The Irish Catholic Hermit

Grant tears that I might wash myself and be freed from passions  O Lover of mankind, Jesus Christ our God: hoping steadfastly in Thy mercy I beseech Thee, set me not at Thy left hand with the goats, who have given Thee much grief; say not to me: Amen, amen, I tell you, I know you not.  B ut according to Thy kindness, give me endless tears, give my heart contrition and humility and cleanse it with fear of Thee, that it may become a temple of Thy grace.   A lthough I am most sinful and unworthy, I ceaselessly knock at Thy door. Although I am apathetic and slothful and take no care about my salvation, I wish to follow Thy path. Save me for the sake of Thy mercy, for in every way Thou art good, O Lord, and Thy compassion is in all Thy works.  H elp me, O Master of all, defend the infirmity of my soul, that I might be delivered from sinful corruption and freed from the bonds of the passions.  M ay malice not torment me and may the hostile demon not tak...

To the Theotokos—about good intention... O most holy Mother of God, O only Lady who art utterly pure in both soul and body, look upon me, abominable and unclean, who have blackened soul and body with the stains of my passionate and gluttonous life. Cleanse my passionate mind, set aright my blind and wandering thoughts and make them incorrupt; bring my senses to order and guide them; free me from my evil and repulsive addiction to unclean prejudices and passions which torment me; stop every sin that works in me; grant my clouded and wretched mind the sobriety and discernment to correct my intentions and failings that, freed from the darkness of sin, I might be worthy to boldly glorify and praise thee, O only true Mother of the true Light, Christ our god; for all creation, visible and invisible, blesses and glorifies thee, both with Him and in Him. Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian 

  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...