Daily Prayer for the Great Fast

If you truly want to enter into the spirit of the Great Fast and haven’t quite figured out how you might do that, might I suggest that one of the things you can do is recite the Prayer of Ephrem each day.  In our tradition this prayer is considered to be the most succinct summation of the spirit of Great Fast and is hence prayed in public and private. While there are historically two versions of the prayer – the Greek and the Slavonic – the modern English translation attempts to combine the two. As Ephrem wrote solely in Syriac, it is almost certain that it was not written by him. However, the Prayer appears to belong to the large body of Greek penitential and ascetic literature that was composed in Ephrem’s name during the century after his death in 373. Why not try to say it each day of the Great Fast?

st ephraim the syrian

Ukrainian

Господи і Владико життя мого, дух млявости, недбайливости, владолюбства й пустослів’я віджени від мене.
Дух же доброчесности і смиренномудрія, терпіння й любови даруй мені, недостойному рабові Твоєму.
Так, Господи Царю, дай мені зріти мої прогрішення і не осуджувати брата мого, бо Ти благословен єси на віки віків. Амінь.

English

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, idle curiosity/meddling, lust for power and idle talk.
But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity/integrity, humility, patience and love.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to condemn my brother. For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Comments are closed.