When it is said
It is not a set prayer of any Orthodox service or prayer book. The Orthodox honour Clement on 25 November as a hieromartyr, a martyr who was also a bishop or priest. The Orthodox Church in America counts his letter to Corinth among the first Christian writings after the apostles’ own.
Roman Catholics read most of this prayer in the Office of Readings, part of their daily prayer. Their Catechism quotes its prayer for rulers and calls it “the Church’s most ancient prayer for political authorities”.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
Lost for centuries
The only Greek copy of the letter scholars knew until 1875 was in a Bible of the 400s, and it had lost the leaf that held this prayer. That year an Orthodox bishop, Philotheos Bryennios, printed the whole letter from a copy of 1056 he found in Constantinople. The same book holds the only complete copy of the Didache, an early Christian handbook.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, introduction; Wikipedia, Codex Hierosolymitanus
The church of Rome at prayer
The letter comes from the church of Rome. From about AD 170, every writer who mentions it calls it Clement’s. J. B. Lightfoot, an English bishop and scholar, thought the prayer shows how Clement, as bishop, prayed aloud at worship. Phrase after phrase of it is taken from the Old Testament.
Eusebius, Church History, Book 3, chapter 16; Lightfoot, S. Clement of Rome (1890)
Out of “the fiery furnace”
Lightfoot edited the letter and dated it to AD 95 or 96, during or just after the emperor Domitian’s persecution. He wrote that this prayer for the health and peace of rulers “issued from the fiery furnace of persecution”. That, he said, makes it “truly sublime”.
What the words mean
Where the traditional wording differs
The old copies of the Greek differ in a few places. Where this page says “Heal the sick”, J. B. Lightfoot’s traditional wording says “heal the ungodly”. Where it says “kind”, he says “faithful”. Where it says “Maker of spirits”, he says “Benefactor of spirits”. The plain wording follows the Greek printed below.
Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1 (1912); Lightfoot, S. Clement of Rome (1890)
What people get wrong
“The oldest Christian prayer outside the Bible”?
It is often called that. But the Didache holds short prayers over the cup and the bread. Most scholars now date the Didache to the first century too, and some date it before Clement’s letter. So his prayer is among the oldest we have, and by far the longest.
The Scripture in it
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints …
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
Know that the LORD is God. It is He Who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
[Δὸς ἡμῖν, Κύριε,] ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρχεγόνον πάσης κτίσεως ὄνομά Σου, ἀνοίξας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ γινώσκειν Σε τὸν μόνον Ὕψιστον ἐν ὑψίστοις, Ἅγιον ἐν ἁγίοις ἀναπαυόμενον. τὸν ταπεινοῦντα ὕβριν ὑπερηφάνων, τὸν διαλύοντα λογισμοὺς ἐθνῶν, τὸν ποιοῦντα ταπεινοὺς εἰς ὕψος καὶ τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς ταπεινοῦντα, τὸν πλουτίζοντα καὶ πτωχίζοντα, τὸν ἀποκτείνοντα καὶ ζῆν ποιοῦντα, μόνον Εὑρέτην πνευμάτων καὶ Θεὸν πάσης σαρκός· τὸν ἐπιβλέποντα ἐν τοῖς ἀβύσσοις, τὸν Ἐπόπτην ἀνθρωπίνων ἔργων, τὸν τῶν κινδυνευόντων Βοηθόν, τὸν τῶν ἀπηλπισμένων Σωτῆρα, τὸν παντὸς πνεύματος Κτίστην καὶ Ἐπίσκοπον· τὸν πληθύνοντα ἔθνη ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ἐκ πάντων ἐκλεξάμενον τοὺς ἀγαπῶντάς Σε διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Παιδός Σου, δι’ Οὗ ἡμᾶς ἐπαίδευσας, ἡγίασας, ἐτίμησας· ἀξιοῦμέν Σε, Δέσποτα, Βοηθὸν γενέσθαι καὶ Ἀντιλήπτορα ἡμῶν. τοὺς ἐν θλίψει ἡμῶν σῶσον, τοὺς ταπεινοὺς ἐλέησον, τοὺς πεπτωκότας ἔγειρον, τοῖς δεομένοις ἐπιφάνηθι, τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἴασαι, τοὺς πλανωμένους τοῦ λαοῦ Σου ἐπίστρεψον· χόρτασον τοὺς πεινῶντας, λύτρωσαι τοὺς δεσμίους ἡμῶν, ἐξανάστησον τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας, παρακάλεσον τοὺς ὀλιγοψυχοῦντας· γνώτωσάν Σε ἅπαντα τὰ ἔθνη, ὅτι Σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς μόνος καὶ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ Παῖς Σου καὶ ἡμεῖς λαός Σου καὶ πρόβατα τῆς νομῆς Σου.
Σὺ γὰρ τὴν ἀέναον τοῦ κόσμου σύστασιν διὰ τῶν ἐνεργουμένων ἐφανεροποίησας· Σύ, Κύριε, τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔκτισας, ὁ πιστὸς ἐν πάσαις ταῖς γενεαῖς, δίκαιος ἐν τοῖς κρίμασιν, θαυμαστὸς ἐν ἰσχύϊ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ, ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῷ κτίζειν καὶ συνετὸς ἐν τῷ τὰ γενόμενα ἑδράσαι, ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἐν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις καὶ χρηστὸς ἐν τοῖς πεποιθόσιν ἐπὶ Σέ, ἐλεῆμον καὶ οἰκτίρμον, ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ τὰς ἀδικίας καὶ τὰ παραπτώματα καὶ πλημμελείας. μὴ λογίσῃ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν δούλων Σου καὶ παιδισκῶν, ἀλλὰ καθάρισον ἡμᾶς τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῆς Σῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ κατεύθυνον τὰ διαβήματα ἡμῶν ἐν ὁσιότητι καρδίας πορεύεσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν τὰ καλὰ καὶ εὐάρεστα ἐνώπιόν Σου καὶ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀρχόντων ἡμῶν. ναί, Δέσποτα, ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν Σου ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀγαθὰ ἐν εἰρήνῃ, εἰς τὸ σκεπασθῆναι ἡμᾶς τῇ χειρί Σου τῇ κραταιᾷ καὶ ῥυσθῆναι ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας τῷ βραχίονί Σου τῷ ὑψηλῷ, καὶ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν μισούντων ἡμᾶς ἀδίκως. δὸς ὁμόνοιαν καὶ εἰρήνην ἡμῖν τε καὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν τὴν γῆν, καθὼς ἔδωκας τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν, ἐπικαλουμένων Σε αὐτῶν ὁσίως ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, ὑπηκόους γινομένους τῷ παντοκράτορι καὶ ἐνδόξῳ ὀνόματί Σου, τοῖς τε ἄρχουσιν καὶ ἡγουμένοις ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
Σύ, Δέσποτα, ἔδωκας τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῖς διὰ τοῦ μεγαλοπρεποῦς καὶ ἀνεκδιηγήτου κράτους Σου, εἰς τὸ γινώσκοντας ἡμᾶς τὴν ὑπὸ Σοῦ αὐτοῖς δεδομένην δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν ὑποτάσσεσθαι αὐτοῖς, μηδὲν ἐναντιουμένους τῷ θελήματί Σου· οἷς δός, Κύριε, ὑγίειαν, εἰρήνην, ὁμόνοιαν, εὐστάθειαν, εἰς τὸ διέπειν αὐτοὺς τὴν ὑπὸ Σοῦ δεδομένην αὐτοῖς ἡγεμονίαν ἀπροσκόπως. Σὺ γάρ, Δέσποτα Ἐπουράνιε, Βασιλεῦ τῶν αἰώνων, δίδως τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ ἐξουσίαν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὑπαρχόντων· Σύ, Κύριε, διεύθυνον τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῶν κατὰ τὸ καλὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον ἐνώπιόν Σου, ὅπως διέποντες ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ πραΰτητι εὐσεβῶς τὴν ὑπὸ Σοῦ αὐτοῖς δεδομένην ἐξουσίαν ἵλεώ Σου τυγχάνωσιν. ὁ μόνος δυνατὸς ποιῆσαι ταῦτα καὶ περισσότερα ἀγαθὰ μεθ’ ἡμῶν, Σοὶ ἐξομολογούμεθα διὰ τοῦ Ἀρχιερέως καὶ Προστάτου τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι’ Οὗ Σοι ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ μεγαλωσύνη καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς γενεὰν γενεῶν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.