When it is said
On the evening of Holy Thursday the Orthodox Church reads 12 Gospel passages about Christ’s suffering and death. The eighth, from Luke, holds these words.
Later in the same service a hymn speaks in Christ’s own voice. It ends: “Forgive them, holy Father, for they know not what they do.”
Anyone may pray it for someone who has hurt them, as St Stephen did for the men who stoned him.
Where it comes from
Author known
Prayed from the cross
Two criminals were led out with Jesus to be put to death. At the place called the Skull, Jesus was crucified between them. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided His clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:32-34, Berean Standard Bible
St Stephen prayed the same
Stephen was one of seven men chosen to serve the church in Jerusalem. After he spoke before the Council, they stoned him. As the stones fell, he knelt and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” The witnesses had laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, later the apostle Paul.
Acts 6:5, 7:58-60 and 13:9, Berean Standard Bible
Sung on Holy Friday
At Vespers, the evening service, on Holy Friday the Orthodox Church sings a hymn about this prayer. It cries, “O the loving-kindness of the Lord!” For those who crucified Him, it says, He called on His Father: “Forgive them this sin, for the transgressors know not what they do.”
G. V. Shann, Euchology (1891), Vespers on Holy and Great Friday
What the words mean
“How can I forgive?”
St John Chrysostom, preaching on “love your enemies”, answered anyone who asks how it is possible to forgive: “Hearest thou not Him on the cross, saying, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do?’” Elsewhere he says that the very men who crucified Christ “became sons of God”.
The Scripture in it
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …
Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς·
οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσι.