The soul which has experienced salvation in the Lord

Prayers that St. Ephraim the Syrian offered up to God.


Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian 

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust for power and idle talk. (full prostration) But grant unto me, Your servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. (full prostration) Thus, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brothers and sisters. For You are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen. (full prostration) O God, cleanse me, a sinner (12 times, with bows from the waist) (Read the entire prayer through once more from the beginning, followed by a full prostration.)


7 The soul which has experienced salvation in the Lord 

O Christ our Savior, you have become for me the path of life leading to the Father. 

There is only one path, and it is my delight, and the kingdom of heaven lies at its end. 

O Master, Jesus, Son of God, you have become for me the way of life and enlightenment. 

In the heart of your servant your grace has turned into light and delight, which are sweeter to the mouth of your servant than honey from a honeycomb. 

Your grace has become a rich treasure in the soul of your servant, which had made his scarcity rich and has cast out
anguish and defilement. 

For Your servant, Your grace has become a shelter, a strength, a shield, an exaltation, glory, and nourishment for his entire life. 

O Master, how can your servant be quiet, after having savored the sweetness of Your love and your grace? 

How could I defy once more the waves of grace which pour out upon my sinful heart and which are full of sweetness from the abundance of Your gifts? 

O Christ Our Savior, I will praise the glory of the Master of the powers of heaven and I will magnify Your grace, and my tongue will not stop proclaiming Your love. 

O Savior, the glory of my life, Your love brings me near to You. 

Your grace makes it easy for me to seek You with my mind.

Let my heart be like a fertile field for You, and let Your grace bedew it with eternal life. 

Let Your grace harvest an abundant crop from the field of my heart: humility, honor, sanctity, and everything that is well-pleasing to You. 

Restore my soul to the pleasant garden of paradise, and let it dwell in that light covered by the joys of paradise, so that I too should declare with all the saints, "Praise be to the Immortal Father, glory to Him who bestows such heavenly gifts on this useless one, that he might bear a tithe of glory to the Ruler of everything.

Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syria


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