Prayers for smoking

Getting rid of a bad habit is not as easy as it seems. There are many different methods to help a smoker. Some choose the path of medications, others turn to traditional medicine. In order to join the fight against smoking, desire alone is not enough. What you need is a strong will and firm confidence in your abilities. The support of family and friends will also be a good help. A prayer against smoking helps believers quit smoking. But few people know what kind of prayer can be read in such a situation. In this article we will look at what powerful texts a smoker himself can use in order to forever forget about his sinful addiction.

The heritage of the Orthodox Church includes prayers for all occasions, including prayers to quit smoking cigarettes.

Prayer to the holy saints to help someone quit smoking is a very common practice

Agree, extending your life, which means doing more good deeds, setting a good example, is worth giving up a bad habit. It is important that the quitter passionately desires to stop smoking, and the texts of Orthodox prayers against smoking will help to psychologically tune in and not deviate from the path. Of course, the church does not prohibit resorting to medications, patches and other aids; only hypnosis and black magic are not encouraged. Everything else is allowed by Orthodoxy to combat smoking.

According to church canons, a person must take care of his body and soul, improving and perfecting himself. Even if a person has managed by willpower to hold out for several days without tobacco, Satan will increasingly whisper to him, “ Smoke, smoke, nothing will happen .”

With the first cigarette smoked, a person is again trapped and all efforts are in vain. When quitting smoking, the first few days the quitter will feel irritation, melancholy, and nervousness. For such a case, prayers will be useful to help you quit smoking, strengthen your strength and intention, forever break the vicious connection between the devil and man, and lead you out of sin.

If you read the prayer against smoking to the smoker himself, with each new day it will become easier and simpler.

Prayers to Matrona of Moscow against smoking

Saint Matrona of Moscow helps with alcoholism, smoking, and serious illnesses. The prayer to Matrona to quit smoking can be read both by the person quitting smoking and by his relatives. At the same time, Matrona will help strengthen her strength, and relatives should offer a prayer for the smoker with a request to guide him on the right path.

Matronushka helps people overcome their addiction by gaining the willpower they lack.

We offer 3 prayers and chants to Matrona against smoking:

“Blessed Elder, Matrona of Moscow. I believe sacredly in your strength, so that you will intercede - I sincerely pray. Deliver us from evil smoke and drafts, and guide us on God’s path through prayer. Let me stop smoking from the first puff, I will leave behind this evil habit forever. Thy will be done. Amen."
“Blessed Matronushka, Righteous Elder. You save us from illness and disease, but I die in smoking tar. I’m trying to break the habit of a bad habit, but cigarettes and matches stick to my hands. I pray, help me in this difficult struggle, I come to you with prayer and faith. Let it be so. Amen."
“Matrona of Moscow, Blessed Eldress. I drown in sinful smoking, I infect myself and others every day. In this powerlessness I struggle with the habit, so that you help me, I sincerely pray. Thy will be done. Amen."

Strong prayer to Ambrose of Optina against smoking

Prayer to Ambrose Optinsky helps against smoking as soon as your hand reaches out to a pack of cigarettes. A saint once convinced a smoking father of a very sick daughter to quit smoking. The man left the bag of tobacco at the doorstep of the church and never smoked again. His daughter soon recovered. Since then, prayer has helped against the temptation to smoke again.

Venerable Ambrose of Optina is a saint to whom prayers are read on various occasions

“Reverend Father Ambrose, you, having boldness before the Lord, begged the Greatly Gifted Master to give me quick help in the fight against unclean passion. God! Through the prayers of Your saint, the Venerable Ambrose, cleanse my lips, purify my heart and fill it with the fragrance of Your Holy Spirit, may the evil tobacco passion run far away from me, back to where it came from, into the belly of hell.”

Which saints can help you quit smoking?

To resist passions and find inner strength to quit smoking, those who have taken the path of correction turn to Divine help and blessing. They read prayers to Heavenly patrons, known for miraculous deeds, the gift of healing, spiritual and physical exploits, and resistance to temptation.

Prayer speeches to strengthen the spirit and will when giving up smoking are directed to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints:

Elder Ambrose of Optina;
Nicholas the Wonderworker;
Mother Matrona of Moscow;
guardian angel;
John Chrysostom;
Silouan of Athens.

Repentance and fervent prayer help Christian believers in the fight against demonic addictions, which include smoking cigarettes. The sincere and persistent request of the person praying will be heard in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Prayer from smoking to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

Saint Nicholas the Pleasant is known among the people as a miracle worker. Isn’t it a miracle, once you decide to quit smoking forever? Such cases are known, and smokers around them are really surprised, secretly envying their strength of spirit and will. Read a prayer against smoking to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and everything will work out.

Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

“Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Great Pleasant of God, hear the prayer of the servant of God (proper name) and help me cope with my addiction. Help me give up smoking. Beg the Almighty Lord to accept my sincere repentance for my sins and forgive all my voluntary and involuntary sins. Help me, Holy Wonderworker Nicholas, resist sinful temptations and reduce my desire to smoke. I thank you, Saint Nicholas, I trust in your support and glorify all your deeds. Amen."

The simplest and most accessible rituals

The rituals below are the easiest to perform. They do not require very much time or any complex attributes. So, choose the most suitable ones and get started.

Ritual with a mirror

This ritual is performed in the evening. When it gets completely dark, you should stand in front of a large mirror and pronounce the words, looking into your own eyes. The following words are read:

“Not far from the Temple there is a devil, and he will blacken the tobacco. And the priest says, take a rolled-up cigarette and grind it with me. To which the clerk says: “Our Lord forbids me to blow smoke and ruin my health.” Just as the Father does not command the priest, so he will strictly forbid me, the servant of God (name of the person).

Then you need to cross yourself three times to call on the Saints for help. This ritual is performed once a week until the craving for cigarettes disappears.

Ritual with candles

This anti-smoking spell should be read by the smoker himself; he should also arm himself with a small mirror and three candles purchased in the Temple. This ritual is also performed in the evening. Ensure complete darkness (turn off the lights in the room).

A man sits in front of a mirror and places lighted candles in front of him. It is advisable to install them in a candlestick or on a saucer. Looking at your reflection, the words are read:

“I don’t sin against anyone, but I ask myself. Save and help me, Lord, and deliver me from this dark habit. Direct you on the bright path of tobacco torment. Yes, so that I can get out of there and never come back. I will always serve you until the end of my sinful days, but from now on I will be a non-smoker. Amen".

At the end of the ceremony, the candles are blown out and hidden in a secluded place. This ritual is performed once every 7 days until the candles burn out completely.

For tobacco products

This curse should be read on cigarettes. You need to take a pack from which a couple of pieces have already been smoked. It must be stitched with harsh threads (together with the rest of the cigarettes). The sewn packaging is thrown under the bushes or into any body of water.

When throwing away the packaging, you must read the following words:

“I get rid of the destructive infection by throwing it away and say goodbye forever. Yes, let the devil grind the tobacco now, but don’t share it with me. I’ll cross myself three times, but I won’t go back to cigarettes.”

Then you should cross yourself three times, turn around and very quickly leave this place. Remember that you can no longer return to that area under any pretext. Otherwise, smoking may return again and become attached to the former smoker. After the end of the ceremony, you should not look at the water or at the place where the pack will be thrown away.

On the full moon

This ritual should be performed by a stranger. Ideally, a relative of a smoker. The ritual must be performed during the full moon. You should wait until the tobacco addict falls asleep and falls into deep sleep. You need to take one cigarette out of the opened package and divide it into seven pieces of tobacco. Then you need to get as close as possible to the tobacco mixture and whisper the following into it:

“Tobacco, you feisty little weed, how many people have you fooled and stolen their health from. How much blood did you suck? Yes, this will not happen again, I forbid you and tell you with the power of God. My man will forget you forever, but he won’t remember the smell of tobacco; from now on you are not glorious to him, not sweet and pleasant, but terrible and disgusting.”

At the end of the ritual, the tobacco grains are carefully folded and immediately sewn into the clothes of the person on whom the ritual is being performed. The effective consequences of the smoking conspiracy will appear after 8-10 days. And complete oblivion of cigarettes will come in the next lunar month.

On the sleeping person

This ritual is also performed by the smoker’s relatives. This uses one interesting feature of the sleeper. When a person falls asleep, all his thoughts, addictions, and habits seem to come out and begin to hover around their sleeping owner. You need to imagine that you grab the cigarette addiction and throw it away from the sleeping person’s bed. In this case, you should position yourself correctly near the bed:

when working with an adult, you need to stand next to your feet;
if the smoker is under the age of 15, the plot is read near the pillow.

It is also worth considering what gender the smoker is. The plot is read in this case on different days:

For women: Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
For men: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

So, after you have stood up correctly, “grabbed and thrown away” the nicotine habit, you should speak the magic words. They are:

“There’s a priest standing in the market, and the devil is running next to him. Not alone, but with a cigarette. The devil sticks tobacco in his ass and says, “Smoke the clerk.” But the priest doesn’t answer, he just breaks the tobacco. As strong is that Saint, so strong will my man become. He won’t smoke himself, and he won’t let others smoke either.”

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

A prayer to your Guardian Angel to quit smoking on your own will help strengthen your willpower. After all, an angel was appointed by God to help you. Yes, and a prayer addressing him can be in your own words.

The Guardian Angel is the minister of our salvation, so we are not alone in our earthly life

“Angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from God from heaven for my protection! I diligently pray to you: enlighten me today, save me from all evil, instruct me in every deed, and direct me on the path of salvation. Amen."

A small parable

Once a man came to Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets whose daughter was seriously ill. The child literally died from various ailments. Doctors gave no chance of recovery. The desperate father asked the elder to pray for the girl and help. Father Paisiy, of course, did not refuse the unfortunate man. He promised that he would pray for the child. In the conversation he said that it is necessary for a father to help his child. In particular, the elder said, a man should give up the sinful habit of smoking in order to give strength to his daughter through his suffering. Father Paisiy believed that coercion and restrictions, which would become a kind of test for the father, would contribute to the girl’s recovery.

The elder tried to convey to all of us, not just the unfortunate man, that sinful passions, including smoking, lead us away from a normal, natural life. They are given to people to fight them, to demonstrate by behavior that they are children of the Lord, not the devil.

The man mentioned in our story happily left his cigarettes near the temple and never touched them again.

Prayer of someone suffering from smoking addiction

Icon of Jesus Christ
“Much-merciful Lord!
Hear my request, accept the prayer of Your unworthy servant, do not abhor my wounds, do not turn away from me. Just as you sometimes healed the money-loving soul of Zacchaeus the tax collector, heal my soul, which was sick with many passions and troubles. Lord, listen to the voice of my prayer, hear my groaning and pitiful cry. Oh, woe is me, woe is me a sinner, since I become like idolaters, I am not ashamed to burn demonic incense, I am not ashamed to offend You, Lord, with the wickedness of my heart. I tempt You with excessive reliance on Your long-suffering. Standing in Your Holy Temple, I enjoy the fragrance of incense, and every hour I again enjoy the stench of smoke. I defile my lips and with these same lips I speak words of praise to You. Like a dog returns to his vomit, I also serve sin. For everyone, this is a sin, but the Imam does not have the boldness to renounce the bribes of mercenaries. Most merciful Lord! Condescend with my weakness, forgive my indecency, strengthen me, give me patience and spiritual courage, do not leave me, do not let me perish in the mire of sin, Save, Lord! I'm dying! Just as you, O Lord, sometimes healed, through the prayers of your Most Pure Mother, a certain husband Sergius—heal also someone unworthy of me. Just as you, Lord, sometimes delivered, through the prayers of St. Ambrose of Optina, from the bad habit of a certain Alexei of Moscow, deliver also the less accursed one. As sometimes, Lord, through the prayers of the saints, the father of the Kiev-Pechersk freed from the oppressive passion of a certain Maxim and appointed him to serve You in Your Holy Temple - also free me, the foul and unclean one, and grant me to serve Your righteousness, and work tirelessly without laziness To you, my Lord Jesus Christ, all the days of my life, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."

Fighting tobacco addiction

In the early 1990s, Muscovite Andrei began to become a church member. In 1995, he decided to get rid of tobacco addiction, although before that he had been smoking for more than 20 years. When visiting the Serpukhov Monastery (Moscow region), a man prayed to the Mother of God in front of Her miraculous image of the “Inexhaustible Chalice”. After the water-blessing prayer, Andrei stocked up on holy water and returned home. However, daily consumption of holy water did not give immediate results - the craving for smoking did not disappear.

On the advice of his confessor, Andrei began to reduce the number of cigarettes he smoked per day. In three months, he managed to reduce the number of cigarettes from 20-30 per day to 10. All this time, the man read a prayer to St. Ambrose of Optina several times a day. For convenience, Andrei made a smoking schedule for himself. And when there was a strong desire to smoke outside the scheduled time, a prayer was read. Then, with the blessing of the confessor, “health days” were organized - a complete cessation of smoking on the days of Communion.

Over time, he “trained” himself to smoke only one cigarette a day. Andrei asked for help from the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. He smoked his last cigarette after the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete, read in the church on the first week of Lent before Easter. A week later, the man noticed that, by the grace of God, his craving for tobacco had passed, and peace reigned in his soul. Thus, the intensified fight against smoking lasted a whole year. But it ended in victory and the beginning of a new healthy lifestyle.

Prayer to the Holy Trinity for deliverance from smoking

Prayer to the Holy Trinity. Addressed to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The person praying acknowledges the presence of an illness, asks to forgive sins and heal from illness, restore health, and grant long life.

Holy Trinity

“O most merciful God, Father, Son and Holy Soul, worshiped and glorified in the Undivided Trinity, look kindly upon Thy servant (name), who is overcome by illness; forgive him all his sins; give him healing from his illness; restore his health and bodily strength; Give him a long and prosperous life, Your peaceful and premium blessings, so that together with us he brings grateful prayers to You, our All-Bountiful God and Creator.”

Contact through a loved one

Christian prayer can be addressed to one of the authoritative saints or martyrs. There is no institution of canonization of saints in Islam. Therefore, the possibility of using the names of any of the prophets in prayer is controversial.

A person can strengthen his prayer by turning to a loved one for support. The fact is that smoking is, in fact, a demon, and the demon has an instinct of self-preservation. The demon prevents a person from turning to prayer for his own destruction of the demon. This phenomenon is well represented in culture:

Pray for me mom
Pray for me darling
Pray for me son

In the unconscious, as we know, time does not exist. If a person’s request is fulfilled, then the prayer begins at the moment of appeal.

If a loved one is baptized, then you can pray for him in church. If he is not baptized, then you can pray privately.

Prayer to the Mother of God before the icon “Seeking the Lost”

There is also an icon, praying to which will help overcome the passion for smoking, as well as many other troubles. This is the icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost.” Those mired in drunkenness, smoking, drugs, and those suffering from illness have long resorted to her help.

Icon of the Recovery of the Dead

“The zealous, compassionate Intercessor of the Lord Mother! I come running to You, the accursed one and the most sinful man above all, listen to the voice of my prayer and hear my cry and groaning. For my iniquities have exceeded my head, and I, like a ship in the abyss, am plunging into the sea of my sins. But You, All-merciful and Merciful Lady, do not despise me, desperate and perishing in sins, have mercy on me, who repent of my evil deeds, and turn my errant, accursed soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I place all my hope. Thou, Mother of God, preserve and keep me under Thy roof, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."

Rules for observing the conspiracy

When performing the ritual, the following recommendations must be observed:

Read the plot loudly, confidently and clearly.
It is better at this moment to position your back to the west and your face to the east.
The ritual is recommended to be performed early in the morning or late in the evening.
To perform the ritual, it is better to choose a waning lunar cycle.
When conducting a ceremony, you must be clearly aware of the goals.
Most conspiracies are read three times. But the instructions may contain other recommendations regarding the number of repetitions.
If water is used during the ritual, it is usually drunk, leaving a small amount in the glass. This liquid is used to wash the face.
The main thing is to pronounce the words calmly. There is no need to rush or worry. Excessive anxiety and haste prevent a person from concentrating, and the actual effectiveness of the ritual decreases.

We advise you to study Reprimand with prayers

Prayer to John Chrysostom against smoking

Also, in difficult moments of despair, prayer to St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, keeps you on the right path.

Saint John Chrysostom

“O great saint John Chrysostom! You have received many and varied gifts from the Lord, and as a good and faithful servant, you have multiplied all the talents given to you for good: for this reason, you were truly a universal teacher, as every age and every rank comes from you. Behold, you appeared as an image of obedience to the youth, a luminary of chastity to the young, a mentor of hard work to the husband, a teacher of kindness to the old, a teacher of kindness to the monk, a rule of abstinence to those who pray, an inspired leader from God to those who pray, an enlightener of the mind to those who seek wisdom, to the good-speaking branches the words of a living source are inexhaustible, to those who do good - a star of mercy, an image of wise rule for those in charge, an inspirer of truth for the zealots, an inspirer of righteousness for the sake of the persecuted, a mentor of patience: you were everything to everyone, and you saved everyone. Over all these you have acquired love, which is the sauce of perfection, and with that, as if by the power of the Divine, you have united all the gifts in your soul into one, and this same love, shared and reconciling, in the interpretation of the words of the apostles, you preached to all the faithful. We are sinners, having our own gift for one thing, the unity of the soul and the union of the world are not imams, but we are vainglorious, irritating each other, envious of each other: for this sake of the gift, our divided not into peace and salvation, but into enmity and condemnation, turned over to us. In the same way, we fall to you, the saint of God, overwhelmed by discord, and in contrition of heart we ask: with your prayers drive away from our hearts all the sorrow and envy that divides us, so that in many places we may remain one church body without restraint, so that according to your prayerful words we may love each other friend and with one mind we confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Consubstantial and Indivisible, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."

Reading rules

When starting to read Orthodox prayers, it is worth knowing a few rules:

Prayer must come sincerely and from the heart; if there are no such emotions, then it is worth either recreating them or starting prayer at another time.

The mind during prayer should be empty, i.e. not occupied with ordinary everyday thoughts and focused only on prayer, turning to a saint or Jesus.

When reading the selected prayers, you should try to be aware of everything that is said in the prayer.

Before you start reading any prayer, it is better to read the initial part of the prayers from the Trisagion to the Our Father - they can be found in any prayer book.

If passion attacks and the craving becomes very strong, then you should not attach importance to conventions and become attached to a specific text of prayer; you can ask for help and strength from your heart in your own words.

We recommend watching the video - “Prayers for Smoking”:

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To make prayers against smoking more effective

To make your pleas for help in quitting smoking more effective, you should attend church and receive communion. Go to the icons in the church and read the prayer against smoking by Ambrose of Optina. Write down the text of the prayer you like on a piece of paper and read it every time the thought of smoking comes to your mind. Talk to the priest, ask him to pray for you. Continue to say the words of prayer at home several times a day whenever you want to smoke. Gradually, the words of prayers will reach your consciousness; refusal will strengthen your spirit every day. Remember the positive effect: health, beauty, right thoughts will begin to return. And most importantly, you will earn the love of God, because you will overcome this destructive bad habit. After 7-10 days, the craving will weaken, the person will begin to feel improvements in appearance, and will feel peace and joy in his heart from his action.

Sometimes they recommend that loved ones pray for a smoker. There's nothing wrong with that. Unless a person himself decides to fight passion, nothing will help him. This should be well understood. The Lord is good, he offers us his support. But he comes to the aid only of those who have realized their wrongdoing. This is a personal challenge. And loved ones can influence a person’s choice by telling him, for example, the above cases from the lives of saints. These and many other stories will gradually lead the smoker to think about his behavior. In addition, you should not judge the person. Kindness is stronger than anger. Any believer understands this. Help your loved one understand the sinfulness of passion and find the strength to fight it. And, of course, you need to pray for him. But not so that he would quit smoking, but so that the Lord would help him open his eyes to the harmfulness of his bad habit.

The spiritual dangers of tobacco

There are many reasons that motivate a person to start smoking. For example, a child who takes a cigarette has the first desire to show himself as “cool” and “adult.” Smoking among girls is often associated with a desire to be the center of attention. Or show off your manicure and rings along with a cigarette. An adult can have various motives: from the desire to relieve stress, relax, to simply looking for reasons to communicate. Each person has his own motives.

“Smoking and any kind of anesthesia obscure our sense of purity and chastity. The first cigarette is the first fall, the loss of purity. It is not false puritanism, but a direct feeling and deep conviction of this that prompts me to tell you this. Ask any smoker - undoubtedly, the beginning of smoking was in some sense a downfall for him. Psychologically, smoking opens the door to everything forbidden and vicious” (priest Alexander Elchaninov).

However, the result of smoking is almost always the same - an increasing craving for tobacco, which develops into real addiction. From the Orthodox point of view, any addiction enslaves the human will.

“The human will is essentially between two wills - Divine and devilish. Man’s task is to direct his will in accordance with the will of the Divine and in no case allow it to agree with the will of evil forces. What to direct one’s will to depends on the person himself” (Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill).

Harm to others

Smoking is prohibited by law in many public places. But where non-smokers are exposed to smoke, they are no less at risk than smokers themselves. Passive inhalation of substances formed during the combustion of tobacco has a pathogenic effect on the health of the body. Children are particularly harmed. Any smoker should be fully aware of this fact: it is dangerous for others

Council of St. Ambrose of Optina

“You write that you cannot stop smoking tobacco. What is impossible with man is possible with the help of God; You just have to firmly decide to quit, realizing the harm it causes to the soul and body, since tobacco relaxes the soul, multiplies and intensifies passions, darkens the mind and destroys bodily health with a slow death. – Irritability and melancholy are consequences of the morbidity of the soul from smoking.

I advise you to use spiritual healing against this passion: confess in detail all your sins, from the age of seven and throughout your entire life, and partake of the Holy Mysteries, and read the Gospel daily, standing, a chapter or more; and when melancholy strikes, then read again until the melancholy passes; will attack again and read the Gospel again. “Or instead, place 33 large bows in private, in memory of the earthly life of the Savior and in honor of the Holy Trinity,” was the answer received from St. Ambrose by one layman, a heavy smoker, who turned to the saint for advice, having been unable to cope with this harmful problem himself. passion. After reading the letter, he lit a cigarette, but suddenly felt a severe headache and at the same time an aversion to tobacco smoke - and did not smoke at night. The next day I mechanically lit a cigarette several times, but the pain returned and did not allow me to swallow the smoke. So I quit. After some time, this man came to the elder to personally thank him. The Monk Ambrose touched his head with his wand - and the pain has not returned since then for any reason.

Turning to saints for help in various needs is a huge practice in Russia. The saints intercede for us, helping us to avoid the consequences of the sins we commit, the very nature of which is disobedience to the will of God and, as a consequence, inevitable punishment. Not for sins, but the sins themselves punish us, turning us away from God's blessing and God's help. Therefore, the stronger our desire to receive help from God, the more persistently we should seek it in prayers to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints of God. For example, publishers know of specific cases of healing from the disease of tobacco smoking through prayers before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, as well as the miraculous healing of the famous Orthodox publisher S. A. Nilus, who smoked mercilessly for 33 years, through prayers before the Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of Smolensk. Smokers were healed through prayers to Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, the holy royal martyrs, as well as through the prayers of pious relatives of the smoker, who ordered the reading of the Psalter for health and prayer services in monasteries for him.

Church help, reviews

If you yourself are trying to get out of the networks of addiction, also strengthen your strength with prayer. This disease is insidious.

In difficult cases, we can advise patients and their loved ones to contact help groups and rehabilitation centers, which are located in every diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Departments for Combating Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. They themselves, their relatives or acquaintances can pray for those suffering from the disease of alcoholism and those with other addictions.

Pupils of the centers and members of anonymous groups participate in church services, communicate with clergy and psychologists. Many are acquiring new professions.

Through the intercession of the Mother of God, St. Ambrose of Optina and all the saints, may the Lord protect you!

Smoking addiction can lead to incurable diseases and even premature death. And the passion for cigarettes is expensive for the budget. Purchasing special products that gradually reduce the effects of nicotine to nothing is also not a cheap pleasure. You can part with the harmful effects of tobacco with the help of a prayer word, especially if the smoker himself does not have enough moral strength to do this. A prayer against smoking is suitable for these purposes, changing a person’s worldview and helping to resist the desire to inhale tobacco smoke.

Council of St. Silouan of Athos

In 1905, Father Silouan spent several months in Russia, often visiting monasteries. On one of these trips, on a train, he took a seat opposite a merchant, who, with a friendly gesture, opened his silver cigarette case in front of him and offered him a cigarette. Father Silouan thanked him for the offer, but refused. “Isn’t it because, father, you refuse because you consider it a sin? - asked the merchant and added: - But smoking often helps in active life; It’s good to take a break from the stress of work and rest for a few minutes. It is convenient to have a business or friendly conversation while smoking and in general in the course of life. ..” And further, trying to convince Father Silouan to take a cigarette, he continued to speak in favor of smoking. Then Father Silouan finally decided to say: “Sir, before you light a cigarette, pray, say one “Our Father.” But the merchant replied: “Praying before smoking somehow doesn’t work.” The Monk Silouan remarked: “So, any task that is not preceded by unabashed prayer is better not to do.”

Smoking, thus, alienates a person from the heavenly spiritual world and serves as one of the serious obstacles to the salvation of one’s own immortal soul, inclining it to sin and subordinating it to the willfulness of corruptible flesh.

“If you start something and don’t see God’s will for it,” exhorts St. Gregory the Theologian, “don’t do it for anything. Do not leave the will of God to do the will of people.” So, dear reader, before you light a cigarette again, remember the advice of the Monk Silouan and think if you could first read the “Our Father” or mentally take a blessing for this, undoubtedly important matter for you.

How to read correctly?

Churchmen recommend saying a word of prayer in the church near the image of the saint. But if a person prays at home, then this will also be correct. The main thing is that he has sincere faith, the reading of the appeal to the saint is meaningful, and not a mechanical repetition of memorized words.

There will be no help in the fight against smoking if a person, as usual, recites the text of the prayer the prescribed number of times and that’s it, although such repetition may distract him from the desire to take a puff or two.

Like any ritual, opposition to smoking requires the blessing of an Orthodox priest. It is possible that a church person will give recommendations or help with practical advice. It is advisable to attend church services every Sunday, however, you can come to Matins or Vespers when you have time.

If a smoker is not yet ready to turn to a clergyman for a blessing, then he must independently turn to the Lord: “Bless, God” and in his own words briefly describe the essence of the problem - getting rid of smoking, helping in the fight against the sinful habit of smoking, overcoming cravings for tobacco, etc. .d. It is also recommended to order a prayer service in the temple.

You should pray every day in the morning, in the evening and when there is a strong craving for a cigarette. It is necessary to rethink your attitude towards tobacco and perceive nicotine addiction as something shameful.

Practical ways

Various prayers are offered to conclude this material. Quitting smoking by reading them becomes a little easier, since there is additional support. However, we first need to consider how to most correctly use prayer and other practices in order to achieve the desired effect.

Let's start with the believer's attitude towards these prayers themselves.

Let us note some facts that may be known to many believers, but are still worthy of repetition:

the main goal of the believer is not to quit smoking, the main goal is the Kingdom of Heaven, and smoking is simply one of the many obstacles (that Satan builds) on the way to this Kingdom;
a strong prayer against smoking is not a curse like the one pronounced by healers;
prayerful appeal requires the work of the soul of the believer himself; it should not be considered a magic pill that immediately cures any illness;
you should choose a solitary environment for prayer practice; it is best to have a home altar and regularly perform your own cell service;
after reading the canonical texts themselves, it is useful to sincerely turn to the Lord in your own words, asking that quitting smoking becomes at least a little easier, and such a habit never returns;
for better results, many take on additional obedience, for example, reading a certain prayer every day for 40 days in a row, this is especially true in the first days of complete refusal;
Each prayer should be felt and understood; in the end, it is best to know the words by heart and have experience in thinking about the text.

For those who quit, additional support may be a demand, that is, ordering a prayer service, which will be read by a priest. It is useful to clarify the necessary details with the church ministers in advance, but in general the process is elementary. At the church candle shop you need to get a form and describe your requirements there.

In addition, it is useful to receive a blessing from a priest to begin the fight against your own illness.

By the way, the priest can provide a lot of useful information about this:

when is it better to start, on what day;
what prayers to choose for reading;
which icons and saints to turn to;
possible temptations and ways to combat them;
options on how to further strengthen your spirit;
during what period the craving will subside.

In addition, you need to take care of basic practical details that will be useful in everyday life. For example, what prayer to read when you want to smoke again. You also need to determine how to behave in the company of smokers.

Birth of children

During pregnancy, expectant mothers who are addicted to smoking suffer from a developing child. He has brain hypoxia. After conception, miscarriages are more common. Pregnant women expose themselves and the developing fetus to additional risk of complications.

They are more likely than non-smokers to have:

Placental abruption.
Development of toxicosis.
Premature birth.
Weakness of labor.

In men, cigarette smoke deteriorates the qualitative and quantitative composition of sperm, leading to difficulty or lack of fertilizing ability. So for healthy offspring it is necessary that both father and mother quit smoking at the same time.

9 Powerful Orthodox Prayer Texts to Quit Smoking Cigarettes