Orthodox prayers for the dying

Prayers for the bedside of someone you love who is dying. Read them aloud, or pray them together while they still can.

Picture: Mikhail Klodt, The Last Spring, 1861

4 prayers

For the family to read aloud

The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23)

The LORD is my shepherd;I lack nothing.He makes me lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside quiet waters.He restores my soul.He guides me in paths of righteousnessfor the sake of His name.

Even though I walkthrough the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow meall the days of my life,and I will dwell in the house of the LORDfor ever.

Traditional wording, 1611

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Read it slowly at the bedside, even when the one you love can no longer answer. It trusts that God is near in the valley of the shadow of death.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

For the dying person to say

Lord, remember me

Lord, remember mewhen You come into Your kingdom.

Traditional wording, 1891

Lord, remember mewhen Thou comest into Thy kingdom.

The thief who died beside Jesus prayed these words, and they are short enough to say with almost no strength left. Jesus promised him Paradise that same day.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Luke 23:42, with the King James wording Shann printed in 1891 beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Euchology: A Manual of Prayers of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1891.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

A saint’s own words as she died

Prayer of St Macrina

O Lord, You have freed us from the fear of death.You have made the end of this lifethe beginning of true life for us.For a time You let our bodies rest in sleep,and You will wake them again at the last trumpet.

You give the earth we are made of,which You shaped with Your hands,to the earth for safe keeping.And You will take back what You have given,transfiguring what is mortal and unsightly in uswith incorruption and grace.

You have saved us from the curse and from sin,by becoming both for our sake.You have crushed the heads of the dragonthat had seized mankind in its jawsthrough the gaping pit of disobedience.You have opened the way to resurrection for us:You broke the gates of helland brought to nothing the one who had the power of death, the devil.To those who fear You, You have given a sign,the shape of Your holy Cross,to destroy the enemy and keep our life safe.

O eternal God,upon Whom I was cast from my mother’s womb,Whom my soul has loved with all its strength,to Whom I have given both my flesh and my soulfrom my youth until now:set beside me a shining angelto lead me by the hand to the place of refreshment,by the water of rest,at the side of the holy fathers.

You broke through the flaming swordand brought back to Paradisethe man who was crucified with You and threw himself on Your mercy:remember me too in Your kingdom.For I too was crucified with You:I nailed down my flesh in fear of You,and I have feared Your judgments.

Do not let the terrible chasmpart me from Your chosen ones.Do not let the envious one stand in my way.Do not let my sin be found before Your eyes,if I have sinned in anything, in word or deed or thought,led astray by the weakness of our nature.

You have power on earth to forgive sins:forgive me, so that I may be refreshed,and be found before You, when I put off my body,with no stain on the form of my soul.But may my soul be received into Your hands,blameless and spotless,like incense before You.

Traditional wording, 1916

Thou, O Lord, hast freed us from the fear of death.Thou hast made the end of this life the beginning to us of true life.Thou for a season restest our bodies in sleep and awakest them again at the last trump.

Thou givest our earth, which Thou hast fashioned with Thy hands, to the earth to keep in safety.One day Thou wilt take again what Thou hast given, transfiguring with immortality and grace our mortal and unsightly remains.

Thou hast saved us from the curse and from sin, having become both for our sakes.Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon who had seized us with his jaws, in the yawning gulf of disobedience.Thou hast shown us the way of resurrection, having broken the gates of hell, and brought to nought him who had the power of death, the devil.Thou hast given a sign to those that fear Thee in the symbol of the Holy Cross, to destroy the adversary and save our life.

O God eternal, to Whom I have been attached from my mother's womb, Whom my soul has loved with all its strength, to Whom I have dedicated both my flesh and my soul from my youth up until now,do Thou give me an angel of light to conduct me to the place of refreshment, where is the water of rest, in the bosom of the holy Fathers.

Thou that didst break the flaming sword and didst restore to Paradise the man that was crucified with Thee and implored Thy mercies, remember me, too, in Thy kingdom;because I, too, was crucified with Thee, having nailed my flesh to the cross for fear of Thee, and of Thy judgments have I been afraid.

Let not the terrible chasm separate me from Thy elect.Nor let the slanderer stand against me in the way;nor let my sin be found before Thy eyes, if in anything I have sinned in word or deed or thought, led astray by the weakness of our nature.

O Thou Who hast power on earth to forgive sins, forgive me, that I may be refreshed and may be found before Thee when I put off my body, without defilement on my soul.But may my soul be received into Thy hands spotless and undefiled, as an offering before Thee.

Show the whole prayer

St Macrina prayed it on the day she died, and her brother Gregory of Nyssa wrote it down. She asks Christ to set a shining angel beside her, to lead her by the hand to the place of refreshment.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with W. K. Lowther Clarke’s 1916 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: W. K. Lowther Clarke, The Life of St. Macrina by Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, 1916.

Where Clarke has “the slanderer” and “an offering”, the Greek says “the envious one” and “incense”.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

For the very end

Into Your hands, O Lord

Into Your hands, O Lord Jesus Christ, my God,I commit my spirit.Bless me, have mercy on me,and give me eternal life. Amen.

Traditional wording, 2011

Into Thy hands, O Lord Jesus Christ my God, I commit my spirit.Do Thou bless me, do Thou have mercy on me, and grant me life eternal. Amen.

It turns the words Jesus prayed as He died into a prayer to Him. The Russian prayer book makes them the last words before sleep, and they suit the last hour of a life too.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic, with the Jordanville Prayer Book’s translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, Prayer Book, 2011.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2 Corinthians 5:1 To Paul the body is a tent. When it is taken down, God gives an eternal house in heaven.

¹“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. ²In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.”

John 14:1-3 On the night before He died, Jesus told His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.

Psalm 116:15 In the psalm, the death of God’s faithful ones is precious in His sight.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 Paul is sure that not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know. ²³I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

Philippians 1:21-23 Paul wrote this in prison, not knowing if he would live. To him, dying meant departing to be with Christ.

²⁹“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace. ³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation,”

Luke 2:29-30 Old Simeon held the infant Christ and asked to depart in peace. The Church sings his words at Vespers every evening.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
Psalm 51:1

The service at the parting of the soul from the body reads this psalm of repentance before its hymns begin.

Psalm 51 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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