Orthodox prayers for anger and a quick temper

Pray these when your temper flares or your anger will not settle. They ask God to calm the storm inside you and set a guard over your mouth.

Picture: Antoni Brodowski, Saul’s Anger at David, 1812–19

3 prayers and 1 to the saints

When anger rages in you

St Tikhon’s prayer against anger

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

Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of God,Son of David in the flesh,as You had mercy on the Canaanite woman.My soul rages terribly with anger and fury,with evil desire and other destructive passions.

Lord, help me!I cry out to You,not as You walked the earth then,but as You sit at the Father’s right hand in heaven.

Yes, Lord!Give me a heart that follows,in faith and love,Your humility, goodness, gentleness and patience,so that I too may be counted worthyto share the table of Your chosen servantsin Your eternal Kingdom.Amen.

The Russian prayer book gives it among St Tikhon’s prayers for calming a raging soul. It borrows the Canaanite mother’s cry for mercy and asks for Christ’s own gentleness and patience.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, as the Russian prayer book prints it. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

When you are angry with someone

St Dorotheos’s prayer against anger

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

O God, Lover of mankind and Lover of souls,in Your goodness, more than words can tell,You made us out of nothingto share in Your good things.When we turned away from Your commandments,You called us backthrough the blood of Your only-begotten Son, our Saviour.

Now stand by us in our weakness.As You once rebuked the stormy sea,so now rebuke the turmoil in our hearts.

Do not lose two of Your children in a single hour,both of us put to death by sin.Do not say to us,“What good is My blood,if I go down to corruption?”or, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you,because your lamps have gone out for lack of oil.”

St Dorotheos gave it for when you are angry with someone and the turmoil will not pass. Pray it first, and speak to them only once your heart is calm.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of his teaching, as Migne printed it in 1864. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

A guard on your mouth

Psalm 141

LORD, I call to You; come quickly to me.Hear my voice when I call to You.Let my prayer be set before You like incense,the lifting up of my hands like the evening offering.

Set a guard, LORD, over my mouth;keep watch at the door of my lips.Do not let my heart turn to anything evil,to join in wicked deeds with men who do wrong.Do not let me eat their fine food.

Let a righteous man strike me; it is a kindness.Let him correct me; it is oil on my head.Let my head not refuse it.

But my eyes are on You, O GOD the Lord;in You I take refuge.Do not leave my soul defenceless.Keep me from the trap they have set for me,and from the snares of those who do evil.

Traditional wording, 1611

LORD, I cry unto Thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee.Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.

But mine eyes are unto Thee, O GOD the Lord: in Thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

David asks God to keep watch at the door of his lips and keep his heart from evil. Pray it when the angry words are already on your tongue.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew (verses 1 to 5 and 8 to 9, without the end of verse 5), with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where the King James reads “which shall not break my head”, the Hebrew can also be read “let my head not refuse it”, as the plain wording has it.

Where it comes from, and the original

To a saint · A priest healed of his anger

Prayer to St Titus of the Kiev Caves

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

The troparionWhen the hater of love saw you living in brotherly love,he overcame you and turned you to anger.But the Lord, the Source of love,knew your earlier laboursand turned you back to brotherly love,and in it you lived the rest of your life, pleasing God.Pray for us,that we may live in brotherly love.

The kontakionLike the Lord in His humility,you humbled yourself, though you were a priest,before the proud deacon Evagrius,O Titus, free of malice.For this you received not only more years on earth,when an angel raised you up,but also the joy of eternal life.Rejoicing in it,free us from fierce anger and from holding grudges.

St Titus once could not bear to look at his closest friend, then begged his forgiveness and was healed. The hymns for his feast ask him to free us from fierce anger and grudges.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the troparion and kontakion, as Azbyka prints them. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, ²⁰for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

James 1:19-20 Be slow to speak and slow to anger, because human anger does not bring about the righteousness God desires.

Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.

Psalm 37:8 David tells the reader to let go of anger and stop fretting, because it leads only to harm.

He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.

Proverbs 16:32 Being slow to anger is better than being a mighty warrior, and ruling your spirit better than capturing a city.

But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Colossians 3:8 Paul names anger and rage first among the things to put away, with malice, slander and filthy language.

But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

Jonah 4:4 When Jonah is furious, God answers with a question anyone can ask of their own anger, “Have you any right to be angry?”

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

Article · 6 min read How to control your anger: what the Church Fathers teach How to control your temper, from the Bible and the Church Fathers: why one sharp word makes you so angry, whether anger is ever right, and what to do. Read

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