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Prayers

Bless my enemies, O Lord

Prayer 75 in Prayers by the Lake, a book of 100 prayers by the Serbian bishop St Nikolai Velimirovich. He blesses his enemies, because they drove him into God’s arms.

Picture: Alfred Rethel, The Reconciliation of Otto the Great with His Brother Henry, 1840

The words of the prayer

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Bless my enemies, O Lord.I bless them too, and do not curse them.

My enemies have pushed me into Your armsmore than my friends have.My friends tied me to the earth.My enemies untied me from the earthand tore down every hope I had set on it.

They have made me a stranger in the kingdoms of the earth,and someone the earth does not need.A hunted animal finds a safer shelterthan one that is not hunted.In the same way, hunted by my enemies,I have found the safest shelter of all.I have hidden under Your tent,where neither friends nor enemiescan destroy my soul.Bless my enemies, O Lord.I bless them too, and do not curse them.

They have confessed my sins to the world in my place.They have whipped mewhen I shrank from whipping myself.They have tormented mewhen I ran from suffering.They have insulted mewhen I flattered myself.They have spat on mewhen I was proud of myself.Bless my enemies, O Lord.I bless them too, and do not curse them.

When I made myself out to be wise,they called me a fool.When I made myself out to be mighty,they laughed at me as if I were a dwarf.When I wanted to lead people,they pushed me to the back.When I hurried to get rich,they beat me back with an iron hand.When I thought I would sleep in peace,they woke me from my sleep.When I built a house for a long and quiet life,they tore it down and drove me out.Truly, my enemies have untied me from the worldand stretched out my hands to the hem of Your garment.Bless my enemies, O Lord.I bless them too, and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them.Multiply them, and make them still more bitter against me,so that my flight to You has no turning back;so that all my hope in people is torn like a spider’s web;so that humility may reign in my soul completely;so that my heart may become the graveof my two evil twins, pride and anger;so that I may gather all my treasure in heaven;ah, so that at last I may be free of the self-deceptionthat has tangled me in the dreadful netof a life that deceives.

My enemies have taught me what few people know:that a person has no enemy in the world but himself.The only one who hates his enemiesis someone who does not knowthat enemies are not enemies but harsh friends.Truly, it is hard for me to saywho has done me more good in this world, and who more harm:my friends or my enemies.So bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies.

A slave curses his enemies, because he does not know.But a son blesses them, because he knows.For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life.So he walks freely among themand prays to God for them.Bless my enemies, O Lord.I bless them too, and do not curse them.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from our own English from St Nikolai’s Serbian. How the wording is made.

When it is said

Anyone may pray it at any time.

It suits a day when someone has hurt you and you would rather curse them than pray for them.

Where it comes from

Author known

Who wrote it?

St Nikolai Velimirovich was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, first of Ohrid and later of Žiča. After the Second World War he made his home in America. He died in 1956 at St Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania, where he was dean of the seminary. The bishops of the Serbian Church declared him a saint in 2003.

Orthodox Church in America, “Serbian Patriarchate to canonize Bishop Nicholai Velimirovic” (2003)

Prayers by the Lake

Prayers by the Lake first came out in 1922, when he was bishop of Ohrid. This prayer is not in that first edition. It is the 75th of the 100 prayers in the full book. A Romanian Orthodox website, doxologia.ro, gives it in Romanian as his prayer for enemies.

Molitve na jezeru, first edition (Belgrade, 1922), archive.org; Molitve na jezeru, Svetosavlje.org; Doxologia.ro, the prayer for enemies of St Nikolai Velimirovich

The Scripture in it

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

Romans 12:14 Echoed Bless and do not curse.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …

Matthew 5:44 Echoed Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21 Echoed Store up treasure in heaven.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.

Galatians 4:7 Echoed No longer a slave, but a son.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

In Serbian

Благослови непријатеље моје, Господе. И ја их благосиљам и не кунем.

Непријатељи су ме више гурнули Теби у наручје него пријатељи. Пријатељи су ме везивали за земљу, непријатељи су ме дрешили од земље, и рушили сва моја надања у земљу.

Ови су ме учинили странцем у земаљским царствима, и непотребним становником земље. Као што гоњена звер нађе сигурније склониште него ли негоњена, тако сам и ја, гоњен непријатељима, нашао најсигурније склониште, сакривши се под Твој шатор, где ни пријатељи ни непријатељи не могу погубити душу моју. Благослови непријатеље моје, Господе. И ја их благосиљам, и не кунем.

Они су место мене исповедили грехе моје пред светом.

Они су ме шибали, кад сам се ја устезао шибати сама себе.

Они су ме мучили онда, кад сам ја бежао од мука.

Они су ме ружили онда, кад сам ја сам себи ласкао.

Они су ме пљували онда, када сам се ја гордио собом.

Благослови непријатеље моје, Господе. И ја их благосиљам, и не кунем.

Кад сам се ја правио мудрим, они су ме називали лудим.

Кад сам се правио моћним, они су ми се смејали као кепецу.

Кад сам хтео водити људе, они су ме гурали у позадину.

Кад сам журио да се обогатим, они су ме стукали гвозденом руком.

Кад сам мислио мирно спавати, они су ме будили из сна.

Кад сам зидао дом за дуг и спокојан живот, они су га рушили и изгонили ме ван.

Заиста, непријатељи су ме одрешили од света и продужили руке моје до Твога скута.

Благослови непријатеље моје, Господе. И ја их благосиљам, и не кунем.

Благослови их и умножи их; умножи их и још више их огорчи против мене –

да би моје бекство к Теби било бесповратно;

да би се нада у људе искидала сва као паучина;

да би се смирење потпуно зацарило у души мојој;

да би срце моје постало гробом моја два зла близанца: гордости и гнева;

да би све своје благо сабрао на небу;

ах, да би се једном ослободио самообмане, која ме је и заплела у страшну мрежу варљива живота.

Непријатељи су ме научили да знам, – што мало ко зна – да човек нема непријатеља у свету изван себе.

Само онај мрзи непријатеље, ко не зна, да непријатељи нису непријатељи но сурови пријатељи.

Заиста тешко ми је рећи, ко ми је учинио више добра и ко више зла у овоме свету: пријатељи или непријатељи.

Зато благослови, Господе, и пријатеље и непријатеље моје.

Роб куне непријатеље, јер не зна. А син их благосиља, јер зна.

Јер зна син, да му се непријатељи не могу дотаћи живота. Зато слободно корача између њих и моли се Богу за њих; Благослови непријатеље моје, Господе. И ја их благосиљам, и не кунем.

From Molitve na jezeru (Prayers by the Lake), prayer 75, in St Nikolai’s Selected Works, book 10 (Valjevo: Glas Crkve, 1996), as Svetosavlje.org prints it.

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