Prayer Corner

Morning Prayer

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hast raised us from our beds, and has gathered us together at the hour of prayer, give us grace in the opening of our mouths, and accept the thanks that we give according to our ability, and teach us Your commandments. For we know not how to pray as we should, if  You, O Lord, by Your

Holy Spirit, does not lead us. Wherefore, we pray to You , pardon and forgive,  whatever sins we have committed until this present hour, in word, in deed, or in thought; for if You will remember our transgressions, O Lord, Lord, who shall stand? For with You is deliverance. For You are  holy, a helper, and the strong defender of our life, and our song shall always be of You  Blessed and glorified is the might of Your Kingdom, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm 62

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You;   my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land  where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

Fasting is acceptable to God when abstention from food is accompanied by refraining from sins, from envy, from hatred, from calumny, from vainglory, from wordiness, from other evils. He who is fasting the true fast `that is agreeable' to God ought to shun all these things with all his strength and zeal, and remain impregnable and unshakeable against all the attacks of the Evil one that are planned from that quarter. On the other hand, he who practices abstention from food, but does not keep self-control in the face of the aforesaid passions, is like unto one who lays down splendid foundations for a house, yet takes serpents and scorpions and vipers as fellow-dwellers therein

- St. Photios The Great, from Sermon on Wednesday of Cheesfare Week