When it is said
The Orthodox Church reads this Gospel passage on the Saturday before Zacchaeus Sunday, the eleventh Sunday before Easter. In 2026 that Saturday fell on 24 January.
Anyone may pray it, alone or with others, when faith feels too small for what is asked of it.
Where it comes from
Author known
Why they asked
Jesus had just told His disciples: if your brother sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back saying “I repent”, forgive him. The apostles answered, “Increase our faith!” Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed could tell a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey.
Luke 17:3-6, Berean Standard Bible
Not faith from nothing
St Cyril of Alexandria, preaching on Luke, noticed what the apostles did not say. They did not ask for faith, as if they had none. They asked Christ to add to their faith, and to make them firm in it. Faith, Cyril said, begins with us. Its strength comes from God’s grace.
Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Sermons 113-116 (English translation of 1859)
What the words mean
A mustard seed is enough
Cyril told his hearers not to count their faith weak because it does not move mountains or uproot trees. God does not work wonders for show, he said. Where something would truly help, the power will not be lacking.
Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Sermons 113-116 (English translation of 1859)
The Scripture in it
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Πρόσθες ἡμῖν πίστιν.