Prayer for the Sixth Hour

It’s about the most unamerican idea the Church could suggest. American society is based upon doing your best work in exchange for being honored and promoted. The better you are, the more you are given by others. The Christian life, on the other hand, teaches voluntary suffering.

Today’s Daily Lenten Journey continues our series on the Hours of Prayer throughout the day. Today we turn our attention to the Prayer of Sixth Hour, which traditionally is set at 12 NOON. This is the hour that Christ was Crucified for our salvation. Let’s look at the prayer.

God and Lord of hosts and Maker of all creation, in Your unfathomable compassion and mercy You sent down Your Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the human race; and by His precious Cross You tore up the record of our sins, and triumphed over the principalities and powers of darkness. O Lord and Lover of mankind, accept the thanksgiving and fervent prayers even of us sinners. Deliver us from every dark and destructive transgression and from all the visible and invisible enemies that seek to harm us. Nail our flesh with the fear of You, and do not incline our hearts to evil words or thoughts; but rather prick our souls with love for You, so that always looking to You, and guided by Your light, and gazing on You, the eternal and ineffable Light, we may send up unceasing praise and thanksgiving to You, the Father without beginning, and Your Only-Begotten Son, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to ages of ages. (Amen.)

If the Prayer of the First Hour directs our attention to the Light of Christ, the Sixth Hour focuses on the Cross and our need to embrace our Cross in life. The Cross brings life through struggle. We pray, “Nail our flesh with the fear of You,” making this a great prayer for Great Lent.

Our fasting is a cross in manner of speaking. It isn’t easy to limit what and how much we eat, but we do it as an offering to God. The Cross of Christ was His offering of love for us. Through the Cross, death was turned to life. Through fasting, death turns to life, symbolically.

I would like to pause here for a moment and address those who make a point ‘against’ fasting. Many people quote the Fathers who speak against hypocritical fasting. Fasting is useless without a life of prayer and love for others. I made the same point in Episode 445 last week.

The Fathers are NOT suggesting fasting should be avoided. They teach against hypocritical fasting. Proper fasting, done with prayer and love for others, can become our Cross through which we learn to live for Christ.

Conveniently the Sixth Hour is 12 NOON when most of us take time for lunch. Moving forward, I invite you to consider the Cross when you are worried about what ‘fasting foods’ you are eating for lunch. Instead of fasting being just diet, now you can make fasting your Cross, and live.

One last point about the Cross and the time Christ hung on the Cross. While He suffered the nails and mockery, He never once lost Hope. He never once felt like His Cross was not fair. He prayed while on the Cross. He blessed others while on the Cross. He showed nothing but love.

When we fast, especially during Great Lent, it is our chance to be like Christ on the Cross. We should pray. We should bless. We should never lose hope. We should love those around us. The Cross doesn’t last forever. Fasting doesn’t last forever. Struggle doesn’t last forever.

Happy Praying.