Orthodox prayers for persecuted Christians

Prayers for Christians who suffer for their faith, whether in prison, under threat or facing death, and for the people who persecute them.

Picture: Rembrandt, Saint Paul in Prison, 1627

4 prayers and 1 to the saints

For Christians in prison and exile

Prayer for prisoners

Have mercy on all who arein prison or in the mines,on trial or condemned,in exile,or held down by bitter slavery or by taxes,and set them all free.

For You are our God,Who set the prisoners freeand lift up those who are weighed down.You are the hope of those who have lost hope,the help of those who have no help,the One Who raises the fallen,the harbor of those caught in the storm,the defender of the oppressed.

To every Christian soul in affliction and distressgive mercy, give relief, give rest.

Traditional wording, 1886

Have mercy on all who are in prison, or in mines, or on trial,or condemned, or in exile, or crushed by cruel bondage or tribute.

Deliver them, O Lord, for Thou art our God,Who settest the captives free; Who raisest up the downtrodden;Who givest hope to the hopeless, and help to the helpless;Who liftest up the fallen; Who givest refuge to the shipwrecked,and vengeance to the oppressed.

Pity, relieve, and restore every Christian soul that is afflicted or wandering.

In the Liturgy of St Mark the priest prays this for everyone in prison, on trial, condemned or in exile. Prayed at home for Christians held for their faith, it calls on the God Who sets prisoners free.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of the Liturgy of St Mark, with George Ross Merry’s translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: George Ross Merry, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, 1886.

Merry’s “vengeance to the oppressed” renders a Greek word for the one who takes up their cause, so the plain English says “the defender of the oppressed”.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

For courage under threat

Prayer for boldness

Master, You are the GodWho made heaven and earth and the seaand everything in them.Through the mouth of Your servant David You said:“Why did the nations rage,and the peoples plot in vain?The kings of the earth took their stand,and the rulers gathered togetheragainst the Lord and against His Anointed One.”

For truly Herod and Pontius Pilate,with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,gathered together against Your holy Son Jesus,Whom You anointed,to do whatever Your hand and Your planhad decided beforehand should happen.

And now, Lord, look on their threats,and grant that Your servants may speak Your wordwith all boldness,as You stretch out Your hand to heal,and signs and wonders are donethrough the name of Your holy Son Jesus.

Traditional wording, 1611

Lord, Thou art God, Which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said,Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.

For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed,both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings:and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word,By stretching forth Thine hand to heal;and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy holy child Jesus.

The first Christians prayed this together after the rulers in Jerusalem threatened Peter and John. They asked God to look on the threats and give them boldness to keep speaking His word.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Acts 4:24-30, with the King James wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Bible, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

For the persecuted and their persecutors

Prayer of St Stephen

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

Traditional wording, 1611

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

These are the last words of St Stephen, the first Christian to die for his faith. As he was being stoned, he gave his spirit to Jesus and asked Him not to hold the sin against his killers.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Acts 7:59-60, with the King James wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Bible, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

A martyr’s own prayer

Prayer of St Polycarp

O Lord God Almighty,Father of Your beloved and blessed Son,Jesus Christ,through Whom we have come to know You,God of angels and powers and of all creation,and of the whole family of the righteouswho live before You:

I bless You,for You have counted me worthyof this day and this hour,to have a share among the martyrsin the cup of Your Christ,so that I may rise to eternal lifein soul and body,kept free from decay by the Holy Spirit.Among them may I be received before You todayas a rich and acceptable sacrifice,the sacrifice You prepared and foretoldand have now fulfilled,O true God, Who cannot lie.

For this, and for all things,I praise You,I bless You, I glorify You,through the eternal and heavenly High Priest,Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son,through Whom be glory to You,with Him and the Holy Spirit,both now and for the ages to come. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1891

O Lord God Almighty,the Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ,through Whom we have received the knowledge of Thee,the God of angels and powers and of all creationand of the whole race of the righteous, who live in Thy presence;

I bless Thee for that Thou hast granted me this day and hour,that I might receive a portion amongst the number of martyrsin the cup of [Thy] Christ unto resurrection of eternal life,both of soul and of body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit.May I be received among these in Thy presence this day,as a rich and acceptable sacrifice,as Thou didst prepare and reveal it beforehand, and hast accomplished it,Thou that art the faithful and true God.

For this cause, yea and for all things, I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee,through the eternal and heavenly High-priest, Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son,through Whom with Him and the Holy Spirit be gloryboth now [and ever] and for the ages to come. Amen.

Bound to the stake about AD 155, St Polycarp of Smyrna thanked God for counting him worthy to share Christ’s cup with the martyrs.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Lightfoot’s 1891 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers, 1891.

Lightfoot put in square brackets the words that some old copies have and others lack.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

To a saint · For those who will not deny God

Kontakion of the Three Holy Youths

You would not worship an image made by hands,O thrice-blessed ones,but armed with God’s Being, which no hand can draw,you were glorified in the arena of fire.

Standing in the midst of the unbearable flame,you called upon God:

Come quickly, O compassionate One,and hurry in Your mercy to help us,for You can, if You will.

Traditional wording

You would not worship an image made by hands, O thrice-blessed youths;but shielded by the ineffable Essence, you were glorified through your ordeal by fire.In the midst of the unbearable fire you called upon God, crying:

"Hasten, O compassionate One,and in Your mercy come to our aid,for if You will, You can do so."

Three young men in Babylon were thrown into a furnace because they would not worship the king’s golden statue. The Church’s hymn to them ends on their cry to God to come quickly and help.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of the Menaion, with the English of the Orthodox Church in America beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Orthodox Church in America, Troparia and kontakia for 17 December, on its website.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Scripture for this

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

Matthew 5:10-12 Those persecuted for Jesus’ sake are blessed, because their reward in heaven is great.

¹⁸If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. ¹⁹If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. ²⁰Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

John 15:18-20 Jesus warned His disciples that the world would hate and persecute them, because it hated and persecuted Him first.

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

Romans 12:14 Christians are to bless the people who persecute them and never curse them.

Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them.

Hebrews 13:3 Believers are to remember prisoners as if they were in chains with them, and the mistreated as if they were suffering with them.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Corinthians 12:26 The Church is one body. When one part suffers, every part suffers with it.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:10 The risen Christ warns the church in Smyrna of suffering and prison to come. Those faithful to death will receive the crown of life.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
Psalm 79:11

St Athanasius of Alexandria gave this psalm to anyone who sees God’s house defiled and His saints killed. Rather than cower, they should suffer with those who suffer and plead with God in its words.

Psalm 79 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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