In our troubled and unsettled worldd there are prayers which are helpful. Among the finest is this instructive, teaching prayer adapted from the Eastern Orthodox liturgy of the great and influential 4th C. saint, Basil the Great (of Caesarea), the oldest of the three Cappodocian Fathers of the Eastern Church. The prayer is offered at Ninth Hour in our Bookstore Publication, Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity.
O MASTER, Lord Jesus Christ our God, who art long-suffering toward our sins, and who hast led us even to the present hour, who didst hang upon the life-giving Tree and didst make a way unto Paradise for the penitent thief, and by death didst destroy death; Cleanse us sinners and unworthy servants, for we have sinned and have dealt iniquitously toward thee. Inasmuch as we have departed from the path of thy righteousness, and have walked after the desires of our own hearts, we are not worthy to lift up our eyes and look upon the heights of heaven; Yet we implore of thy boundless goodness: Spare us, O Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercies, and save us, for thy holy Name’s sake. Amen.
St. Basil was one of the most influential Holy Fathers whose thinking influenced the revisions to the original Nicene Creed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., concerning the Holy Spirit. He is the featured saint in Episode Seventeen in our video series, The Lives of the Saints: Second Series, focused on 35 saints from both the Western and Eastern Church who do not have Feast Days/Holy Days in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. An audio-only version in MP3 format is linked from the Podcast Archive page. Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity is available exclusively through my Amazon Author Central page. A summary of the book is available on the AIC Bookstore page. St. Basil’s influence at the Council of Constantinople is discussed in Episode Seven in our video series, The Nicene Creed. An audio-only version in MP3 format is linked from the Podcast Archive page.
Glory be to God for all things! Amen.
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