Great Compline Prayer Two

Many weeks ago, even before we began our Great Lenten Journey, the Church prepared us with the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. One saved and another not. One filled with pride and another who could not even lift his eyes to heaven. We return there today.

Today’s prayer reads like the ‘extended version’ of the prayer of the publican. In case you don’t remember, the publican just beat his breast and repeated, “Lord have mercy.” I invite you to take a moment and read today’s prayer with the publican in mind.

O Lord, Almighty, the God of our Fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous seed; who created the heaven and the earth with all their adornment; who bound the sea by the word of your command; who shut up the abyss and scaled it with your awesome and glorious name; whom all things dread and before whose power they tremble, because the majesty of your glory is unbearable and the threat of your anger against the sinners unendurable; yet the mercy of your promise is both, immeasurable and unfathomable, for you are the Lord most high, compassionate, long-suffering and all merciful, and relent on the wickedness of man. You, Lord, in the multitude of your goodness promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you, and in your infinite compassion appointed repentance for sinners that they may be saved. Therefore, Lord, the God of the powers, you have not appointed repentance for the righteous, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have not sinned against you, but you appointed repentance for me the sinner, for I have committed more sins than the grains of the sand of the sea. My transgressions have multiplied, Lord; my transgressions have multiplied, and I am not worthy to look up and see the height of the sky from the multitude of my iniquities, being weighted down by many iron chains, so that I cannot raise my head; there is no respite left for me because I provoked your anger and committed evil before you not having done your will and not having kept your commandments. And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching your goodness. I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned and I acknowledge my transgressions; but I beg and ask of you: Forgive me, Lord, forgive me and do not destroy me with my transgressions; do not be angry with me forever and keep my evils in me, and do not condemn me to the depths of the earth; for you are God, the God of those who repent, and in me you shall show all your goodness; for even though I am unworthy, you shall save me according to the multitude of your mercy, and I shall praise you without ceasing all the days of my life. For every heavenly power sings your praises, and yours is the glory unto the ages of ages.

In the Greek tradition, this prayer is offered by the priest behind the curtain in the Holy Altar. The people hear the prayer but cannot see the priest. I like this tradition since it puts less emphasis on the priest and lets people pay attention to the prayer. At one point the priest kneels.

Have you ever considered your sins so many like the “grains of sand of the sea?” This must be what the publican felt that day in the Temple. We may not like to admit it, but it is an accurate accounting of our sins. Don’t think for a moment that this prayer is token words.

What makes this prayer so ‘perfect’ for Great Lent is that this is the one season when we are willing to admit that our sins amount to innumerable grains of sand. I’m not sure any of us would be willing to ‘go there’ and admit our sins during any other season of the Church.

Lucky for us, even if we try, just hearing this prayer brings our own sins into our minds, which is another benefit of not seeing the priest. The Church isn’t reminding us of our sins to destroy us, but to inspire us to repentance.

Great Lent will be coming to an end soon, and it is up to us to ‘do something about sin’ once and for all. We can either return to the pride of the Pharisee, or admit our innumerable sins and beg God to help us fight back. The choice is yours to make.

Happy praying….and by happy today more than ever I don’t mean ‘warm fuzzy feelings’.