Prayers
The Jesus Prayer is the shortest rule in the Church, and the oldest habit of the heart: one sentence, said again and again until it says itself.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
It is prayed on a komboskini, a knotted wool rope, one knot at a time. The measure is not speed. It is steadiness, and then stillness.
The fathers also describe a bodily method, the words joined to the breath and the mind brought down into the heart, and they never describe it without the warning that goes with it: it is not to be taken up alone. Attempted without a spiritual father it leads to prelest, self-deception mistaken for grace. The words themselves need no technique and no permission. On prelest.
The interactive rope needs JavaScript. The prayer does not.
The Trisagion Prayers
The beginning of nearly every service and every rule of prayer. A reader who learns nothing else by heart learns this.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Three times.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, cleanse us from our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake.
Lord, have mercy. Three times.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
A priest concludes with the doxology, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory". A layman praying alone does not say it, and ends at "the evil one".
The Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian
Said at every weekday service of Great Lent, and in the Lenten rule at home. A prostration follows each of the three petitions, and twelve small bows come between.
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, love of power, and idle talk. Prostration.
But grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Prostration.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. Prostration.
St Ephraim the Syrian Great Lent
The Paschal Troparion
From the midnight of Pascha until the eve of the Ascension it opens almost everything, and for the first week it replaces the Trisagion prayers entirely.
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
In Greek: Χριστὸς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν, θανάτῳ θάνατον πατήσας, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς μνήμασι ζωὴν χαρισάμενος.
The Symbol of Faith
The Creed of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, said at every Divine Liturgy and at the end of the morning prayers. It is given here in the first person, as it is said, rather than the "We believe" of the council that wrote it. It has no Filioque, because nothing was ever added to it.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;
And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried;
And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets;
In one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins;
I look for the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the age to come. Amen.