Did you know? Prayer of St. Ephrem

Did you know that there is a prayer that every Orthodox Christian is supposed to say every weekday during Great and Holy Lent?

The Prayer of Saint Ephrem

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to me Your servant.

Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are You, unto ages of ages. Amen.

For Orthodox Christians, Great Lent is a period in which the faithful fast from certain foods and, more importantly, from sin. In order to prepare to experience Pascha, we repent through the traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting, confession, and almsgiving. All these disciplines help prepare us for Christ’s resurrection and for our own.

In the Orthodox Church, Lent is a time of repentance, and there is perhaps no clearer example of this than the prayer of St. Ephraim.

In the first section of the prayer of Saint Ephrem, we ask God to take our sins from us. The sins of laziness, despair, lust of power, and idle talk are sins that can sneak up on us and lead us to more sin and other difficulties.

In the second verse of the prayer, we ask God to give us the virtues of chastity, humility, patience, and love. Simply getting rid of sins is not enough; Instead, we are called to do more than simply not sin. We are called to do good and to fill our lives with virtues.

Finally, in the third verse we ask God to help us see our own sins. It can be difficult to acknowledge our own sins and shortcomings. The season of Lent is a time to self-examine, to be conscious of our sins, and to repent from them. Therefore, we pray for God to help us see our own sins and to help us not be judgmental of others.

If you want to feel relaxed, humble, peaceful and happy, pray the prayer of Saint Ephrem this year on weekdays during Great and Holy Lent!

From: Fr. Chrysanthos