BOOK OF PRAYER

Tenets of Prayer Prayer 1 Prayer 2 Prayer 3 Prayer 4 Prayer 5 Prayer 6
Prayer 7 Prayer 8 Prayer 9 Prayer 10 Prayer 11 Prayer 12 Prayer 13 Prayer 14
Prayer 15 Prayer 16 Prayer 17 Prayer 18 Prayer 19 Prayer 20 Prayer 21 Prayer 22
Prayer 23 Prayer 24 Prayer 25 Prayer 26 Prayer 27 Prayer 28 Prayer 29 Prayer 30
Prayer 31 Prayer 32 Prayer 33 Prayer 34 Prayer 35 Prayer 36 Prayer 37 Prayer 38
Prayer 39 Prayer 40 Prayer 41 Prayer 42 Prayer 43 Prayer 44 Prayer 45 Prayer 46
Prayer 47 Prayer 48 Prayer 49 Prayer 50 Prayer 51 Prayer 52 Prayer 53 Prayer 54
Prayer 55 Prayer 56 Prayer 57 Prayer 58 Prayer 59 Prayer 60 Prayer 61 Prayer 62
Prayer 63 Prayer 64 Prayer 65 Prayer 66 Prayer 67 Prayer 68 Prayer 69 Prayer 70
Prayer 71 Prayer 72 Prayer 73 Prayer 74 Prayer 75 Prayer 76 Prayer 77 Prayer 78
Prayer 79 Prayer 80 Prayer 81 Prayer 82 Prayer 83 Prayer 84 Prayer 85 Prayer 86
Prayer 87 Prayer 88 Prayer 89 Prayer 90 Prayer 91 Prayer 92 Prayer 93 Prayer 94
Prayer 95 Colophon

Prayer 57

Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart

Christ God, awe-inspiring name, vision of majesty,¹
inscrutable image of sublimity, infinite force,²
model of the light of salvation, defender of life,³
gate to the kingdom of heavenly rest,⁴
path of tranquility,⁵
refuge of renewal that ends sadness,⁶
almighty sovereign of all being,⁷
call to blessing,
voice of good news,
proclamation of bliss,
salve of immortality,
indescribable son of the one and only God.
What is impossible for me is easy for you.⁸
What is beyond my reach was put there by you.
What is inaccessible for me is close to you.
What is hidden from me in my fallen state
is within view for your beatitude.
What is impossible for me is done by you.
What is incalculable for me is already tallied by you, who are beyond telling.⁹
What is despair for me is consoling for you.
What is incurable for me is harmless for you.¹⁰
What is sighing for me is rejoicing for you.
What is heavy for me is light for you.
What effaces me is written for your power.
What is lost for me is conquered for you.
What is inexpressible for me is comprehensible for you.
What is gloom for me is radiance for you.
What is infinite for me you hold in the palm of your blessed hand.¹¹
What is somber for me is refreshing for you.
What sets me to flight, you withstand.
What holds me in check, you handily turn back.
What is fatal for me is nothing before your
almighty essence.

But you, merciful God of all, Lord Christ Jesus,
if you take pity on me, you can instantly find a way out of my predicament.
For the sake of the name of the majestic glory of your blessed Father,
for the sake of the compassionate will of your
Holy Spirit,
look with favor upon this relentless expression of
contrition for my wrongdoing
and the reproach I heap upon myself from the
depth of my heart.¹²
Look upon the distracted unreadiness of my nature.
Grant healing for my wounds,
and a way out for me, for I am lost,
deliverance from my multiple symptoms of
impending death,
and the path of life, for I am wayward,
renewal for me who am corrupt,
and entry into the light for me who am impious.
And if I have displayed unprecedented will,
how much more will you show your
characteristic goodness?
And if a sweet fruit came forth from a thorn bush,
how much sweeter is the taste of immortality from
the tree of life?
If I begged for mercy for those who hate me,
how would you not grant me, one of yours,
a second portion, Almighty, of your
undiminishing abundance?

Now, look at your greatness, Lord most high,
and then look at my smallness.
Accept this meager confession of my innumerable sins,
you who see everything in its totality.
And as you overlooked the fall of the Rock,¹³
may you ignore my vacillation, a small grain of sand.
And as you immediately pardoned him for his sins,
when David said “I have sinned,”¹⁴
may you do the same with your long-suffering
forbearance for the voice of my sighing heart,
which you grant to all generously and fairly,¹⁵
merciful creator of all.
Like a good and judicious conqueror,
who does not disdain me, the least of your captives,¹⁶
you did not destroy me, but renewed me,
who am sustained by your blood, compassionate Lord.¹⁷
For yours is salvation, from you is pardon,
and to you is befitting glory in all things forever.
Amen.

___________________
1. Jn. 12:45, 14:9.
2. Col. 1:15.
3. Jn. 8:12.
4. Jn. 10:9.
5. Jn. 14:6.
6. Rev. 21:4.
7. Col. 1:16.
8. Mk. 10:27.
9. Is. 40:12.
10. 2 Cor. 12:9.
11. cf. Is. 40:12.
12. Ps. 51 (Arm 50):17.
13. Mt. 26:69-75.
14. 2 Sam. 12:13.
15. Rom. 2:11.
16. cf. Paul, a prisoner of Christ: Eph. 3:1, Philem. 1:1; 1:9.
17. Some mss. “and nourished by your bosom.”

Acknowledgements:

Source: St. Gregory of Narek
Provided by: Thomas J. Samuelian