Prayer of Saint Ephrem

Eastern Christian text with variants

"The Prayer of Saint Ephrem" (Greek: Ἐὐχὴ τοῦ Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ, Efchí toú Osíou Efrem), is a prayer attributed to Saint Ephrem the Syrian and used during the Great Lent by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. In the Byzantine tradition, this prayer is considered to be the most succinct summation of the spirit of Great Lent and is hence the Lenten prayer par excellence, prayed during all Lenten weekday services. There are two versions of the prayer currently in use, reflecting liturgical Greek and Slavonic uses. Modern translations have been produced from both Greek and Slavonic, but some attempt to combine the two.

Господи и владыко живота моегω, духъ оунынїѧ, небрежεнїѧ, любоначалїѧ и празднословїѧ ѿжεни ѿ мεнε. Духъ же цѣломѹдрїѧ, смиреномѹдрїѧ, терпѣнїѧ и любве, дарѹй ми рабѹ твоемѹ. Ей Господи Царю, даждь ми зрѣти моѧ согрѣшенїѧ, и не ωсуждати брата моегω, якω благословенъ еси во вѣки вѣковъ. Аминь. O Lord and Master of my life, take from me a spirit of despondency, sloth, love of power, and idle talk. But give to me, your servant, a spirit of sober mindedness, humility, patience, and love. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, since you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen. This version is to be found in the Liturgicon (Sluzhebnik) or Priest's Service Book published in Kiev in 1639 by Peter Mohyla. Substantially it is similar to the earlier version, but with some of the case endings updated, as by that time, use of the dative case (животѹ моемѹ) to mark possession was considered distinctively archaic, and use of the genitive case (живота моегω) felt to be more correct. It retains most of the distinctive differences that the earlier version has from the Greek, with none of the more drastic changes that may be found in the next version. This version was once used throughout the Kievan metropolia, as well as in the Orthodox Churches of Central Europe (Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and so on), but later dropped out of use, and the next version adopted. It is currently only used (either in the original Slavonic or in vernacular translations) by those churches that use the Ruthenian recension—the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, and the Slovak Greek Catholic Church.

Господи и владыко живота моегω, духъ праздности, оунынїѧ, любоначалїѧ и празднословїѧ не даждь ми. Духъ же цѣломѹдрїѧ, смиренномѹдрїѧ, терпѣнїѧ и любве, дарѹй ми рабѹ твоемѹ. Ей Господи Царю, даруй ми зрѣти моѧ прегрѣшенїѧ, и не ωсуждати брата моегω, якω благословенъ еси во вѣки вѣковъ. Аминь. O Lord and Master of my life, grant me not a spirit of sloth, despondency, love of power, and idle talk. But give to me, your servant, a spirit of sober mindedness, humility, patience, and love. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brother, since you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen. This is the version found in the editions of the liturgical books published in 1656 by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. It is the form currently in use by the Russian Orthodox Church (both the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Belarusian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and all other Slavic Orthodox Churches. It differs substantially from the current Greek form of the prayer only in the retention of оунынїѧ ('despondency') in place of περιεργίας ('meddling'). Considering the principles on which Patriarch Nikon's reforms were undertaken, it seems likely that the 1656 text of the prayer was prepared from a Greek text containing the word ἀκηδίας ('despondency') rather than περιεργίας. An English version of the Prayer of St Ephrem commonly in use in the Orthodox Church in America (which inherited its liturgical practices from the Slavic tradition) maintains the distinction between take from me (line 1) and give to me (line 2) that was eliminated in the 1656 Slavonic translation. This does not appear to reflect a conscious choice of the OCA to return to the Pre Nikonian text or to imitate the Old Believers, but probably derives from the fact that many OCA parishes were founded by Orthodox (and Byzantine Rite Catholics) from Central Europe who used the Ruthenian Slavonic text of 1639, but with the оунынїѧ and небрежεнїѧ (line 1) inverted to conform to the Nikonian/Greek order.

At weekday services during Great Lent, the prayer is prescribed for each of the canonical hours and at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. During the period of the Triodion, the prayer is first recited on Wednesday and Friday only on Cheesefare week and thereafter at every weekday service from vespers on the evening of the Sunday of Forgiveness, the service which begins Great Lent, through Wednesday of Holy Week. The prayer is not said on Saturdays and Sundays (vespers on Sunday evening is of Monday, since the Byzantine liturgical day begins at sunset), because these days are not strict fasting days (oil and wine are always permitted). This means that the weekends retain a festal character, even during the Great Fast, and the Divine Liturgy may be celebrated as usual. During the Nativity Fast, Dormition Fast and the Apostles' Fast, the lenten order of services may be used when the divine liturgy is not celebrated. In such an instance, the Prayer of St Ephrem is recited then, too.

Zot dhe Mjeshtër i jetës sime, mos më jep frymë përtese, kureshtie, lavdidashje dhe kotësie. Po falmë frymë urtësie, përunjësie, durimi dhe dashurie. Vlerësomë, o Zot dhe Mbret, t’i shoh fajet e mia dhe të mos e gjykoj tim vëlla. Se i bekuar je në jetë të jetëve, Amin.

Herra, minun elämäni valtias! Estä minusta laiskuuden, velttouden, vallanhimon ja turhanpuhumisen henki. Anna minulle, sinun palvelijallesi, sielun puhtauden, nöyryyden, kärsivällisyyden ja rakkauden henki. Oi, Kuningas ja Herra! Anna minun nähdä rikokseni ja anna, etten veljeäni tuomitsisi, sillä siunattu olet sinä iankaikkisesti. Aamen. The Finnish translation follows the Greek original.

Herr und Gebieter meines Lebens, den Geist des Müßiggangs, der Verzagtheit, der Herrschsucht und der Geschwätzigkeit gib mir nicht. Gib mir hingegen, Deinem Knecht, den Geist der Keuschheit, der Demut, der Geduld und der Liebe. Ja, Herr und mein König, gib mir, meine eigenen Sünden zu sehen und meinen Bruder nicht zu verurteilen, denn Du bist gesegnet in die Ewigkeit der Ewigkeit. Amen.

E ka Haku a me ke Kahu o ko‘u ola! Mai hō mai ia‘u i ka ‘uhane o ka na‘au palaka, ka mana‘o pauaho, ke kuko hewa a me ke kakahili. Akā naʻe, e hō mai nō na‘e ‘Oe ia‘u, Kāu ‘ōhua, i ka ‘uhane o ke kūkapu, ka ha‘aha‘a, ke ahonui a me ke aloha. E ka Haku ē, ka Mō‘ī ho‘i! E ‘ae ‘Oe mai ia‘u i ka hiki ke ‘ike i ko‘u mau hewa a me ka hiki ke ho‘ohalahala ‘ole aku i ko‘u hoa kanaka; no ka mea, Nou ka pōmaika‘i mai kēia manawa a mau loa aku no nā kau ā kau. ‘Āmene.

Ó Senhor e Soberano de minha vida, não me dês um espírito de preguiça, de desânimo*, de ambição ou de vaniloqüência. (Prostração)

Mas um espírito de castidade, de humildade, de paciência e de amor, concedo mo a mim, Teu servo. (Prostração)

Ó Senhor Rei, concede me ver os meus pecados e que eu não julgue meu irmão, porquanto és bendito pelos séculos dos séculos. Amém. (Prostração)

O texto grego tem "curiosidade".

Господи і Владико життя мого, духа млявости, недбайливости, владолюбства й пустослів’я віджени від мене. Духа же доброчесности і смиренномудрія, терпіння й любови даруй мені, недостойному рабові Твоєму. Так, Господи Царю, дай мені зріти мої прогрішення і не осуджувати брата мого, бо Ти благословен єси на віки віків. Амінь. The Ukrainian version appears to follow the Mohyla version closely.