In the Orthodox Church, there is a simple prayer that occupies significant importance within their weekly liturgy. Every Monday through Friday during the weeks of Lent, this short prayer is prayed twice daily. After the first reading, the worshiping participants bow prostrate, falling on their knees and faces, at each petition for God to “take” and “give.” Continuing the physicality of the prayer, the church family bows twelve times in a humble act of hope, saying, “O God, cleanse me a sinner.” And then the prayer is prayed for the second time and all fall again in silence.
While the motion and repetition might feel strange and a bit perplexing to most of us, the reason the Orthodox tradition places this little prayer so prominently in their Lenten habits is that it spells out rather succinctly, in a unique way, “all the negative and positive elements of repentance and constitutes…a ‘checklist’ for our individual Lenten effort.” After all, the aim of the season of Lent is for the presence of Christ to reveal both where we are stumbling and what more He longs for us.
So for the next several weeks, we’ll continue incorporating this prayer into our Lenten traditions. Today, and throughout this week, let this prayer conclude your daily time with our Father. Whatever else you are doing, listening to, reading, or talking with God about; let the repetition of this prayer keep our aim in focus.
Pray with me,
O Lord and Master of my life!
Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King!
Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my sisters and brothers;
For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages.
Amen.