberty
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Sometimes replacing Gospel principles with others can lead to the most terrible destructive consequences. Knowing a large number of examples from history, Christians should clearly understand that only in the teachings of Christ can one find the key to solving all social and family problems.
Song to the Mother of God
Every woman, even an unchurched one, should know the appeal and thanksgiving to the mother of Jesus Christ to the Holy Mother of God the Virgin Mary by heart.
Virgin Mary, Rejoice, Blessed Mary,
The Lord is with You, blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb,
For you gave birth to the Savior of our souls. Amen
No less powerful, but a little more voluminous, is the “Creed” prayer, which is also read often.
