Contents
First thought. Our Father, who art in heaven
Second thought. Hallowed be your name
Third reflection. Thy kingdom come
Fourth reflection. Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth
Fifth reflection. Give us our daily bread today!
Reflection six. And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors.
Seventh reflection. And do not lead us into temptation
Eighth reflection. But deliver us from evil
Ninth reflection. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

First thought. Our Father, who art in Heaven

What a great good it is for us that we can cry out to God, the Creator of heaven and earth: “Our Father, who art in Heaven!” (Matthew 6:9-13) God is Infinite, Almighty, All-Holy and All-Good, the Immeasurable Fullness of Perfections – and to Him we cry with filial boldness: “Our Father, who is also to Heaven!”

How much consolation and joy for a person lies in the words: God is your Father! Here for us is an inexhaustible source of hope, hope, generosity, peace and consolation amid the sorrows and misfortunes of this life.

What happiness – we can speak with God with love and boldness, as a son speaks with his father; we can speak without embarrassment and slavish fear; We can speak as our heart prompts us to speak: for God is our Father! And in the confusion of my heart, and troubled by the reproaches of my conscience, I can prostrate myself before Him with outstretched arms, begging Him for forgiveness of my sins and to grant me mercy, just as children, aware of their guilt, beg their parents, with devotion, with hope!

The Father helps his children: and in all our needs, sorrows and illnesses, we will open before Him everything that burdens our hearts, we will open with faith and hope that the Heavenly Father listens to us and will not leave us!

The Father willingly accepts petitions from the lips of his children, although he himself knows these needs incomparably better than the asking children: and we, no matter what we pray for, will ask, beg the Heavenly Father, with the hope that our prayers will reach Him, without worrying much about revealing our needs, our sorrows and illnesses to Him; for Heavenly Father knows everything infinitely better than us; sees all our needs and sorrows, and hears all our sighs.

The Father looks mercifully and with sympathy at the illnesses, sorrows and mistakes of his children; willingly forgives them when they beg for forgiveness of their guilt and unfeignedly promise correction: and we, recognizing our sins, will not indulge in cowardice and despair; for the Good Heavenly Father will not reject a contrite and humble heart. Let us prostrate ourselves before God, let us ask Him and beg: be merciful to us sinners and have mercy on us! He, as the Good Father, will hear our prayer and show us His mercy.

Our Heavenly Father is God: therefore He knows our hidden sufferings, which, perhaps, we cannot or do not want to reveal to any person. Our Heavenly Father is God: therefore He can always deliver us from sorrow and illness, or alleviate them, if only it pleases Him. Let us prostrate ourselves before Him with filial devotion and hope, repeating the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven!” (Matthew 6:9-13)

O Infinite Goodness! You, most merciful God! “In Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You show mercy to all Your fallen and wandering children, and You want all to be saved!”(John 1:18). You gave us Your Son, so that in Him we would know Your boundless love; so that in Him we may receive the opportunity and strength to free ourselves from sin, condemnation and death, through Him to return to You again, to be Your sons, to unite with You again, and to eternally remain in blissful unity with You and with all those who have pleased You!

Heavenly Father! We believe and confess that “Jesus Christ is Your only begotten Son and our God” (John 1:18), and we, by Your grace, are His brethren, Your children; Jesus Christ is Your Heir, and we are His joint heirs and heirs of Your promises, if we remain faithful to His saving teaching and the guidance of Your All-Holy Spirit.

“Heavenly Father! You are the only God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:6): You created everyone, You provide for everyone, and You give the saving gifts of Your grace to everyone. You are the Father to whom everyone resorts in their needs, to whom everyone pleads in their sorrows and misfortunes. The king sitting on the throne, and the homeless beggar, and the child who can barely form Your name in his mouth, and the old man, from old age and exhaustion, who can barely open his lips, stretch out their hands to You. We all resort to You as to the Father and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth and the entire human race: for You are the King of kings and Lord of lords; You are God and the Good and Most Merciful Father!

“Our Father who art in heaven!” (Matthew 6:9) You are the Father of all; and when we pray and cry to You: Our Father! We pray for all those who call You, their God and Creator, or do not call them their Father.

What an honor and what happiness for us that we can pray for all people, that “we”must pray for everyone, having all one Father in Heaven! How joyful it is for a soul that deeply loves its neighbors to pray for everyone! How many can we help with money, bread, advice, consolation? But we can pray for everyone; We can stretch out our hands to heaven for everyone, bow our knees before the throne of the Most High and cry out from the depths of our Soul: You are Our Heavenly Father! You are the Father of all, you provide for everyone, “Your sun shines on the evil and on the good, and brings rain on the righteous and the unjust”(Matthew 5:45); Through Your Only Begotten Son You have prepared salvation for the whole world, You call everyone to salvation and offer everyone the greatest gifts of Your grace both in this life and in the future!

O Most Blessed God and Our Father! We thank You for Your boundless mercy towards us and to the entire human race, and we pray to You with filial devotion, with humility and trust in Your boundless goodness: hear our prayers, and do not reject our petitions!

Second thought. Hallowed be Thy name

Our Father who art in Heaven! Your name in itself is holy and most holy from eternity and into boundless eternity: but Your name must be known and confessed by all people; everyone needs to call upon You, glorify, and worship before You in spirit and truth.

All people should know that You are eternal, infinite and all-perfect God; that You are the Creator of heaven and earth; that You are the all-wise Almighty and Ruler of all creatures, visible and invisible; that You are the good Father of all men.

Everyone should know and confess Your name, and calling You God and Father, reverently glorify Your greatest perfections, Your immeasurable greatness, Your omnipotence and wisdom, Your all-perfect holiness and infinite goodness.

Everyone should know and confess that You, the Good One, “make Your sun rise on the evil and the good, and send rain on the just and the unjust”(Matthew 5:45); that “You open your hand, and fill everything with the gifts of Your goodness” (Ps. 103:28); that “Thou art the Father of generosity and all joy, and Thy tender mercies are in all Thy works” (Ps. 144:8-9), “Thou givest to all life and breath and all things, and by Thee we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25-28).

Heavenly Father! Hallowed be Thy name! May Your name be holy in us too! May we be holy in the image of Your all-perfect holiness, so that we may worthily glorify Your all-holy name: “For this is Your will, our holiness” (1 Thess. 4:3); You call everyone to this when you say: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Hallowed be Thy name not only in us, but also through us in our neighbors! Let everyone, as far as possible, stimulate his neighbors to holiness, on whom he can only influence by word, example, and power.

If we love all people, as You, Lord, love everyone; if we try to be perfect in this love, as You, good God, are perfect; if we forgive our enemies, as You forgive and have mercy; if, as much as we can, we give to those in need of our help, as You give to everyone; if we fulfill Your commandments as You please, and every day we try to conform our thoughts, feelings, desires and deeds more and more to Your all-perfect will: then Your name is Hallowed in us.

Heavenly Father! Hallowed and glorified is Your name from all of us, as He glorified it on earth “Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ!” (John 1:18) Let us glorify Your name with all our deeds, following the example of Our Savior, who said: “I am the one who eats food, which you do not know. My purpose is that I may do the will of Him who sent Me and complete His work!”(John 4:32–34)

Oh, with what humility and self-condemnation should we look at the image of the perfections contemplated in Jesus Christ! How far we are from Thy glory, O God! – our Holiness was our food, life, was everything for us!

But although until now we have been at a distance from our Savior and Lord; at least from now on we will seek Him with all our hearts; Let us pray to the Heavenly Father, and speak not only with our lips, but also with our hearts and deeds; “Hallowed be Thy name!” (Matthew 6:9-13) And may our thoughts, desires and our whole life be one consonant repetition of our prayer to You, good God and Our Father; “Hallowed be thy name!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

Third reflection. Thy kingdom come

Heavenly Father! Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ descended to earth to renew and spread your renewed Kingdom here in the human race; and He taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come!” Therefore, in the name of Thy Son, our Lord, following His commandment, we pray to Thee, Holy God: let Thy Kingdom come to us; let it spread among people; may He always be with us and may we always be in Him; May Your Kingdom triumph over the kingdom of sinful darkness, over the kingdom of death and hell!

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of light: dispel the darkness of ignorance and the darkness of delusion throughout all the borders of our fatherland preserved and blessed by You and in all the ends of the universe, so that all of us people “knew You, the only true God, and whom You sent Jesus Christ”, always “In spirit and truth we worshiped You, the only true one, in the Trinity to the glorified God, and had eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of strength: grant us the strength of strength to have determination for good undertakings, firmness in the fight against sin and constancy in casting off the bonds of sin and in acquiring the freedom of the children of God! Grant us to always retain this freedom and never give it away for any earthly goods, for any temporary benefits or pleasures!

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of love: help us by the power of Your grace, that we may imitate the example of Your boundless love, by which You gave us Your only begotten Son, “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16); grant that we may imitate the example of Jesus Christ, who loved us to death; may His love always be a model for our love, and may we love You and all our neighbors, as You have loved us!

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom on earth to this day is a Kingdom militant against the flesh, the world and hell: protect us with the weapon of Your omnipotent Spirit, so that we do not fear our enemies, but stand against them courageously, end the fight victoriously and receive from You on the last day an unfading crown of glory and bliss.

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of grace, the Kingdom of mercy, which we have not earned in any way and cannot deserve: may Your grace come to us, which was revealed with such power in the true followers of Christ, in the chosen warriors of this Kingdom, may it come to our hearts, may it always be with us and assist us on the path of our salvation. For without Your saving grace we are like dry branches broken off from a vine, without fruit, without strength, without life, we deserve nothing more than to be thrown into the fire. But where Your Grace Reigns, there You reign; and when You reign, good God! “Then sin does not reign in our mortal body” (Rom. 6:12); then the victory of the spirit over the flesh is undoubted.

Heavenly Father! Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of glory. Jesus Christ acquired this Kingdom through His merits for Himself and for us. He is Lord and King in this Kingdom; for You have given Him “all authority in Heaven and on earth”(Matt. 28:18). And we are now, by the grace given to us in Jesus Christ, Your children and joint heirs of Your Son, Our Savior, heirs of Your Heavenly Abodes and Blessings, according to the Promise of Your Only Begotten Son, Our Savior.

Heavenly Father! May this Kingdom come to us. We strive for it with all our being: for Your Kingdom is the Kingdom of love, joy and peace, the Kingdom of perfection, the Kingdom of eternal peace and bliss.

Cebestical Father! May Thy eternal Kingdom come to us: and then all our tears will be dried up; all suffering suffered for Your sake will receive reward; every darkness of sorrow and illness will be replaced by the light of joy and joy, battle with victory, feat of war with triumph, suffering with bliss, humility with glorification, faith with vision, hope with possession, love will be united with complete pleasure, the beginning will receive perfection!

Heavenly Father! May this Thy kingdom come to all of us and to all our neighbors! You are the God of mercy and the Father of bounties; be good and merciful to all tribes and peoples: illumine everyone who has not yet known You with the light of truth; attract them, by the power of Your Spirit, to the path of salvation, and lead them into the mountainous villages of Your eternal Kingdom, so that all together there forever we will glorify You and Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Our Savior, and the All-Holy Spirit, our Comforter!

Fourth reflection. Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth

Heavenly Father! Thy will be done! For You want, You command, You arrange everything according to Your wisdom and goodness.

You know what is useful and saving for us, but we often do not know this; You know the path that leads us to bliss, but we often forget about it and want to follow the crossroads.

Woe to the child who is torn from his mother’s arms and does not want to obey her leadership! It falls easily, suffers harm and often mourns its childish frivolity with bitter tears. Woe to the patient who, carried away by waywardness, rejects the advice of a wise doctor! He, out of ignorance, may use poison instead of medicine, and instead of the desired relief from the disease, he may ruin his life. Woe to us if we do not obey Your, Lord, wise and good will: for, abandoning Your Holy will, we abandon the one true path to peace, happiness and bliss, and deviate towards crossroads leading to destruction!

Heavenly Father! Your will is the will of the wise Father, who, whatever he does with his children, does everything for good purposes. You know what is better for us, whether to live in peace and contentment, or in sorrow and need. You lead us along a narrow path to bliss; for you know that otherwise we could deviate from this goal. You allow our hearts to be wounded by the wounds of sorrows and illnesses; for you know that without these wounds we would not have noticed Your fatherly right hand, we would not have listened to Your loving voice. You punish Your disobedient children; for you know that without punishment they would not turn to obedience.

Heavenly Father! “Thy will be done:” for Your will is the will of the good and merciful Father. You allow sorrow in order to give joy through it; You send illnesses and wounds to heal and bring health; You take in order to give more abundantly; You reprove in order to correct; You punish in order to make those punished happy and blissful.

Heavenly Father! “Thy will be done:” for Your will is the will of almighty God. Who can resist You, Omnipotent Lord of heaven and earth? If we freely decide to do Your will, with reverence for Your name, with childlike love for You; You reward us, as a good and child-loving Father, with peace, joy, undoubted hope for the joys of heaven. And when we resist Your will, then Your mighty right hand rises against us, like disobedient children; and by strict measures forces us to fulfill Your commands when we do not want to voluntarily obey Your holy will. He who is not brought to obedience by the measures of love is humbled and subjected to the duty of Thy justice and omnipotence.

Heavenly Father! Thy will be done! May Your will be done in our souls and bodies! May we always walk in the paths of Your commandments! For he is not a good and faithful servant who knows the will of his master and does not do it; but he who, knowing it, fulfills it with filial devotion and love. Those who say: Lord! God! but doing Your will. Blessed will not be the one who only accepts Your will by ear, but the one who follows it in deeds. What good is it for us to hear, know, believe in Your Divine teaching if we do not fulfill Your all-good will? Knowledge and faith without works will only serve to ensure that we will be the more irresponsible at Thy judgment, and the more severely we will be condemned: for “a servant who knows the will of his master, and having neither prepared nor done according to his will, will suffer many stripes” (Luke 12:47).

How often do we say: Our Father, Thy will be done! And at the same time, we are careless about observing Your will! How often do we talk about Your commandments, and having stopped talking, we immediately forget what we were talking about, and again we go the same way as we walked before, fulfilling not Your will, good God, but the will of our heart, corrupted by sin! How often have we already laid our hands on the lap of Your good and easy service, and immediately turned back again!

Heavenly Father! We pray to You, grant us, having known Your holy will, to always fulfill it! Grant to us that all our thoughts and feelings, desires and deeds, words and silence, sorrows and consolations may be pleasing to You, worthy of Your favor, and serve for Your glory!

Heavenly Father! Thy holy Angels, always seeing Thy face, listen to all the movements of Thy will, always burn with zeal for the fulfillment of Thy commands and always rejoice, serving before Thy face day and night: grant, O Holy God! Yes, and we just as carefully, constantly, zealously and joyfully fulfill Your holy will on earth as the Angels fulfill it in Heaven; “Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

Heavenly Father! There, before Your face, the faces of your luminous Angels and Your saints always burn with the fire of fiery love for You, they always reverently bow before You, thank and glorify Your name: grant, and we always, in happiness and in sorrow, love You, our God, we love with all our hearts and with all our soul, we always reverently worship You, for everything we thank You, and with all We glorify You with our deeds, our good and most merciful God! “Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

Heavenly Father! There, in Your heavenly abodes, everyone, like one soul, burning with love for You, deeply loves each other; there is eternal peace and unanimity; there is no envy, no hatred, no enmity, no disagreement, no exaltation, no malice: grant that among us holy love may not fail, and we love each other, as Christ our Savior commanded us; let us be patient and forbearing with each other; Let us not envy, be arrogant, or be proud; let us not be irritated, let us not remember insults; let us not rejoice in untruth, but rejoice in the truth; Let us endure everything complacently; Let us do good to one another, each according to his own strength! “Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

Heavenly Father! There, in Your bright villages, where everyone is illuminated by the light of Your face, there “all” have pure thoughts, everyone has holy desires and intentions, there everyone enjoys peace, joy and bliss, enlightened by the Light of Your glory: grant, by Your great goodness, that we, mentally contemplating the all-seeing and omnipresent You, our God, will always remain pure and innocent in your thoughts, desires, pleasures, actions, in your entire life! “Thy will be done as it is in Heaven and on earth!” (Matthew 6:9–13).

Fifth reflection. Give us our daily bread today!

Heavenly Father! You have given us life and breath: You will give us both food and drink; for life is more than food and drink. You have given us such a wisely constructed body as a beautiful dwelling of the immortal spirit: You will not refuse us clothing; for the body is more excellent than clothing.

Heavenly Father! Your only begotten Son, our Savior, teaches us: “This is the message your heavenly Father demands, before you ask” (Matthew 6:8). You know that we need food, drink and clothing; You know our needs, and we pray to You with hope: do not turn Your right hand away from us, and grant us everything we need in this life!

We look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and You, good Father, feed them; for they are Thy creatures. And we are Your creatures, Your children, and, with childish devotion to You, we hope that You will not leave us without food, but will give us our daily bread.

We look at the lilies of the field, how they grow, neither toil nor spin, and You, the All-Bountiful One, dress them so beautifully that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like each of them! If the grass of the field, which grows today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, You, good God! This is how you dress; then you will not deprive us, Your children, of the necessary cover.

Christ the Savior teaches us: “Are not two birds (sparrows) valued by one assar? And not a single one of them will fall without the will of your Father. For you and the main things, read all the essence. You eat many grains of the best” (Matthew 10:29). So You, Good God! You care about us, and we hope that you will give us everything we need to continue this life, just as you gave us body and life and the immortal Spirit.

And if You, the All-Generous One, had not opened Your hand and did not send us food, then what would all our worries serve? How could we even raise our hands to the bread if You did not give us life and strength and movement?

Abundant in mercies and all-merciful Heavenly Father! Instead of all our worries, as Your children, with childlike love and hope we cry to You, the Giver of all good gifts: “Give us this day our daily bread!” (Matthew 6:9-13)

“The raven’s chicks cry to You, and You give them food” (Ps. 147:9); “Lions roar before You and ask for food, and You feed them: so we, Your children, ask You for our daily bread; We ask no more than what is required to satisfy our essential needs; We ask not for excess, so as not to suffer harm from excess, and not to be exposed to danger on the path to salvation, but what is necessary. We do not shy away from diligence and labor, as You have determined for everyone the condition for receiving bread”(Ps. 103: 21-23); but we pray for Your Goodness, that Your all-powerful blessing always rests on our labors and fructifies them.

O Most Merciful God and Our Father! We know Your holy will: “Your only begotten Son, who is in Your bosom” (John 1:18), revealed it to us; Grant to us, by the action of Your grace, that first of all we seek the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, and we pray to You that all other things necessary for us on the path of this life may be added to this!

We pray to You, Good Heavenly Father, that our spirit may not faint from the needs and sorrows that are everywhere close to us and surrounding us on all sides in the country of this world; We pray to You, surrendering with all our souls to Your will and Your all-good care for us; We pray, deciding by our diligence and moderation in the use of Thy gifts to become worthy of Thy blessing. And we hope that You, the Father of generosity and all joy, will hear our prayers and will not reject our petitions!

Reflection six. And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors.

Heavenly Father! We are all great debtors to You. For we are all many sinners, and how can we satisfy Your righteousness for these our debts? What ransom will we give? There is nothing we can do to atone for our sins. Therefore, we all need to ask Your mercy for the forgiveness of our debts.

Heavenly Father! You want to free us from our debts, and save us from the punishment deserved by our sins: therefore we believe and hope that You will forgive us our debts; We believe and hope that You will not remember our sins at Your world judgment, if here, by Your infinite goodness, You forgive us for them and cover them with the merits of Your Only Begotten Son, who suffered and died for our sins.

I recognize my guilt before You, merciful God, I recognize my unworthiness. Alas for me! Every day I add sins to sins; and do I have a day, do I have an hour in my life when I could say: behold, I have not sinned! And on a rare day I can say: I lived better today than yesterday!

Alas for me! More often I must confess before the judgment of my conscience and Thy all-seeing eye, O God! That the inclination towards sin is becoming more uncontrollable in me from day to day, sinful habits are stronger, the burden of my debts is heavier, the number of sins is greater, and the love for good is weaker, the fight against evil is more fickle, the strength to overcome enemies is scarcer.

I am a great sinner! The root of sins has penetrated deep into my entire being! Both soul and body groan under the burden of sin! – Heavenly Father! When I ascend into myself, both my mind and heart are filled with the consciousness and feeling of my sinfulness; and one thing remains in the soul, one thing speaks in me, both thought and feeling and language: God! Be merciful to me, a sinner! Leave me my debts! Forgive me my sins!

O most kind and most merciful God! How numerous and grave my sins are, how much they prompt me to cry out to You: forgive me my debts; I have just as much hope and hope in Your mercy, in Your goodness, Your boundless great deeds of mercy and Your immutable promises.

Your only begotten Son taught us, O good God! That You forgive us our sins when we resort to You; He himself gave us a prayer in which we ask You: “Forgive us our debts!” He showed us the way to salvation, and in satisfaction of Your justice for our sins He gave Himself up to death. His apostles everywhere proclaimed the remission of sins in the name of Christ the Savior, as of old in the Prophets it was written that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:47).

As we know that You are the God of mercy and the Father of mercies; that Jesus Christ died for us; that, at the inspiration of Your Spirit, the Prophets foretold about this, and the Apostles throughout the world preached salvation through Jesus Christ: we know just as surely that You, All-Good God! “You do not want the death of the sinner, but turn the wicked from his way, and live for him” (Ezek. 33:11).

Trusting in Your infinite mercy, in Your Promises and the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world and rose again for our justification and salvation, we cry to You: Most Good Father, “forgive us our debts!” (Matthew 6:9-13) You know all our sins; You can and want to release them to all who come to You with repentance and hope: and we resort to Your mercy and pray with a contrite and humble heart: Good Father! Forgive us our sins!

Christ the Savior taught us: “blesseds of mercy, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). “If you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). And so we ourselves will forgive, forgive our neighbors’ sins against us, before we begin to say: “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors!” (Matthew 6:9-13).

If we ask the Heavenly Father for the remission of our sins, but we ourselves do not forgive our neighbors, then our words clearly contradict our deeds. We ourselves do not have love for our neighbors, and we ask God for His love for us; We ourselves are not merciful, and we pray that God will be merciful to us!

We do not want to forgive our neighbors their small sins against us: what right do we have to ask God to forgive us our many sins? Woe to us if we are so hard-hearted! For the Lord Savior says to such: “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, your Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15). “Judgement is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13).

We know the parable spoken by the Savior about a hard-hearted servant. This man had barely received forgiveness from his master for an extremely large debt, when he himself then treated his comrade cruelly and mercilessly because of a small debt, for which the master subjected him to the same punishment to which he, merciless, subjected his comrade. The Lord Savior concluded this parable with the following threat: “So will my Heavenly Father do to you, if you do not let each of your brothers let their sins go from your hearts (Matthew 18:35). So, woe to us if we do not forgive our neighbors! For judgment without mercy awaits us.

We know the example of our Savior, who forgave all His enemies and on the cross prayed for them to You, the Heavenly Father: “Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We also know the instruction of Jesus Christ: “If you bring your gift to the altar, remember her, as if your brother has something for you: leave your gift before the Altar, and go first to humble yourself with your brother, and then come and bring your gift”(Matthew 5:23-24).

We do not need anything so much as the mercy of God, so that He forgives us our debts. But together we know that only under the condition of our forgiveness to our neighbors does the Heavenly Father want to forgive us our sins: how unfairly we act when, thinking about revenge on those who have offended us, we pray to God: forgive us our debts! We have not yet insulted Him!

But, good God, our Heavenly Father! Help us from now on by the power of Your Holy Spirit: and we, with the assistance of Your grace, will forgive offenses to all our neighbors; and You, Most Merciful, forgive us all our debts, forgive us all our sins!

We pray to You, O Lord God, infinite in mercy! We pray in the name of Your Only Begotten Son, who forgave His enemies and prayed for them before You, and commanded us to forgive others and pray for mercy on them, we pray to You, Heavenly Father: “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors!” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Seventh reflection. And do not lead us into temptation

Heavenly Father! We see and realize how difficult it is for us, with so many temptations, to resist sin! It is difficult and impossible if we are left to ourselves; it is impossible to be free from sin amid the countless dangers of being exposed to sin. Wherever we are, wherever we look, everywhere we meet the nets of sin, for we always carry with us the same weak and sin-bending nature; It is difficult for us to control, in accordance with Your holy law, our thoughts, feelings, desires and deeds. Examples of vice come across us here and there, have a strong effect on us, and forcefully drag us to crossroads leading to destruction. The seductions of sin strive to penetrate through all the senses and darken our heart. Thousands of cases attract us now to revenge, now to arrogance, now to deeds of unrighteousness, now to sensual pleasures. Snares of sin on all sides: snares from hell and world; networks from our own wishes and passions; nets from the passions and vices of others; networks visible and invisible!

Heavenly Father! All the destructive nets surrounding us are open before You. You know our powerlessness to resist the power of so many enemies. But You, Almighty, can strengthen our weakness so that we do not fall in battle with our enemies. So, to whom, if not to You, O good and most merciful One, should we turn and ask for help in our needs? You know all the cases in which sin has overcome us; You also know those in which we will later overcome, if You do not help us with Your strength to win. Who should we turn to, who should we seek help from, if not from You, Good God?

Heavenly Father! We pray to You in the words of Your Only Begotten Son: “Do not lead us into temptation!” (Matthew 6:9-13) Guide and protect us with Your grace, so that we do not fall into the snare of sin. Strengthen us so that the battle that lies ahead of us is not beyond our strength, and the enemy who attacks us does not defeat us. Illuminate us with the light of Your Spirit, so that no temporary good will deceive us and remove us from the path of Your commandments. Be always merciful to us, most gracious God! And do not deprive us of Your saving grace, so that we never forget about Your love and favor towards us, and do not get carried away by the deceptive pleasures of short-term pleasures. Let us feel the sweetness of love for You and close communication with You, so that vice will not be deceiving for us, and the fulfillment of Your commandments will not be a heavy and unbearable burden for us, but a good yoke and a light burden. Grant that our sorrows and illnesses will not be too difficult for us and harmful to our salvation. Grant that temptations to evil do not suddenly come upon us, and we do not fall under their blows, as if suddenly caught in a storm. Grant that we may always carry in our souls the image of Your Son, Christ Jesus, who suffered and died for us, so that, looking at Him, we do not weaken in patience, and do not stretch out our hands to evil. Cover and protect us, good God! From untruth, which wears the appearance of virtue, from the devil, who takes the form of an angel of light, from predatory wolves with their machinations, hiding under sheep’s clothing!

O our most kind and most merciful Heavenly Father! Grant us, by Your Grace, to stand courageously and generously in the field of saving deeds, so that no insult leads us to revenge, no seduction of self-interest leads us to injustice, no honor to arrogance, no sorrow to cowardice, no bad example to imitation, no difficulty to untruth! “Lead us not into temptation!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

Eighth reflection. But deliver us from evil

To whom shall we turn with the prayer: “Deliver us from evil?” (Matthew 6:9-13) To whom, if not to You, the only and all-good Father? You alone can save us from falling. You alone know exactly the time and moment when it is useful and salutary for us to free ourselves from this or that evil. You alone know what burden our shoulders can lift, and what burden we cannot bear, but we will fall under its weight if Your right hand does not strengthen us: therefore we cry to You: Heavenly Father! Save us from all evil: “Deliver us from evil!” (Matthew 6:9–13)

You, Omnipresent and Omniscient, before anyone calls on You from the burden of illness, know all sorrows and sufferings, no matter how anyone suffers, and You alone can either prevent them or give strength to endure them; for under this old heaven there is sorrow, illness and suffering everywhere. Here the unfortunate person struggles with poverty, and often, despite all his efforts, cannot have as much as he needs for daily food. There another lies on his sick bed and suffers in great suffering: he would like to die, but death does not come to him. And there the hail strikes the fat fields and levels them with bare earth, and the farmer looks and sighs: for he has nothing to reap. In vain did he till the soil by the sweat of his brow; After exhausting labor, he is a beggar and asks for alms. In another country, famine snatches away many thousands from among the living; in another, a deadly plague produces the same devastation; and in another, war or other disasters. – Heavenly Father! You see how people are struck by hunger, sword, disease, and all other disasters! You hear the last sufferings and groans of the dying; You hear the sighs and cries of the living! O Lord of life and death! Who can count all human illnesses and sufferings and all types of deaths? And who knows all this except You, the only Almighty and Lord of heaven and earth?

Most gracious and almighty Heavenly Father! We cannot beg You: deliver us from all these evils and misfortunes! For we know that although illnesses and sufferings did not come directly from Your good will; You, as the Source of goodness and bliss, could not establish them on earth: but we know that when this earth was defiled by sin and subjected to a curse, according to Your wise and righteous will, sorrow, illness and suffering were allowed here as corrective means for the good of people, and we must certainly surrender to Your holy will, may it be with us according to Your incomprehensible wisdom and goodness.

But, in reverence for Your decrees, we, like obedient children, with unconditional devotion to Your will, bow down before Your greatness and ask: Heavenly Father! If this is good for us, if it is pleasing to You, ease this illness, heal these wounds, extinguish this fire, send mercy to these poor, comfort the inconsolable, strengthen the weak, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked. Good Father! If this is good for us, if it pleases You, let this cup of sorrows and suffering pass by from us! – But not ours, but Your good will be done!

Besides these evils, which are often beyond our control, there are others that we can avoid if we have a strong determination. Such evil is sin, the greatest evil of all evils. Sin is terrible in its beginning, in its continuation, and in its end. We must especially pray to the Heavenly Father for liberation from this evil.

Good Heavenly Father! Deliver us all from sin, both children and elders, both the innocent and those who have fallen into the depths of evil! Deliver from destructive sins the multitude of innocent members of Your holy Church, all children who are still free from grave sins and retain the Grace of innocence bestowed upon them in the waters of Holy Baptism! You, All-Holy One, see how often one grave sin casts one into the abyss of vice, and one vice entails many others! Save, God! Children and young men from every vice; keep them in purity and innocence, like the meek lambs of Your flock, like the fragrant flowers of Your newly planted garden – Your holy Church.

Save, Good God! And those who have already lost their innocence, have lost the freedom of Your children, and groan under the yoke of sin; free them from the snares into which they have fallen. Strengthen them so that they can resist the deception of sin; so that neither internal sinful attractions nor external temptations enslave them to the dominion of sin.

Heavenly Father! Be merciful to those in whom sin has become a habit and reigns with deadly cruelty. They are miserable slaves of sin; Whatever sin inspires them to do, like slaves. Give them, good God! Let them think about the terrible consequences of sin and feel their misfortune! Give them strength to free themselves from the bonds of sin and turn to the freedom of Your children! Let them see the beauty of the spiritual light, and feel how joyful and longing it is for them to return again into Your arms, to again enter the path of salvation, to follow it firmly, and, having been clothed with power from above, to be ready for every good deed!

From the habit of sinning little by little comes complete carelessness about what is most important and necessary. Woe to those who live as if there is no God, or as if God does not provide for the world, and is not the Rewarder of the righteous and the wicked – as if man does not have an immortal soul! – What regret, what tears is worthy, that sometimes people who have knowledge of good and evil, who are even called Christians, who believe in the existence of eternal life and righteous reward for all according to their deeds, so carelessly indulge in sin, as if there is no difference between good and evil, there is no law, no conscience, there is no other life for them, no reward for virtues and punishment for sins!

Dear God! All-generous Father! Deliver us from this evil, deliver us all from this terrible evil, the source of all evil! Deliver us from this terrible carelessness about salvation, from this destructive oblivion about You, our God, and about Christ our Savior; – deliver us from this blindness of spirit, from this hardening of the heart and insensibility, which plunges a person into the depths of evil!

Lord our God! Deliver and save us, Your children, from the terrible snares of the evil one, who from the beginning is a lie and the father of lies, who, a murderer from time immemorial, works destructively in the sons of disobedience, sows tares among the wheat, steals Your word from the hearts of men, and like a roaring lion, seeks someone to devour and cast into the abyss of eternal destruction. Heavenly Father! Save us from this evil one and from all evils; Protect us with the power of Your grace and the militia of Your bright Angel, so that we may unfalteringly walk the path of salvation and glorify Your great name, together with Your Only Begotten Son, our Savior, and Your All-Holy Spirit, our sanctifier, now and always!

Ninth reflection. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

Heavenly Father! We pray to You, we ask You and we trust in You: for You are the King of heaven and earth; You are the Creator and the Almighty; You, the Most High, dwell above all the heavens, you contain all creatures in your right hand, and you rule over them all, “You yourself give to all life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25); and we are in Your kingdom, and members of Your kingdom. Hear us, grant us to walk pleasingly before You, to abide faithfully in the kingdom of Your grace, have mercy and save us!

Heavenly Father! We pray to You, we ask You and we trust in You: for You can do everything, You speak and it will be done, You command and it will be done; nothing is impossible for You, and nothing can happen without You. You, our omnipotent and omnipotent God! Hear us, grant us to walk pleasingly before You and overcome all our enemies and all obstacles on the path to salvation; have mercy and save us!

Heavenly Father! We pray to You, we ask You and we trust in You: for You are the King of glory, Heaven glorifies You, You are glorified by the faces of the holy Angels and Archangels, all the saints who have passed from earth to heaven, Apostles and Prophets, martyrs, confessors, saints, saints and virgins; All the heavenly worlds praise you; The sun and the moon and all the stars praise you; The earth praises you; All the elements of the earth glorify You; The Holy Church glorifies You throughout the entire universe; You are praised and magnified by hosts of husbands and wives, elders and youths and children. – Oh, glorious King and our God! Hear us, strengthen our weakness with Your grace, grant us, together with the faces above and below, always praising You, to always walk pleasingly and holy before You, to always obey You, and to faithfully fulfill Your holy will; To always love You with all my heart and with all my soul, To bow to You, to trust in You, To pray to You, To thank You! Show us Thy rich mercy, and grant us everything useful for this life; forgive us all our sins; deliver us from temptations; save us from all evil! Oh, most gracious God and our Father! Grant us the privilege of always glorifying You with body and soul, together with Your Only Begotten Son, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever! Amen.