One unknown philosopher said that humility is the ability to “step on one’s own throat.” Is this skill needed in modern realities? The Gospel tells us that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. From which we can assume that these two traits of human character are opposite to each other.
In church traditions there are a great many stories about saints and holy fools, who cannot be called either humble or meek towards others. For example, St. Basil often threw stones and once broke an icon of the Mother of God. What are humility, patience and meekness? Are these qualities needed today and how to acquire them? Read about this in the article.
Model of Humility
Seraphim of Sarov said:
Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.
An elderly man living alone in the forest was attacked by robbers. Grandfather was severely beaten, although he did not put any obstacles in the way of the robbers and did not even swear. They took away the most valuable thing - a small icon of the Virgin Mary in a silver frame. The beaten owner was left for dead. But the Lord did not abandon the victim of the robbers: having recovered a little from the beatings, the old man managed to reach the monastery. It was the famous Sarov wonderworker Seraphim.
The elder entered the temple during the liturgy. The brethren of the monastery were horrified by his appearance. His head was broken, his ribs were broken, his torn clothes were smeared with dirt and blood stains. The abbot sent doctors to the city, but no one hoped for a miracle; it seemed that Seraphim’s imminent death was inevitable.
Appearance of the Virgin Mary
For a week the elder could not eat or sleep, suffering terribly from pain. On the eighth day, the saint was honored with the appearance of the Mother of God with the apostles. After the vision, he quickly recovered, but the consequences of the beating remained for life.
The hooligans were soon caught, but the saint did not make any claims against them and asked not to punish them, seeing the will of God in this attack. The abbot was against such generosity and demanded that the robbers be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law, but the elder threatened him to leave the monastery and move to another monastery.
The abbot had to reconcile himself, although he believed that the robbers, feeling impunity, would go to great lengths. But the Lord put everything in its place. The robbers' huts soon burned down, they understood everything correctly and came to the elder to beg for forgiveness. The meek Seraphim blessed and forgave them. By this act, the elder undoubtedly saved not only their bodies, but also their souls from punishment.
Seraphim of Sarov is a role model; he is revered by the people. The elder taught those who came to him meekness. Prayers for humility and patience to Seraphim of Sarov:
Oh, great servant of God, venerable and God-bearing Father Seraphim! Look down from the glory on high upon us, the humble and weak, burdened with many sins, your help and consolation to those who ask. Reach out to us with your mercy and help us to immaculately preserve the commandments of the Lord, to firmly maintain the Orthodox faith, to diligently bring repentance for our sins to God, to gracefully prosper in piety as Christians and to be worthy of your prayerful intercession for us.
To her, Holiness of God, hear us praying to you with faith and love and do not despise us who demand your intercession: now and at the hour of our death, help us and protect us with your prayers from the evil slander of the devil, so that those powers may not possess us, but may we be worthy with your help, inherit the bliss of the abode of paradise.
We now place our hope in you, merciful Father: be truly a guide to salvation for us and lead us to the unevening light of Eternal Life by your God-pleasing intercession at the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity, so that we glorify and sing with all the saints the venerable name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever centuries. Amen.
In addition, the saint taught to endure all hardships and sorrows with joy. A person's life flies by unnoticed, and eternity follows. And what awaits us beyond the line depends on how we live our days. The Lord allows trials to make people stronger in spirit, to teach compassion and mutual assistance. The apostle spoke about this in his letter to the Galatians (6:2): “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” To learn to accept everything sent from above with joy, you need to read prayers for humility, patience and meekness.
Selected prayers of Rev. Alexandra Me
Lord have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Jesus, meek and humble in heart, hear and have mercy on me! Heavenly Father, God, have mercy on us! Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us!
Holy Soul, God, have mercy on us!
From the desire to avoid being offended—deliver me, Jesus! From the desire to establish my opinion—deliver me, Jesus! From the desire to have my advice accepted—Deliver me, Jesus! From the desire to be praised—deliver me, Jesus! From the desire to be respected—deliver me me, Jesus! From the desire to be first, deliver me, Jesus! From the desire to be loved, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being unknown, deliver me me, Jesus! From the fear of being misunderstood, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being rejected, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being slandered, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being ridiculed
- Deliver me, Jesus!
When others are valued more than me, help, Jesus, to bear this with love! When others are accepted, but I am not noticed, help, Jesus, to bear this with love! When primacy is given to others, help, Jesus, to bear this with love! When others are considered more righteous than me, help me, Jesus, to bear this with love! When others are loved more than me,
- help, Jesus, to bear this with love!
So that I do not acquire a high position - grant me, Jesus, the grace of humility and love! So that for the sake of Your Glory I willingly perform unpleasant duties - grant me, Jesus, the grace of humility and love! So that in the orders of my elders I see the will of God - grant me, Jesus , the grace of humility and love! So that in deeds, as well as in words, I forgive offenses - grant me, Jesus, the grace of humility and love! So that I treat everyone with love, and especially those who condemn me - grant me, Jesus , the grace of humility and love! So that I am quick to contrition - grant me, Jesus, the grace of humility and love! So that I love poverty and humiliation
- Grant me, Jesus, the grace of humility and love!
Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, forgive us, Lord! Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, hear us, Lord! Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world,
- have mercy on us, Lord!
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear my requests and grant by Your mercy, So that I joyfully agree to be invisible on earth, and so that Your Glory and Love would be my joy!
Amen.
Prayer for the Gift of Wisdom and Love
Lord! How much madness, stupidity and limitation we have, but You have wisdom and love! Give us at least a spark of Your wisdom and love,
sealed in Your word.
From the sermon on the day of remembrance
of St. Andrey Kritsky
Unity Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ! You told us: where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them. You did not want people to walk alone through life, You gathered us so that we would be one family.
Give us to fulfill Your new commandment, so that we love each other as You loved us. Give us patience, condescension and power over ourselves. May we be one, as You are one with the Father and the Spirit, according to Your prayer and commandment.
So that in this dark world our light, coming from You, will shine,
and people came to know Your love
in the love of the Father, in the salvation of the Son and in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
.
Evening prayer
Lord Jesus Christ! In this evening hour, in this city where Your blessing rests, in the midst of all suffering, sins and troubles, You, who suffered and took upon Yourself the plagues of the human race, because You loved us, You who came here, be with us.
Lord, you bore the Cross, teach us to bear suffering and labor for the sake of our loved ones. Lord Jesus Christ, You see our wounds and our infirmities, pour strength into us, make us strong, courageous, worthy witnesses of Your Divine Gospel.
Lord Jesus Christ, Grant us, in the days that You have given us, to carry Your Cross as a banner. Lord Jesus Christ, help us.
We thank You for all the wonderful things that You give us in nature, in the temple, in the Sacrament, in Your Holy Scripture, in what people inspired by You wrote, in our loved ones, in our loved ones, in everything that captivates us, excites, surprises. We thank You for everything, Lord. Let us be true bearers of Your Name.
Amen
.
Prayers on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Lord! Just as Your Mother, following You in firmness and hope, composed sacred words in Her heart, so we will compose these words, so that in the dark night of life they will help us.
strengthened and gave us strength.
***
Mother of God, pray for us, the grieving, the dejected, the sinners, who also face a choice: or the Lord will make us fall,
or for rebellion.
Amen.
Sorrow and murmur
When unpleasant events, illness, lack of money or losses happen in a person’s life, you need to understand that all this is sent from above to save the soul. It sounds strange, but it's true. If you accept all events with gratitude, learn lessons from them and strive to improve your life, any grief will not be so deep.
Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky explains in a video how important it is to read prayers for humility and patience.
But when a person begins to grumble and blame others or God for all his troubles, his salvation is postponed indefinitely. Indignation and rejection of one’s cross is one of the manifestations of the mortal sin of pride. Any trial endured becomes meaningless as soon as the murmuring begins. The opposite quality is patience. It is not easy to master, but everything is possible with God, so you need to turn to him.
Prayer for humility and patience:
Father of mercies and God of all comfort! I appeal to you in the name of Jesus Christ to grant me true Christian patience. Arm me with it against all sorrow, so that I may be patient in it, for it is very precious. Make me ready to lift up the cross of Christ, patiently bear it and firmly remain under it to the end. Drive away from me all murmuring and all annoyance of the flesh at the weight of the cross and the length of its time. Appear, O beloved Jesus, with Your patience under the cross and on the cross, appear before my eyes and my heart, so that by contemplating You I may be encouraged and strengthened to constantly endure everything. Do it, O patient Savior, so that I may not grow weary in my spirit, but with patience may I enter through suffering and sorrow into the Kingdom of God. I need to have patience so that, having fulfilled the will of God, I will receive what is promised. I ask him from You, to please me to fulfill my request!
Parable of two angels
Two angels asked to spend the night in a rich house. The owners, pursing their lips contemptuously, let them into the cold basement without even offering them dinner. One angel settled down for the night on the cold earthen floor, and the other began to repair a hole in the brickwork.
The next night they were allowed to spend the night in a poor hut located on the outskirts of the village. The owners treated the angels to a modest dinner and placed them closer to the stove. In the morning, the owners could barely restrain their sobs: at night, their only nurse, a milk cow, died in the barn.
The younger, inexperienced angel asked the older one: “Why is the world so unfair? To those who treated us badly, you repaired the hole in the wall, and these poor peasants lost everything they had of value, and you did not help them?”
To which the second angel replied: “A cast iron pot with gold coins is hidden in the old basement. Sooner or later the wall will collapse completely, and the miser will increase his wealth. And Death came to the peasants at night and wanted to take away the owner’s wife. I persuaded her to take a cow instead of a woman.”
The point of the story is that most people have no idea about the true state of things. When worrying about the loss of property, you need to thank God that your loved ones are alive and well. It is difficult to overcome yourself and learn not to grieve for what is lost, but prayers for humility and patience addressed to the Most Holy Theotokos will help with this:
Assuage the sickness of my much-sighing soul, which has quenched every tear from the face of the earth: You drive away sickness from people and resolve the sorrows of sinners, For You are the source of all hope and affirmation, Most Holy Mother of the Virgin! You stand before all, O Good One, who come running with faith into Your sovereign protection: otherwise it is not the imams who sinned to God in troubles and sorrows, ever deliverance, burdened with many sins, Mother of the Most High God! To the same Thy we fall: deliver Thy servants from every situation! No one who comes to You is put to shame and comes from You, most pure Virgin Mary: but he asks for grace and accepts the gift of useful petition. Fill, O Pure One, my heart with joy, Thy incorruptible joy that gives birth to the Guilty One! Fill my heart with joy, O Virgin, who accepts fulfillment of joy and consumes sinful sadness!
Prayer for the granting of patience: to whom and how to read, texts
Patience is the quality of human nature that people most lack today. The modern rhythm of life, the conditions surrounding city residents, the general “race” for material goods and values - all this and much more leaves no room in the soul for patient waiting.
People begin to feel confident that they live here and now, and strive to gain everything at once. Nobody wants to wait. This leads to a host of problems, such as accumulating debt.
After all, instead of patiently saving the money earned for something, a modern person simply takes out a loan and, without hesitation, spends other people’s money, not his own, which he then has to pay back.
But this is not the only expression of lack of patience. People often do not have enough mental strength even to take care of their elderly parents and small children. They compensate for this with places in nursing homes, hiring nannies or “elite” kindergartens.
People are often not willing to be patient even when waiting for public transport or having to stand in a line of five or six people at the checkout line at a store.
A prayer for the gift of patience will help to cope with the lack of humility and worldly wisdom, and spiritual callousness.
Who should I turn to for prayer?
Of course, first of all, Christians turn to the Lord with all their needs. But the prayer for the granting of patience can be addressed not only to him, but also to the Mother of God, to the Guardian Angel, to the saints.
Of course, asking for the gift of mental strength and patience should be done without thought or analysis. You need to contact the one who first came to mind. If there is confidence that a prayer for the granting of patience addressed to a specific saint will help, it is he who should read it.
The power of prayer lies in a person's faith, not in rationality. In other words, getting ready to pray is not the same as going to the store and choosing food for dinner. You can’t delve into lists of holy saints and wonder in front of whose image it would be more effective to light a candle.
You need to listen to your heart, not your mind.
The prayer for the granting of patience should be read daily. Often people who are prone to thought and analysis compare such prayers with reading mantras. Indeed, there are some similarities. However, the daily reading of Orthodox prayers is practiced for other reasons.
Prayer is not a magic spell, after reading which everything around you will change immediately and forever.
This is a tool given to people for spiritual work on themselves, help in the fight against temptations and enticements that lie in wait in life, support and a kind of shield behind which you can hide and rest.
And since human nature is weak, and various harmful passions, including lack of patience, overtake every day, then prayer is required regularly.
What should such a prayer be like?
There are no restrictions on the spoken texts or the place or time for turning to the Lord in the Orthodox Church. You can pray at home, in church, or even read the text to yourself while in transport. You can turn to heaven for help either in your own words or with the help of ready-made texts.
Of course, it is better to find time and pray in the temple. Churches have a special energy that helps a person get rid of all the vain things in his thoughts and focus on prayer.
But if this is not possible, then you can turn to the Lord at home. The main thing when praying is to concentrate on it.
If, while reading the text, you think about what to cook for dinner, what mood your boss is in, or about something else, there will be no sense.
A prayer addressed to the Lord for the granting of strength and patience could be as follows:
“Lord God, Almighty and All-Merciful! Grant me, servant (proper name), strength and patience, teach and enlighten, guide and preserve, Lord! Do not allow temptation to reach me, help me in vain matters and worries, strengthen my spirit.
Help me resist stupidity and stinginess, do not let greed and anger, weakness and impatience, powerlessness and anger take over my heart. Help me, Lord, grant me spiritual strength and patience, save me, preserve me and have mercy.”
A prayer addressed to the Mother of God for the granting of patience and humility may be as follows:
“Most Holy Mother of God, comforter in all sorrow and our intercessor before the Lord! Grant me, servant (proper name), humility and fill my heart with patience.
Don’t let yourself fall into despondency and don’t let you do anything rash or make quick and wrong decisions. Grant me the strength to care for those in need. Grant me humility with my fate, for it is God’s providence. Grant peace to my soul and peace to my heart.
Strengthen my faith and give me firmness in my trust in the power of the Lord, do not allow doubt and wickedness into my soul.”
A prayer addressed to the Lord for the granting of wisdom and patience could be as follows:
“Lord God, All-Seeing and All-Knowing! Grant me strength, patience and endow me with wisdom to accept your providence with obedience and humility. Grant me humility to accept what is not in my power and beyond my understanding. Grant wisdom to distinguish light from darkness, your providence from human care. Help me to be patient in earthly, vain affairs and take away my heart from grumbling.”
Source: //fb.ru/article/459722/molitva-o-darovanii-terpeniya-komu-i-kak-chitat-tekstyi
Family life and service to others
Qualities such as humility, patience, meekness and the ability to forgive are indispensable in marriage. Family is a cross, serving your spouse, children and elderly parents. Pride and temper poison life in marriage, and sometimes lead to irreversible consequences. Any conflict in the family should be resolved calmly, with a cool head, without scandals or assault. However, it is not always possible to restrain yourself.
Prayer for humility and patience in the family of St. John of Kronstadt will help:
Oh, meek and humble-hearted Creator, Life-Giver, Redeemer, Nourisher and Guardian, our Lord Jesus! Teach us love, meekness and humility by Your Holy Spirit and strengthen us in these virtues most dear to You, so that our hearts are not puffed up by Your rich gifts, so that we do not imagine that we feed, satisfy and support anyone: You are the common Breadwinner of all - you nourish, satisfy and preserve; everyone is content and at peace under the wings of Your goodness, generosity and love for mankind, and not under ours, for we ourselves need to take refuge in the shadow of Your wings - every moment of our life. Our eyes are directed to You, our God, like the eyes of a slave in the hand of the Lord, like the eyes of a slave in the hand of her mistress, until You have mercifully spared us. Amen.
Patience is the salvation of the soul
Not everyone is capable of enduring difficulties, getting up after every blow of fate. The Lord knows well the weak human nature, so he helps us if we ask. Below is another prayer for humility and patience of spirit:
Praise be to You, Father of mercies and God of all consolation, that You never leave Your sufferers without visitation and consolation. To punish - You punish them, but You do not put them to death; although You are often the hidden God for them, You are the Savior of them all. Seal this consolation, O Lord, in my heart and make it true to me when disaster is near and there is no helper. Be my light when I sit in darkness; make sure that the knowledge of my sins and what they deserve produces in me true humility and patience. Strengthen the faith in me, as in Jacob, when trouble comes, so that I will fight and not let go of You until You bless me. Make sure that I do not run away from You in suffering, O my Shepherd, but that my cheerfulness increases and I become more zealous for Your prayer and praise. Open my mind, so that I understand the Scripture, learn from it Your ways, and in true silence of heart I completely and completely surrender to You, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord! Amen.
The first Christians experienced terrible torture during periods of persecution and did not give up. In our time there is no such cruelty towards believers, but there are a lot of temptations. It is incredibly difficult to resist the world; our life is like a carousel: home, work, children. Short holidays at sea or in front of the TV. An endless flow of information makes a person incapable of prayer and reflection on the meaning of life. Today it is much more difficult to save our souls than in the first centuries after the birth of Christ. Therefore, you need to stop, at least for a minute, and read a prayer for humility and patience. The Lord will definitely help.
How to pray correctly
Prayer is communication with God. The more often a person turns to the Lord, the easier it is for him to live. Not because everything you want comes true as if by magic, but because prayer helps to create the Spirit of God in the heart. It calms and comforts, eases the soul.
The sources indicate that the very process of reading sacred texts already contributes to the development of humility and patience.
By drawing wisdom from the inspired words of prayer written in the holy books, people better understand the world around them and are able to act in accordance with God's purpose.
As for practical rules, they are the same for any prayer work. You can pray to Heavenly Father, both in church and at home, preferably standing in front of icons. First light a candle or lamp. Obsessive thoughts about everyday life should fade into the background. Prayers for humility, if desired, are added to the morning or evening rule.
