One of the prayers Orthodox Christians utter most during Lent comes from St Ephrem.
"O Lord and Master of my life,
Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power and idle talk.
But give me rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience and love.
Yea O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own sins
and not to judge my brother;
For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen."
I intended to go to church last night, just like I intended to go to Vespers last Wednesday too. But life got in the way. One of my goals during Lent is to slow life down as much as I possibly can, to make time where there is none. I don't want church to become just one more activity that we cram into our schedule. Part of the purpose of the fast is to help free up time. To simplify. To slow down.
I am going to try to pray this prayer daily. Maybe I can teach it to Kyla. There is bowing in it. She likes to bow. Maybe we can all bow and pray together, each day, before we leave the house. Maybe again before we go to bed.
I am also going to try to begin to memorize the Psalter. This is one of my life-long goals. I've been enamored with the idea ever since I heard a priest tell a story about his grandfather, who every day would rise early, put on his best suit, stand and recite the entire Psalter, which he knew by heart. I hope to be able to memorize one a week. I used to be pretty good at that sort of thing. We shall see.
No comments:
Post a Comment