The Irish Catholic Hermit

  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) 33  Forgiveness of sins for forgiveness of offences T hus does the Lord speak to every soul: forgive your brother his transgressions, and I will  forgive you your sins. You shall forgive minor errors, debts of perhaps a few coins or some  three pence, and I will grant you thousands of talants.  F or you have only to forgive, wi...

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) 31  Give me remembrance of eternal life, that I might prepare... S ave me, O Long-suffering Lord! Save me, Son of God, sinless Christ! And grant me contemplation of eternal life that, having nothing else than this thought in my heart, I, a sinner, might always do Thy will, assisted by Thy grace; and that I might willingly walk in Thy precepts, th...

  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) 30 Death is right here. Be sober, O soul.  T he time of my life has been squandered in cares and shameful thoughts. Grant me, O Lord, a cure, that I might be completely healed of my hidden sores. Strengthen me, that I might labor diligently in Thy vineyard, if even only for one hour. For my life in its vanity has already reached its eleven...

St. Ephrem the Syrian ca. 306-373 While the dying person addresses his last words to us, suddenly his tongue is at a loss, his eyes dim, his mouth falls silent, his voice paralyzed when the Lord’s troops have arrived, when His frightening armies overwhelm him, when the divine bailiffs invite the soul to be gone from the body, when the inexorable lays hold of us to drag us to the tribunal… Then the angels take the soul and go off through the air. There stand principalities, powers and leaders of the adverse troops who govern the world, merciless accusers, strict agents of an implacable tax bureau, like so many examiners that await the soul in the air, ready to demand a reckoning, to examine everything, brandishing their claims, that is to say our sins: those of youth and of old age, those intentional and those not so, those committed by actions and those by words or thoughts. Great then is the fear of the poor soul, inexpressible its anguish when it sees itself at grips with these myria...

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) 29 A Confession of the God Who became man...  H e Who is from God, God the Word, the only-begotten Son of the Father, of one essence with the Father, of one essence with the Father, Being from Being, ineffably begotten of the Father without a mother before all ages--the very same is born in the last days to a daughter of men, to the Virgin Mary w...

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)   28 Life’s lessons D o you wish to lead a proper life? Exercise humility, for without it it is impossible to lead a  proper life.  D o all your work in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, and thus shall your fruits be carried  up to heaven.  A man begins to go astray when he withdraws from humility. He who has abandoned God...

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) 27 Do not lose heart. There is hope, and it is Christ. D o not lose heart, O soul, do not grieve; pronounce not over thyself a final judgement for the multitude of thy sins; do not commit thyself to fire; do not say: the Lord has cast me from His face. Such words are not pleasing to God. Can it be that he who has fallen cannot get up? Can it be  tha...