Prayer when you have no strength to work. A short version of a prayer of gratitude to the guardian angel

Prayer for quick help that will protect you from harm,
will help in misfortune and show the way to a better life

INTRODUCTION

Our world is like an ocean in a terrible storm, especially in these times of crisis. We are small chips in it, endlessly tossing waves across the water.

Failures and lack of money, uncertainty about the future and our strengths, fears for our children and loved ones - this ninth wave covers us almost constantly. And no, no, yes, we will feel how despair and hopelessness are squeezing our heart with icy tentacles. And at this moment we want to ask for help, and we look around, but everywhere we see the same people, wounded and beaten by life, who themselves do not know what to do.

And then, as if on a whim, we raise our gaze upward to Heaven. And we begin to talk about our affairs, about our lives, asking you to help us. Because, no matter who we are, no matter who we believe in words, we know in the depths of our souls that there is a God who never forgets us, and there is the Mother of God who loves us, and the saints who work for us. us before the face of the Lord.

That’s why we turn to them in the most difficult moments of our lives, ask them for protection and help, ask them to guide us on the right path and give us strength to survive hard times.

And we express all our requests in prayer - sincere and fervent. And if we do not know the words of prayer, then we speak on our own, in our own words, all the same, the Lord and His helpers will hear us.

But there are prayers whose power is multiplied by time. Millions of people before us addressed and after us will address these words to Heaven. They are like medicine that needs to be used for acute pain. The request for help that is inherent in them goes straight to God, and we receive an answer immediately.

This book contains very necessary and very effective prayers that will help you in any difficult moments of your life.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING

Thank the Lord for every day you live, for the blessings sent down to you, for the great gift of health, for the happiness of your children. For everything you have at the moment, even if, from your point of view, it is not that much.

If you begin to thank the forces of Heaven for your life and everything connected with it, your life will definitely change for the better. After all, good begets good. Having learned to appreciate what we have, we will perceive differently all the opportunities that the Lord will give us through our prayers.

Prayer of gratitude to the guardian angel

Having thanked and glorified his Lord, One God of the Orthodox Jesus Christ for His beneficence, I appeal to you, holy angel of Christ, warrior Divine. I call from prayer of thanksgiving, I thank you for your mercy towards me and for your intercession for me before the face of the Lord. Slaven be in the Lord angel!

A short version of a prayer of gratitude to the guardian angel

Having glorified the Lord, I pay tribute to you, my guardian angel. Glorious be you in the Lord! Amen.

PRAYERS THAT HELP EVERYONE AND ALWAYS

No matter how old we are, we always need support, we need help. Each of us hopes that he will not be abandoned in difficult times, that he will be given strength and self-confidence.

Read these prayers whenever you want to feel protected, when you feel bad or sad, when you start a business, or when you simply feel the need to talk to someone who is Above us.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven by the Lord, I diligently pray to You, enlighten me today and save me from all evil, guide me to good deeds and direct me on the path of salvation. Amen.

Prayer to the Council of the 12 Apostles, protecting from trouble and problems

Consecration of the apostles of Christ: Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James and Jude, Simon and Matthew! Hear our prayers and sighs, now offered by our contrite hearts, and help us, the servants of God (names), through your powerful intercession before the Lord, to get rid of all evil and enemy flattery, and to firmly preserve the Orthodox faith that you have firmly devoted to, in which your intercession will not We will not be diminished by wounds, rebuke, pestilence, or any wrath from our Creator, but we will live a peaceful life here and be honored to see good things on the land of the living, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One in the Trinity, glorified and worshiped God, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to Nicholas the Ugodnik

In the Orthodox world it is difficult to find a second saint as revered as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Everyone turns to him, both simpletons and scientists, believers and non-believers, even many who are alien to Christianity, Muslims and Buddhists turn to him with reverence and fear. The reason for such large-scale veneration is simple - immediate, almost instantaneous help from God, sent through the prayers of this greatest saint. People who have turned to him at least once with a prayer of faith and hope certainly know this.

All-Blessed Father Nicholas! To the shepherd and teacher of all who flow with faith to your intercession, and who call you with warm prayer! Strive soon and deliver the flock of Christ from the wolves that are destroying it, and protect every Christian country and save the saints with your prayers from worldly rebellion, cowardice, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare, from famine, flood, fire, sword and vain death. AND just as you had mercy on three men sitting in prison, and you delivered them from the king’s wrath and beatings sword, have mercy and me, mind, in word and deed dry yourself in the darkness of sins, and deliver me from the wrath of God and eternal punishment; like yes yours intercession and help, and by His mercy and grace, Christ God quiet and a sinless life will give to me live in this whole time, and deliver me vouchsafed desnago with everyone saints. Amen.

Prayer to the life-giving Cross

May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. As smoke disappears, let them disappear; as wax melts in the face of fire, so let demons perish in the face lovers of God and signifying sign of the cross, and in joy saying: Rejoice, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, drive away the demons by force on you of our Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into hell and trampled the power of the devil, and who gave us His Honest Cross to drive away every adversary. O Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for happiness and good luck

Benefactor, holy angel, my guardian forever and ever, as long as I live. Your ward is calling to you, hear me and come down to me. As you have done me good many times, do me good again. I am pure before God, I have not done anything wrong before people. I lived by faith before, and I will continue to live by faith, and therefore the Lord has endowed me with His mercy, and by His will you protect me from all adversity. So let the will of the Lord come true and you, saint, fulfill it. I ask you about happy life for myself and my household, and this will be the highest reward from the Lord for me. Hear me, heavenly angel, and help me, fulfill the will of God. Amen.

PRAYERS TO STRENGTHEN US IN SPIRIT TO SURVIVE TOUGH TIMES

You can ask the Lord for money. Yes, good job. But the most important thing that we must ask from Him in any time, but especially in times of crisis, is the strength of spirit to withstand difficult times, so as not to become despondent, not to despair and not to become embittered at the whole world.

Read these prayers every time you feel that your spirit has begun to weaken, when fatigue and irritation towards the whole world accumulate, when life begins to be seen in black colors, and it seems that there is no way out.

Prayer of the last Optina elders

Lord, please with all my heart meet with calm everything that brings to me coming day. Give to me surrender completely according to Your will saint. For every hour of this day, instruct and support me in everything. Whatever I received news in flow day, teach me accept them with calm soul And firm conviction that Your holy will is for everything. In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings. In all unforeseen cases, do not give to me forget that everything is revealed You. Teach me straight and act wisely with each member of my family, no one embarrassing and not upsetting. Lord, please give me strength postpone the fatigue of the coming day and that's it events in during the day. Guide my will and teach me pray, believe, hope, endure, forgive and love. Amen.

Prayer of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, protecting from falling

God! I am a miracle Your goodness, wisdom, omnipotence, since You brought from non-existence into being, since I am preserved by You hitherto in existence, By I have colic, due to goodness, generosity and philanthropy Your only begotten Son, to inherit eternal life, if I am faithful to You I will abide colic terrible sacred rite bringing Himself to sacrifice by Your Son, I am raised from terrible fall, redeemed from eternal destruction. I praise Your goodness, Yours infinite power. Your wisdom! But commit Your wonders goodness, omnipotence and wisdom is above me, damned, and weigh their fates save me, Thy unworthy servant, and bring me into Your kingdom is eternal, vouchsafe me life ageless, day non-evening.

Elder Zosima said: Whoever desires the Kingdom of Heaven desires the riches of God, and not yet loves God Himself.

Prayer of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, protecting from despondency

God! Your name is love: do not reject me, a misguided person. Your name is Strength: strengthen me, who is exhausted and falling! Your name is Light: enlighten my soul, darkened by worldly passions. Your name is Peace: pacify my restless soul. Your name is Mercy: do not cease to have mercy on me!

Prayer of St. Dmitry of Rostov, protecting from despair

God! All desire and my sigh yes it will be in you. All wish my and diligence mine is in You alone yes will, My Savior! All my pleasure And my thought is in You let it deepen, and all my bones yes they recite: “Lord, Lord! Who is like You, who can compare in strength, grace and Thy wisdom? All bo wise and righteous and treated us kindly if you ».

Prayer to the guardian angel to strengthen faith and relieve despondency in moments of failure

My patron, my intercessor in the face of the One Christian God! Holy angel, I appeal to you with a prayer for the salvation of my soul. A test of faith came down from the Lord to me, a wretched one, for our Father God loved me. Help me, saint, to endure the test from the Lord, for I am weak and I am afraid that I will not be able to withstand my suffering. Bright angel, descend to me, send down great wisdom on my head so that I can listen very sensitively to the word of God. Strengthen my faith, angel, so that there are no temptations before me and I pass my test. Like a blind man walking through the mud, without knowing it, I will walk with you among the vices and abominations of the earth, not raising my eyes to them, but in vain only to the Lord. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, protecting from despair

Vladych ic Ah, my Most Holy Theotokos. By your omnipotent and holy prayers before our Lord take me away from me, a sinner and humble Your servant (name), despondency, foolishness and all nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts. I beg you! Take me away them from my heart sinner and my soul weak. Holy Mother of God! Deliver me from all kinds of evil and unkind thoughts and actions. Be blessed and glorified be Your name forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Dmitry of Rostov, protecting from despondency and despair

I'm worthless will reject it, yes nothing will excommunicate me from Divine Thy love, oh My God! Yes nothing will stop, neither fire nor sword or famine, nor persecution, nor depth, nor height, nor present or future exactly the same May this abide in my soul I'll take it out. Let me desire nothing else in this world, Lord, but day and night yes I will seek You, my Lord, and may I find eternal treasure I will accept and I will acquire wealth and be worthy of all blessings.

PRAYERS TO GIVE US PHYSICAL STRENGTH SO WE CAN SURVIVE TOUGH TIMES

Illnesses always take a lot of our strength and unsettle us, but it is especially scary to get sick in difficult times, and especially if we are responsible for the lives of children and loved ones, for the well-being of employees and colleagues.

Read these prayers during illnesses to speed up recovery and ease the course of the disease, and when you feel that your physical strength is running out. Read these prayers for yourself and for your children, for all your loved ones, so that the Lord gives them the strength to stay healthy.

Prayer to the Lord in illness

The sweetest name! A name that strengthens a person’s heart, a name of life, salvation, joy. Command by Your name, Jesus, that the devil may depart from me. Open, Lord, my blind eyes, destroy my deafness, heal my lameness, restore speech to my dumbness, destroy my leprosy, restore my health, raise me from the dead and restore life to me again, protect me on all sides from internal and external evil. May praise, honor and glory always be given to You from century to century. Let it be so! Let Jesus be in my heart. Let it be so! May our Lord Jesus Christ be always in me, may He revive me, may He preserve me. Let it be so! Amen.

Prayer for the health of St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon

Great servant Christ, passion-bearer and much-merciful physician Panteleimon! Umi- have mercy on me, a sinful slave, hear my groaning and cry, appease the Heavenly One, Verkhovnago May the physician of our souls and bodies, Christ our God, grant me healing from the illness that oppresses me. Accept undignified prayer the greatest sinner of all is man. Visit me gracious visit. Do not disdain my sinful ulcers, anoint them with the oil of mercy yours and heal me; yes healthy soul And body, the rest of my days, by grace God, I can spend it in repentance and pleasing God and I will achieve it perception good the end of my life. To her, servant of God! Pray to Christ God, yes representative- yours bestows health my body and the salvation of my soul. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from injury due to an accident

Holy Angel of Christ, protector from all evil providence, patron and benefactor! Just as you take care of everyone who needs your help in a moment of accidental misfortune, take care of me, a sinner. Do not leave me, listen to my prayer and protect me from wounds, from ulcers, from any accident. I entrust my life to you, as I entrust my soul. And as you pray for my soul, the Lord our God, take care of my life, protect my body from any damage. Amen.

Prayer to the guardian angel in illness

Holy angel, warrior of Christ, I appeal to you for help, for my body is in serious illness. Drive away illnesses from me, fill my body, my arms, my legs with strength. Clear my head. I pray to you, my benefactor and protector, about this, for I have become extremely weak, infirm. And I experience great suffering from my illness. And I know that because of my lack of faith and because of my grave sins, illness was sent to me as punishment from our Lord. And this is a test for me. Help me, God's angel, help me, protecting my body, so that I can endure the test and not shake my faith in the least. And above all, my holy guardian, pray for my soul to our Teacher, so that the Almighty will see my repentance and take away the illness from me. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for eternal health

Listen up to the prayers of your ward(name), saint Angel of Christ. For he did good to me, interceded for me before God, looked after and protected me in a moment of danger, kept me, according to the will of the Lord, from bad people from misfortunes, from fierce animals and from the evil one, so help to me Once again, send health to my bodies, my hands, my feet, my head. Let in forever and ever, as long as I live, I will be strong in body, so that I can endure trials from God and serve in glory The Most High, until He calls me. I pray I love you damned, about this. If I have been guilty, I have sins behind me and am not worthy to ask, then I pray for forgiveness, for, sees God, I didn't think nothing bad and nothing bad did. If you did something wrong, then malicious intent, but By thoughtlessness. ABOUT I pray for forgiveness and mercy, health I beg for the whole life. I hope on you, angel of Christ. Amen.

PRAYERS TO PROTECT FROM POVERTY AND MONEY PROBLEMS

Each of us puts our own meaning and meaning into the concept of wealth and poverty. Each of us has our own money problems. But none of us wants to find ourselves below the poverty line, to experience all the horror of the question “What will my children eat tomorrow?”

Read these prayers so that you will overcome any financial problems and so that you always have the necessary financial minimum, which would allow you to live without fear for tomorrow.

Prayer against poverty

You, O Lord, are our wealth, and therefore we lack nothing. With You we desire nothing, neither in heaven nor on earth. In You we enjoy indescribably great bliss, which the whole world cannot give us. Do it, so that we may continually find ourselves in You, and then for Your sake we will willingly renounce everything that is displeasing to You, and we will be content, no matter how You, our Heavenly Father, arranges our earthly fate. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for material well-being

To you, the angel of Christ, I appeal. He also protected me and protected me, and kept me, for I have not sinned before and will not sin in the future against faith. So respond now, come down on me and help me. I worked very hard, and now you see my honest hands with which I worked. So let it be, as Scripture teaches, that labor will be rewarded. Reward me according to my labors, holy one, so that my hand, weary with labor, may be filled, and I may live comfortably and serve God. Fulfill the will of the Almighty and bless me with earthly bounties according to my labors. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel so that the abundance on the table is not wasted

Having given tribute to our Lord God, Jesus Christ, for the dishes on my table, in which I saw a sign of His highest love, I now turn with prayer to you, holy warrior of the Lord, angel of Christ. It was the will of God that for my little righteousness, I, the accursed one, would feed myself and my family, my wife and unthinking children. I pray to you, saint, protect me from the empty table, fulfill the will of the Lord and reward me for my deeds with a modest dinner, so that I can satisfy my hunger and feed my children, who are sinless before the face of the Almighty. Since he sinned against the word of God and fell into disgrace, it was not out of malice. Our God sees that I did not think about evil, but always followed His commandments. Therefore, I repent, I pray for forgiveness for the sins that I have, and I ask that you give me a plentiful table in moderation, so as not to die of hunger. Amen.

Prayer to the holy martyr Harlampius for deliverance from hunger, asking for the fertility of the earth, a good harvest

Most wonderful holy martyr Haralampie, unconquerable passion-bearer, priest of God, intercede for the whole world! Look at the prayer of us, who honor your holy memory: ask the Lord God for forgiveness of our sins, so that the Lord will not be completely angry with us: we have sinned and are unworthy of God’s mercy: pray to the Lord God for us, that he may send peace upon our cities and towns May He deliver us from the invasion of foreigners, internecine warfare and all kinds of discord and discord: establish, O holy martyr, faith and piety in all the children of the Orthodox Christian Church, and may the Lord God deliver us from heresies, schisms and all superstition. O merciful martyr! Pray for us to the Lord, may He save us from hunger and all kinds of diseases, and may He give us an abundance of the fruits of the earth, an increase in livestock for human needs, and everything useful to us: above all, may we be worthy, through your prayers, of the heavenly kingdom of Christ our God, to Him honor and worship befits, with His beginningless Father and the Most Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

In prosperity and in poverty

(According to Acts 20:35; Matthew 25:34)

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for all the good things that You give me through the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless, dear Savior, the work that You have given me, and give me strength to do it for the good of Your kingdom. Give me the joy of seeing the fruits of my labors and donations. Fulfill Your words on me: “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” so that I can live in prosperity and not experience poverty.

But if I should experience poverty, then grant, Lord, wisdom and patience to endure it with dignity, without grumbling, remembering poor Lazarus, for whom You, Lord, have prepared bliss in Your kingdom.

I pray to You that one day I will hear: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel, protecting against failures

Making the sign of the cross over myself, I turn in fervent prayer to you, angel of Christ, guardian of my soul and body. Whoever is in charge of my affairs, who guides me, who sends me a happy occasion, do not leave me even in the moment of my failures. Forgive my sins, since I have sinned against the faith. Protect, saint, from bad luck. May failures pass by the servant of God (name), may the will of the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, be done in all my affairs, and may I never suffer from bad luck and poverty. This is what I pray to you, benefactor. Amen.

Prayer to Saint John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria

Saint John of God, merciful protector of the orphans and those in misfortune! We resort to you and pray to you, Thy servants (names), as the quick patron of all who seek consolation from God in troubles and sorrows. Don’t stop praying to the Lord for everyone who flows to you with faith! You, having been filled with Christ’s love and goodness, appeared like a wonderful palace of the virtue of mercy and acquired for yourself the name “Merciful.” You were like a river, constantly flowing with generous mercies and abundantly watering all who thirst. We believe that after you moved from earth to heaven, the gift of sowing grace increased in you and that you became an inexhaustible vessel of all goodness. By your intercession and intercession before God, create “all kinds of joy,” so that everyone who comes running to you will find peace and tranquility: grant them comfort in temporary sorrows and help in everyday needs, instill in them the hope of eternal rest in the Kingdom of Heaven. In your life on earth, you were a refuge for everyone in every trouble and need, for the offended and ailing; not a single one of those who came to you and asked you for mercy was deprived of your grace. Likewise now, reigning with Christ in heaven, show all those who worship before your honest icon and pray for help and intercession. Not only did you yourself show mercy to the helpless, but you also raised the hearts of others to the consolation of the weak and to the charity of the poor. Move even now the hearts of the faithful to intercede for the orphans, comfort the mourners and reassure the needy. May the gifts of mercy not become scarce in them, and moreover, may there be peace and joy in them (and in this house that looks after the suffering) in the Holy Spirit - to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, protecting against loss of wealth and poverty

Our kind shepherd And God-wise mentor, Saint Nicholas of Christ! Hear us sinners (names), praying to you and calling for your speedy intercession for help: see us infirm, caught from everywhere, deprived of every good and from the mind cowardice of the darkened. Struggling servant of God, no leave us in sinful captivity let us not be happy our enemy and not We will die in our evil deeds. Pray for us unworthy our creator and Lord, to Him you are with disembodied faces pre-stand: be merciful to us create God ours in this life and in in the future, may he not reward us on business ours and by uncleanness hearts ours, but according to His goodness will reward us. To yours for the intercessor is trust in yours we boast of intercession, We call upon your intercession to help, and to the holy image yours desperately, we ask for help: deliver us, servant of Christ, from the evils that come upon us, and for the sake of your holy prayers will not embrace us attack and not let us wallow in the abyss of sin and mud passions ours. Pray to Saint Nicholas of Christ, Christ our God, that he will give us a peaceful life and remission of sins, to our souls salvation and great mercy, now and ever and ever.

Prayer to Saint Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, granting a serene, comfortable existence

Omniblessed to the saint Spiridon, great saint of Christ and glorious miracle worker! Pre- stand on heaven to the throne from the face of God Angel, look with your merciful eye at the people (names) coming here and asking for your strong help. Pray to the compassion of God, the Lover of Mankind, not to judge us according to our iniquities, but to deal with us according to His mercy! Ask us from Christ and our God peaceful And serene life, mental health And bodily, earth prosperity and in everything all abundance and prosperity, and let us not turn good into evil, bestowed to us from the generous God, but for His glory and glorification your intercession! Deliver everyone with undoubted faith in God coming from all sorts of mental troubles And bodily, from all yearnings And devilish slander! Be the sad comforter, the sick doctor in trouble assistant, naked patron, intercessor for widows, orphans defender, baby feeder, old strengthen tel, wandering guide, floating helmsman, And plead with everyone your strong help demanding, all, even to salvation useful! Yako yes by your prayers we instruct and observe, we will achieve eternal peace and together with you we will glorify God in the Trinity Holy glorified, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk for sending down a comfortable life and deliverance from poverty

All-praised saint and servant of Christ, from what's ours Quiet! Angelically on Having lived on earth, you, like a good angel, appeared in your long-ago glorification: we believe with all our hearts and thoughts, like you, our good-hearted one assistant And prayer book, your unfalse intercessions and grace from the Lord abundantly for you bestowed you always contribute to our salvation. Accept wow, dear servant Christ, and at this hour our unworthy prayers: own bodysuit thanks for your intercession from the vanity that surrounds us and superstition, disbelief and mistrust of man eternal; strive, quick intercessor for us, with your favorable intercession, beg the Lord to add His great and rich mercy to us sinners and unworthy His servants(names), may He heal with His grace unhealed ulcers and scabs of corrupt souls and body ours, may our petrified hearts dissolve tears of tenderness and Contrition for many sins ours, and may he deliver us from eternal torment and fire of Gehenna; to all His faithful people Yes grants peace and silence, health and salvation and good haste in everything, so quiet and silent living lived in every piety and purity, let us be honored with Angels and with everyone saints glorify and sing the all-holy name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit forever and ever.

Prayer to St. Alexy, a man of God, for protection in poverty

Great servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexis, stand with your soul in heaven before the throne of the Lord, and on earth, given to you from above by various graces, perform miracles! Look mercifully at the coming holy icon your people (names), tenderly praying and asking for your help and intercession. Stretch out your honest hands to the Lord God and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our sins, voluntary and involuntary, healing for the sick, intercession for the afflicted, consolation for the grieving, and for the needy. ambulance, to all who honor your peaceful and Christian death and good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ. To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our hope, which we place on you according to God and the Mother of God, but be our helper and protector for salvation, so that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, we glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in To the Trinity we glorify and worship God, and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer before the icons of the Mother of God “Joy of all who mourn” for consolation in the sorrow of lack of money

O Most Holy Lady Theotokos, blessed Mother of Christ God, our Savior, joy to all who mourn, visitation to the sick, protection and intercession of the weak, widows and orphans, patroness of the sad, all-reliable comforter of sad mothers, strength of weak babies, and always ready help and faithful refuge for all the helpless! You, O All-Merciful One, have been given grace from the Almighty to intercede for everyone and deliver them from sorrows and illnesses; you yourself have already endured fierce sorrows and illnesses, looking at the free suffering of Your beloved Son and Him crucified on the cross, seeing the weapon predicted by Simeon , Thy heart has passed through: in the same way, O beloved Mother of children, listen to the voice of our prayer, comfort us in the sorrow of those who exist, like an intercessor faithful to joy. Standing before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, at the right hand of Your Son, Christ our God, you can, if you desire, ask for everything useful to us: for the sake of heartfelt faith and love, we fall to You, as the Queen and Lady: hear, daughter, and see, and incline Your ear, hear our prayer and deliver us from current troubles and sorrows: You are the Joy of all the faithful, as you give peace and consolation. Behold our misfortune and sorrow: show us Thy mercy, send comfort to our hearts wounded by sorrow, show and surprise us sinners with the wealth of Thy mercy, give us tears of repentance to cleanse our sins and quench the wrath of God, and with a pure heart With a good conscience and undoubted hope we resort to Your intercession and intercession. Accept, our All-merciful Lady Theotokos, our fervent prayer offered to You, and do not reject us, unworthy of Your mercy, but grant us deliverance from sorrow and illness, protect us from all slander of the enemy and human slander, be our constant helper all the days of our life , as if under Your maternal protection we will always remain in purpose and preservation through Your intercession and prayers to Your Son and God our Savior, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with His beginningless Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer before the icons of the Mother of God “Quench my sorrows” to calm the soul and heart in poverty

Hope to all the ends of the earth, Most Pure Virgin, Lady Theotokos, our consolation! Do not disdain us sinners, for we trust in Your mercy: extinguish the sinful flame burning in us and water our parched hearts with repentance; Cleanse our minds from sinful thoughts, accept the prayers offered to You from the soul and heart with sighs. Be an intercessor for us to Your Son and God and turn away His anger with Your Mother’s prayers. Heal mental and physical ulcers, Lady Lady, quench the illnesses of souls and bodies, calm the storm of evil attacks of the enemy, take away the burden of our sins, and do not leave us to perish until the end, and comfort our broken hearts with sadness, let us glorify Thee until our last breath. Amen.

Prayer before the icons of the Mother of God “Kazan” for deliverance from poverty and despondency when financial problems arise

O Most Holy Lady, Lady Theotokos! With fear, faith and love before honest and miraculous by Your icon we pray Cha: no turn away their faces yours from those running to you: beg, merciful Mother, Son yours and may our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, preserve I'm peaceful our country, His holy Church is unshakable May he preserve and deliver from unbelief, heresies and schism. Not Ibo imams other help, not imams other hope, is it for you, Most Pure Virgo: You are the omnipotent Christians assistant and intercessor: deliver us all, with faith in You those praying, from falls of sins, from the slander of the evil ones Human, from all sorts of temptations sorrows, illnesses, troubles and sudden death: grant us a spirit of contrition, humility of heart, purity of thoughts, correction sinful lives and forgiveness of sins, let everyone be grateful chantingly Thy greatness and mercy, appear above us here on land, let us be worthy and Heavenly Kingdom, and there with all the saints we will glorify honorable and the magnificent name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

Prayer before the icons of the Mother of God “Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary” for protection from money problems

O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord of the Highest Powers, Queen of Heaven and Earth, our city and country, all-powerful Intercessor! Accept this singing of praise and gratitude from us, unworthy Thy servants, and lift up our prayers to the Throne of God Thy Son, that He may be merciful to our iniquities and add His grace to those who honor Thy all-honorable name and with faith and love worship Thy miraculous image. We are not, because you deserve to be pardoned by Him, if you do not propitiate Him for us, the Lady, as everything is possible for You from Him. For this reason, we resort to You, as to our undoubted and speedy Intercessor: hear us praying to You, cover us with Your all-powerful protection and ask God Your Son as our shepherd for zeal and vigilance for souls, as a city ruler for wisdom and strength, for judges for truth and impartiality. , a mentor, reason and humility, a spouse, love and harmony, a child, obedience, patience for the offended, the fear of God for those who offend, complacency for those who grieve, abstinence for those who rejoice:

to all of us the spirit of reason and piety, the spirit of mercy and meekness, the spirit of purity and truth. To her, Most Holy Lady, have mercy on Your weak people; Gather the scattered, guide those who have gone astray on the right path, support old age, educate the young with chastity, raise the infants, and look upon us all with the mercy of Your intercession; raise us up from the depths of sin and enlighten the eyes of our hearts to the vision of salvation; be merciful to us here and there, in the land of earthly arrival and at the Last Judgment of Your Son; having ceased in faith and repentance from this life, our fathers and brethren eternal life Make life with the Angels and with all the saints. For you are, Lady, the Glory of heaven and the Hope of earth, You, according to God, are our Hope and Intercessor of all those who flow to You with faith. We therefore pray to You and to You, as the Almighty Helper, we commit ourselves and each other and our whole life, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer for protection from poverty and other troubles of Saint Xenia the Blessed

Holy all-blessed mother Ksenia! Having lived under the shelter of the Most High, knowing and strengthened by the Mother of God, having endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat, reproach and persecution, you have received the gift of insight and miracles from God and are resting under the shade of the Almighty. Now the Holy Church, like a fragrant flower, glorifies you: standing at the place of your burial, before your holy image, as if you were alive and dry with us, we pray to you: accept our petitions and bring them to the Throne of the Merciful Heavenly Father, as you have boldness towards Him , ask for eternal salvation for those who flow to you, and for our good deeds and undertakings a generous blessing, deliverance from all troubles and sorrows, appear with your holy prayers before our All-Merciful Savior for us, unworthy and sinners, help, holy blessed mother Ksenia, babies with the light of the Holy Illuminate Baptism and seal the gift of the Holy Spirit, educate boys and girls in faith, honesty, fear of God and chastity and grant them success in learning; heal the sick and ailing, family love and the consent of those who have descended, with the monastic feat of good will be worthy to strive and protect from reproach, strengthen the shepherds in the strength of spirit, preserve our people and country in peace and tranquility, pray for those deprived of communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ in the dying hour: you are our hope and hope, soon hearing and deliverance, we send thanks to you and with you we glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from poverty

I appeal to you with prayer, my benefactor and patron, my intercessor before the Lord God, holy angel of Christ. I appeal to you, for my barns have become poor, my stables stand empty. My bins are no longer pleasing to the eye, and my purse is empty. I know that this is a test for me, a sinner. And therefore I pray to you, saint, for I am honest before people and God, and my money has always been honest. And I did not take sin on my soul, but always profited according to God’s providence. Do not destroy me with hunger, do not oppress me with poverty. Do not allow the humble servant of God to die despised by all as a beggar, for I worked very hard for the glory of the Lord. Protect me, my holy patron angel, from a life of poverty, for I am innocent. Since I am guilty, then everything will be God’s will. Amen.

PRAYERS TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN, RELATIVES, AND RELATIVES FROM TROUBLES AND MISCELLANIES

In difficult times, everyone suffers, both ourselves and our loved ones. The heart begins to break when you see what hardships and problems sometimes befall the people closest to us.

How can we help all our loved ones? How can we support them in troubles? Our fervent request for help addressed to God, our prayer for loved ones can provide very effective support. If we ask for our family and loved ones, then even in the most terrible troubles it will be a little easier for them to cope with the wave of everyday troubles.

Read these prayers whenever your children and loved ones have problems, when you want to help them cope with them.

A mother's prayer for her child

Lord Jesus Christ, son God's prayers for the sake of the Most Pure One Yours Mothers, hear me, sinful and unworthy Your servant (name). Lord, in the mercy of Your power my child (name) have mercy and save his name yours for the sake of. Lord, forgive me everything to him sins free And involuntary committed by him before You. Lord, guide him the true way of Your commandments and enlighten him and enlighten him by Thy light of Christ, in salvation of the soul and healing of the body. Lord, bless him in the house, around the house, in the field, at work and on the road and on every place of Your possession. Lord keep him under Your Holy Blood from a flying bullet, arrow, knife, sword, poison, fire, flood, from a deadly ulcer (rays atom) and from vain deaths. Lord, protect him from visible and invisible enemies, from all troubles, evils and misfortunes. Lord, heal him from all diseases, cleanse him from all filth (guilt, tobacco, drugs) and make it easier emotional suffering and sorrow. Lord, grant to him grace Holy Spirit for many summer life and health, chastity. Lord, please his blessing on the godly family life and godly childbearing. Lord, grant and I am unworthy and sinful Thy servant, a parental blessing on my child in the coming mornings, days, evenings and nights for Thy name's sake, for Your kingdom is eternal, omnipotent and omnipotent. Amen.

Prayer to the Mother of God for children

O Most Holy Lady Virgin Theotokos, save and preserve under Your shelter my children (names), all youths, young women and infants, baptized and nameless and carried in their mother’s womb. Cover them with the robe of Your motherhood, keep them in the fear of God and in obedience to their parents, pray to my Lord and Your Son to grant them what is useful for their salvation. I entrust them to Thy maternal gaze, for Thou art the Divine Cover of Thy servants.

Prayer for work and activities for children

All praise to the saint of Christ and the miracle worker Mitrofan! Accept this small prayer from us sinners who come running to you, and with your warm intercession beg our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, that having looked upon us mercifully, He will grant us forgiveness of our voluntary and involuntary sins, and, in His great mercy, will deliver us from troubles, sorrows, sorrows and illnesses, mental and physical, that support us: may he give us fruitful land and everything needed for the benefit of our present life; may He grant us to end this temporary life in repentance, and may He grant us, sinners and unworthy, His Heavenly Kingdom, to glorify His infinite mercy with all the saints, with His Beginning Father and His Holy and Life-giving Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to St. Mitrofan for the welfare of children in society

To the Holy Hierarch Father Mitrofan, by the incorruption of the honest relics yours and many good deeds, miraculously done and performed by you with faith flowing to you, convinced that imasha great grace from the Lord our God, humbly We all fall down and pray to you: pray for us, Christ our God, that he may bestow upon all, who honor Your holy memory and earnestly those who resort to you, rich in His mercy: yes will approve in His holy Orthodox Church the living spirit of the right faith and piety, spirit management and love, spirit of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and all its members, clean from worldly temptations and carnal lusts and evil actions of evil spirits, in spirit and in truth they worship Him and diligently care about compliance His commandments for the salvation of their souls. She is her shepherd will give the saint jealousy of care saving people those who have been entrusted, may they enlighten the unbelievers, may they guide the ignorant, may they enlighten and convince those who doubt, fallen away from Orthodox Church will be converted to its holy bosom, believers keep in faith sinners will be moved to repentance, those who repent will be consoled and strengthened in correction life, those who repent and reform will be confirmed in holiness life: and tacos lead everyone specified From him the path to the prepared eternal His kingdom. To her to the saint God's yes arrange it all through your prayers good souls and bodies to ours: yes, we too glorify in souls and teleseh our Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, Himself with Father and Holy Spirit glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel to protect children from troubles and misfortunes

I pray to you, my kind guardian angel, who blessed me, overshadowed me with your light, protected me from all kinds of misfortune. And neither the fierce beast nor the enemy is stronger than me. And neither the elements nor a dashing person will destroy me. And thanks to your efforts, nothing will harm me. I remain under your holy patronage, under your protection, I receive the love of our Lord. So protect my unthinking and sinless children, whom I loved, as Jesus commanded, protect them from everything from which you protected me. Let no fierce beast, no enemy, no element, no dashing person cause them harm. For this I pray to you, holy angel, warrior of Christ. And everything will be God’s will. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel to protect loved ones from troubles and misfortunes

I pray to you, my kind guardian angel, who blessed me, overshadowed me with your light, protected me from all kinds of misfortune. And neither the fierce beast nor the enemy is stronger than me. And neither the elements nor a dashing person will destroy me. And thanks to your efforts, nothing will harm me. I remain under your holy patronage, under your protection, I receive the love of our Lord. So protect my neighbors, whom I loved, as Jesus commanded, protect them from everything from which you protected me. Let no fierce beast, no enemy, no element, no dashing person cause them harm. For this I pray to you, holy angel, warrior of Christ. And everything will be God’s will. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel to protect relatives from harm

I pray to you, my kind guardian angel, who blessed me, overshadowed me with your light, protected me from all kinds of misfortune. And neither the fierce beast nor the enemy is stronger than me. And neither the elements nor a dashing person will destroy me. And thanks to your efforts, nothing will harm me. I remain under your holy patronage, under your protection, I receive the love of our Lord. So protect my relatives, whom I loved, as Jesus commanded, protect them from everything from which you protected me. Let no fierce beast, no enemy, no element, no dashing person cause them harm. For this I pray to you, holy angel, warrior of Christ. And everything will be God’s will. Amen.

Prayer to protect loved ones from illnesses

The only speedy one in intercession, Christ, soon over show a visit to a suffering slave Yours, and get rid of illness and bitter illnesses, and raise thee to praise thee and glorify unceasingly, with prayers Mother of God, One is more humane. Glory to the Father And Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

PRAYERS PROTECTING FROM JOB LOSS, UNKINDNESS OF COLLEAGUES AND BOARDS

In difficult times, you can suddenly lose everything: your job, your savings, the friendly attitude of your colleagues and bosses. Even the best co-worker friends can suddenly start looking at you askance: after all, everyone is afraid that they might be “downsized”, and for some reason they want someone else to take their place - for example, you...

Read prayers that protect against ill will and envy, support the spiritual strength of those who have already been laid off, and protect against job loss as often as possible. And the Lord will not leave you!

Prayer for those who have been laid off

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that in the midst of sadness, anger, uncertainty, pain, I can talk to You. Hear me as I cry out in confusion, help me think clearly and calm my soul. As life goes on, help me to feel Your presence every day. And as I look to the future, help me find new opportunities, new paths. Lead me by Your Spirit and show me Your way, through Jesus - the way, the truth and the life. Amen.

Prayer for those who have kept their jobs

Life changed: colleagues were laid off and left without work. Suddenly everything that seemed stable was now so fragile. Difficult express what what I feel: sadness, guilt, fears regarding the future. Who will be next? How I can handle the increased workload At work? Lord Jesus, in the midst of this uncertainty help to me continue on your way: work the best obra- So, living with the worries of one day, and taking time every day, to be with You. Because You are the way, true and life. Amen.

Prayer of the Persecuted by People (Compiled by Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)

I thank You, Lord and my God, for everything that has happened to me! I thank You for all the sorrows and temptations that You sent me to cleanse those defiled by sins, to heal my soul and body, ulcerated by sins! Have mercy and save those instruments that You used to heal me: those people who insulted me. Bless them in this age and the next! Credit to them as virtue what they did for me! Give them abundant rewards from your eternal treasures.

What did I bring to You? What are acceptable sacrifices? I brought only sins, only violations of Your most Divine commandments. Forgive me, Lord, forgive the guilty one before You and before people! Forgive the unrequited! Grant me to be convinced and sincerely admit that I am a sinner! Grant me to reject crafty excuses! Grant me repentance! Grant me contrition of heart! Grant me meekness and humility! Grant love to my neighbors, immaculate love, the same to everyone, both those who console me and those who grieve me! Grant me patience in all my sorrows! Die me to the world! Take away my sinful will from me and plant Your holy will in my heart, so that I may do it alone in deeds, words, thoughts, and feelings. Glory is due to you for everything! To you alone belongs the glory! My only asset is the shame of my face and the silence of my lips. Standing before Thy Last Judgment in my wretched prayer, I do not find in myself a single good deed, not a single dignity, and I stand, only enveloped from everywhere by the countless multitude of my sins, as if by a thick cloud and mist, with only one consolation in my soul: with hope in the unlimited Your mercy and goodness. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from those in power

By the will of the Lord you were sent down to me Guardian angel, protector and my guardian. Therefore I appeal to you in difficult moments in your prayer, so that amulet you me from great trouble. Those vested with earthly power oppress me, and I have no other defense than How power heavenly, which stands above us all and our world manages. Saint angel, amulets from oppression and insults from those who towered over me. Take care from their injustice, for I still suffer reason innocently. I forgive you as God taught these people their sins are before me, for it is the Lord He has exalted those who are exalted above me and thereby tests me. For all then the will of God, from everything that is beyond the will God's save me, my guardian angel. What am I asking for? you in my prayer. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from mistrust at work

Angel of the Lord, who carries out the will of Heaven on earth, hear me, the accursed one. Turn your clear gaze on me, cast your autumn light on me, help me, a Christian soul, against human unbelief. And what was said in Scripture about unbelieving Thomas, remember, holy one. So let there be no mistrust, no suspicion, no doubt from people. For I am pure before people, just as I am pure before the Lord our God. Since I did not listen to the Lord, I greatly repent of this, for I did this out of thoughtlessness, but not out of evil intent to go against the word of God. I pray to you, angel of Christ, my holy protector and patron, protect the servant of God (name). Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from misunderstandings with colleagues and superiors

My patron, heavenly angel, my bright guardian. I appeal to you for help, for I am in grave trouble. And this misfortune comes from a lack of understanding of people. Unable to see my good thoughts, people drive me away from them. And my heart is extremely wounded, for I am pure before people, and my conscience is clear. I have not conceived anything bad, contrary to God, therefore I pray to you, holy angel of the Lord, protect me from human misunderstanding, let them understand my good Christian deeds. Let them understand that I wish them well. Help me, holy one, protect me! Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for harmony in relationships with colleagues

Holy angel of Christ, your ward, the servant of God (name), calls to you in prayer. I ask you, saint, to protect me from discord and discord with my neighbors. For I am not guilty of anything before them, I am pure before them, as before the Lord. Since I have sinned against them and the Lord, I repent and pray for forgiveness, since it is not my fault, but the machinations of the evil one. Protect me from the evil one and do not allow me to offend my neighbors. God wants it, so be it. Let them too heed the word of God and love me. I ask you about this, angel of Christ, warrior of God, in my prayer. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for harmony in relationships with superiors

Holy angel of Christ, your ward, the servant of God (name), calls to you in prayer. I ask you, saint, to protect me from discord and discord with my superiors. For I am not guilty of anything before them, I am pure before them, as before the Lord. Since I have sinned against them and the Lord, I repent and pray for forgiveness, since it is not my fault, but the machinations of the evil one. Protect me from the evil one and do not allow me to offend my superiors. By the will of the Lord they have been placed over me, so be it so. Let them too heed the word of God and love me. I ask you about this, angel of Christ, warrior of God, in my prayer. Amen.

Prayer to protect against intrigue at work

Merciful God, now and forever delay and behind- wait until the time is right plans those around me about my displacement, dismissal, removal, expulsion. So now destroy the evil desires and demands of everyone judging me. Yes and now point spiritual blindness in everyone's eyes rebelling against me and against my enemies. And you, all the Holy Lands Russian, develop by force their prayers about All for me demonic spells, everything devilish plans and machinations - annoy me and destroy me and my property. And you, great and formidable guardian, Archangel Michael, fire sword flog all the enemy's desires the human race and all its minions who want to destroy me. Stop indestructible on guardian of this house of all living in it and everything commons his. And You, Lady, do not in vain called the "Unbreakable Wall", be for all warring against me and malicious dirty tricks there really is no way for me to do barrier and indestructible wall, protecting me from all evil and difficult circumstances., bless.

Prayer to Archangel Michael, protecting from troubles at work

Lord, Great God, King without beginning, send, O Lord, Thy Archangel Michael to the aid of Thy servants (name). Protect us, Archangel, from all enemies, visible and invisible. O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Destroyer of demons, forbid all enemies fighting me, and make them like sheep, and humble their evil hearts, and crush them like dust in the face of the wind. Oh, Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Six-winged first Prince and Governor of the Heavenly forces - Cherubim and Seraphim, be our helper in all troubles, sorrows, sorrows, a quiet refuge in the desert and on the seas. O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Deliver us from all the charms of the devil, when You hear us, sinners, praying to You, calling on Your Holy name. Hasten to our aid and overcome all who oppose us, by the power of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the prayers of the holy Apostles, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Andrew, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the holy prophet Elijah and all the holy great martyrs: holy martyrs Nikita and Eustus -fiy, and all our reverend fathers, who have pleased God from the ages, and all the holy Heavenly Powers.

O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Help us sinners (name), and deliver us from cowardice, flood, fire, sword and vain death, from great evil, from the flattering enemy, from the reviled storm, from the evil one, deliver us forever, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Holy Archangel of God Michael, with Your lightning sword, drive away from me the evil spirit that tempts and torments me. Amen.

Prayer from enemies at work and during difficulties in business

From evil deeds, from evil people, with your wise words of God, I established heaven and earth, the sun and the month, the moon and the stars of the Lord. And so establish the heart of a person (name) in the footsteps and commandments. Heaven is the key, earth is the lock; that's the keys to the outside. So tyn, over amens, amen. Amen.

Prayer to protect you from troubles

O Great God, by Whom all things are saved, free me also from all evil. O great God, who has given consolation to all beings, grant it to me also. O great God, who shows help and support in all things, help me also and show your help in all my needs, misfortunes, enterprises and dangers; deliver me from all the snares of enemies, visible and invisible, in the name of the Father, who created the whole world, in the name of the Son, who redeemed it, in the name of the Holy Spirit, who perfected the law in all its perfection. I surrender myself into Your hands and completely surrender to Your holy protection. Let it be so! May the blessing of God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit always be with me! Let it be so! May the blessing of God the Father, who created everything with His one word, always be with me. May the blessing of our Almighty Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, always be with me! Let it be so! May the blessing of the Holy Spirit, with His seven gifts, be with me! Let it be so! May the blessing of the Virgin Mary and Her Son always be with me! Let it be so!

PRAYERS FOR PROTECTION FROM THIEVES, FINANCIAL FRAUD AND ECONOMIC FRAUDERS

In difficult times, we are defenseless and confused. But for those who know how to fish in troubled waters, difficult times are a period of good luck and prosperity. Scammers and swindlers of all stripes strive to defraud honest citizens of their savings, promising mountains of gold and millions in profits.

Read these prayers as often as possible, so that the Lord will admonish you not to succumb to deception and keep your wallet safe and sound. Read before you make a decision on even the most seemingly transparent transactions involving money.

Prayer to Archangel Michael asking for help and protection from thieves, option one

Holy Archangel Michael, bright and formidable commander of the Heavenly King! Before the Last Judgment, let me repent from my sins, deliver my soul from the net that catches it and bring it to the God who created it, who dwells on the cherubim, and pray diligently for it, so that through your intercession it will go to a place of rest. O formidable commander of the heavenly powers, representative of all at the Throne of the Lord Christ, guardian of the strong man and wise armorer, strong commander of the Heavenly King! Have mercy on me, a sinner who requires your intercession, save me from all visible and invisible enemies, and, moreover, strengthen me from the horror of death and from the embarrassment of the devil, and grant me the honor of unashamedly presenting myself to our Creator at the hour of His terrible and righteous judgment. O all-holy, great Michael the Archangel! Do not despise me, a sinner, who prays to you for help and your intercession in this world and in the future, but grant me there together with you to glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to Archangel Michael asking for help and protection from thieves, option two

Lord, Great God, King without beginning, send, O Lord, Thy Archangel Michael to the aid of Thy servants (name). Protect us, Archangel, from all enemies, visible and invisible. O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Destroyer of demons, forbid all enemies fighting me, and make them like sheep, and humble their evil hearts, and crush them like dust in the face of the wind. O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Six-winged first Prince and Governor of the Heavenly forces - Cherubim and Seraphim, be our helper in all troubles, sorrows, sorrows, a quiet refuge in the desert and on the seas. O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Deliver us from all the charms of the devil, when You hear us, sinners, praying to You, calling on Your Holy name. Hasten to our aid and overcome all who oppose us, by the power of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the prayers of the holy Apostles, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Andrew, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the holy prophet Elijah and all the holy great martyrs: holy martyrs Nikita and Eustathius, and all our reverend fathers, who have pleased God from the ages, and all the holy Heavenly Powers.

O Lord the Great Archangel Michael! Help us sinners (name) and deliver us from cowardice, flood, fire, sword and vain death, from great evil, from the flattering enemy, from the reviled storm, from the evil one, deliver us forever, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Holy Archangel of God Michael, with Your lightning sword, drive away from me the evil spirit that tempts and torments me. Amen.

Prayer for the return of stolen property, as well as for the loss of an item

From Julian, the godless king, Saint John Stratilates was sent to kill Christians, you helped some from your property, while others, convincing you to flee from torment by the infidels, you freed, and for this many suffered torment and imprisonment in prison from the tormentor. After the death of the wicked king, being released from prison, you spent the rest of your life in great virtues until your death, adorning yourself with cleanliness, prayer and fasting, giving abundant alms to the poor, visiting the weak and comforting the mourning. Therefore, in all our sorrows, we have you as a helper and in all the troubles that befall us: we have you as a comforter, John the warrior: running to you, we pray to you, be the healer of our passions and the deliverer of our spiritual suffering, because you have received from God power useful for the salvation of all give, John of ever-memorable, nourisher of wanderers, liberator of captives, physician of the weak: helper of orphans! Look at us, honoring your sacred joyful memory, intercede for us before the Lord, so that we may be heirs of His kingdom. Hear and do not reject us, and hasten to intercede for us, Stratelate John, denouncing thieves and kidnappers, and the thefts they commit in secret, faithfully praying to you, revealing to you, and bringing people to joy with the return of property. Resentment and injustice are heavy for every person, everyone grieves over the loss of something stolen or missing. Hearken to those who mourn, Saint John: and help them find the stolen property, so that, having found it, they glorify the Lord for His generosity forever. Amen.

Prayer against the encroachment of bandits to the righteous Joseph the Betrothed

O holy righteous Joseph! You I was still on earth, ABOUT had great things You boldness to Son of God, Izhe if you please name cha his father, like His betrothed to Matera, and By listen to you; we believe that now with faces righteous in abodes heavenly settling in, heard you will be in every way your petition to God And To our Savior. Them same as yours resorting to cover and intercession, we humbly pray cha: as if from a storm dubious thoughts You were delivered, so deliver us too, waves of embarrassment and overwhelmed by passions; how did you fence The All-Immaculate Virgin from human slander, protect us too from all vain slander; just as you kept the Incarnate Lord from all harm and bitterness, so keep through your intercession His Orthodox Church and all us from all bitterness and harm. Vesi, holy of God, like Son of God in these days His flesh in bodily you had needs, and you served them; for this sake we pray you, and our temporary needs good luck by your petition, giving us all the good things we need in this life. Fairer We ask you, intercede for us to forgive sins from accepting betrothed you Son, The only begotten Son of God, Lord our Jesus Christ, and worthy to be Kingdom heritage Heavenly us representation yours create, and we are in the mountains their villages with you settling, let's glorify Edinago Trinitarian God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer from breakers of promises and contracts to the holy martyr Polyeuctus

Holy Martyr Polyeucte! Look down from the heavenly palace on those who demand yours help and not reject our petitions, but, as native our benefactor and intercessor, pray to Christ God, that, being philanthropic and abundantly merciful, He will save us from every cruel situation: from cowardice, flood, fire, sword, invasion foreigners and internecine abuse. May he not condemn us sinners By lawlessness ours, and let us not turn into evil the good things given to us from Almighty dear God, but for the glory of His holy name and for the glorification of the mighty your intercession. Yes with your prayers God give us peace thoughts, abstinence from destructive passions and from all filth and May He strengthen His Unity throughout the world Holy, Cathedral and Apostolic Church, for he has acquired with His honest Blood. Moli diligently, holy martyr. May Christ God bless Russian state, Yes will establish in His Holy Orthodox Church living great spirit of right faith and piety, and all its members are clean from superstition and superstitions, in spirit and in truth they worship Him and diligently care about keeping Him commandments, yes we are all in peace and piety let's live in present eventually we will achieve blissful eternal life in heaven, by the grace of the Lord our Jesus Christ, to Him belongs all glory, honor and power with Father and Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers read for loss or loss of any property

(Reverend Arefa Pechersky)

1. God, have mercy! Lord, about st And! All is yours, I don’t regret it!

2. The Lord gave. The Lord took it.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from thieves

A Angel of God, my saint, save me, a sinner, from an unkind glance, from evil intent. Protect me weak and infirm from the thief in the night and other dashing people. Not leave me, holy angel, in difficult moment. Don't let me those who have forgotten God will lose their souls Christian. Sorry everything my sins, if any, have mercy on me, accursed and unworthy, and save from true death in in the hands of evil people. TO to you, angel of Christ, I appeal to such prayer I, unworthy. How cast out demons from man, so drive out dangers from my path. Amen.

Prayer to the guardian angel against dishonest money

I pray for you, holy angel of Christ, remembering our Lord in your face. I pray, crying out for mercy and protection. My patron, given by God, my merciful guardian, forgive me, a sinner and unworthy. Protect me from dishonest money, may this evil never come to me, may it not destroy my soul. Protect, holy one, so that the honest servant of the Lord is not caught in theft. Protect me from such shame and vice, do not let dishonest money stick to me, since this is not God’s providence, but satanic bribery. This is what I pray to you, saint. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from deception, theft and dangers on the business road

Guardian angel, servant Christ, winged and incorporeal, you are not tired in your paths. I beg you to be my companion along my own path. There is a long road ahead of me, hard way passed out to a slave God's AND I am very afraid of the dangers that honest traveler in they are waiting on the road. Protect me saint angel, from these dangers. Let neither robbers, neither bad weather or animals, nothing else will interfere with my journey. I humbly pray you about this and I hope on your help. Amen.

PRAYERS FOR PROTECTION OF MATERIAL PROPERTY, FOR PROTECTION FROM NATURAL DISASTERS

In difficult times, we value our property, everything we have. Lose everything you have acquired long years, when it’s already difficult and difficult for all of us, is too strong a blow for anyone. In addition, many dishonest people want to take possession of other people’s property - steal, take away, redeem in a fraudulent way. AND natural disasters which are happening more and more often in Lately, also threaten us with loss.

Always read these prayers so that your home and all your property, movable and immovable, remain safe and sound.

Prayer to the Prophet Elijah

You can pray to the Holy Glorious Prophet Elijah during times of rainlessness, drought, in the rain, for changes in the weather, as well as for successful trading, from hunger and in cases when you want to receive a prophecy, prophetic dreams.

The great and glorious prophet of God, Elijah, for the sake of your zeal for the glory of the Lord God Almighty, not patient to see the idolatry and wickedness of the sons of Israel, the lawless king Aha-av, who denounced the lawbreaking king Aha-ab and, as punishment for those, a three-year famine on the land of Israel, through your prayer from the Lord, having asked the widow of Zarephat in the famine wonderfully nourished and her son died through your prayer, resurrected, after the passage of the time of famine, the people of Israel were gathered on Mount Carmel for apostasy and wickedness, reproaching the same fire for your sacrifice from heaven, and by this miracle Israel turned to the Lord, the cold prophets of Baal were put to shame and died, and yet with prayer he again resolved the sky and asked for abundant rain on the earth, and the people of Israel rejoiced! To you, wonderful servant of God, we zealously resort to sin and humility, in the absence of rain and in the heat of tomia: we confess that we are unworthy of the mercy and blessings of God, but we are worthy more than the fierce punishments of His wrath: for we do not walk in the fear of God and in the ways of the commandments Him, but in the lusts of our depraved hearts, and without shame we have created every form of sin: for our iniquities have surpassed our head, and we are not worthy to appear before the face of God and behold heaven: we also humbly confess that for this reason heaven was closed and like brass was created, First of all, our hearts were closed with mercy and true love: for this reason, the earth hardened and became barren, because the fruits of good deeds were not brought to our Lord: for this reason, there was no rain, lower dew, like tears of tenderness and the life-giving dew of the thought of God were not imams: for this Because of this, every grain and grass has withered away, as if every good feeling had dried up in us: for this reason the air has been darkened, as if our mind has been darkened with cold thoughts and our heart has been defiled with lawless lusts. We confess that we are unworthy of you, the prophet of God, to beg: you, having been servile to us as a man, became like an angel in your life, and like an incorporeal being, you were caught up in heaven, while we, with our cold thoughts and deeds, became like dumb cattle, and created our soul like flesh: you surprised angels and men with fasting and vigil, but we, indulging in intemperance and lust, are likened to senseless cattle: you were constantly burning with the utmost zeal for the glory of God, but we are about our glory It is an evil shame to confess the Creator and Lord negligently, to confess His venerable name: you have eradicated wickedness and evil customs, but we have served the spirit of this age, observing the customs of the world more than the commandments of God and the statutes of the church. What sin and untruth have we not created, and so our iniquities have exhausted God’s patience! Moreover, the just Lord was righteously angry with us, and in His anger punished us. Moreover, knowing your great boldness before the Lord, and trusting in your love for the human race, we dare to pray to you, most praiseworthy prophet: be merciful to us, unworthy and indecent, beg the great-gifted and all-generous God, so that he will not be completely angry with us and May it not destroy us with our iniquities, but may abundant and peaceful rain fall on the thirsty and parched earth, may it give it fruitfulness and the goodness of the air: bow with your effective intercession to the mercy of the Heavenly King, not for us for the sake of the sinful and nasty, but for the sake of His chosen servants , who did not bow their knees to the Baal of this world, for the sake of gentle babies, for the sake of dumb cattle and birds of the air, who suffer for our iniquity and are melted away by hunger, heat and thirst. Ask us with your favorable prayers from the Lord for the spirit of repentance and heartfelt tenderness, meekness and self-control, the spirit of love and patience, the spirit of the fear of God and piety, so that, having returned from the path of wickedness to the right path of virtue, we walk in the light of God’s commandments and achieve the good things promised to us , by the good will of the beginningless Father, by the love of His only begotten Son and by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Prayer for the sanctification of every thing

You should sprinkle things with holy water three times and read:

To the Creator and Creator of the human race, the Giver of spiritual grace, the Giver of eternal salvation, You, Lord Himself, ate Your Holy Spirit with the highest blessing on this thing, as if armed with the power of heavenly intercession, those who want to use it will be helpful for bodily salvation and intercession and help, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for protection from a natural disaster

Protector of my soul and my weak body, guardian angel, I call you in my prayer. Come to me, so that I may find salvation in adversity. And neither hail, nor hurricane, nor lightning will harm my body, nor my house, nor my relatives, nor my property. Let them pass me, all the elements will pass by earthly, not at all I'll be with the sky is neither water, nor fire, nor wind, destruction. I pray you, holy angel of Christ, protect me from the harsh bad weather - from floods And earthquakes also save. For this I implore you to you, my benefactor and my guardian angel of God. Amen.

PRAYERS FOR PROTECTION FROM FAILURE IN BUSINESS AND BUSINESS

Every good deed needs support and blessing, especially Heavenly. For a long time, in Orthodox Russia, merchants, when starting a new business, tried to enlist the support of the church and God. Their prayer (if it came from the depths of their hearts, if their plans were pure, devoid of meanness and negativity) necessarily reached the heavenly throne. And now all those who are planning something new that can bring not only profit to one person, but also help others, also need prayer support.

Read these prayers before any undertaking so that the forces of Heaven will help you.

Initial prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen. Glory to Thee, our God. Glory to You.

Before starting any business

To the Tsar Heavenly, Comforter, Soul of truth, may he abide everything everywhere filling with itself, the Treasure of good and life to the Giver, come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all filth, and save Blissful, our souls.

Bless Lord, help me, a sinner, to accomplish started by me it's about Your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Only Begotten Son Father, for You you speak with Your most pure lips, like without You can't help me create nothing existing. My Lord, Lord, faith fills my soul and heart with You spoken, I fall down to Your kindness: help me, a sinner, this work that I have begun is about You Himself to do, in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, prayers Mother of God and all yours saints Amen.

Prayer for success in business

Thank You, God, for Your spirit is in me which gives to me prosper and bless my life.

God, You are the source of my life abundance. I have full confidence at You, knowing that You will always guide me and multiply mine blessings.

Thank you God for Your wisdom, which fills me up shiny ideas and Thy blessed omnipresence, which ensures the generous fulfillment of all needs. My life is enriched in every way.

You are my source, dear God, and in You all are fulfilled needs. Thank you for your rich perfection, which blesses me and my neighbors.

God, Yours love fills mine the heart and attracts all that is good. Thanks to you endless nature, I live in abundance. Amen!

Prayer to the Apostle Paul for protection in opening an enterprise

Holy supreme Apostle Paul, chosen vessel of Christ, speaker of heavenly sacraments, teacher of all languages, church trumpet, glorious orbit, who endured many troubles for the name of Christ, who measured the sea and walked around the earth and turned us away from the flattery of idols! I pray to you and I cry to you: do not disdain me, who is filthy, raise up the one who has fallen through sinful laziness, just as you raised up the lame from the womb in Lystrek with your mother: and just as you revived Eutyches, who was dead, raise me up from dead deeds: and just as through your prayer You once shook the foundation of the prison and you freed the prisoners; now tear me out to do the will of God. For you can do all things by the authority given to you from Christ God; to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with His Beginning Father, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen!

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for success in business

Holy Angel of Christ, my benefactor and patron, I pray to you, a sinner. Help an Orthodox Christian who lives according to God’s commandments. I ask you for a little, I ask you to help me on my journey through life, I ask you to support me in difficult times, I ask you for honest luck; and everything else will come on its own, if it is the will of the Lord. Therefore, I don’t think about anything more than success in my life’s journey and in all sorts of affairs. Forgive me if I have sinned before you and God, pray for me to the Heavenly Father and send your blessings upon me. Amen.

Prayer in a situation when things and business are going badly

Lord, do not reprove me with Your wrath; do not punish me with Your wrath. As Thy arrows have struck me, and Thou hast strengthened Thy hand upon me. There is no healing in my flesh from the face of Your wrath, there is no peace in my bones from the face of my sin. For my iniquities have exceeded my head, for a heavy burden weighs upon me. My wounds have grown stale and rotten because of my madness. I suffered and sloshed to the end, walking around complaining all day. For my body is filled with reproach and there is no healing in my flesh. I would become embittered and humbled to death, roaring from the sighing of my heart. Lord, before You all my desire and my sighing are not hidden from You. My heart is confused, leave me my strength, and the light of my eyes, and that one will not be with me. My friends and my sincere ones are right near me and stasha, and my neighbors are far away from me, stasha and in need, seeking my soul, and seeking evil for me, vain verbs and teaching to flatterers all day long. As if I were deaf and did not hear, and because I was dumb and did not open my mouth. And as a man he would not hear, nor would he have reproach in his mouth. For in You, O Lord, I have trusted; You will hear, O Lord my God. As if he said: “Let my enemies never make me happy; and never can my feet move, but you speak against me.” As if I am ready for wounds, and my illness is before me. For I will proclaim my iniquity and take care of my sin. My enemies live and have become stronger than me, and have multiplied, hating me without truth. Those who repay me evil with a cart of good have slandered me, driving away goodness. Do not forsake me, O Lord my God, do not depart from me. Here come to my help, O Lord of my salvation.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel for prosperity in business

Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy! Overshadowing the brow with the holy sign of the cross, I servant of God, I give praise to the Lord and pray to my holy angel for help. Saint angel, come to me this day and in the future! Budi to me assistant in my affairs. May I not anger God by any sin! But I will glorify him! May you show me worthy of the goodness of our Lord! Serve it to me angel, your help in my deed, so that I work for the good of man and for the glory of the Lord! Help me be very strong against my enemy and the enemy of the human race. Help me, angel, to do the will of the Lord and be in harmony with servants God's Help me, angel, put my cause for good man of the Lord and the glory of the Lord. Help me, angel, stand my business in for the good of the Lord and for the glory of the Lord. Help me, angel, prosper in my good man of the Lord and to the glory of the Lord! Amen.

Prayer for success in trading

Reading to the Great Martyr John the New about patronage in trade. Holy and glorious Great Martyr John, Christians strong visor, merchant all-round, fast more powerful to everyone to you who come running. Marine swimming I'll buy the abyss, from the east to the north, But God called you, like Matthew mytnitsa, trade you left and Tom followed you are the blood of torment, temporary having redeemed the impassable, and crown accepted you are invincible. Most Praiseworthy John, you don't care about fury torturer, nor words of caress, no torment of rebuke, no bitter beating torn away from Christ, and Him from You loved infancy, and He prayed to grant peace and greatness to our souls mercy. Having been a master of wisdom, a treasure of virtues, from there you got it Divine understanding. At the same time I call upon you to earnestly strive for feat you got off your guard, accepting martyr's wounds, shattering of flesh and blood exhaustion, and Now you live in indescribable light as martyrs. This for the sake of crying out you: pray to Christ the God of sins to grant forgiveness those who worship your holy relics with faith. Crush the weapon wicked, invincible warriors, unrighteously driven towards your the property you have chosen for yourself, having loved, and establish our fatherland, and so will we quiet and peacefully we will transfer residence. Non-evening light coming, blessed one, with martyrs' faces praising you in memory yours, from temptations save with your prayers. Amen.

Prayer for those involved in business and trade

God, rich in mercy and bounty, in whose right hand are all the treasures of the world! By the arrangement of Your all-good Providence, I am destined to buy and sell earthly goods to those who need and need them. O All-Bountiful, Most Merciful God! Overshadow my labors and occupations with your blessing, make me rich in living faith in You, make me rich in every kind of generosity consistent with Your will, and grant me that profit that on earth consists of contentment with one’s condition, and in future life opens the doors of Your mercy! Yes, having been pardoned by your compassion, I glorify you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for every good deed

Quick Intercessor and Mighty in help, present yourself now with the grace of Your power and bless, strengthen your servants to accomplish the good deeds.

Prayer at the end of the case

The fulfillment of all good things You are, my Christ, fill my soul with joy and gladness and save me, for I am the only One who is Most Merciful. Lord, glory to You.

Appendix ABOUT PRAYER

What is prayer?

Modern man, even the most religious, the most “churched,” quite often gets confused in matters of prayer. Some of us are sure that only canonical (i.e., taken from the Prayer Book) prayers help achieve the desired result. Others think that only fervent prayer, a request addressed to God in their own words, will help get rid of illnesses and any misfortunes. Still others do not consider it necessary to bother themselves with prayers at all: they say, the Lord already knows everything, sees everything, and will give each of us the necessary help.

So what is prayer?

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said this:

…it is very important to remember that prayer is a meeting, it is a relationship, and a deep relationship into which neither we nor God can be forced. And the fact that God can make His presence obvious to us or leave us with a feeling of His absence is already part of this living, real relationship...

Prayer is like a meeting. A meeting with the Mother of God, with the saints to whom we pray, a meeting with God. But we just have to admit to ourselves: do we want this meeting? Probably, almost each of us, asking ourselves a similar question, will answer it in the affirmative. Yes, we want! Our life is sometimes so complex, difficult, and confusing that we cannot cope with the problems ourselves. We need help from above. And even children understand this.

How should you pray?

You can pray in your own words; you can pray with a short prayer formula; You can use what are called “ready-made prayers.” What's better? What is healthier for our soul? How to make the right choice?

Let's talk a little about each type of prayer in more detail.

Canonical prayers

You can easily find canonical prayers, or so-called “ready-made prayers” for all occasions, in any Prayer Book. The canonical collections of prayers are arranged very conveniently: they contain Morning and Evening prayers, prayers to the Lord, prayers to the Mother of God and prayers to the saints. Some expanded Prayer Books also contain akathists, troparia, kontakia and magnifications for the Feasts of the Lord, the feasts of the Mother of God, saints and icons of the Mother of God. Which Prayer Book to choose depends only on you. At first, it is best to opt for the simplest, small Prayer Book.

How to use the Prayer Book? Of course, you can simply find this or that prayer in the table of contents: as a rule, it is immediately clear from the headings for what occasion the prayer is intended (“for the living,” “for the dead,” “for illnesses,” “for fear,” etc.). d.).

But this is probably not the most important thing. If we summarize the entire centuries-old experience Orthodox Church, in essence, it will immediately become obvious that you can pray to any saint, in front of any icon, as long as your prayer comes from the heart!

In the book “Learn to Pray!” Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh wrote:

We have a rich selection of prayers that were suffered by ascetics of the faith and born in them by the Holy Spirit... It is important to find and know a sufficient number of them in order to find the appropriate prayers at the right time. It's about about learning by heart a sufficient number of significant passages from the psalms or from the prayers of the saints; Each of us is more sensitive to one passage or another. Mark for yourself those passages that touch you deeply, that are meaningful to you, that express something - about sin, or about bliss in God, or about struggle - that you already know from experience. Memorize these passages, because some day when you are so discouraged, so deep in despair that you cannot summon anything personal, no personal words, into your soul, you will find these passages floating to the surface and appearing before you, as a gift from God, as a gift to the Church, as a gift of holiness, replenishing the decline of our strength. Then we really need the prayers that we have memorized so that they have become a part of us...

Unfortunately, too often we poorly grasp the meaning of the canonical prayers. An inexperienced person, picking up a Prayer Book, as a rule, does not understand many of the words in it. Well, what, for example, does the word “create” mean? Or the word "imam"? If you have an innate verbal sense, then “translating” incomprehensible words will not be so difficult for you. The word “create” is clearly derived from the word “creation”, that is, creation, creation; “create” means “create, create.” And “imam” is an old version of the word “I have,” and they have the same root. Only after you understand the meaning of the prayer texts can you begin to pray directly, otherwise your appeal to higher powers will be just a set of incomprehensible words for you. And, unfortunately, one cannot expect any effect from such a request.

Prayer in your own words

Quite often you can hear the following question: is it possible to pray in your own words? Of course you can! After all, we are all very different. It is easier for some to read “ready-made prayers,” while others are simply not currently able to fully understand the meaning of the canonical prayers, and therefore cannot use them.

This is what representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church say about prayers in their own words.

Every person has the right to pray in his own words, and there are many examples of this. We see this in church families when small children, imitating praying adults, raise their hands up, cross themselves, perhaps clumsily, take some books, babble some words. Metropolitan Nestor of Kamchatka in his book “My Kamchatka” recalls how he prayed as a child: “Lord, save me, my dad, my mom and my dog ​​Landyshka.”

We know that priests pray for their children and their flock at home and in their cells. I know an example when a priest in the evening, after working day puts on clean clothes and simply, in his everyday words, grieves before the Lord for his flock, saying that some of them are in need, some are sick, others have been offended: “Lord, help them.”

Archimandrite Alexy (Polikarpov), abbot of the Moscow St. Danilov Monastery

Sometimes it’s good to say a few words in prayer, breathing with ardent faith and love for the Lord. Yes, not everyone can talk with God in other people’s words, not everyone can be children in faith and hope, but one must show one’s mind and say one’s good word from the heart; We somehow get used to other people’s words and grow cold...

...When the prayer words are convincing for you, then they will be convincing for God...

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

Sometimes, in order to address your fervent request to God, there is no need to resort to words. Prayer can be silent. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh gives such an example in his sermons. One peasant sat in the church for a long time and silently looked at the icons. He did not have a rosary, his lips did not move. But when the priest asked him what he was doing, the peasant replied: “I look at Him, and He looks at me, and we both feel good.”

These are the prayers people say who are desperate and sincerely believe in Heavenly help:

What to do, such mental melancholy, horror, I don’t want to live, there is no work, there is nothing, there is no meaning in life, a dead end in life. Help me, Lord!

Tatyana, Rostov-on-Don

In the name of the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, I ask you to pray for me and my family!!! I just can’t find a job, it’s not working out... God bless you!!!

Irina, St. Petersburg

Brief Prayer Invocation

You can also pray with short prayer invocations throughout the day. First of all, this is the Jesus Prayer: “ Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" This prayer in Orthodoxy is called the “prayer of stability.” Where did this name come from? The fact is that in the Jesus Prayer a person surrenders completely to the mercy of God, under His protection and intercession. According to the majority of Orthodox devotees, the Jesus Prayer sums up in a few words all the wisdom of the Gospels.

Prayer-appeals for help and protection to the saint whose name you bear are quite effective. It is best to contact your patron saints several times a day. There is also a short prayer for this.

Prayer addressed to the saint whose name you bear

Pray to God for me, holy servant of God (name), as I diligently resort to you, a quick helper and prayer book for my soul.

We turn to the Mother of God for protection in the following prayer:

Virgin Mary, Rejoice, Blessed Mary, the Lord is with Thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast given birth to the Savior of our souls.

If it’s difficult to remember the prayer right away, you can simply repeat to yourself from time to time:

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

About time and attention in prayer

For a long time, it was recommended to read the prayer slowly, evenly, in order to “contain attention in the words.” Only when the prayer you want to offer to God is meaningful enough and means a lot to you, will you be able to “reach out” to the Lord. If you are inattentive to the words you say, if your own heart does not respond to the words of prayer, your requests will not reach God.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh said that when his father began to pray, he hung a sign on the door: “I’m home. But don’t try to knock, I won’t open it.” Bishop Anthony himself advised his parishioners, before starting prayer, to think about how much time they have, set an alarm clock and pray quietly until it rings. “It doesn’t matter,” he wrote, “how many prayers you manage to read during this time; It is important that you read them without being distracted or thinking about time.”

Prayer and feelings

But you should never confuse the words of a sincere prayer with a prayer that looks more like hysteria. Unfortunately, there is often an opinion among believers that only prayer with tears, in a raised voice, will achieve its goal. There is no need to shout to God about your problems and troubles, bursting into tears and shedding tears: He sees and hears everything perfectly. Falling into a hysterical state, a person no longer truly prays, but only uncontrollably splashes out emotions (often, by the way, devoid of objectivity and even negative).

Answered Prayer

Very often you can hear the following complaint: “I prayed and prayed, but all my prayers remained unanswered!”

For some reason, we are sure: all we have to do is start praying, and God is obliged to appear before us, pay attention to us, let us feel His presence, let us understand that He is listening to us attentively. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, recognized as the most outstanding theologian, wrote:

If it were possible to call God... mechanically, so to speak, force Him to a meeting just because we have appointed this very moment for a meeting with Him, then there would be neither a meeting nor a relationship. Relationships should begin and develop in mutual freedom. … We complain that He does not make His presence evident in the few minutes we devote to Him throughout the day; but what can we say about the remaining twenty-three and a half hours, when God can knock on our door as much as He wants, and we answer: “Sorry, I’m busy,” or we don’t answer at all, because we don’t even hear Him knocking on our door? heart, our mind, our consciousness or conscience, our life. So: we have no right to complain about the absence of God, because we ourselves are absent much more!

There is one amazing story in the book of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh:

About twenty-five years ago, shortly after I became a priest, I was sent to serve in a nursing home before Christmas. There was an old woman there who later died at the age of one hundred and two. She came up to me after the first service and said: “Father Anthony, I would like to get advice about prayer.” ...I then asked her: “What is your problem?” And my old lady answered: “For fourteen years now I have been repeating the Jesus Prayer almost continuously and I have never felt God’s presence.” And then I really, out of simplicity, told her what I was thinking: “If you talk all the time, when will God insert a word?” She asked: “What should I do?” And I said: “After morning breakfast, go to your room, tidy it up, make the chair more comfortable, so that behind its back there are all the dark corners that an elderly woman always has in her room and where things are hidden from prying eyes. Light the lamp in front of the icon and then look around your room. Just sit, look around, and try to see where you live, because I'm sure if you've been praying for the last fourteen years, you haven't noticed your room for a long time. And then take your knitting and knit for fifteen minutes before the face of God; but I forbid you to say even one word of prayer. Just knit and try to enjoy the silence of your room.”

She thought that this was not very pious advice, but decided to try it. After some time, she came to me and said: “You know, it’s working out!” I asked: “What happens?” – because I was very curious how my advice worked. And she says: “I did as you said: I got up, washed, cleaned my room, had breakfast, came back, made sure that there was nothing around that would irritate me... I remembered that I had to knit in the face of God, and then I took knitting, and felt the silence more and more... It did not consist of absence, there was the presence of something in it. The surrounding silence began to fill me and merge with the silence within me.” And at the end she said something very beautiful, which I later came across in the French writer Georges Bernanos; she said: “I suddenly noticed that this silence is a presence; and at the core of this silence was the One who is Silence itself, Peace itself, Harmony itself.”

Very often this could happen to us, if instead of fussing and “doing” something, we could simply say: “I am in God's presence. What a joy! Let me keep quiet..."

It often happens that in prayer we do not always ask for what we really need, we ask as if “in reserve.” Sometimes we ask for the wrong thing and end up getting nothing.

But even when we ask God for what we cannot live without, we lack patience and consistency. We believe that having asked once and not received what we wanted, we should give up the prayer: well, God doesn’t give what we ask for, what can you do! One of the Fathers of the Church says that prayer is like an arrow, but this arrow will fly and reach its target only if the shooter has enough shooting skills, skill, patience and willpower.

Unfortunately, we often don’t even notice that our prayer has already been answered. Yes, the answer is not always pleasant, but it is given to us as medicine, and medicines are rarely sweet.

Therefore, experienced people advise beginners on the prayer path: “Be careful in your prayers, because one day they may come true.”

Why does God send diseases to us?

The question “Why did God send me illness?” - perhaps the most common among those who have recently come to faith. Probably, people see the Lord as a kind of judge in a robe, who from morning to evening weighs the extent of everyone’s guilt and determines punishments. Did you act badly? Here's a disease for you! Did you act very badly? Your illness will be long and severe! Next time, think before you do something bad...

If God made everything so simple, life would be much easier for us here on Earth! It would be enough not to do bad things, and each of us would always be healthy and prosperous. But you’ve probably noticed yourself: very often kind, good, smart people they live difficult lives, get seriously ill, overcome adversity throughout their lives, but people who are not very decent live luxuriously and don’t give a damn. They have everything - health, money, and luck in business... Why does this happen? Yes, because the Lord, truly being the Supreme Judge, does not actually judge us during our lifetime. And he doesn't punish. There are, of course, exceptions, but for this you need to do something completely terrible. In other cases, the Lord gives us freedom of choice: to do this or that, to take this or that road. We build our own lives. And you will have to answer for HOW it was built much later - when this process has already been completed. Believe me, the Lord is not at all concerned with punishing us with illness for each of our sins. Moreover, very often illness is not a punishment for a person; it is sent to him, oddly enough, for his own good. It's hard to believe, but it's true. This is how Father Georgy Simakov, rector of the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the village of Troitskoye, Tver province, answers this question.

– Many people are sure that illness is God’s punishment for sins. Is it so?

- Of course not. In general, the Lord is merciful; He rarely punishes people. And our illnesses are not a punishment at all, as for some reason people tend to think. Sometimes illnesses are presented to a person as admonition so that he stops sinning. Do you feel the difference? Not as a punishment, but as an admonition. A person himself cannot stop on the wrong path in life, and the Lord helps him. Often illness can serve as a protection against evil that has not yet been committed. It can be sent to a righteous person to test his faith. Illnesses can be sent to us so that, having been healed, a person himself realizes and conveys to others through his healing the greatness of God. There is another type of illness; they are sent so that a person atones for those sins that he committed out of ignorance or that he forgot about. As you can see, there can be many causes of the disease. Every sick person should think carefully about what his illness means and why it was sent to him. Only after understanding this can you turn in prayer to the Lord, to the Mother of God, to the saints with a request for healing.

– We often hear: “God is merciful and just!” Why does He allow people - often very good people! – were you sick and suffering? Where is mercy and justice here?

– The Holy Fathers say: illness is not just suffering, it is a time when God visits a person. This happens invisibly and not always perceptibly, but immutably. The Lord brings physical illness to man as a bitter medicine for mental and spiritual illness. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk taught this: “The health of the body opens a person’s doors to many whims and sins, but closes the infirmity of the body. During illness, we feel that human life is like a flower that immediately dries up as soon as it blooms.”

And Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote: “God sends other things as punishment, like penance, and others as discipline, so that a person will come to his senses; otherwise, to save you from the trouble that a person would get into if he were healthy; another, so that a person shows patience and deserves a greater reward; other, to cleanse from some passion, and for many other reasons. There are diseases, the cure of which is prohibited by the Lord, when he sees that illness is more necessary for salvation than health... Sometimes the Lord takes away strength in order to at least calm a person down. He no longer knows how to fix it differently.” On my own behalf, I can only add that there is no disease that cannot be cured through our prayers.

After all, there is no human sin that would exceed God’s mercy...

– Why does the same suffering benefit some people and harm others?

– And you will remember the thieves crucified near the Lord on two crosses. One, suffering, thanked the Lord and asked Him to help him and bring him into His Kingdom, and the other blasphemed God. This is how all people relate to the cross of illness sent to them: some ask God, while others blaspheme Him. The prudent thief inherited heaven, and the evil thief inherited hell, although both were at the cross of the Lord.

– What should you do if you get sick?

– If a serious illness begins, you must first resort to prayer, as St. Neil of Sinai taught: “And before any medicine or doctor, resort to prayer.” Then it is good to ask the Lord to send a doctor who would understand your illness and help you heal.

During illness, each person needs to resort to holy things: eat the holy prosphora, anoint himself with holy oil, take it inside and sprinkle it with holy water, read prayers in front of the icons of the Mother of God, the holy saints of God who help in illness, especially the holy great martyr Panteleimon.

- Often, when I get sick, Orthodox people They don’t go to the doctor, they say: “Everything is God’s will!” How does the Church feel about this issue?

– The Lord created doctors so that they could heal sick people. Therefore, when we treat ourselves or do not treat ourselves at all, we commit a sin against our health. You definitely need to get treatment! But we shouldn’t forget about prayer, because prayer is our best helper and faithful healer in illness. It is very useful to drink Epiphany (Epiphany) water during illness, which has enormous healing power. There are many cases where just a few drops poured into the mouth of an unconscious patient brought him to his senses and changed the course of the disease.

Water of minor consecration (it can be taken at any temple on any day) is drunk as needed, saying the same prayer. In addition, they smear holy water, moisten sore spots, sprinkle themselves and sprinkle their belongings, room and hospital bed, and food. For headaches or other pains, a compress with Epiphany water helps.

Holy oil also eases the suffering of a sick person. For the patient, oil is important, which is consecrated during the unction, litia. They are anointed with it and added to food. Oil from lamps from holy places, from the relics of saints, miraculous icons has great power. The holy myrrh has even greater miraculous power. You can only anoint yourself with myrrh, and do it crosswise on your forehead and sore spots.

Sincere prayer pronounced with faith, holy water, anointing with oil from the relics of God's saints or from miraculous icons contribute to a speedy recovery from any, even the most serious, illness.

– What to do if neither medicine nor doctors help, and the person suffers?

– We must try to bear the illness complacently, endure the suffering that comes, and remember that the Lord will not lay on a person a cross that he cannot bear. Therefore, one should endure and ask the Lord to strengthen the soul to endure the illness. And, of course, continue to pray!

– How should we pray for our neighbors when they are sick?

– There are several very simple prayers that need to be read every day. These are the prayers:

First prayer for the healing of the sick

Master, Almighty, Holy King, punish and do not correct, strengthen those who fall and raise up the overthrown, correct the sorrows of bodily people, we pray to You, our God, visit Your weak servant (name) with Your mercy, forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary. Hey, Lord, send down Your healing power from heaven, touch the body, extinguish the fire, tame passion and all lurking infirmities, be the Physician of Your servant (name), raise him from the sick bed and from the bed of bitterness, whole and all-perfect, grant him to Your Church, pleasing and doing Your will. For it is Yours to have mercy and save us, O our God, and to You we ascribe glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Second prayer for the healing of the sick

O Most Merciful God, Father, Son and Holy Soul, worshiped and glorified in the Undivided Trinity, look with compassion on your servant (name), who is overcome by illness; forgive him all his sins; grant him healing from his illness; restore his health and bodily strength; Give him a long and prosperous life, Your peaceful and worldly blessings, so that together with us he brings grateful prayers to You, the All-Bounteous God and my Creator.

Most Holy Theotokos, through Your omnipotent intercession, help me to beg Your Son, my God, for the healing of God’s servant (name).

All saints and angels of the Lord, pray to God for His sick servant (name). Amen.

– How do you feel about herbal medicine – herbal treatment, homeopathy, reflexology, acupuncture?

– I have a positive attitude towards professional herbal treatment. Homeopathy was widely used by priests before the revolution. Saint John of Kronstadt, Saint Theophan the Recluse, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, Reverend Ambrose Optinsky and other fathers spoke with approval about this science and blessed the use of its methods. If acupuncture is carried out by acupuncturists who are not both bioenergeticists or psychics, based on knowledge of the meridians and the amplitude of the potentials of each biologically active point, this in no way contradicts the Orthodox doctrinal truth.

In principle, many treatment methods can be combined with each other. And, of course, we must not forget to pray during illness. And when recovery comes, you should definitely thank the Lord for healing! I always advise my parishioners to read the following prayer:

Prayer of thanksgiving, St. John of Kronstadt, read after healing from illness

Glory to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Father Without Beginning, who alone heals every ailment and every illness among people, for You have had mercy on me, a sinner, and delivered me from my illness, not allowing it to develop and kill me according to my sins. Grant me from now on, Master, the strength to firmly do Your will for the salvation of my damned soul and for Your glory with Your Originless Father and Your Consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Why do we pray to saints?

Why pray to saints if there is Christ? Sooner or later, everyone asks themselves (and then not only themselves) this question. Orthodox man. What does this mean? Doesn't God Himself hear us? Do we necessarily need intermediaries to communicate with Him? And it turns out that the host of saints is something like the “reference service” of the Lord, through which all our requests for help, our prayers pass?

No, that's not how it works! As proof, I would like to give you the story of priest Dionisy Svechnikov, who in practice often has to deal with people who wonder why we pray to the saints.

Once I had to talk with one young man who, having come to the temple, was very outraged by the presence of a large number of icons in the church. It was clear that the young man was well versed in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, had an understanding of some Christian dogmas, although somewhat distorted, but at the same time he was an absolutely non-church person...

...He supported his arguments with the words of Holy Scripture: “It is said, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’” (Matthew 4:10). So why is it like this in Orthodox churches? a large number of icons of saints, when there should be nothing except images of Christ? And when you enter the church, all you hear is pray to the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Panteleimon the Healer and someone else. Where has God gone? Or have you already replaced Him with other gods?”

I felt that the conversation would be difficult and, apparently, long. I will not retell it in its entirety, but I will try to highlight only the essence, because in our difficult times, many people ask similar questions...

To begin with, I invited the young man to understand the definitions, following simple logic... So, who are the saints and why should we pray to them? Are these really some lower-order gods? After all, the Church calls to honor them and offer prayers to them. Let's start with the fact that the veneration of saints is an ancient Christian tradition that has been preserved since apostolic times. A martyr who suffered for Christ immediately after his death became an object of reverent veneration among believers. On the tombs of the first Christian saints they performed Divine Liturgy, prayers were offered to them. It is clear that the saint was given special veneration, but not at all as a separate god. These were people who gave their lives for God. And, first of all, they themselves would be against exalting them to the rank of deity. After all, we, for example, honor the memory of people who laid down their lives for the Fatherland on the battlefields. And we even erect monuments to them so that future generations will know and honor these people. So why can’t Christians honor the memory of people who especially pleased God with their lives or martyrdom, while calling them saints? I asked the young man to answer this question. There was an affirmative answer. The first bastion of sectarian thinking collapsed...

...Thus, Orthodox Christians do not worship saints at all, but venerate them. They are revered as senior mentors, as people who have reached spiritual heights, as people living in God and for God. People who have reached the Kingdom of Heaven. And the basis for honoring mentors was given by St. Paul: “Remember your teachers... and considering the end of their lives, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). And the faith of the saints is the Orthodox faith and it has called for the veneration of saints since apostolic times. And one of the greatest saints, John of Damascus, spoke about this veneration: “The saints are venerable - not by nature, we worship them because God glorified them and made them terrible for enemies and benefactors for those who come to them with faith. We worship them not as gods and benefactors by nature, but as servants and co-servants of God, who have boldness towards God out of their love for Him. We worship them because the King Himself honors Himself when He sees that the person He loves is revered not as a King, but as an obedient servant and a friend well-disposed towards Him.”

Our conversation with the young man moved into a calmer direction, and now he listened more than he spoke. But to be more convincing, it was necessary to give a couple more compelling arguments that I was right, and I hastened to do so.

The saints are our prayer books and patrons in heaven and therefore living and active members of the militant, earthly Church. Their grace-filled presence in the Church, externally manifested in their icons and relics, surrounds us as if with a prayer cloud of the glory of God. It does not separate us from Christ, but brings us closer to Him, unites us with Him. These are not intermediaries between God and people who would set aside the One Mediator Christ, as Protestants think, but our prayer partners, friends and helpers in our service to Christ and our communication with Him.

Now I could calmly move on to the question of prayer to the holy saints. As I have already shown above, the saints are our companions in prayer and friends on the path of serving God. But can we not ask to intercede for us before the throne of the Almighty? Isn't the same thing happening in ours? Everyday life, when we ask our loved ones and acquaintances to put in a good word for us in front of our superiors? But our Heavenly Father is much higher than any earthly authority. And everything is truly possible for Him, which cannot be said about ordinary earthly people. But when praying to the saints, we must not forget about praying to the Lord. For He alone is the Giver of all blessings.

And this is a very important point, because many Orthodox Christians, in prayer to the saints, forget about the One to whom, in the end, the prayer request will be sent, even through the intercession of one of the saints. A Christian should not forget about the Lord his God. After all, the saints also served Him. With this I showed the young man how important it is not to go too far even in such a seemingly simple matter like a prayer. It was clear that the guy was in some confusion, but after collecting his thoughts, he gave last question: “Tell me, why is it necessary to pray to different saints on a specific issue?” I was expecting this question and the answer was already ready. Saints can help us not because of the abundance of their merits, but because of the spiritual freedom they acquire in love, which is achieved by their feat. It gives them the power to stand before God in prayer, as well as in active love for people. God gives the saints, along with the angels of God, to accomplish His will in the lives of people with active, although usually invisible, help. They are the hands of God with which God does His works. Therefore, it is given to saints even beyond death to do works of love not as a feat for their own salvation, which has already been accomplished, but, indeed, to help in the salvation of other brothers. And this help is given by the Lord Himself in all our everyday needs and experiences through the prayers of the saints. Hence the saints - patrons of certain professions or intercessors before God in everyday needs. Pious church tradition, based on the lives of the saints, attributes to them effective assistance to their earthly brothers in various needs. For example, St. George the Victorious, who was a warrior during his lifetime, is revered as the patron of the Orthodox army. They pray to the Great Martyr Panteleimon, who was a doctor during his lifetime, for deliverance from bodily ailments. Nicholas the Wonderworker is greatly revered by sailors, and girls pray to him for a successful marriage, based on the facts of his life. People who live off fishing pray to the apostles Peter and Andrew, who before their high calling were simple fishermen, for a successful catch. And, of course, one cannot help but say about the highest angel and archangel of all, the Most Holy Theotokos, who stands at the head of the host of saints. She is the patroness of motherhood.

Our conversation was coming to a logical end. I really hoped that the arguments I presented would leave a mark on the soul of this young man. And I was not mistaken. Finally, he said a phrase for which one could talk for a very long time: “Thank you! I realized that I was wrong in many ways. Apparently, my knowledge of Christianity is still not enough, but now I know where to look for the truth. In Orthodoxy. Thank you very much again.” With these words my interlocutor left. Left alone with my joy, I hurried to the temple to offer a prayer of gratitude to the Lord and all the saints who helped me that day in my pastoral service. But that's a completely different story...

Why do we venerate holy relics?

What are holy relics? Why did the Orthodox Church establish their veneration? Where does the confidence of believers come from that through prayers at the holy relics they will certainly receive the help and intercession of the saints?

“The word “relics” literally means “remains” in Greek. The word “relics” was always used in the same sense in the Church Slavonic language. However, it would be more accurate to say that it is customary to call relics the bones of a deceased person, something that remains for a long time after his departure to another world.

One chronicle of 1472 tells the following about the opening of the coffins of the Moscow metropolitans resting in the Assumption Cathedral: “Jonah found his whole being, but Photey’s whole being was found, not all of his being, the only “relics”” (Collected Russian Chronicles. Vol. VI. P. 195).

In 1667, Metropolitan Pitirim of Novgorod was informed about the discovery of the relics of St. Neil Stolbensky: “The coffin and his holy body were given over to the earth, and all his holy relics are intact” (Acts collected in libraries and archives Russian Empire archaeographic expedition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. St. Petersburg T. IV. P. 156). In general, “in the language of ancient church literature, incorruptible relics are not incorruptible bodies, but preserved and undecayed bones” (Golubinsky E.E. Canonization of Saints. pp. 297–298).

Church history says that relics have always been the name given to the preserved remains of holy martyrs and great ascetics. Relics are venerated, even if they are preserved only in the form of ashes or dust.

In 156, the holy martyr Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was killed with a sword and burned, but the bones that survived the fire and the ashes were for Christians “more honorable than valuable stones and more valuable than gold.”

Saint John Chrysostom writes about the relics of the Antioch martyr Babyla: “Many years passed after his burial, in his tomb only bones and ashes remained, which great honor were transferred to a tomb in the suburb of Daphne.”

The Most Holy Lucian talks about the relics of the holy Archdeacon Stephen that he found: “Very small particles remained from his bones, and his whole body turned to dust... With psalms and songs they carried these relics (remains) of Blessed Stephen to the holy church of Zion...” Blessed Jerome says , that the highly revered relics of the prophet Samuel existed in the form of dust, and the relics of the apostles Peter and Paul - in the form of bones (Golubinsky E.E. Decree. Op. P. 35, note).

At the present time, during the discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov (1903), St. Pitirim of Tambov and Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow (1914), only the bones of saints were found, which serve as an object of reverent veneration for all believers.

Why did the Orthodox Church establish the veneration of holy relics?

An explanation of this Orthodox tradition can be found in the works of the holy fathers.

John Chrysostom says: “The sight of the tomb of a saint, penetrating the soul, amazes it, and excites it, and brings it into such a state, as if the one lying in the tomb praying together, stands before us, and we see him, and thus the person experiencing this is filled with great jealousy and leaves here, having become a different person... Truly, it is as if a light breeze blows from everywhere on those present at the tomb of the martyr, a breeze that is not sensual and strengthens the body, but can penetrate into the soul itself, improving it in all respects and overthrowing She has every earthly burden."

One of the teachers ancient Church Origen says: “In prayer meetings there is a twofold society: one consisting of people, the other of celestial beings...” This means that when we pray at the relics of saints, we seem to pray together with them, with a single prayer.

Towards the end of the 7th century, the Frankish Council decided that the throne could only be consecrated in a church that contained the relics of saints, and the VII Ecumenical Council (787) determined that “for the future, any bishop who consecrated a church without relics must be deposed” ( Rule 7). Since then, every church has had antimensions, into which particles of holy relics are necessarily placed, and without which it is impossible to celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This means that in any church there are necessarily the relics of saints, which, according to our faith, serve as a guarantee of the presence of saints during divine services, their participation in our prayers, their intercession for us before the Lord.

The third basis for the veneration of holy relics is the teaching of the Orthodox Church about relics as carriers of grace-filled powers. “Your relics are like a full vessel of grace, overflowing upon all who flow to them,” we read in prayer to St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The grace of God is taught to humanity through the mediation of certain holy people who performed miracles during their lifetime, and after death imparted this miraculous power to their remains.

The forces of grace that act through the bodies of saints during their lives continue to act in them after death. This is precisely what the veneration of holy relics as bearers of grace is based on. The relics of saints, says the prophet Ephraim the Syrian, heal the sick, cast out demons, for the grace of the Holy Spirit is always found in holy remains...

Based on materials from the article “Veneration of Holy Relics”, Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, No. 1, 1997.

Why does mental fatigue happen? Can a soul be empty?

Why can't it? If there is no prayer, it will be empty and tired. The Holy Fathers act in the following way. The man is tired, he has no strength to pray, he says to himself: “Or maybe your fatigue is from demons,” he gets up and prays. And the person gains strength. This is how the Lord arranged it. In order for the soul not to be empty and to have strength, one must accustom oneself to the Jesus Prayer - “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (or a sinner).”

How to spend a day in God's way?

In the morning, when we are still resting, there are already standing near our bed - an Angel on the right side, and a demon on the left. They are waiting for whom we will begin to serve on this day. And this is how you should start your day. When you wake up, immediately protect yourself with the sign of the cross and jump out of bed, so that laziness remains under the covers, and we find ourselves in the holy corner. Then make three prostrations and turn to the Lord with these words: “Lord, I thank You for last night, bless me for the coming day, bless me and bless this day, and help me spend it in prayer, in good deeds, and save me from all enemies visible and invisible ". And immediately we begin to read the Jesus Prayer. Having washed and dressed, we will stand in the holy corner, gather our thoughts, concentrate so that nothing distracts us, and begin our morning prayers. Having finished them, let's read a chapter from the Gospel. And then let’s figure out what kind of good deed we can do for our neighbor today... It’s time to go to work. Here, too, you need to pray: before going out the door, say these words of St. John Chrysostom: “I deny you, Satan, your pride and service to you, and I unite with you, Christ, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Sign yourself with the sign of the cross, and when leaving the house, quietly cross the road. On the way to work, or while doing any business, we must read the Jesus Prayer and “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary...” If we are doing housework, before preparing food, we will sprinkle all the food with holy water, and light the stove with a candle, which Let's light it from the lamp. Then food will not harm us, but will benefit us, strengthening not only our physical but also our mental strength, especially if we cook while constantly reciting the Jesus Prayer.

After morning or evening prayers there is not always a feeling of grace. Sometimes sleepiness interferes with prayer. How to avoid this?

Demons do not like prayer; as soon as a person begins to pray, drowsiness and absent-mindedness attack. We must try to delve into the words of the prayer, and then you will feel it. But the Lord does not always console the soul. The most valuable prayer is when a person does not want to pray, but he forces himself... A small child cannot yet stand or walk. But his parents take him, put him on his feet, support him, and he feels help and stands strong. And when the parents let him go, he immediately falls and cries. So we, when the Lord - our Heavenly Father - supports us with His grace, we can do everything, we are ready to move mountains and we pray well and easily. But as soon as grace leaves us, we immediately fall - we don’t really know how to walk spiritually. And here we must humble ourselves and say: “Lord, without You I am nothing.” And when a person understands this, God’s mercy will help him. And we often rely only on ourselves: I am strong, I can stand, I can walk... So, the Lord takes away grace, that’s why we fall, suffer and suffer - from our pride, we rely a lot on ourselves.

How to become attentive in prayer?

In order for the prayer to pass through our attention, there is no need to rattle or proofread; he drummed and calmed down, putting the Prayer Book aside. At first they delve into every word; slowly, calmly, evenly, you need to prepare yourself for prayer. We begin to gradually enter into it, you can read it quickly, but still every word will enter your soul. We need to pray so that it doesn’t pass by. Otherwise we will fill the air with sound, but the heart will remain empty.

The Jesus Prayer is not working for me. What do you recommend?

If prayer does not work, it means sins are interfering. As we repent, we must try to read this prayer as often as possible: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner! (or a sinner)” And while reading, put an emphasis on the last word. In order to constantly read this prayer, you need to lead a special spiritual life, and most importantly, gain humility. You must consider yourself worse than everyone else, worse than any creature, endure reproaches, insults, not grumble and not blame anyone. Then the prayer will go. You need to start praying in the morning. How is it at the mill? The one who fell asleep in the morning will continue to pray all day. As soon as we woke up, immediately: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Lord, I thank You for last night, bless me for today. Mother of God, I thank You for last night, bless me for today. Lord, strengthen me faith, send me the grace of the Holy Spirit! Give me a Christian death, unashamed and a good answer on the day of the Last Judgment, my Guardian Angel, thank you for the past night, bless me for today, save me from all enemies visible and invisible, Lord Jesus Christ. Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Just read and read right away. We dress with prayer, we wash. We read the morning prayers, again the Jesus Prayer 500 times. This is a charge for the whole day. It gives a person energy, strength, and expels darkness and emptiness from the soul. A person will no longer walk around and be indignant about something, make noise, or get irritated. When a person constantly reads the Jesus Prayer, the Lord will reward him for his efforts, this prayer begins to happen in the mind. A person concentrates all his attention in the words of prayer. But you can only pray with a feeling of repentance. As soon as the thought comes: “I am a saint,” know that this is a disastrous path, this thought is from the devil.

The confessor said “to begin with, read at least 500 Jesus prayers.” It’s like in a mill - if you fall asleep in the morning, it grinds all day long. But if the confessor said “only 500 prayers,” then there is no need to read more than 500. Why? Because everything is given according to the strength, according to the spiritual level of each person. Otherwise, you can easily fall into delusion, and then you won’t be able to approach such a “saint.” In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, one elder had a novice. This elder lived in the monastery for 50 years, and the novice had just come from the world. And he decided to struggle. Without the blessing of the elder, both the early liturgy and the later one were held, he set a large rule for himself and read everything, and was constantly in prayer. After 2 years he achieved great “perfection”. “Angels” began to appear to him (they only covered their horns and tails). He was seduced by this, came to the elder and said: “You lived here for 50 years and did not learn to pray, but in two years I have reached heights - Angels are already appearing to me. I am all in grace.. People like you have no place on earth , I will strangle you." Well, the elder managed to knock on the neighboring cell; another monk came, this “saint” was tied up. And the next morning they sent me to the cowshed, and allowed me to attend liturgy only once a month: and they forbade me to pray (until he humbled himself)... In Rus', we are very fond of prayer books and ascetics, but true ascetics will never expose themselves. Holiness is measured not by prayers, not by deeds, but by humility and obedience. Only he has achieved something who considers himself the most sinful of all, worse than any cattle.

How to learn to pray purely, undistractedly?

We must start in the morning. The Holy Fathers advise that it is good to pray before we eat. But as soon as the food is tasted, it immediately becomes difficult to pray. If a person prays absent-mindedly, it means he prays little and infrequently. The one who constantly remains in prayer has living, undistracted prayer.

Prayer loves a pure life, without sins burdening the soul. For example, we have a telephone in our apartment. The kids were naughty and cut the wire with scissors. No matter how many numbers we dial, we won’t get through to anyone. It is necessary to reconnect the wires, restore the interrupted connection. In the same way, if we want to turn to God and be heard, we must establish our connection with Him - repent of sins, clear our conscience. Unrepentant sins are like a blank wall; through them prayer does not reach God.

I shared with a woman close to me, saying that you gave me the Mother of God rule. But I don't do it. I also don’t always follow the cell rule. What should I do?

When you are given a separate rule, don't tell anyone about it. Demons will hear and will definitely steal your exploits. I know hundreds of people who had prayer, read the Jesus Prayer from morning to evening, akathists, canons - the whole soul was blissful. As soon as they shared it with someone and boasted about the prayer, everything disappeared. And they have neither prayers nor bows.

I often get distracted while praying or doing something. What to do - continue to pray or pay attention to the person who has come?

Well, since God’s commandment to love our neighbor comes first, that means we must put everything aside and pay attention to the guest. One holy elder was praying in his cell and saw through the window that his brother was coming to him. So the elder, so as not to show that he was a man of prayer, went to bed and lay there. He read a prayer near the door: “Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.” And the old man stood up from the bed and said: “Amen.” His brother came to see him, he received him with love, treated him to tea - that is, he showed love for him. And this is the most important thing!

This often happens in our lives: we are reading evening prayers, and suddenly there is a call (on the phone or on the door). What should we do? Of course, we must immediately answer the call by leaving prayer. We clarified everything with the person and again continue the prayer from where we left off. True, we also have visitors who come not to talk about God, not about the salvation of the soul, but to talk idle talk and condemn someone. And we should already know such friends; when they come to us, invite them to read together an akathist, or a Gospel, or a holy book prepared in advance for such an occasion. Tell them: “My joy, let’s pray and read the akathist.” If they come to you with a sincere feeling of friendship, they will read. And if not, they will find a thousand reasons, immediately remember urgent matters and run away. If you agree to chat with them, then both the “unfed husband at home” and the “uncleaned apartment” are not a hindrance to your friend... Once in Siberia I saw an interesting scene. One comes from the water pump, there are two buckets on the rocker, the second comes from the store, with full bags in her hands. They met and started talking among themselves... And I watched them. Their conversation went something like this: “Well, how is your daughter-in-law? And your son?” And the gossip begins. Those poor women! One shifts the yoke from shoulder to shoulder, while the other holds the bag with her arms pulling. And all you had to do was exchange a few words... Moreover, it’s dirty - you can’t put the bags down... And they stand there not for two, but for ten, and twenty, and thirty minutes. And they don’t think about the burden, the most important thing is that they learned the news, satiated the soul, and amused the evil spirit. And if they call you to church, they say: “It’s hard for us to stand, our legs hurt, our back hurts.” And standing with buckets and bags doesn’t hurt! The main thing is that the tongue doesn’t hurt! I don’t want to pray, but I have the strength to chat, and I have a good tongue: “We’ll get through everyone, we’ll find out about everything.”

The best thing is to wake up, wash your face and start the day with morning prayers. After this, you need to read the Jesus Prayer with attention. This is a huge charge for our soul. And with such “recharging” we will have this prayer in our thoughts throughout the day. Many people say that when they begin to pray, they become absent-minded. You can believe it, because if you read a little in the morning and a little in the evening, nothing will happen in your heart. We will always pray - and repentance will live in our hearts. After the morning - the "Jesus" prayer as a continuation, and after the day - evening prayers as a continuation of the day. And so we will constantly remain in prayer and will not be distracted. Don’t think that it is very difficult, very difficult to pray. We need to make an effort, overcome ourselves, ask the Lord, the Mother of God, and grace will act in us. We will be given the desire to pray at all times.

And when prayer enters the soul, the heart, then these people try to move away from everyone, to hide in secluded places. They can even crawl into the cellar just to be with the Lord in prayer. The soul melts in Divine Love.

In order to achieve such a state of mind, you need to work a lot on yourself, on your “I”.

When should you pray in your own words, and when according to the Prayer Book?

When you want to pray, at this time pray to the Lord; “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34).

Prayer to a person’s soul is especially useful when there is a need for it. Let's say a mother's daughter or son is lost. Or they took their son to prison. You won’t be able to pray from the Prayer Book here. A believing mother will immediately kneel down and speak to the Lord out of the abundance of her heart. There is a prayer from the heart. So you can pray to God anywhere; Wherever we are, God hears our prayers. He knows the secrets of our heart. Even we ourselves do not know what is in our hearts. And God is the Creator, He knows everything. So you can pray in transport, in any place, in any society. So Christ says: “When you pray, go into your room (that is, inside yourself) and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matt. 6.6). When we do good, when we give alms, then we must do it so that no one knows about it. Christ says: "When you give alms, let left hand your right hand does not know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret" (Matthew 6:3-4). That is, not literally, as the grandmothers understand - they give only with their right hand. What if a person does not have a right hand? And if he does not have both hands? You can do good without hands. The main thing is that no one sees it. All boastful, proud, proud people do a good deed in order to receive praise and earthly glory. so kind! Helps everyone, gives to everyone."

I often wake up at night, always at the same time. Does this mean anything?

If we wake up at night, then there is an opportunity to pray. We prayed and go back to sleep. But, if this happens often, you need to take a blessing from your confessor.

Once I was talking to one person. He says:

Father Ambrose, tell me, have you ever seen demons with your own eyes?

Demons are spirits and cannot be seen with ordinary eyes. But they can materialize, taking the form of an old man, a young man, a girl, an animal, they can take on any image. A non-church person cannot understand this. Even believers fall for his tricks. Do you want to see? Well, I have a woman I know in Sergiev Posad, her confessor gave her a rule - to read the Psalter a day before. It is necessary to constantly burn candles, without rushing to read - it will take 8 hours. In addition to this, the rule requires reading the canons, akathists, the Jesus Prayer, and eating only lean food once a day. When she began to pray (and this had to be done for 40 days) with the blessing of her confessor, he warned her: “If you pray, if there are any temptations, then do not pay attention, continue to pray.” She accepted it. On the 20th day of strict fasting and almost incessant prayer (she had to sleep sitting for 3-4 hours), she heard the locked door open and heavy footsteps were heard - the floor was literally cracking. This is the 3rd floor. Someone came up behind her and began breathing near her ear; breathes so deeply! At this time, she was overcome with cold and trembling from head to toe. I wanted to turn around, but I remembered the warning and thought: “If I turn around, I won’t survive.” So I prayed to the end.

Then I looked - everything was in place: the door was locked, everything was fine. Then, on the 30th day, a new temptation. I was reading the Psalter and heard how, from the back of the windows, cats began to meow, scratch themselves, and climb into the window. They scratch - and that's it! And she survived it. Someone from the street threw a stone - the glass was shattered, the stone and fragments were lying on the floor. You can't turn around! The cold came through the window, but I finished reading everything to the end. And when she finished reading, she looked - the window was intact, there was no stone. These are demonic forces attacking a person.

When the Monk Silouan of Athos prayed, he slept for two hours while sitting. His spiritual eyes were opened and he began to see evil spirits. I saw them with my own eyes. They have horns, ugly faces, hooves on their legs, tails...

The man I spoke with is very obese - more than 100 kg, loves to eat deliciously - he eats meat and everything. I say: “Here, you start fasting and praying, then you will see everything, hear everything, feel everything.”

How to thank the Lord correctly - in your own words or is there some special prayer?

You need to thank the Lord with your whole life. There is a prayer of thanksgiving in the prayer book, but it is very valuable to pray in your own words. The Monk Benjamin lived in one monastery. The Lord allowed him to suffer from dropsy. He became enormous in size; he could only clasp his little finger with two hands. They made a huge chair for him. When the brethren came to him, he showed his joy in every possible way, saying: “Dear brethren, rejoice with me. The Lord has had mercy on me, the Lord has forgiven me.” The Lord gave him such an illness, but he did not grumble, did not despair, rejoiced at the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of his soul and thanked the Lord. No matter how many years we live, the main thing is to remain faithful to God in everything. For five years I carried out difficult obedience in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - I confessed day and night. I had no strength left, I couldn’t stand for even 10 minutes - my legs couldn’t hold me up. And then the Lord gave polyarthritis - I lay for 6 months with acute pain in the joints. As soon as the inflammation passed, I began to walk around the room with a stick. Then he began to go out into the street: 100 meters, 200, 500... Each time more and more... And then, in the evenings, when there were few people, he began to walk 5 kilometers; I left my wand. In the spring, the Lord gave - and he stopped limping. Until this day the Lord protects. He knows who needs what. Therefore, thank the Lord for everything.

You need to pray everywhere and always: at home, at work, and in transport. If your legs are strong, it is better to pray standing, and if you are sick, then, as the elders say, it is better to think about God during prayer than about your sore legs.

Is it possible to cry during prayer?

Can. Tears of repentance are not tears of evil and resentment; they wash our soul from sins. The more we cry, the better. It is very valuable to cry during prayer. When we pray - read prayers - and at this time we linger on some words in our minds (they penetrated our soul), there is no need to skip them, speed up the prayer; return to these words and read until your soul dissolves in feeling and begins to cry. The soul is praying at this time. When the soul is in prayer, and even with tears, the Guardian Angel is next to it; he prays next to us. Any sincere believer knows from practice that the Lord hears his prayer. We turn the words of prayer to God, and He, by grace, returns them to our hearts, and the believer’s heart feels that the Lord accepts his prayer.

When I read prayers, I often get distracted. Should I stop praying?

No. Read the prayer anyway. It is very useful to go out into the street and walk and recite the Jesus Prayer. It can be read in any position: standing, sitting, lying down... Prayer is a conversation with God. Now, we can tell our neighbor everything - both sorrow and joy. But the Lord is closer than any neighbor. He knows all our thoughts, the secrets of our hearts. He hears all our prayers, but sometimes he hesitates to fulfill them, which means that what we ask is not for the benefit of our soul (or for the benefit of our neighbor). Any prayer must end with the words: “Lord, Thy will be done. Not as I want, but as You want.”

What is the daily prayer rule for an Orthodox layperson?

There is a rule and it is mandatory for everyone. These are morning and evening prayers, one chapter from the Gospel, two chapters from the epistles, one kathisma, three canons, an akathist, 500 Jesus prayers, 50 bows (and with blessing, more is possible).

I once asked one person:

Do you need to have lunch and dinner every day?

It’s necessary,” he replies, “but besides this, I can grab something else and drink some tea.”

What about praying? If our body requires food, isn’t it even more important for our soul? We feed the body so that the soul is kept in the body and is cleansed, sanctified, freed from sin, so that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. It is necessary for her to unite with God here already. And the body is the clothing of the soul, which ages, dies and crumbles into the dust of the earth. And we pay special attention to this temporary, perishable thing. We really care about him! And we feed, and water, and paint, and dress in fashionable rags, and give peace - we pay a lot of attention. And sometimes there is no care left for our soul. Have you read your morning prayers?

This means you can’t have breakfast (that is, lunch; Christians never have breakfast). And if you’re not going to read in the evening, then you can’t have dinner. And you can't drink tea.

I'll die of hunger!

So your soul dies of hunger! Now, when a person makes this rule the norm of his life, then he has peace, quiet and quiet in his soul. The Lord sends grace, and the Mother of God and the Angel of the Lord pray. In addition to this, Christians also pray to the saints, read other akathists, the soul is nourished, contented and glad, peaceful, the person is saved. But you don’t have to read like some people do, proofreading. They read it, rattled it off - through the air, but didn’t hit the soul. Touch this one a little and it bursts into flames! But he considers himself a great man of prayer - he “prays” very well. The Apostle Paul says: “It is better to speak five words with my understanding, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” (1 Cor. 14:19) It is better for five words to penetrate into the soul than ten thousand words to miss the soul.

You can read akathists at least every day. I knew one woman (her name was Pelagia), she read 15 akathists every day. The Lord gave her special grace. Some Orthodox Christians have collected many akathists - 200 or 500. They usually read a certain akathist every holiday celebrated by the Church. For example, tomorrow is the feast of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. People who have an akathist for this holiday will read it.

Akathists are good to read from a fresh memory, i.e. in the morning, when the mind is not burdened with everyday affairs. In general, it is very good to pray from morning until lunch, while the body is not burdened with food. Then there is an opportunity to feel every word from the akathists and canons.

All prayers and akathists are best read aloud. Why? Because words enter the soul through the ear and are better remembered. I constantly hear: “We can’t learn prayers...” But you don’t need to learn them - you just have to read them constantly, every day - morning and evening, and they are remembered by themselves. If “Our Father” is not remembered, then we need to attach a piece of paper with this prayer where our dining table is.

Many people refer to bad memory in old age, and when you start asking them, asking various everyday questions, everyone remembers. They remember who was born when, in what year, everyone remembers their birthdays. They know how much everything is now in the store and on the market - but prices are constantly changing! They know how much bread, salt and butter cost. Everyone remembers it perfectly. You ask: “What street do you live on?” - everyone will say. Very good memory. But they just can’t remember the prayers. And this is because our flesh comes first. And we care so much about the flesh, we all remember what it needs. But we don’t care about the soul, which is why we have a bad memory for everything good. We are masters at bad things...

The Holy Fathers say that those who daily read the canons to the Savior, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel, and the saints are especially protected by the Lord from all demonic misfortunes and evil people.

If you come to any boss for a reception, you will see a sign on his door “Reception hours from... to...” You can turn to God at any time. Night prayer is especially valuable. When a person prays at night, then, as the holy fathers say, this prayer is, as it were, paid for in gold. But in order to pray at night, you need to take a blessing from the priest, because there is a danger: a person may become proud that he prays at night and fall into delusion, or he will be especially attacked by demons. Through blessing the Lord will protect this person.

Sitting or standing? If your legs can’t hold you up, you can kneel down and read. If your knees are tired, you can read while sitting. It is better to think about God while sitting than to think about your feet while standing. And one more thing: prayer without bowing is a premature fetus. Fans are a must do.

Now many are talking about the benefits of the revival of paganism in Russia. Maybe, really, paganism is not so bad?

In ancient Rome, gladiator fights were held in circuses. One hundred thousand people flocked to the spectacle, filling the pews through the many entrances within ten minutes. And everyone was thirsty for blood! We were hungry for a show! Two gladiators fought. In the struggle, one of them could fall, and then the second would put his foot on his chest, raise his sword over the fallen man and watch what sign the patricians would give him. If the fingers are raised up, it means you can let the opponent live; if down, it means you should have taken his life. Most often they demanded death. And the people rejoiced when they saw the blood spilled. Such was the pagan fun.

In our Russia, about forty years ago, one acrobat walked on a wire high under the circus dome. She stumbled and fell. There was a net stretched below. It didn't crash, but something else is important. All the spectators stood up as one and buzzed: “Is she alive? Faster than the doctor!” What does this mean? That they did not want death, but were worried about the gymnast. The spirit of love was alive in the minds of people.

The younger generation is being raised differently now. On the television screen there are action films with murder, blood, pornography, horror, space wars, aliens - demonic forces... People from an early age get used to scenes of violence. What remains for the child? Having seen enough of these pictures, he gets a weapon and shoots his classmates, who, in turn, mocked him. There are so many such cases in America! God forbid something like this starts happening here.

It has happened before that contract killings were committed in Moscow. And now the scale of crime and mortality at the hands of killers has risen sharply. Three to four people are killed a day. And the Lord said: “Thou shalt not kill!” (Ex. 20:13); “... those who do this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21) - they will all go into the fire of Gehenna.

I often have to go to prisons and confess to prisoners. I also confess to death row prisoners. They repent of murders: some were ordered, while others killed in Afghanistan and Chechnya. They killed two hundred and seventy, three hundred people. They did the math themselves. These are terrible sins! War is one thing, and another is to order to deprive a person of a life that you did not give him.

When you confess about ten murderers and leave prison, then just wait: the demons will definitely arrange intrigues, there will be some kind of trouble.

Every priest knows how to take revenge evil spirits for helping people free themselves from sins. One mother came to St. Seraphim of Sarov:

Father, pray: my son died without repentance. Out of modesty, he initially refused, humbled himself, and then gave in to the request and began to pray. And the woman saw that, praying, he rose above the floor. The elder said:

Mother, your son is saved. Go, pray yourself, thank God.

She left. And before his death, the Monk Seraphim showed his cell attendant the body from which the demons had torn out a piece:

This is how demons take revenge for every soul!

It is not so easy to pray for the salvation of people.

Orthodox Russia accepted the Spirit of Christ, but the pagan West wants to finish it off for this, thirsts for blood.

The Orthodox faith is the most impartial for a person. It obliges us to live a strict life on earth. And Catholics promise the soul purgatory after death, where one can repent and be saved...

In the Orthodox Church there is no such concept of “purgatory”. According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, if a person lived righteously and moved to other world, then he is awarded eternal joy; such a person can receive reward for his good deeds while living on earth, in the form of peace, joy, and peace of mind.

If a person lived uncleanly, did not repent and passed on to the other world, then he falls into the clutches of demons. Before death, such people are usually sad, despairing, graceless, joyless. After death, their souls, languishing in torment, await the prayers of their relatives and the prayers of the Church. When there is intense prayer for the departed, the Lord frees their souls from hellish torment.

Church prayer also helps the righteous, those who have not yet received the fullness of grace during earthly life. The fullness of grace and joy are possible only after this soul is assigned to Paradise at the Last Judgment. It is impossible to feel their fullness on earth. Only selected saints merged here with the Lord in such a way that they were caught up by the Spirit into the Kingdom of God.

Orthodoxy is often called a “religion of fear”: “there will be a second coming, everyone will be punished, eternal torment..." But Protestants talk about something else. So will there be punishment for unrepentant sinners or will the love of the Lord cover everything?

Atheists have long deceived us when they talk about the emergence of religion. They said that people could not explain this or that natural phenomenon and began to deify it and enter into religious contact with it. It used to be that thunder would roar, people would hide underground, in the basement, sit there, afraid. They think that their pagan god is angry and will punish them, or a tornado will strike, or a solar eclipse will begin...

This is pagan fear. The Christian God is Love. And we should fear God not because He will punish us, we should be afraid of offending Him with our sins. And if we have retreated from God and brought disaster upon ourselves, we do not hide underground from the wrath of God, we do not wait for the wrath of God to pass by. On the contrary, we go to confession, turn to God with a prayer of repentance, ask God for mercy, and pray. Christians do not hide from God; on the contrary, they themselves seek Him for permission from sins. And God gives the repentant a Helping Hand and covers him with His grace.

And the Church warns that there will be a Second Coming, a Last Judgment, not in order to intimidate. If you are walking along the road, there is a hole ahead and they tell you: “Be careful, don’t fall, don’t trip,” are you being intimidated? They warn you and help you avoid danger. So the Church says: “Don’t sin, don’t do evil to your neighbor, all this will turn against you.”

There is no need to make God out to be a villain because He does not accept sinners into Paradise. Unrepentant souls will not be able to live in Paradise; they will not be able to bear the light and purity that is there, just as sick eyes cannot bear the bright light.

Everything depends on ourselves, on our behavior and prayers.

The Lord can change everything through prayer. One woman came to us from Krasnodar. Her son was imprisoned. An investigation was underway. She came to one judge, who told her: “Your son is eight years old.” He had some great temptation. She came to me, crying, sobbing: “Father, pray, what should I do? The judge asks for five thousand dollars, but I don’t have that kind of money.” I say: “You know, mother, if you pray, the Lord will not leave you! What is his name?” She said his name, we prayed. And in the morning she comes:

Father, I'm going there now. The question is being decided, either they will imprison you or they will release you.

The Lord put it on his heart to tell her this:

If you pray, God will arrange everything.

I prayed all night. After lunch she came back and said:

The son was released. He was acquitted. They sorted it out and let me go. Everything is fine.

This mother had so much joy, so much faith that the Lord heard her. But the son was not to blame, he was simply framed in business.

The son is completely out of control, doesn’t speak, doesn’t listen. He's seventeen. How can I pray for him?

You need to read the prayer “O Mother of God, Virgin, Rejoice” 150 times. Venerable Seraphim Sarovsky said that the one who walks in Diveyevo along the groove of the Mother of God and reads “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” a hundred and fifty times is under special cover Mother of God. The Holy Fathers constantly spoke about veneration of the Mother of God, about turning to Her in prayer for help. The prayer of the Mother of God has great power. Through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the grace of God will descend on both mother and child. Righteous John of Kronstadt says: “If all the angels, saints, all people living on earth gather together and pray, the prayer of the Mother of God surpasses all their prayers in power.

I remember one family. This was while we were serving in the parish. One mother, Natalia, had two girls - Lisa and Katya. Liza was thirteen or fourteen years old, she was capricious and headstrong. And although she went to church with her mother, she remained very restless. I was amazed at my mother's patience. Every morning he gets up and says to his daughter:

Lisa, let's pray!

That's it, mom, I'm saying my prayers!

Read quickly, read slowly!

Mom didn’t stop her and patiently fulfilled all her requests. At this time, it was useless to beat and stab my daughter. The mother endured. Time passed, my daughter grew up and became calmer. Joint prayer did her good.

There is no need to be afraid of temptations. The Lord will protect this family. Prayer has never harmed anyone. It only brings benefit to our soul. Boasting harms us: “I read the Psalter for the deceased.” We boast, and this is a sin.

It is customary to read the Psalter at the head of the deceased. Reading the Psalter is very useful for the soul of that person who constantly went to church and passed into the next world with repentance. The Holy Fathers say: when we read the Psalter over the deceased, say, for forty days, then sins fly from the deceased soul like autumn leaves from a tree.

How to pray for the living or the dead, is it possible to imagine a person while doing this?

The mind must be clear. When we pray, we should not imagine God, the Mother of God, or the holy saint: neither Their faces, nor their position. The mind must be free of images. Moreover, when we pray for a person, we just need to remember that such a person exists. And if you imagine images, you can damage your mind. The Holy Fathers forbid this.

I am twenty four years old. As a child, I laughed at my grandfather who talked to himself. Now that he died, I began to talk to myself. An inner voice tells me that if I pray for him, then this vice will gradually leave me. Should I pray for him?

Everyone needs to know: if we condemn a person for some vice, we will certainly fall into it ourselves. Therefore, the Lord said: “Judge not, and you will not be judged. With the same judgment you judge, you will be condemned.”

You definitely need to pray for your grandfather. Serve at mass, memorial notes at a memorial service, remember in your home prayers morning and evening. This will be of great benefit to his soul and to us.

Is it necessary to cover your head with a scarf during home prayer?

“Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is as if she were shaven,” says the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 11:5). Orthodox Christian women, not only in church, but also at home, cover their heads with a scarf: “A wife should have on her head a sign of the power of the Angels over her” (1 Cor. 11:10).

Civil authorities are organizing additional bus routes to cemeteries for Easter. Is it correct? It seems to me that on this day the main thing is to be in church and remember the dead there.

For the deceased there is a special day of remembrance - “Radonitsa”. It occurs on Tuesday in the second week after Easter. On this day, all Orthodox Christians go to congratulate their departed on the universal holiday of Easter, the Resurrection of Christ. And on Easter day itself, believers must pray in church.

Routes organized by city authorities for those people who do not go to church. Let them at least go there, at least in this way they will remember death and the finitude of earthly existence.

Is it possible to watch live broadcasts of services from churches and pray? Often you don’t have enough health and strength to be present in the temple, but you want to touch the Divine with your soul...

The Lord vouchsafed me to visit a holy place, at the Holy Sepulcher. We had a video camera with us, and we filmed the holy place. Then they showed what they had filmed to one priest. He saw the footage of the Holy Sepulcher and said: “Stop this frame.” He bowed to the ground and said: “I have never been to the Holy Sepulcher.” And he directly kissed the image of the Holy Sepulcher.

Of course, you can’t worship images on TV; we have icons. The case I told is an exception to the rule. The priest did this in simplicity of heart, out of a feeling of reverence for the depicted shrine.

On holidays, all Orthodox Christians should strive to be in church. And if you don’t have health or strength to move, watch the broadcast, be with the Lord with your soul. Let our souls participate with the Lord in His holiday.

Is it possible to wear the "Live Aid" belt?

One person came to me. I ask him:

What prayers do you know?

Of course, I even carry “Live Help” with me.

He took out the documents, and there he had the 90th Psalm “Alive in the Help of the Most High” rewritten. The man says: “My mother wrote it to me, gave it to me, and now I always carry it with me. Is it possible?” - “Of course, it’s good that you carry this prayer, but if you don’t read it, what’s the point? It’s the same as when you’re hungry and carry bread and food with you, but don’t eat. You’re getting weaker, you could die. In the same way, “The Living help" were written not so that you could carry them in your pocket or on your belt, but so that you could take them out every day, read them, and pray to the Lord. If you don’t pray, you can die... That’s when you, hungry, got some bread , ate, strengthened your strength and you can calmly work by the sweat of your brow. So by praying, you will give food for the soul and receive protection for the body.

For many people, the prayer word helps them find peace of mind, recover from illnesses, change their lives better side. You can seek help through prayer in any difficult situation and wherever you are. Strong prayer, which gives strength to change the situation in a favorable way, must be read with, then the result will not be slow to be felt.

Christian prayer giving strength to overcome illness

A prayer that gives strength to overcome an illness should not be read automatically. If one of your relatives is sick, but does not have strong faith in the success of prayer, there is no need to force such a person to pray, there will be no effect from his prayer. It’s better to pray for him yourself, so that God will grant him with your prayers. If a child is sick, they ask the Mother of God for healing; prayer to the Great Martyr Barbara also helps. A prayer to the healer Panteleimon is a prayer that gives strength to cope with the most serious illness.

The best prayer that gives strength to humbly accept everything as it is

Often we struggle to solve problems, spend a lot of time and effort on it, and do not get the desired result, but instead it is more useful to change our attitude towards the situation. The most difficult thing is probably to admit that we are not able to change the situation and come to terms with it. The instructions of the Optina elders are an independent prayer, giving us the strength to accept everything as it is. The most amazing thing about this prayer is that as soon as we humbly accept the current state of affairs as a given, the situation begins to change for the better. For example, for many years a childless couple tried to have children - all kinds of examinations were carried out, but there was no result. And when they decided to reconcile themselves and live without children, God sends them a child. Prayer giving strength to accept everything as it is helped them get pregnant on their own.

Text of the Orthodox prayer to the Lord God who gives strength

Lord, let me meet with peace of mind everything that the coming day will bring me. Let me completely surrender to Your holy will. For every hour of this day, instruct and support me in everything. Whatever news I receive during the day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul and a firm conviction that everything is Your holy will. In all my words and deeds, guide my thoughts and feelings. In all unforeseen cases, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by You. Teach me to act directly and wisely with each member of my family, without confusing or upsetting anyone. Lord, give me strength to endure the fatigue of the coming day and all the events during the day. Guide my will and teach me to pray, believe, hope, endure, forgive and love. Amen

Hello, Father! Yesterday I sent you a question, rather chaotically stated, regarding the lack of time and the fear of the day when I will say to myself: today I will not pray. In fact, I would like to clarify that my question is the following: when such a state occurs that you don’t want to pray, and you have to force yourself, then during prayer, of course, various extraneous thoughts are present. And it happens that you feel so helpless that you cannot drive them away, you cannot pray with your HEART, and not just with your lips. Father, such prayer is a sin, I know. But if this happens, what is better: not to pray at all (if you have to force yourself), or to pray like this... floating in these small extraneous thoughts of yours, and only at some moments catching yourself as if you had woken up who delved into the words that the mouth utters?

Priest Afanasy Gumerov, a resident of Sretensky Monastery, answers:

The idea that sometimes prayer can be a sin for a person is found already in the sacred Old Testament books: “Let his prayer become sin” (Ps. 109:7) “Whoever turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer is an abomination” (Prov. 28:9). Prayer becomes a sin when a person performs it hypocritically or in a state of anger. It can also be condemned when a person pronounces it with obvious neglect, for during prayer a person communicates with God. Inept, absent-minded prayer, if it is done sincerely, is not blamed on us. When a child has not yet learned to speak well, but really wants to communicate with his father, will the parent be dissatisfied with him? Perfect prayer is the work of the perfect. St. John Climacus says: “continually fight against the floating of your thoughts, and when the mind is scattered, gather it to yourself; for God does not seek prayer from new novices without soaring. Therefore, do not grieve when you are plundered by thoughts. Be grateful and constantly call your mind to attention; for it is characteristic of one Angel to never be plundered by thoughts” (Homily 4th. 92).

St. Righteous John of Kronstadt, before he acquired the gift of perfect prayer, fervently asked God for this. And we need to pray about it. Calling on God’s help, you must also make your own efforts. Words of the Savior “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and those who use force take it by force” (Matthew 11:12) also apply to prayer life. The more a person practices prayer, the faster the skill in this matter will come to him. You need to move away from everything vain that excites the senses and captivates the mind. If a person sits in front of the TV and begins to pray, he is unlikely to perform it with attention. His consciousness is filled with the information he has just received. You need to tune in to prayer. It’s good to collect yourself within a few minutes and prepare to communicate with God. As you grow spiritually, your prayer will also improve.

Believers know well that prayer lifts your spirits. As they would say in modern language, it “improves the quality of life.” Data from many scientific research(conducted by both Christian and atheist experts) have shown that people who pray regularly and with concentration feel better both physically and mentally.

Prayer is our conversation with God. If communication with friends and loved ones is important for our well-being, then communication with God is our best, most loving friend- immeasurably more important. After all, his love for us is truly limitless.

Prayer helps us cope with feelings of loneliness. In fact, God is always with us (the Scripture says: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”), that is, in essence, we are never alone, without His presence. But we tend to forget about the presence of God in our lives. Prayer helps us “bring God into our home.” It connects us to the Almighty God who loves us and wants to help us.

Prayer in which we thank God for what he sends us helps us see the good around us, develop an optimistic outlook on life and overcome despondency. It develops a grateful attitude towards life, as opposed to an eternally dissatisfied, demanding attitude, which is the foundation of our unhappiness.

Prayer, in which we tell God about our needs, also has an important function. To tell God about our problems, we have to sort them out, sort them out, and first of all admit to ourselves that they exist. After all, we can only pray about those problems that we have recognized as existing.

Denial of one's own problems (or shifting them “from a sore head to a healthy one”) is a very widespread (and one of the most harmful and ineffective) way of “fighting” difficulties. For example, a typical alcoholic always denies that drinking has become the main problem in his life. He says: “No big deal, I can stop drinking at any time. And I don’t drink more than others” (as a drunkard said in a popular operetta, “I only drank a little”). Much less serious problems than drunkenness are also denied. You can easily find many examples of problem denial in the lives of your friends and loved ones, and even in your own life.

When we bring our problem to God, we are forced to admit it in order to talk about it. And recognizing and identifying a problem is the first step towards solving it. This is also a step towards the truth. Prayer gives us hope and calms us; we acknowledge the problem and “give it” to the Lord.

During prayer, we show the Lord our own “I”, our personality, as it is. In front of other people, we may try to pretend to look better or different; Before God we do not need to behave this way, because He sees right through us. Pretense is absolutely useless here: we enter into frank communication with God as a unique, one-of-a-kind person, throwing away all tricks and conventions and revealing ourselves. Here we can allow ourselves the “luxury” of being completely ourselves and thus provide ourselves with the opportunity for spiritual and personal growth.

Prayer gives us confidence, brings a sense of well-being, a sense of strength, removes fear, helps us cope with panic and melancholy, and supports us in grief.

Daily prayer should become a habit. Your time of prayer should be a time of peace for you. In spiritual calm atmosphere it is easier for us to communicate with God. Of course, we can and should pray even when passions overwhelm us, but we still must try to ensure that our daily conversation with God takes place in a peaceful, calm atmosphere. At His essence, the Lord is peaceful and gracious; He is never torn apart by passions. Vanity and panic are infinitely far from Him. Therefore, when entering into communication with Him, we must also strive to leave behind the threshold anger, irritation, impatience, hatred and resentment.

You can pray anywhere, but it is better to have it for daily prayer permanent place, where nothing will distract you. Although it is very useful and good to turn to the Lord with short prayers on the topics of the day where and when you need it. In his wonderful book “The School of Prayer,” Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh says that when we choose a special place at home for daily prayer, we “win for God” a piece of our sinful land. It is as if we are creating at home a small semblance of a temple, a holy place where our communication with the Lord will take place. A temple God's is where He is in all His authority and power. In such a “prayed” place, we feel the presence of God more strongly and it is easier for us to establish a connection with him. Icons remind us of the presence of God - visible evidence of God’s greatness, “windows to the heavenly world.”

Concentrate on prayer. Do not be distructed. Focus your attention on your words to the Lord.

Again, I suggest turning to the advice of Anthony of Sourozh: “St. John of the Climacus offers a simple way to learn concentration. He says: choose a prayer, “Our Father” or any other, stand before God, become aware of where you are and what you are doing, and carefully pronounce the words of the prayer. After a while you will notice that your thoughts are wandering, then begin to pray again with the words that you last uttered carefully. You may have to do this ten, twenty, or fifty times; maybe during the time allotted for prayer you can say only three petitions and will not move further; but in this struggle you will be able to concentrate on the words so that you offer to God seriously, soberly, reverently the words of prayer in which consciousness participates, and not an offering that is not yours, because consciousness did not participate in it.”

Pray out loud or silently, but out loud is better. When you pray out loud, it is easier for you to concentrate and maintain your attention.

PRAYER FOR BEGINNERS

Anthony of Sourozh suggests that beginners pray the following short prayers (for one week each):

Help me, God, to free myself from every false image of You, no matter what the cost.
Help me, God, to leave all my worries and focus all my thoughts on You alone.
Help me, God, to see my own sins, never judge my neighbor, and all glory be to You!
I commend my spirit into Your hands; It is not my will be done, but Yours.

PRAYER OF THE REVEREND ELDERS AND FATHERS OF OPTINA

Lord, let me meet with peace of mind everything that this day will bring.

Lord, let me completely surrender to your will.

Lord, at every hour of this day, instruct and support me in everything.

Lord, reveal to me Your will for me and those around me.

Whatever news I receive during the day, let me accept it with a calm soul and with the firm conviction that everything is your holy will.

Lord, Great and Merciful, guide my thoughts and feelings in all my deeds and words; in all unforeseen circumstances, do not let me forget that everything was sent down by you.

Lord, let me act wisely with each of my neighbors, without upsetting anyone or embarrassing anyone.

Lord, give me strength to endure the fatigue of this day and all the events during it. Guide my will and teach me to pray and love everyone unfeignedly. Amen."

DAILY PRAYER OF ST. PHILARET

, Lord, I don’t know what to ask of You. You alone know what I need. You love me more than I know how to love myself. Let me see my needs that are hidden from me. I do not dare to ask for either a cross or consolation, I only appear before you. My heart is open to you. I place all my hope in See the needs that I do not know, see and do with me according to Your mercy. Crush me and lift me up. Smite and heal me. I am in awe and silent before Your holy will, Your destinies incomprehensible to me. I have no desire except the desire to fulfill Your will. Teach me to pray. Pray within me yourself. Amen."

PRAYER FOR PEACE OF MIND
(authorship attributed to Reynold Niebuhr)

“Lord, give me the intelligence and peace of mind to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The full version of this prayer:

,God,
Help me to humbly accept what I cannot change,
Give me the courage to change what I can
And the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.
Help me live with the worries of today,
Enjoy every minute, realizing its transience,
In adversity, see the path leading to mental balance and peace.
Accept, like Jesus, this sinful world as it is.
he is, and not the way I would like him to be.
To believe that my life will be transformed for the good by Your will if I entrust myself to it.
In this way I can find time with You for eternity."

Prayer for depression.

If you are in a state of grief or depression, you may well find that you find it difficult to pray or unable to pray at all. During depression, this state of “prayer dryness” occurs very often. Of the dozens of religious people with depression with whom I have dealt, there was not a single one who did not complain about prayer difficulties. It seems that the inability to pray can be considered one of the symptoms of a state of depression.

The bitter irony of life: just when the support of the Lord and the feeling of His presence are especially important for a person, turning to Him fails. You try to pray, but you feel that your prayer is formal, mechanical, the words of the prayer seem meaningless to you, and this makes you feel even worse. You begin to feel guilty for being such a bad Christian (or a bad Christian), and the feeling of guilt, as usual, aggravates your already difficult condition.

If this has happened or is happening to you, do not worry: you are in a normal situation, which is the rule, not the exception.

If in grief or depression you cannot pray as before, do not torment yourself with reproaches for your lack of faith and how unspiritual you have become. Do not think that something irreversible has happened to you and that you have fallen into the arms of Satan forever. When your depression ends (and it will end, trust me!), you will regain the desire and ability to pray.

Remember: our God is not an accountant, a jailer and a judge all rolled into one, who, with a ledger in one hand and a stopwatch in the other, watches you with passion, notes the number and duration of your prayers, and then passes judgment on you. He is a loving and forgiving God, whose love is so great and strong that it cannot be measured by the human mind. He sees you, understands how you feel now and wants to help you.

Some tips for those who have difficulty praying when they are depressed:

*No matter what, try to pray every day, even though you don’t feel like it.

*Don't demand too much from yourself. Don't make comparisons to what it was like when you weren't depressed. Do not stand for prayer with a predetermined time (say, 10 or 15 minutes). You may not be able to pray for that long, which will give you another reason to beat yourself up (which you already do too much).

*Depression makes it difficult to concentrate on anything, including prayer. Let your prayer be short but heartfelt.

*If you are tormented by remorse that you cannot pray for a long time, “as before,” break your prayer “into pieces” and pray for one minute several times a day. Remember: a short prayer is better than none at all!

*In a state of depression, it is better to pray in your own words (when you read a prayer, due to absent-minded attention, there is a great danger of slipping into a mechanical “babble”). Share your pain with God.

For example, you could say: “God, I feel so bad right now. I don't know how to live further. Lord, forgive me and help me!” Or: “Lord, my soul is so heavy that I can’t even pray. Forgive me, Lord, and help me get out of this state.”

*If even such very short prayers are difficult for you, pray the “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

*If you want to pray a known prayer rather than in your own words, take a short, simple, well-known one, such as the Lord's Prayer. Try, despite your mood, to read it with feeling, and not automatically. However, do not blame yourself if you feel that you are not praying “from the heart.” God hears you.

*If all of the above is difficult for you, write a short (one phrase or a couple of phrases) prayer on a card or small piece of paper. Carry it with you and read it several times a day.

*Remember: by praying, you fight depression!

*Remember : your condition is not forever. Take heart and be patient. God's love is always with you.