BOOK OF PRAYER

Tenets of Prayer Prayer 1 Prayer 2 Prayer 3 Prayer 4 Prayer 5 Prayer 6
Prayer 7 Prayer 8 Prayer 9 Prayer 10 Prayer 11 Prayer 12 Prayer 13 Prayer 14
Prayer 15 Prayer 16 Prayer 17 Prayer 18 Prayer 19 Prayer 20 Prayer 21 Prayer 22
Prayer 23 Prayer 24 Prayer 25 Prayer 26 Prayer 27 Prayer 28 Prayer 29 Prayer 30
Prayer 31 Prayer 32 Prayer 33 Prayer 34 Prayer 35 Prayer 36 Prayer 37 Prayer 38
Prayer 39 Prayer 40 Prayer 41 Prayer 42 Prayer 43 Prayer 44 Prayer 45 Prayer 46
Prayer 47 Prayer 48 Prayer 49 Prayer 50 Prayer 51 Prayer 52 Prayer 53 Prayer 54
Prayer 55 Prayer 56 Prayer 57 Prayer 58 Prayer 59 Prayer 60 Prayer 61 Prayer 62
Prayer 63 Prayer 64 Prayer 65 Prayer 66 Prayer 67 Prayer 68 Prayer 69 Prayer 70
Prayer 71 Prayer 72 Prayer 73 Prayer 74 Prayer 75 Prayer 76 Prayer 77 Prayer 78
Prayer 79 Prayer 80 Prayer 81 Prayer 82 Prayer 83 Prayer 84 Prayer 85 Prayer 86
Prayer 87 Prayer 88 Prayer 89 Prayer 90 Prayer 91 Prayer 92 Prayer 93 Prayer 94
Prayer 95 Colophon

Prayer 40

Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart

Almighty God, doer of good, creator of all,
hear the sound of my sighs of distress
and my terror of imagined perils to come.
Save me with your strength, ridding me of my sins.
For you are capable of all things and are
the key to all things¹ with your boundless greatness
and infinite wisdom.

And seeing with my mind’s eye in the distance
the terrible vision of the life to come,
I observe in advance the day of light,
the hope of the saints,²
and the day of darkness, the punishment of the sinful,³
from which none can escape nor find refuge,
neither in the deep abyss nor in the bottomless pits,⁴
neither on the heights of the mountains,
nor in the caves in the stone,
neither on the hardness of boulders,
nor in the cavity of a hole,
neither in the crevices of a pit, nor the waves of a flood,
neither in the labyrinth of the basement,
nor the loft of the attic,
neither behind the closed doors of my cell,
nor in the darkness of the valley,
neither in the declines of the valleys,
nor on the inclines of the hills,
neither in the blowing of the wind,
nor in the undulation of the seas,
neither in the swirling of a whirlpool,
nor in the distant ends of the earth,
neither in the sounds of lament,
nor in the sighs of weeping,
neither in the trembling of fingers,
nor in the lifting of hands,
neither in the prayers of the lips,
nor in the cries of the tongue.
Out of this terrible inescapable lot
you, Lord Christ, are the exit and respite,
the ease and calm of the salvation for
my ever sinning soul.

Now, look upon me besieged by overwhelming danger,
you who are alone sweet to all.
Cut me loose with your victorious sword of life, the
cross, and release me from the nets that have snared me,
nets that assail me on all sides as the captive of death.
Please steady my shaky feet on the crooked path and
heal the burning fever of my anguished heart.
Turn away the demonic whisper of temptation to
sin against you.
Drive away the despair of my dark soul that
dwells with evil.
Dispel the thick smoke of sin that has infused and obscured me.
Destroy the vile dark passions of my base needs.
Renew the image of light revered by
the glory of your mighty name, my soul.
Fix your glowing grace upon my face and
the perception of my mind, an earthbound creature.
And cleanse my squalid sinfulness with your purity
so that you might restore and reveal your image in me.
With your divine, living, uncorrupted and
heavenly light that envelopes your three persons.
For you alone are blessed with the Father and Holy Spirit
forever and ever.
Amen.

___________________
1. Gen. 18:14, Lk. 1:37.
2. Wis. 18:1.
3. Wis. 17;20.
4. Rev. 6:15-17.

Acknowledgements:

Source: St. Gregory of Narek
Provided by: Thomas J. Samuelian