Nesterov M.V. “Sick Girl”, 1928. Photo from www.liveinternet.ru
How to be close if a dying person is suffering and asks not to prolong his torment? Pray for God to take him away or do everything to make him last longer? What would be more merciful? The priest of the hospital church of the Holy Blessed Tsarevich Demetrius (Moscow) Roman Batsman answers:
№20 (677) / May 21 '12
Prayer
In whose hearts prayers are born
The Monk Parthenius of Kiev (in the world – Pyotr Ivanovich Krasnopevtsev) was born on August 24, 1793 into a poor family of a clerk in the village of Simonov, Tula province. From a very early age he experienced the sorrows associated with poverty and, seeing the life of his parents, learned patience, humility, mercy and hard work.
The calling to monastic life also matured in him early. Even in adolescence, Peter was awarded a vision of the Spirit of God in the form of a snow-white dove, and since then nothing earthly has attracted him. His elder brother Vasily became a monk. The parents hoped that the youngest would stay with them after getting married, but Peter, without completing his course at the Tula Theological Seminary, went to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which he visited on pilgrimage.
He was assigned to obedience in the prosphora. Subsequently, the elder recalled:
“I didn’t think at all about monastic deeds, about establishing this or that rule for myself, choosing this or that way of life. I only thought about how to pray, and pray unceasingly, and work as much as I can; listen in everything as God, the boss; do not offend or judge anyone; Yes, I had no time to look at the actions of others, I only knew myself.
Since childhood, meek, prudent and pure in heart, Peter, even in his new leadership, had such virtues that are usually only the fruit of long-term exploits.
His strict life and zeal for obedience did not escape the attention of the Lavra’s governor, Archimandrite Anthony (Smirnitsky, later Archbishop of Voronezh), who appointed the novice Peter as head of the prosphora. The ascetic carried out this obedience for more than 12 years and was even awarded a vision of the Monk Nicodemus the Prosphoran. In imitation of this saint, Peter memorized the Psalter and practiced it daily for the rest of his life.
(Based on materials from the Holy Protection Goloseevskaya Hermitage)
An example of the prayer of a dying person can be the dying prayer of Hieroschemamonk Parthenius of Kyiv
When I, depressed by illness, feel the approaching end of my earthly existence: Lord, have mercy on me.
When my poor heart, at its last beats, languishes and languishes in mortal pain: Lord, have mercy on me.
When my eyes are watered with tears for the last time at the thought that throughout my life I have offended You, O God, with my sins: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the rapid beating of my heart begins to accelerate the outcome of my soul: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the mortal pallor of my face and my cold body strikes my loved ones with fear: Lord, have mercy on me.
When my vision is darkened and my voice is cut off, my tongue turns to stone: Lord, have mercy on me.
When terrible ghosts and visions begin to drive me to despair of Your mercy: Lord, have mercy on me.
When my soul, struck by the memories of my crimes and the fear of Your Judgment, becomes exhausted in the fight against the enemies of my salvation, who are trying to drag me into the darkness of torment: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the sweat of death drenches me, and the soul with painful suffering moves away from the body: Lord, have mercy on me.
When mortal darkness closes all the objects of this world from my dim gaze: Lord, have mercy on me.
When all sensation in my body ceases, my veins become numb and my muscles turn to stone: Lord, have mercy on me.
When human speech and earthly sounds no longer reach my ears: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the soul appears before Your face, O God, in anticipation of Your appointment: Lord, have mercy on me.
When I begin to heed the righteous verdict of Your Court, which determines my eternal fate: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the body, abandoned by the soul, becomes the prey of worms and decay and, finally, my entire composition turns into a handful of dust: Lord, have mercy on me.
When the sound of the trumpet awakens everyone at Your Second Coming and the book of my deeds is opened: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, Your sinful servant (name). Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Amen.
How to console a dying person?
“For two years now, my father has not gotten out of bed, he is paralyzed. They say that the Orthodox have some special rules for caring for incurable patients. Please tell us about them, maybe they will help me..."
Svetlana, Chernigov
In Rus' they said about a dying person that he was working. The way it is. He works, he prepares himself for a completely new, and therefore frightening, state. Previously, in such cases, the priest from the nearest church always came to the rescue. The priest-heart expert knows well how and what to talk about with a dying person. He will find the right words, and they will be a consolation. Even if the patient was not a fan of visiting God’s temple, the priest will explain to him that he needs to hurry, he needs to catch up, and that’s why the Lord pushes back the last hour in order to make it in time.
For a believer, death is a mystery; for an unbeliever, it is a collapse that instantly deprives even a very long life of meaning. Therefore, a particularly heavy burden falls on the relatives of an unbelieving patient. But here, too, is God’s Providence. The Lord calls everyone to Himself. But some notice these calls, draw conclusions, rethink what they have experienced, others do not want to notice. But the Lord’s love is limitless, and after long calls, illness is sent to a person. And miracles happen in illness. A person suddenly realizes that he is a child of God, is suddenly horrified by the emptiness of the days he has lived and asks, in a tearful prayer, asks to be given time to adequately prepare for the hour of death. The Lord gives. Many devotees of piety considered it a great mercy to get sick, to “get sick” of sins before death, but sudden death is often considered a terrible punishment. “The death of sinners is cruel,” says the Psalter. This means that the Lord grants not only a pious life, but also a pious death. The Great Martyr Barbara is precisely the same saint whom people pray not to die suddenly, without Confession and Holy Communion. For the Lord to have mercy from sudden death, they pray to the Hieromartyr Charalampios and the Hieromartyr Bishop Zadok of Persia. And they pray to St. Athanasius of Athos for a speedy determination of the fate of the seriously ill person.
An incurably ill or dying person should not be left alone. While he is able to talk, talk to him quietly, do not skimp on kind words, but just do not be a hypocrite. Accustom him to your prayer for him, to the fact that a priest looks into the house for Confession, let him remember all his sins and hasten to repent of them before death. And the last hour will come - overcome your own fatigue and despair, ask for forgiveness, bring your children to say goodbye and read the prayer canon for the separation of the soul from the body (it is in the prayer books).
Having worthily fulfilled our duty to the seriously ill to be with him to the end, we immediately embark on a new obedience: we help him cross the line from earthly life to eternal life. This period is difficult, scary and painful. But only for those who did not leave patient prayer books on earth for themselves.
In other rooms:
Prayers to get rid of longing for a loved one
Very often love becomes that feeling that can only bring suffering. The reasons may be different, but the result is the same - unbearable heartache from longing for love. And if in those cases where there may be hope for restoring relationships, you can attract Heavenly helpers to your aid, then in hopeless cases there is only one way out - to pray to the Almighty to cool unrequited love and help you forget your loved one.
Hopeless love for everything is also a very dangerous feeling, it takes away confidence, instills despondency, and can lead to madness and attempts to harm oneself physically. A person stops thinking about God and himself, sinks to the bottom, where his soul can be captured by demons. A desperate person can be a victim of the devil's instigations and commit the irreparable sin of suicide.
For these reasons, the Orthodox Church equates such lovers with the mentally ill and advises relatives to pray for the salvation of such a person’s soul from melancholy and to ask for the mercy of the Lord to cool off love feelings. If a lover has the strength to pray for the salvation of his soul himself, that’s wonderful! But if the will has abandoned and love has overcome reason, then any caring Christian is obliged to take protection over such a person and beg his soul from the Almighty. They always try to involve the patient with love in prayers, so that prayer will heal and give peace to the suffering heart and help to forget the loved one.
Trust in the Heavenly Powers, and they will give you their mercy
Of course, a lost soul must be pulled out of the grip of melancholy, and for this they must turn to the Creator in prayer for salvation. In especially serious cases, when a person’s soul undergoes unimaginable torment, they resort to the ritual of begging it from the devil’s captivity in order to return a healthy mind and love of life to it.
- The first thing they do is submit the name of the one who is freed from love’s melancholy to three different churches for prayer for health. And at the same time, you need to light candles at the main icons and ask the Lord to return your mind and cool your heart, so that the fever of love will go away from the unfortunate person.
- In the church you need to ask for the pieces of prosphora left over from communion. In addition to this, buy the ribbon “Alive in the Help of the Most High” and the image of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the church shop. The image must be consecrated according to all the canons of the Orthodox Church, so it must be purchased at a church store.
- And if you don’t have candles and holy water, then you need to take these points into account. To perform the ritual, you will need twelve candles - the ritual is read for twelve days, without missing a single day.
Once a day, over the person who needs to be freed from spiritual anguish, a prayer dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of all who mourn” is read three times. The power of this icon is to heal body and soul! Prayers are offered to her for all kinds of sufferers and those seeking consolation and protection from illnesses, both physical and mental.
“Hope of the unreliable, strength of the helpless, refuge of the overwhelmed, protection of the attacked, intercession of the offended, bread-loving, delight of the hungry, nectar of heavenly rest for those thirsty, Mother of the Most Blessed God, Most Blessed and Immaculate Virgin! I alone resort to You, to Your protection I wholeheartedly bow my knees, Lady. Do not despise crying and tears, the joy of those who cry! Even if my unworthiness and the damnation of my sins terrify me, but this whole-bearing image assures me, on it Your grace and power, like an inexhaustible sea, I see: the blind who have received their sight, the galloping lame, wandering as if under the canopy of Your charity, those who have been laid to rest, and those who have abounded at all times. ; Looking at these images of pardon, he came running, blind with his spiritual eyes and lame with his spiritual feelings. Oh, Unstoppable Light! Enlighten and correct me, weigh all my sorrow, weigh all misfortune, do not despise my prayer, O Helpful One! Do not disdain me, a sinner, do not despise me, a foul one; We know that you can do everything, the greatest will, oh my good hope, my hope comes from my mother’s breast. I am committed to You from the womb of my Mother, I am left to You, do not leave me, do not depart from me, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen".
The prayer is read when the sufferer is on his knees; it should be a gesture of humility and a request to the Lord to heal from mental illness. After the prayer is read, the icon of the Mother of God is blessed, crossing the person being reprimanded. Then you need to let him venerate the image with his lips, humbly asking for mercy.
After reading the prayer to the Mother of God, they read Psalm 90, “Alive in the help of the Most High.” But before this, the person being reprimanded is given a piece of prosphora and a sip of holy water. And do not forget that the candle must burn throughout the ceremony.
If a person is able to perform the ritual on his own, his mind and will have not abandoned him, then he can do everything described himself, humbly kneeling before the face of the Most Holy Theotokos to beg for peace of mind. The main thing is not to forget that we are the creations of the Lord, we trust in his will and, asking for a cure for heart ailments, we will definitely receive salvation from him.
The Psalter will provide comfort in despair
When the mind is clouded by love fever, then in order to get rid of heart trouble, you can read the psalms - the songs of David. They have been known since ancient times as helpers against various troubles that make people easy prey for the devil. And love fever is considered a dangerous misfortune, because how many hopelessly in love have thought of falling into despair and despondency, becoming suicides. The Lord is omnipotent and will always show mercy to his children, giving them relief from melancholy, the main thing is to ask him about it, without being led by the demons of despondency.
- Psalm 6 – gives liberation from devilish spells and restores reason.
- Psalm 8 - prays for the salvation of the souls of those who have suffered evil from demons.
- Psalm 9 - read against the further influence of the demon on human feelings.
The psalms are read sequentially at any convenient time. They are especially necessary to read when thoughts about someone from whom fate has separated you irrevocably become worse. Switch your thoughts from your loved one to zeal in prayer, and the Lord will give relief from heart pain.
These same psalms can be read if an unhappy person in love has cut off his mind from the outside world and is in a desperate situation. Any caring relatives or close people can read psalms next to a person in need of help. But it is better if in such a situation prayers for health are also offered in order to pull his soul and body out of a terrible state.
