Orthodox morning prayers

Orthodox morning prayers open with O Heavenly King and the Trisagion prayers. The hymns on rising and the prayer to the Holy Trinity follow, then St Macarius’s and St Basil’s prayers.

Picture: Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky, Morning in a Pine Forest, 1889

5 prayers and 1 to the saints

On rising

Having risen from sleep

Having risen from sleep, we fall down before You, O Good One,and cry out the angels’ song to You, O Mighty One:Holy, holy, holy are You, O God.Through the Mother of God, have mercy on us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

You have raised me from my bed and from sleep, O Lord.Enlighten my mind and my heart,and open my lips to sing to You, O Holy Trinity:Holy, holy, holy are You, O God.Through the Mother of God, have mercy on us.

Now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

The Judge will come suddenly,and the deeds of everyone will be laid bare.But at midnight we cry out in fear:Holy, holy, holy are You, O God.Through the Mother of God, have mercy on us.

Traditional wording, 1982

Having arisen from sleep, we fall down before Thee, O Blessed One,and sing to Thee, O Mighty One, the angelic hymn:Holy! Holy! Holy! art Thou, O God;through the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

Having raised me from my bed and from sleep, O Lord,enlighten my mind and heart,and open my lips that I may praise Thee, O Holy Trinity:Holy! Holy! Holy! art Thou, O God;through the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Judge will come suddenlyand the acts of every man will be revealed;but in the middle of the night we cry with fear:Holy! Holy! Holy! art Thou, O God;through the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

These three short hymns follow the opening prayers. The second begins “You have raised me from my bed and from sleep”, and all three sing the angels’ song, “Holy, holy, holy are You, O God.”

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

St Tikhon’s says “O Blessed One” and “in the middle of the night”; the Slavonic says “O Good One” and “at midnight”.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Thanks for waking

Morning prayer to the Holy Trinity

As I rise from sleep, I thank You, O Holy Trinity,because in Your great goodness and patienceYou were not angry with me, lazy and sinful as I am,and You did not destroy me in my sins.Instead You showed Your love for mankind, as You always do,and raised me as I lay in despair,so that I might rise early and glorify Your might.

And now enlighten the eyes of my mindand open my mouth,so that I may meditate on Your words,understand Your commandments,do Your will,sing to You with a thankful heart,and praise Your all-holy name,the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 2011

As I rise from sleep, I thank Thee, O Holy Trinity,for through Thy great goodness and patienceThou wast not angry with me, an idler and sinner,nor hast Thou destroyed me with mine iniquities,but hast shown Thy usual love for mankind;and when I was prostrate in despair,Thou hast raised me up to keep the morning watch and glorify Thy power.

And now enlighten my mind’s eye,and open my mouth that I may meditate on Thy words,and understand Thy commandments,and do Thy will,and hymn Thee in heartfelt confession,and sing praises to Thine all-holy name:of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

It comes next in Greek and Russian prayer books alike. It thanks the Holy Trinity for raising you from sleep and asks for help to understand God’s commandments and do His will.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of the book of hours, with the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer book and 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 Greek

For the day ahead

Prayer of the Optina elders

Lord, give me peace of soulto meet all that the day ahead brings me.Help me to give myself wholly to Your holy will.At every hour of this day,guide me and hold me up in all things.

Whatever news reaches me today,teach me to accept it with a calm souland a firm belief that Your holy will rules over all.In all my words and actions,guide my thoughts and feelings.When something unexpected happens,do not let me forget that all is sent by You.

Teach me to deal honestly and wiselywith everyone in my family,without troubling or grieving anyone.Lord, give me strength to bearthe tiredness of the coming dayand all that happens in it.Guide my will,and teach me to pray,to believe, to hope,to be patient,to forgive and to love. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1982

O Lord, grant that I may meet allthat this coming day brings to mewith spiritual tranquility.Grant that I may fully surrender myselfto Thy holy Will.At every hour of this day,direct and support me in all things.

Whatsoever news may reach mein the course of the day,teach me to accept it with a calm souland the firm convictionthat all is subject to Thy holy Will.Direct my thoughts and feelingsin all my words and actions.In all unexpected occurrences,do not let me forgetthat all is sent down from Thee.

Grant that I may deal straightforwardly and wiselywith every member of my family,neither embarrassing nor saddening anyone.O Lord, grant me the strength to endurethe fatigue of the coming dayand all the events that take place during it.Direct my will and teach me to pray,to believe, to hope, to be patient,to forgive, and to love. Amen.

Russian prayer books print it for the end of the morning prayers. It looks ahead to the day itself, to the news that may come, the people at home and the tiredness the day will bring.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Russian text printed by Optina Monastery, with St Tikhon’s 1982 wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press, Orthodox Daily Prayers, 1982.

Where it comes from, and the Russian

To be made clean

Morning prayer of St Macarius

O God, cleanse me, a sinner,for I have never done anything good before You.But deliver me from the evil one,and let Your will be done in me,

so that, without condemnation,I may open my unworthy mouthand praise Your holy name,the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1982

O God, cleanse me a sinner, for I have done nothing good before Thee.Deliver me from the evil one, and may Thy will be in me,

that I might open my unworthy lips without condemnationand praise Thy holy name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm 51 and the Creed lead into the first of four prayers that Russian prayer books credit to St Macarius the Great. A sinner asks to be made clean, so as to praise God’s name.

Where St Tikhon’s says “lips”, the Slavonic says “mouth”.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Thanks for the night

Morning prayer of St Basil

We bless You, O God most high and Lord of mercy.You always do great and unsearchable things among us,glorious and awesome things beyond number.You have given us sleep to rest our weaknessand to ease the labours of our toiling flesh.

We thank You that You did not destroy us in our sins,but showed us Your love for mankind, as You always do,and raised us as we lay in despairto glorify Your power.

So we ask Your boundless goodness:enlighten our thoughts and our eyes,and raise our mind from the heavy sleep of laziness.Open our mouths and fill them with Your praise,so that we may sing to You and give You thanks, never wavering,O God, glorified in all things and by all,the Father without beginning,with Your only-begotten Sonand Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1891

We bless Thee, O God most high and Lord of mercy,Who ever doest amongst us great and unsearchable, glorious and terrible things, of which there is no number,and Who grantest unto us sleep to rest our weaknessand to relieve the labour of our toiling flesh.

We give Thee thanks that Thou hast not destroyed us in our transgressions,but, in Thy wonted love to man, hast raised us lying in despair to glorify Thy power.

Therefore we pray Thee of Thine unmeasurable goodnessto enlighten our thoughts and our eyes,and to raise our minds from the heavy sleep of sloth.Open our lips and fill them with Thy praise,that we may continually sing and give thanks unto Thee,O God, the unbeginning Father, Who in all things and by all things,together with Thine only-begotten Son, and Thy most holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit,art glorified, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.

Two prayers under St Basil’s name follow St Macarius’s four, and this is the second. It thanks God for the sleep that rests our weakness and asks Him to wake the mind from the heavy sleep of laziness.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the book of hours, with Shann’s 1891 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Euchology: A Manual of Prayers of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1891.

Shann’s “terrible” is the old sense, things that fill us with awe: the plain wording says “awesome”.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

To a saint · To your own 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!

Near the end of the morning prayers come short calls on the angels and all the saints. Then you ask the saint whose name you bear to pray for you.

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

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a solitary place to pray.

Mark 1:35 Jesus Himself rose very early, while it was still dark, and went off alone to pray.

Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8 David asks to hear of God’s loving devotion in the morning and to be shown the way to go that day.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

Psalm 51:15 The morning prayers read Psalm 51 whole, and the hymns on rising ask God to open your lips, as this verse does.

But I will sing of Your strength and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 59:16 While Saul’s men watch his house to kill him, David still means to sing of God’s strength and love when morning comes.

¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Romans 13:11-12 Paul urges the Romans to wake from sleep, because the night is nearly over and the day is near.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.
Psalm 5:3

Psalm 5 is the first psalm of the First Hour, the short service the Church usually says straight after Matins, its morning service.

Psalm 5 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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