Orthodox prayers for a birthday

These birthday prayers thank God for another year of life and ask Him for many more, for yourself or for someone you love.

Picture: Peder Severin Krøyer, Hip, Hip, Hurrah! Artists’ Party at Skagen, 1888

4 prayers and 1 to the saints

For a son, a daughter, a friend or yourself

Prayer for a birthday

O God, the life of the faithful,Saviour and guardian of those who fear You,now that another year has passed,You have been pleased to bring Your servant (name)to this birthday.

Increase in them the grace of the Protector of life,and multiply their days with many years,so that, by Your favour,they may be carried through a happy lifeand be found worthy to reach the heights of heaven’s joy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.Amen.

O God, the life of the faithful,Saviour and guardian of those who fear You,now that another year has passed,You have been pleased to bring me, Your servant,to this birthday.

Increase in me the grace of the Protector of life,and multiply my days with many years,so that, by Your favour,I may be carried through a happy lifeand be found worthy to reach the heights of heaven’s joy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1857

O God, the Life of the faithful,the Saviour and Guardian of those that fear Thee,Who, after the expiration of a year,hast been pleased to bring Thy servant N.to this his natural birthday;

increase in him the grace of the Protector of life,and multiply his days with many years;that having, by Thy favour, been carried through a happy life,he may be enabled to attain the height of heavenly joys;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christians have prayed it for birthdays since at least the 700s, when East and West were still one Church. It thanks God for another year and asks Him for many more.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Latin, with William Bright’s 1857 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: William Bright, Ancient Collects and Other Prayers, 1857.

Where it comes from, and the Latin

For the birthday table

Many Years

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

Grant, O Lord, to the servant of God (name)health and salvationand good success in all things,and keep them for many years.

The choir answers, three timesMany years!

This is the Church’s wish of long life. At the birthday table, sing it with the person’s name and let everyone answer “Many years!”

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Prayer of thanksgiving

O Lord Jesus Christ our God,God of all mercy and compassion,Whose mercy is beyond measureand Whose love for mankind is a depth past searching out:

falling down before Your majestywith fear and trembling, as unworthy servants,we now humbly thank You, kind Lord,for the blessings You have given Your servant (name).We glorify You, praise You, sing to You and magnify Youas our Lord, Master and Benefactor.Falling down again, we thank You,and humbly beg for Your boundless mercy, beyond all words.

As You have now been pleasedto accept the prayers of Your servantsand in mercy to fulfil them,so from now on grant that all Your faithful,growing in love for You and for their neighbourand in every virtue,may receive Your blessings.

Deliver Your holy Church and this cityfrom every evil that besets them,and give them peace and calm.

And make us worthy always to give thanks to You,with Your Father, Who is without beginning,and Your all-holy and good Spirit, one in essence with You:one God, glorified in one essence.Make us worthy to speak of Your great goodness, and to sing:

Glory to You, O God our Benefactor,for ever and ever.

Traditional wording, 1906

O Lord Jesus Christ our God, the God of all mercies and bounties,Whose mercy is immeasurable, and Whose love for mankind is an unfathomable deep:

falling down in adoration before Thy majesty, with fear and trembling, as unprofitable servants,and now humbly rendering thanks unto Thy loving-kindnessfor Thy benefits bestowed upon Thy servants, NN. (or upon Thy servant, N.),we glorify Thee, we praise Thee, we sing Thee, and we magnify Theeas our Lord, and Master, and Benefactor;and again falling down before Thee, and we humbly thank Thee,supplicating Thy boundless and inexpressible mercy.

And in that Thou hast now graciously vouchsafed to accept the petitions of Thy servants and to fulfil them,so also henceforth grant that Thy holy Church and this city may be delivered from every hostile assault,and may be vouchsafed peace and tranquillity,and that increasing in true love of Thee, and of all virtues,all Thy faithful people may receive all Thy benefits;

and that we may ever offer thanksgiving unto Thee,together with Thy Father Who is from everlasting,and Thine all-holy, and good, and life-giving Spirit,God glorified in one Person;and that we may say exceeding good things, and sing:

Glory to Thee, O God our Benefactor, unto ages of ages.

The priest reads this prayer at a service of thanksgiving, and a Russian service book names birthdays among the days to hold one. A parent might also pray it at home for a child, with the child’s name.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, with Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Two places part company with the Slavonic. Hapgood’s “true love of Thee” is, in the Slavonic, love for God and for one’s neighbour. Her “God glorified in one Person” stands for words that mean one God in one essence: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God in three Persons.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Satisfy us in the morning (Psalm 90)

Teach us to number our days,so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Turn back, O Lord! How long?Have pity on Your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,so that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us,for as many years as we have seen trouble.

Let Your servants see Your work,and their children Your glory.

Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us.Establish the work of our hands for us;yes, establish the work of our hands.

Traditional wording, 1906

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Turn Thee again, O Lord, at the last, and be gracious unto Thy servants.

O satisfy us with Thy mercy, and that soon:so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Comfort us again now after the time that Thou hast plagued us;and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.

Show Thy servants Thy work, and their children Thy glory.

And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us:prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us;O prosper Thou our handy-work.

This psalm, headed “A Prayer of Moses”, asks God to teach us to number our days and to make us glad all our days. It suits a birthday at any age.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with Hapgood’s 1906 service book beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Where it comes from, and the original

To a saint

Prayer to your patron saint

Pray to God for me,holy (name), you who pleased God,for I run with all my heart to you,who are quick to help me and to pray for my soul.

Traditional wording, 1982

Pray to God for me holy (your Patron Saint),for with fervor I run to you,swift helper and intercessor for my soul!

A one-line prayer to the saint whose name you were given, to ask their prayers for the year ahead.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer book, with St Tikhon’s 1982 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, Orthodox Daily Prayers, 1982.

The book leaves a blank before “(your Patron Saint)” for the saint’s name.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

¹³For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16 The psalmist thanks God for forming him in his mother’s womb and writing all his days in His book before one came to be.

I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.

Psalm 71:6 The psalmist has leaned on God since birth and praises Him always.

¹⁷O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds. ¹⁸Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

Psalm 71:17-18 For a later birthday, the psalmist asks God, Who has taught him since youth, not to forsake him when he is old and gray.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5 God knew Jeremiah before He formed him in the womb. It is a verse for the day you were born.

This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 The day the Lord has made is a day to rejoice and be glad in.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. ¹¹For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

Proverbs 9:10-11 Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and through wisdom your days will be many.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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