A Prayer of Healing for the Soul

Make me whole, O Lord, and I will become whole!  On only wise and merciful Physician, I beseech Thy benevolence: heal the wounds of my soul and enlighten the eyes of my mind that I may understand my place in Thine eternal design!  And inasmuch as my heart and mind have been disfigured, may Thy grace repair them, for it is as true salt.

     What shall I say to Thee, O Knower of the heart who searchest the heart and inner workings of men?  Indeed, Thou knowest that, like a waterless land, my soul thirsts after Thee and my heart longs for Thee.  And Thy grace has always sated those that love Thee.

     Thus, as Thou has always heard me, so now do not scorn my prayer.  For Thou seest that my mind, like a prisoner, seeks Thee, the Only true Savior.

     Send Thy grace, that it may satisfy my hunger and quench my thirst.  For insatiably do I desire Thee, O my Master!  And who can have enough of Thee if he truly loves Thee and thirsts for Thy truth?

     O Giver of light!  Fulfill my supplications and grant me Thy gifts according to my prayer; impart to my heart just one drop of Thy grace, that the flame of Thy love may begin to burn in my heart; and, like a fire, may it consume evil thoughts like thorns and thistles!

     Give me all this in abundance; grant it to me as God unto man, as the King to His subjects, and increase it as a kind Father.

- A prayer by St. Ephraim the Syrian

Psalm 3 in A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, Excerpted by Bishop Theophan the Recluse from the Works of our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian Arranged in the Manner of the Psalms of David, trans. by Antonia Janda, (Liberty, TN: St. John of Kronstadt Press, 2004), 17.  

Dr. Engelhardt: Orthodox Christian Bioethics

"The Search for Global Morality: 

Bioethics, Moral Diversity, and the Collapse of Consensus"

(This presentation is from the University of Chicago's 28th Annual Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar Series: Global Health and Medical Ethics.)         

Also, A video of a presentation on "Moral Pluralism and the Crisis of Secular Bioethics: Why Orthodox Christian Bioethics has the Solution" is available on the website of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Cambridge, England).

Paraklesis to the Most Holy Theotokos

The Paraklesis to the Most Holy Theotokos is a supplicatory service chanted in Orthodox churches to honor the Theotokos and ask for her intercessions on behalf of the living.  The service is chanted during the Dormition Fast in August and may be chanted at other times as needed. The text of the Small Paraklesis, authored by Theosterictus the Monk in the 9th century, is available on the Greek Archdiocese of America website. More information on the Paraklesis is published on Orthodoxwiki.

Here is a selection from the service (Ode 6):

"I pour out my supplication before the Lord, and I speak of my sorrows before Him.  For my soul has been filled with evils, and my life has approached Hades.  Wherefore, I supplicate Thee like Jonah, crying out: 'Raise me up from corruption, O my God.'

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

Intercede with thy Son and God, O Virgin, who by delivering Himself to death, He saved from death and corruption, our nature overtaken by death and corruption, that He may deliver me from the evil harm of the enemies.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

We have known thee to be an intercessor for our lives, a sound protection, a remover of different trespasses, and a vanquisher of the wiles of demons, O Virgin.  Wherefore, we beseech thee ceaselessly, to deliver us from the corruption of our passions.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!

We have possessed thee as a wall of refuge, O Maiden, and as a complete salvation for our souls, and a comfort from distress.  We always rejoice in thy light.  Wherefore deliver us now, O Lady, from passions and sufferings.

Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen!

Since we lie now on the bed of infirmities, and there is no healing for our bodies. O thou who didst give birth to God, the Savior of the world, and Remover of sicknesses, we beseech thee, O righteous one, to raise us from the corruption of ills."

(The above selection from the Paraklesis service (Ode 6) has been taken from the translation used in our parish.)

St. Ephraim the Syrian: Healing Tears of Repentance

Psalm 74

"Who will cure my soul if not Thou, O Christ, the only Physician of souls!  Where will I find a remedy for the disease of my soul, if not with Thee, O fountain of healing!  Thou Who dist cure the ailing woman, cure also my soul from the ruin of sin.
     May Thy compassion descend on me and help me to overthrow the enemy.  Fortify me who am infirm by the strength of Thine arm, and the Evil One will be ashamed when he sees that I am prepared for battle.  Animate me and the Evil One will be humiliated.  In shame will he be turned back, and I will glorify Thy name.
     Accept the tears of my wretchedness and blot out the record of my debts, and again will the enemy be ashamed, seeing that Thy loving-kindness has destroyed the fruit of his wicked deeds and that I will not be punished.
     May Thy compassion come to mine aid, that I might pass safely through the realm of temptation, and that I might thereafter be close to Thee, with Thee always.
     My sinful soul will glorify Thee and Thy Father and the Holy Spirit, for she has wept and been heard, and, washed with tears of repentance, she has been made a temple inhabited by the Divinity Which has created the world."

Psalm 112

"O Giver of all good things, O fountain of healing and treasure of compassion, Thou only good and kindhearted God, Who ever grantest good things to those who ask!  I beseech Thee, that Thine abundant grace might descend upon me and gather together my mind and heal my hidden sores anew, for distractions and wandering thoughts constantly renew my secret sores.
     O long-suffering Lord Who ever curest with grace and compassion, heal the great spiritual infirmities that are within me, a sinner!
     I have nothing to give Thee, O Master, in return for Thy cures.  And what price could be put on Thy cures?  Neither heaven nor earth can give a reward worthy of them.  It is impossible to purchase these holy heavenly cures, for they are priceless.  Thou givest them only in return for tears, O our Savior; and in return for bitter weeping dost Thou grant them to all.
     O my Master, grant me who am unworthy daily tears and strength, that my heart, enraptured and streaming forth fountains of tears, might be ceaselessly illuminated by pure prayer, and that a few tears might blot out the weighty record of my sins, and a small measure of weeping might extinguish the fire that burns therein.  For if I weep here, there will I be delivered from inextinguishable fire."


*Note: The shedding of tears does not refer to just crying due to emotional sadness, but the shedding of tears due to sorrow for one's sins, true humility, and genuine repentance (a sincere desire to turn away from sin that brings sickness and to turn toward God, Who heals.) One who prays with this disposition invites the transforming, Life-Giving Divine Grace into his heart.     


A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, Excerpted by Bishop Theophan the Recluse from the Works of our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian Arranged in the Manner of the Psalms of David, trans. by Antonia Janda (Liberty, TN: St. John of Kronstadt Press, 2004), 127-128, 179180.


The icon shows St. George, St. John of Damascus, and St. Ephrem the Syrian

Prayerfully Giving Thanks in All Situations

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (Thess. 5.16-18).  As Orthodox Christians we are indeed called to always give thanks to God through prayer in all situations, even in difficult situations.  We are not near-sighted, but see our present position in terms of our future destination.  With this attitude, St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8.18).

In one of his homilies, St. John Chrysostom includes a prayer of thanksgiving for all things said by "a certain holy man." We may also use this prayer to express our thankfulness to God whatever the situation:

“I know a certain holy man who prayeth thus. He used to say nothing before these words, but thus,

We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits bestowed upon us the unworthy, from the first day until the present, for what we know, and what we know not, for the seen, for the unseen, for those in deed, those in word, those with our wills, those against our wills, for all that have been bestowed upon the unworthy, even us; for tribulations, for refreshments, for hell, for punishment, for the kingdom of heaven. We beseech Thee to keep our soul holy, having a pure conscience; an end worthy of thy lovingkindness. Thou that lovedst us so as to give Thy Only-Begotten for us, grant us to become worthy of Thy love; give us wisdom in Thy word, and in Thy fear. Only-Begotten Christ, inspire the strength that is from Thee. Thou that gavest The Only-Begotten for us, and hast sent Thy Holy Spirit for the remission of our sins, if in aught we have wilfully or unwillingly transgressed, pardon, and impute it not. Remember all that call upon Thy Name in truth; remember all that wish us well, or the contrary, for we are all men.

Then having added the Prayer of the Faithful, he there ended; having made that prayer, as a certain crowning part, and a binding together for all. For many benefits doth God bestow upon us even against our wills; many also, yea more, without our knowledge even. For when we pray for one thing, and He doeth to us the reverse, it is plain that He doeth us good even when we know it not.”

* Note: The prayer of the faithful mentioned above is presumably the Lord’s Prayer.

St. John Chrysostom, Homily beginning with Colossians 3.18-25 (Homily X), Homilies on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon NPNF, Vol. 13.  Online here: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf113.txt

St. John Chrysostom: Therapy within the Church

 "I account you happy for the zeal, beloved, with which you flock into the Father's house. For from this zeal I have ground for feeling confidence about your health also with respect to the soul; for indeed the school of the Church is an admirable surgery--a surgery, not for bodies, but for souls. For it is spiritual, and sets right, not fleshly wounds, but errors of the mind, and of these errors and wounds the medicine is the word. This medicine is compounded, not from the herbs growing on the earth, but from the words proceeding from heaven--this no hands of physicians, but tongues of preachers have dispensed. On this account it lasts right through; and neither is its virtue impaired by length of time, nor defeated by any strength of diseases. For certainly the medicines of physicians have both these defects; for while they are fresh they display their proper strength, but when much time has passed; just as those bodies which have grown old; they become weaker; and often too the difficult character of maladies is wont to baffle them; since they are but human. Whereas the divine medicine is not such as this; but after much time has intervened, it still retains all its inherent virtue. Ever since at least Moses was born (for from thence dates the beginning of the Scripture) it has healed so many human beings; and not only has it not lost its proper power, but neither has any disease ever yet overcome it.


This medicine it is not possible to get by payment of silver; but he who has displayed sincerity of purpose and disposition goes his way having it all. On account of this both rich and poor alike obtain the benefit of this healing process. For where there is a necessity to pay down money the man of large means indeed shares the benefit; but the poor man often has to go away deprived of the gain, since his income does not suffice him for the making up of the medicine. But in this case, since it is not possible to pay down silver coin, but it is needful to display faith and a good purpose, he who has paid down these with forwardness of mind, this is he who most reaps the advantage; since indeed these are the price paid for the medicinal treatment. And the rich and the poor man share the benefit alike; or rather it is not alike that they share the benefit, but often the poor man goes away in the enjoyment of more. What ever can be the reason? It is because the rich man, possessed beforehand by many thoughts, having the pride and puffed-up temper belonging to wealthiness; living with carelessness and lazy ease as companions, receives the medicine of the hearing of the Scriptures not with much attention, nor with much earnestness; but the poor man, far removed from delicate living and gluttony and indolence; spending all his time in handicraft and honest labours; and gathering hence much love of wisdom for the soul; becomes thereby more attentive and free from slackness, and is wont to give his mind with more accurate care to all that is said: whence also, inasmuch as the price he has paid is higher, the benefit which he departs having reaped is greater."

St. John Chrysostom, "Homily Against Publishing the Errors of the Brethren," NPNF, 1st Series, Vol. 9, St. John Chrysostom: On the Priesthood; Ascetic Treatises; Select Homilies and Letters; Homilies on the Statutes.  Available on the website of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

A Discussion with Dr. H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr:

Dr. Engelhardt, MD, PhD, is one of the top bioethicists in the world.  He is the author of The Foundations of Christian Bioethics and Senior Editor of Christian Bioethics journal (Oxford University Press). In a video of a discussion that took place at St. Luke's Orthodox Cathedral in Hong Kong, Dr. Engelhardt talks about the Orthodox Christian practice of medicine and bioethics.  In the video, he mentions "Question 55" of St. Basil the Great's Long Rules, which I previously posted.

This video can also be found on Youtube.