Prayer by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

 

O Lord! Grant us to see our transgressions so that our intellect would be completely drawn to attention to our own sins and stop seeing the sins of our neighbours and, in this way, we would see all our neighbours as good. Grant our hearts to abandon the ruinous attention to the failings of our neighbours, to unite all of our attention to the acquisition of purity and holiness commanded and prepared by You. Grant us to once again whiten our desecrated spiritual garments: they were already cleansed in the waters of baptism, and now they need, after being desecrated, cleansing with tears. Grant us to see, in the light of Your Grace, the multifarious ailments in us that are destroying the heart's spiritual movements and introducing into it carnal movements that are in enmity to the Kingdom of God. Grant us the great gift of repentance that precedes and gives birth to the great gift of seeing one's sins. Protect us with these great gifts from the chasms of self-delusion that open up in the soul from not taking notice of and not understanding the sinfulness of self-delusion, which is born from not taking notice of and not understanding voluptuousness and vanity. Keep us on the path to You with these great gifts and grant us to reach You, Who calls confessing sinners and those that refuse to call themselves righteous, and to eternally praise You in eternal blessedness, the One True God, the Redeemer of captives, the Saviour of the lost. Amen. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For Those Who Despair

Image
D o not lose heart, O soul, do not grieve.  P ronounce not over yourself a final judgement for the multitude of your sins.  D o not commit yourself to fire.  D o not say the Lord has cast me from His face.  S uch words are not pleasing to God.  C an it be that one who is fallen cannot get up?  C an it be that he who is turned away cannot turn back again?  D o you not hear how kind the father is to a prodigal?  D o not be ashamed to turn back and say boldly, “I will arise and go to my father.”  A rise, and go!   H e will accept you and not reproach you but rather rejoice at your return.  H e awaits you, just do not be ashamed and do not hide from the face of God as Adam did. I t was for your sake that Christ was crucified.  S o, will he cast you aside?  H e knows who oppresses us.  H e knows that we have no other help but him alone.  C hrist knows that man is miserable.  D o not give yourself up in despa...
Read more

Prayers of St. John Chrysostom

Image
  Before and After Reading Spiritual Texts Before reading: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen. Illumine my heart, O Master who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge. Open Thou the eyes of my mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings. Implant also in me a love for Thy blessed commandments. Grant me the grace to overcome all my carnal desires, so that I may enter more completely into a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well pleasing to Thee; For Thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we ascribe glory, together with Thine all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit; now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wo...
Read more

O sinner, at long last, take heed to your salvation.

Image
  O sinner, at long last, take heed to your salvation. I solate yourself, and gather your thoughts and tell yourself, "How much time have you wasted nourishing the passions of your flesh and imagination, and what gain has it afforded you? W hat have you achieved by this? W oe to me, my soul, what a state we have attained, what chaos. S ee everyone near me is ornamented with virtues and sincerely fears God, but I only walk in the dark. I n the early morning I repent of my actions, yet shortly thereafter I do even worse misdeeds. T he Lord has granted me strength and good health and woe I take this for granted and bring upon me the wrath of my Maker. O my soul, why are you so apathetic? W hy are you so reckless? F or you cannot remain here forever. W hen the end comes, the Lord will dispatch His angels to retrieve you and you will have to leave this world whether you want to or not. S o then, O man, in the end confess your great distress, and cease contradictin...
Read more