The prayer of St Macrina

St Macrina’s last prayer, whispered as she lay dying in AD 379 or 380. Her brother St Gregory of Nyssa heard it and wrote it down.

Picture: Fra Angelico, The Presentation in the Temple (detail: Simeon holds the Child), about 1440–42

Plain English

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.

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”.

When it is said

It is not a service prayer. St Macrina prayed it on the day she died, and her brother St Gregory of Nyssa wrote it down.

Anyone afraid of dying may pray it, whole or in part. It begins by thanking Christ for freeing us from the fear of death. It ends by asking Him to receive the soul into His hands.

Where it comes from

Author known

Who was St Macrina?

St Macrina was the sister of two great bishops, St Basil the Great and St Gregory of Nyssa. She persuaded her mother, St Emilia, to leave the world and settle in a monastery for women at Annesi, the family’s estate. After her mother died, Macrina led its sisters.

Orthodox Church in America, Venerable Macrina, sister of Saint Basil the Great; W. K. Lowther Clarke, introduction to The Life of St. Macrina (1916)

How we have her prayer

Basil died on 1 January 379. Later that year Gregory set out to visit her, and he was with her when she died. Her bed had been turned to face the east. As the sun went down, she stopped speaking to those around her and prayed to God in a whisper. Gregory could just hear it, and he wrote it down.

St Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina, translated by W. K. Lowther Clarke (1916); W. K. Lowther Clarke, introduction to The Life of St. Macrina (1916)

Her last moments

As she finished the prayer, St Macrina sealed her eyes, her mouth and her heart with the sign of the cross. At evening a lamp was brought in. She looked at the light and wanted to join the thanksgiving sung when the lamps are lit, but her voice had failed. Her brother Gregory wrote that she then “closed her life and her prayer together”.

St Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina, translated by W. K. Lowther Clarke (1916)

What the words mean

The flaming sword and the thief

When Adam was sent out of Eden, God set a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. In her prayer, St Macrina says Christ broke through it. On the cross, one of the men crucified beside Jesus asked to be remembered when Jesus came into His kingdom. Jesus promised him Paradise that same day. Macrina asks to be remembered too.

Genesis 3:24; Luke 23:42-43

The Scripture in it

Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Quoted Christ frees us from the fear of death, and brings to nothing the one who had the power of death, the devil.

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Echoed The dead raised at the last trumpet.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Galatians 3:13 Echoed “By becoming both”: Christ became a curse for us.

God made Him Who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 Echoed “By becoming both”: God made Christ, Who knew no sin, to be sin for us.

So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24 Echoed The flaming sword that guarded the way to the tree of life.

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:42-43 Echoed The man crucified beside Jesus asks to be remembered in His kingdom.

One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side. So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

Luke 16:22-26 Echoed Lazarus carried by angels to Abraham’s side, and the great chasm that no one can cross.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20 Echoed “I too was crucified with You”: Paul’s words, “I have been crucified with Christ”.

From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Psalm 22:10 Echoed “Upon Whom I was cast from my mother’s womb”: the psalm’s words to God.

You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

Psalm 74:13-14 Quoted “You have crushed the heads of the dragon”: the psalm’s words in the Greek Old Testament.

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic …

Mark 2:10 Echoed Jesus has power on earth to forgive sins.

May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

Psalm 141:2 Echoed “Like incense before You”: the psalm asks that prayer rise to God like incense.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

In Greek

Σὺ ἔλυσας ἡμῖν, Κύριε, τοῦ θανάτου τὸν φόβον. Σὺ ζωῆς ἀληθινῆς ἀρχὴν ἡμῖν ἐποίησας τὸ τέλος τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς. Σὺ πρὸς καιρὸν διαναπαύεις ὕπνῳ τὰ σώματα, καὶ πάλιν ἀφυπνίζεις ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι.

Σὺ δίδως παρακαταθήκην τῇ γῇ τὴν ἡμετέραν γῆν, ἣν ταῖς Σαῖς χερσὶ διεμόρφωσας· καὶ πάλιν ἀνακομίζῃ ὃ δέδωκας, ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ χάριτι μεταμορφώσας τὸ θνητὸν ἡμῶν καὶ ἄσχημον.

Σὺ ἐῤῥύσω ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς κατάρας καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀμφότερα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν γενόμενος. Σὺ συνέθλασας τὰς κεφαλὰς τοῦ δράκοντος, τοῦ διὰ τοῦ χάσματος τῆς παρακοῆς τῷ λαιμῷ διαλαβόντος τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Σὺ ὡδοποίησας ἡμῖν τὴν ἀνάστασιν, συντρίψας τὰς πύλας τοῦ ᾅδου, καὶ καταργήσας τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου διάβολον. Σὺ ἔδωκας τοῖς φοβουμένοις Σε σημείωσιν τὸν τύπον τοῦ ἁγίου Σου σταυροῦ εἰς καθαίρεσιν τοῦ ἀντικειμένου καὶ εἰς ἀσφάλειαν τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς.

Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ αἰώνιος, ᾧ ἐπεῤῥίφην ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου· ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐξ ὅλης δυνάμεως, ᾧ ἀνέθηκα καὶ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ νεότητός μου, καὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν. Σύ μοι παρακατάστησον φωτεινὸν ἄγγελον τὸν χειραγωγοῦντά με πρὸς τὸν τόπον τῆς ἀναψύξεως, ὅπου τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, παρὰ τοὺς κόλπους τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων·

ὁ διακόψας τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν, καὶ ἀποδοὺς τῷ παραδείσῳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν συσταυρωθέντα Σοι, καὶ ὑποπεσόντα τοῖς οἰκτιρμοῖς Σου· κἀμοῦ μνήσθητι ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ Σου· ὅτι κἀγὼ Σοὶ συνεσταυρώθην, καθηλώσασα ἐκ τοῦ φόβου Σου τὰς σάρκας μου· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν κριμάτων Σου φοβηθεῖσα.

Μὴ διαχωρισάτω με τὸ χάσμα τὸ φοβερὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν Σου. Μηδὲ ἀντιστήτω ὁ βάσκανος τῇ ὁδῷ μου, μηδὲ εὑρεθείη κατενώπιον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν Σου ἡ ἁμαρτία μου, εἴ τι σφαλεῖσα διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ἐν λόγῳ, ἢ ἔργῳ, ἢ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἥμαρτον,

ὁ ἔχων ἐπὶ γῆς ἐξουσίαν ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας, ἄνες μοι· ἵνα ἀναψύξω, καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐνώπιόν Σου ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματός μου, μὴ ἔχουσα σπῖλον ἐν τῇ μορφῇ τῆς ψυχῆς μου. Ἀλλ' ἄμωμος, καὶ ἀκηλίδωτος προσδεχθείη ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν ταῖς χερσί Σου, ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν Σου.

From St Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Macrina, in Migne’s Patrologia Graeca, volume 46 (Paris, 1863), columns 984 to 985, read from the scan of the book on archive.org.

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