St. Ephraim the Syrian
When the church bell begins ringing slowly and sadly, when the
services become filled with the sound of mournful chants, when the
church and the priest are dressed in black vestments, – then the church
resounds with the wondrous and deeply-moving words of the prayer of St.
Ephraim the Syrian:
“O Lord and Master of my life! A spirit of idleness,
despondency, ambition and idle talk give me not. But rather a spirit of
chastity, humble-mindedness, patience and love bestow upon me, Thy
servant. Yea, O Lord King, grant me to see my failings and not condemn
my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.”
After each part of the prayer a prostration is made. At
the end of the entire prayer it is customary to bow from the waist
twelve times, saying to oneself at each bow: “God, purify me, a
sinner,” – after which the entire prayer is read once more, and at the
end a single prostration is made. Such a number of prostrations
testifies to the importance which our Orthodox Church imparts to this
prayer.
The prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is read only during
the Great Lent, at the end of each service, except for Saturdays and
Sundays. The priest comes out of the altar wearing only a black
epitrahelion, stands before the closed royal doors and begins reading
this prayer. The altar always signifies the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom
is closed to us because of our sins. But out of it came the Son of God –
our Lord Jesus Christ, Who put off His divine glory, in order to take
upon Himself our human essence together with all its weaknesses, except
for sin. “Let this mind be in you, – writes Apostle Paul to the Philippians, – which
was also in Christ Jesus: He made Himself of no reputation, and took
upon Him the form of a servant, becoming like unto men, and becoming in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, being obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross” (2:5-8). It is of this that we are reminded
when the priest comes out of the altar without wearing his shining
outer vestments. And just as Christ through His earthly life stood in
front of the gates of paradise, praying for the salvation of mankind
from the power of the devil and sin, so the priest, standing before the
closed royal doors, prays for our salvation. And we, meanwhile,
lamenting our sins, but with firm faith and hope in salvation, should in
our mind and heart repeat after the priest the words of the prayer: “O Lord and Master of my life!”
* * *
In our modern times, when human pride towers as high as
the Tower of Babel, for contemporary mankind these words appear totally
unacceptable. What Lord? What Master? Man is the master of his own
life! For this reason even the word “God” is often written with a small
letter. Most kings have been overthrown, since no one must rule over
us! We will build our own life! And mankind does not want to
understand that if God is not the Master of our life, then no matter
whom or what it worships – these will only be false idols no matter what
their name – be it “Apollo,” “Humanity,” “Progress,” “Environment,”
“New Age,” etc. Only through absolute faith in the absolute power of
God over the universe will we be able to approach Him. Thus we stand in
awe before the name of God as the name of Him Whom we acknowledge to be
the Lord and Master of our entire life.
* * *
But let us not stand before God with our heads held high
in pride, but let us rather bow humbly before Him, our soul uttering the
following words of the prayer: “The spirit of idleness give not to me, Thy servant!”
The ideal of modern mankind is to work as little as
possible and to enjoy life as much as possible. Modern civilization has
invented a multitude of amusements and pleasures which gratify our
senses. And those people who are free from work often spend their life
in idleness.
But work is a need of the human spirit which has been
instilled into it by God. The Bible tells us that God placed our
ancestors in Eden for them to cultivate it. Love of idleness is an
illness of the spirit. But idleness is especially dangerous in the field
of spiritual endeavor. The battle with our human frailties and passions
requires an even greater effort than our earthly struggle for
existence. In the latter there are intermissions: when a person reaches a
desired goal he can rest for a while. But there can be no rest in the
spiritual struggle. Our enemy the devil never stops fighting against us.
As Apostle Peter says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour; resist him with steadfast faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
When we go to bed at night without prayer, all the sins
which we have committed during the day remain uncleansed. When we get
up in the morning – we never have time to pray, since we must hurry off
to work. And so the layer of sin covering our soul becomes thicker and
thicker. The mind immerses itself in worldly vanity and ceases to think
of what is most important – the salvation of the soul. We are too lazy
to work for the salvation of our soul. But in the secular world we are
prepared to work overtime if it brings us material gain. In such a
case we do not even think of being tired! But to work on saving our
soul, which, if it does not attain the Kingdom of God, will end up in
the kingdom of Satan, – for this we are too tired, too lazy. And yet
let us think a little bit about eternity. Time does not exist there,
eternity stretches endlessly without change. Today, tomorrow, a hundred
years, a thousand years hence, everything will remain the same. For
the one who will blissfully dwell with God, this knowledge will bring
comfort and joy. But what will be the feelings of those who will be
with the devil?
Let us reject the spirit of idleness and let us earnestly
embark upon the labor of spiritually cultivating our souls! An idle
man, having nothing to do, becomes bored. Boredom leads to a feeling of
dissatisfaction with life, at which point even amusements cease to
help. This is because physical pleasures gratify only the sensual
aspect of our being, but totally disregard the soul which has been
created in the image of God. And it is through this soul that boredom
begins to take hold of a person, often leading to despair, to
hopelessness and despondency…
* * *
At the first sign of despondency one must arm oneself
against it by means of hard work, one must fight it off, asking God for
help: “The spirit of despondency give not to me, Thy servant.”
Often this spirit of despondency takes hold of a person
because of hidden pride, hidden envy: why are other people in a better
situation than I? Why do others dominate while I have to obey? But
such a person forgets that not everyone is called upon to rule, not
everyone is called upon to teach, while those who are – have more
responsibilities than privileges. From those who are given more – more
will be asked. Let us deprive the devil of the possibility of leading us
into despondency. Let us cut off our pride and have faith in that the
Lord Himself will lead us along the path on which we will most easily be
able to reach the Heavenly Kingdom. Let us pray to the Lord: “The spirit of ambition give not to me, Thy servant,” and then we will find peace in our hearts.
* * *
We criticize everything, we pass judgment on everything,
we are discontent with everything. From morning to evening our tongues
work ceaselessly, babbling all manner of vanity. Even in church we say
the words of prayers only with our tongue, without grasping their
meaning with our mind, without feeling them with our heart. And so it
comes about that we are constantly talking idly. But all that we say
will not vanish into eternity without a trace. If we speak of love, but
in life seek revenge upon those who have offended us; if we speak of
morality, but in life do not follow the commandments of the Gospel; if
we speak of charity, but in life we humiliate others, – then at the Last
Judgment we will be judged with our own words. If we speak of good,
then we know about it; and if we know about it and do not do it, then
we engage in idle talk. However, we will be called to account for each
idle word. Idle talk is not only aimless chitchat, but it is also every
word that has not been justified by life’s deeds. Therefore, even our
prayers, uttered only with our tongue but not felt with the heart and
not consciously grasped with the mind, – constitute idle talk.
Let us be attentive to our words, let us avoid saying
things which can incite in us and in others evil or sinful thoughts and
feelings. As St. John of the Ladder says: “Silence is always useful”;
so let us humbly entreat the Lord: “The spirit of idle talk give not to me, Thy servant.”
And let us seal our entreaty with a prostration, to show that we are
aware of being guilty of all these sins, that we sincerely repent of
them, and that we promise the Lord to make all possible effort to reform
our lives.
* * *
But just as nature abhors a vacuum, so in spiritual life
one must not leave an empty space in one’s soul. Thus, if we cleanse our
soul of passions, then we must fill it with virtues instead. Guided by
the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian, let us ask of the Lord: “The spirit of chastity bestow upon me, Thy servant!”
What is chastity? In secular life this word is usually
used in terms of carnal restraint. But the holy Church Fathers give it a
much larger meaning, and that is: a general spiritual/moral discipline
of a person. It is in this sense that the prayer of St. Ephraim the
Syrian should be understood. In order to rid oneself of idleness,
despondency, ambition and idle talk, – bodily purity is not enough. But
if a person is able to restrain not only his carnal instincts but also
desires of the heart; if he is able to direct his thoughts only toward
good; if he curbs his tongue, does not speak malice of others, does not
offend them, – such a person will truly be chaste.
* * *
And without chastity it is impossible to achieve the next
virtue for which we ask in the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian:
humble-mindedness.
Humble-mindedness is an absolute prerequisite for man to be able to commune with God. Christ Himself has said to us: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The “poor in spirit” are those who do not see their own worth, but
consider themselves to be lower than everyone else. And the parable of
the publican and the Pharisee ends with the following words of Christ: “For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
For us, proud sons of the twentieth century, all of this
seems totally unacceptable. How?! We, who are armed with scientific
knowledge, who have reached the level of molecular fission, who have
broken the sound barrier in flight, – we must look upon ourselves as
insignificant beings? Yes, if we want to enter the Kingdom of God. For
one does not enter this Kingdom on the strength of scientific knowledge
or inventions, but through the knowledge of virtues. Man may acquire
knowledge of all the mysteries of nature and the entire universe, yet
this will not lead him to salvation unless he kneels down and bows his
head before the Lord, entreating Him from the bottom of his heart: “The spirit of humble-mindedness bestow upon me, Thy servant!” For all knowledge and all natural gifts come from God and are granted to people to be used in serving God and His Church.
* * *
The spirit of humble-mindedness is also extremely
important to us in waging spiritual warfare against the devil for the
salvation of our souls. But aside from humble-mindedness we must also
arm ourselves with patience. Should you fall – do not despair, arise,
arm yourself and patiently continue your struggle. A monk once came to
one of the elders and said: “Father, what should I do? – I have
fallen.” “Arise!” – replied the elder. Some time later the same monk
came and said: “Father, I have fallen again.” “Arise again,” – briefly
replied the elder. The same monk came to him yet a third time with the
same confession and received the same answer. “But, father, how long
should I continue to arise?” – asked the monk. “As long as you keep
falling,” – replied the elder. So lived the holy men. Let us follow
their example, praying to God: “The spirit of patience bestow upon me, Thy servant!”
* * *
Chastity, humble-mindedness, patience and all other
virtues form a wondrous bouquet in the human soul whose name is – love.
God dwells in a soul that is filled with love, for “God is Love” (1
John 4:16). No matter how successful we are in our spiritual endeavors,
no matter how many gifts we possess, if there is no love in our soul
for those around us, then our endeavors are deficient. Apostle Paul
writes in his epistle to the Corinthians: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, – I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal”
(13:1-3). Of the three main virtues – faith, hope and love, – love is
the greatest. According to Abba Dorotheus, love is the roof of the house
of virtues, which crowns the entire building and encompasses
everything. Without a roof a house is incomplete and cannot be lived in.
Without love all other virtues are imperfect, and God does not dwell in
such a house. Thus, let us earnestly entreat God: “The spirit of love bestow upon me, Thy servant!” And let us again prostrate ourselves, in order to fortify our prayer to the Lord.
* * *
But our prayer is not yet finished, and we continue with the following words: “Yea, o Lord King!”
“Yea” is a sort of incantation, an attempt to beseech the Lord to
grant us that without which our penitence will be fruitless, our prayer –
invalid. What do we ask so forcefully of the Lord?
“Grant me to see my failings!” Of what shall
we repent if we do not see our sins? However, to be able to see them we
must possess spiritual intelligence, spiritual discernment, in order to
search within all the corners of our soul and renew our coarsened
conscience. And if, by the grace of God, we are able to see our sins, to
recognize them, then we will understand how much worse and heavier they
are than the sins of those around us. And instead of passing judgment
on our sinning neighbor, we will be able to look upon him with love and
to pray for him. It is for this that we ask of the Lord: “Grant me not to condemn my brother!” And finally, with firm faith that we will receive all that we have asked, we bless the Lord: “For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen!” Be it so, O Lord and Master! May our prayers and our faith be answered!
Reprinted in abridged form from “Orthodox Russia,” No. 5, 1997
