Morning Prayers Part One

As Orthodox Christians we begin every day with prayer. Before anything else takes place, before we wash ourselves, before we feed our bodies, we feed our souls with prayer. Immediately upon waking, we approach our icons and pray.

As I mentioned yesterday, the Trisagion Prayer begins every prayer session. The following prayers come immediately after the Lord’s Prayer. It is a continuation of our praise to God and the beginning our ‘journey through the day’ hoping to remain focused on Him.

It is tradition to do a ‘small metanoia’ after each verse. This is when we bow deep to touch the floor (if our bodies allow it) and cross ourselves again standing upright. Each verse ends by requesting the intercession of the Theotokos, our Mother.

Having risen from sleep, we fall before you, O good One, and sing to you, mighty One, the angelic hymn: Holy, holy, holy are you, O God. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

“We fall before you” showing our obedience to God. The choices we are about to encounter require God as our master. This prayer is a reminder that nothing in the day takes place without first showing God our love and obedience as His servants using the same prayer as the Angels.

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having aroused me from sleep and bed, O Lord, enlighten my mind and open my heart and lips that I may sing to you, Holy Trinity: Holy, holy, holy are you, O God. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

Now we turn our attention to our thoughts and conscience. All sin begins as temptation in our mind and heart. The best deterrent to sin is to always orient our mind and hearts toward God. If we want our mind to ignore temptation, we must first direct our mind toward God.

Now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen. Suddenly the Judge will come and everyone’s deeds will be revealed. But with awe we cry out in the middle of the night: Holy, holy, holy are you, O God. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

We have shown reverence and obedience to God. We have turned our mind and heart toward Him. Finally, we thank Him that He has given us ‘another chance’ today to ‘get it right’. He has not come to judge the Earth. Otherwise, our sins yesterday would have left us alone.

Now we are ready to take on whatever life has in store for us. There are more prayers we ‘could’ offer to God in the morning. You should consult your spiritual father about your personal prayer rule. He will have your best interest in mind. Our Daily Lenten Journey is just a sample.

We will look at some of these ‘additional’ morning prayers in the next two Daily Lenten Journey posts. That will bring us to the end of the first week of Great Lent. Happy Praying.