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 76

Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart

God whose mercies are diverse and abundant,
mighty and awesome God who loves mankind,
blessed living God beyond description
whose mere word can make anything possible
and for whose mind nothing is unthinkable.¹
You alone can repay the severity of thorns
with sweetness of fruit.
You who are the author of that new and
amazing law of life:
to do good to those who hate
and pray for those who persecute
and to seek salvation for those who wound
and ask forgiveness for those who murder.
These are the miraculous fruits you bestow,²
with sweetness beyond compare
made delectable by your divine will
and savory by your praiseworthy lips,
Lord Christ, blessed on high
breath of our nostrils,³
and the strength of our dignity.⁴

Yet still, human beings, earth-born prone to err
render evil to the hand offering good,⁵
but you, light and giver of light,
do not heed the blasphemy, take no pleasure
in evil, do not want their destruction and
do not wish these sinners’ death.⁶
Neither are you vexed or agitated,
nor do you succumb to anger.
Nor do you act rashly.
Nor do you wane in love.
Nor do you waver in compassion.
Nor do you change in goodness.
Neither do you turn your back
or turn your face away.⁷
Rather you are light on all paths
with the sole aim of salvation.

If you wish to pardon, you are able.
If to heal, you have the power.
To give life, you have the means.
To bestow, you are generous.
To make whole, you are able.
To grant, you are most bountiful.
To justify, you are most resourceful.
To comfort, you are all powerful.
To renew, you are all capable.
To perform a miracle, you are king of all.
To establish anew, you are the creator.
To re-create, you are God.
To care for us, you are Lord of all.
To rid us of sin, you are a guardian.
To aid us, though unworthy, you are blessed.
To rescue from the hunter, you are our savior.
To pour yours upon us, you are rich.
To reach us before we ask, you lack nothing.
To widen the narrow places, you are a comfort.
To call me who am last, you are a protector.
To steady me who wavers, you are a rock.
To give me a drink when parched,
you are a fountain.
To reveal to me what is covered, you are light.
To teach me what is useful, you are kind.
To overlook my faults, you are long-suffering.
To refrain from judging my minor transgressions,
you are exalted.
To lend a hand to a servant like me,
you are good master.
To shelter with your right hand, you are a provider.
To offer a remedy to me who am infirm,
you are a restorer.
To fill me when ignorant, you are a teacher.⁸
To accept me when I petition, you are a refuge.

Indeed, all these are yours, Lord of mercy,
not just in words, but also in reality,
especially are you foremost among
the martyrs in your patient suffering,
you, who for my salvation
came to the battlefield in force to soften
the stiff-necked unruliness of my haughty body
with the tempering instruction of tormenting tribulation
and taking our nature, bore on your blameless body
the penalty of grievous torment
in order to teach by your example
the mercy you have for us.
Ever blessed.
Amen.

___________________
1. Mt. 19:26.
2. Mt. 5:44.
3. Lam. 4:20.
4. Ps. 28 (Arm. 29):8.
5. Ps. 38 (Arm. 37):21.
6. Wis. 1:13, Ez. 18:32.
7. Jer. 2:27.
8. Lk. 11:1.

Acknowledgements:

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