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Blessed is he who contemplates the multitudes who rest in their graves and has rejected all fetid lust, for he will rise in glory when the heavenly trumpet is sounded to rouse all of the sons of men.
Blessed is he who hopes not on man, but on the Lord, Who is coming again with great glory to pass righteous judgement on the universe, for he will be like unto a tree growing by the waterside, and will bring forth fruit without ceasing.
Blessed is he whose mind has through grace become like a cloud full of rain watering the souls of mortals that they might cultivate the fruits of life, for grace will give him eternal praise.
Blessed is he who ever exercises restraint as God wills, for in the day of judgement God Himself will defend him. He will inherit the bridal chamber and will meet the Bridegroom with joy and gladness.
Blessed is he who has hated and left behind all the secular ways of men, whose every thought is about the one God.
Blessed is he who has hated pernicious sin and been repelled by it, and has loved instead the one good and man-befriending God.
Blessed is he who on earth has become like unto a heavenly angle and imitates the seraphim, whose thoughts are ever blameless.
Blessed is he who has become blameless before God and cleansed of all defilement--of wicked thoughts and deeds.
86
May Thy compassion be praised, O Christ our King, O Son of God worshipped by all! Thou art our King, Thou art our God, Thou art the author of our life and our great hope.
With one soul do both the heavenly hosts and the ranks below praise Thee and sing unto Thee a song of thanks, for Thou Who wast concealed hast in the last days appeared in the flesh of us mortals.
When Thy compassion was aroused and when it pleased Thy love to do so, Thou didst come for our redemption and liberate our race.
Thou didst cure our afflictions, cleanse our sins and, according to Thy Compassion, Thou didst raise those who were dead.
Thou didst establish on earth the holy Church in the image of the heavenly kingdom: Thou didst build her with love, establish her with compassion, and Thou didst spiritually betroth Thyself to her, and gain her by Thy suffering.
But the hater of mankind, in his shameless impudence, attacks her in the person of her servers.
O Lord, do not leave Thy holy Church without Thy care, that the promise that Thou didst utter concerning her invincibility may not be shown false.
Do not let her majestic beauty be disfigured or her wealth be stolen.
Fulfill Thy promise that Thou didst make to Peter; seal Thy words with deeds.
Fortify her gates, strengthen her bars, exalt her horn, raise up her head.
Bless her sons, preserve her children, give peace to her priests and subdue those who wish her evil.
May Thy peace dwell in her and drive away from her all evil schisms.
Grant that we may lead a calm, peaceful life in fear of Thee.
May we maintain our faith with great confidence and perfect love.
May our life be pleasing to Thee and may we find compassion in Thee in the day of reckoning.
May we ceaselessly bring praise to Thee, O Lord, and to Thy Father and to the Holy Spirit.
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Thou Who art kindhearted to sinners, be merciful also to us in the day of judgement. Forgive us our debts according to Thy loving-kindness and in the day of Thy coming vouchsafe us Thy habitation.
When the multitudes to be judged tremble before the righteous judgement and stand before Thee stripped bare and in fear---then, O my Judge, have mercy on me for I have sung of Thy glory.
When the lips of the wise are stopped and Thy terrifying mighty scepter looms ominously before all, then may my lips be opened, for I have confessed Thee.
When neither friend nor acquaintance can save a man and every man is bought naked to account for himself--then, O Lord, be my intercessor, for I have hoped in Thee.
When the sound of the trumpet blares out, the nations shudder and every man is to receive reckoning according to his labors--then , O Lord, my helper, for to Thee do I run.
Accept our service, O Lord, hope of those above and hope of those below, and have mercy on us.
Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful to our parents; be merciful to our teachers, be merciful to our brethren.
Be merciful to us, O Lord, and give rest to our relatives who have reposed and to all who have died and did confess Thee, believe in Thee and taste Thy flesh and drink Thy life-creating blood.
Vouchsafe us together with Thy sheep to enter into Thy pasture, and together with Thy saints to offer Thee praise in accordance with Thy greatness unto the ages of ages.
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O Good Mother of the All0good God: look upon the prayer of thine unworthy servant with thy merciful eye and grant me the contrition, quietness of thoughts, constancy of mind, chaste reason, sobriety of soul, humble thinking, radiance of spirit, prudent disposition, and spiritual peace that the Lord granted His disciples.
Blot out the record of my falls into sin, cleave the clouds of my sorrow, the haze and tumult of my thoughts. Remove from em the tempest and tumult of passions; enlarge my heart with spiritual breadth, give me joy and gladness and grant that I may walk the right path of Thy Son's commandments and properly pass through life without faltering and with an untainted conscience.
Also grant me who pray before thee pure prayer, that with an untroubled mind and concentrated thought I might always offer prayer to the honor, glory, and magnification of thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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