- 4507
- 13-09-2018
- Author: Mysekret Team
- 0
Every Orthodox driver knows: you should hit the road after praying to God for good luck along the way. Nowadays, various incidents often occur on busy roads. Professionalism and attentiveness while driving will help you avoid an accident, and Christian prayer can calm your mind and give you confidence. Read about what kinds of appeals to the Lord there are for car enthusiasts and how to pronounce them correctly in the article.
How to pray correctly before traveling?
The driver’s prayer, like any other, must be sincere and pronounced with all his heart, with faith in the Lord. It is best to pray before setting off on the road; already on the road, it is better to pray not out loud, but silently, focusing on driving. You should not cross yourself on the road and take your hands off the steering wheel to do this; cross yourself before getting into the car. Remember that by taking control of a car, you also take responsibility for your life, the lives of passengers, other drivers and pedestrians.
Trusting in God’s help along the way, one should not bow deeply and venerate the icons. Faith must be pure, but simple, do not show it off, and then your prayer will be heard and accepted with dignity. Don’t rush to God ahead of schedule—lead carefully and carefully.
See also...
✅ Orthodox prayer for constant despondency and depression
✅ Cool congratulations on Driver's Day
✅ Orthodox prayer for troubles at work
✅ Prayer for the road
If you received a car icon as a gift, treat it with respect and attach it so that it does not obscure your view. Cast aside any disrespect - despite its small size, the automobile icon is as sacred as any image of a saint. But nevertheless, an icon is not a talisman against accidents or breakdowns; attributing magical properties to it is a stupid sin.
Like the consecration of a chariot or an entire car, the icon does not impart protective properties to the car. The rectangle itself with the image of saints does not protect you, the people sitting in the car, with the help of God's will, and is in no way a guarantor of technical safety.
Why are icons of saints needed in the car?
It’s an amazing fact, but few modern motorists know why icons are actually needed in cars. When getting into a taxi, into the car of acquaintances or random people who have an icon in the car, pay attention to how motorists treat it when getting into the car. If a driver ignores the image of a saint, carelessly driving away, he misinterprets the purpose of the icons.
Many people to this day believe that a small iconostasis on the dashboard can protect the car and passengers from an accident, a traffic police checkpoint and many other problems while traveling. This is wrong.
The Orthodox Church is critical of the use of any amulets.
The icon in the car is intended solely so that the person sitting in it can, looking at the image of the Lord or saint, pray to him and ask for good luck. Maybe the presence of an image gives someone strength and confidence, but the icon does not have the properties of an amulet. Faith in the saints and God's favor have power.
An interesting fact about Orthodoxy and cars: in some countries there is a tradition of placing a figurine of Jesus Christ in the car near the dashboard. The purpose of this figure is very serious - it is not decoration or deification of an object. In an accident, no matter the outcome, the motorist has the opportunity to look at the face of Jesus and pray to him for forgiveness, which most often gives him strength to recover from the incident.
Based on the above, you should not hang the entire car with icons if you are not going to offer prayers to all of them in turn. Two, or at most three, icons are enough.
Location of icons in cars
The location of the icons in the car can be very different. You can attach them however you like, but there are a few important rules to remember:
- First of all, icons should not interfere with your view, nor should they hide important elements of the car control panel.
- Icons located in the car should face the person praying.
- Sometimes some car enthusiasts turn the icons towards the road, gluing them to the windshield. This arrangement is also permitted by the priest; there is nothing fundamental about it.
- Icons in a car can be located on the dashboard, like in the “red corner” of a house. You can pray and be baptized at this prayer corner when there is no temple nearby.
By and large, there are no strict rules about the placement of icons in a car. Everyone does it in a way that suits them.
What icons should be placed in the car?
It is believed that an icon of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of travelers, must be present in the car. However, the Orthodox Church instructs drivers to place three icons in their cars - Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. We should also not forget about Saint Christopher, the patron saint of carriers, sailors and drivers, whom Jesus baptized after crossing the river with his help.
