Prayer of St. John of Kronstadt*
Audio:
00:18
Lord, look mercifully on Your servant (name), seduced by the flattery of the womb and carnal merriment. Grant him to know the sweetness of abstinence in fasting and the fruits of the Spirit flowing from it. Amen.
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Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ for the granting of sobriety
Audio:
02:49
Sweetest Jesus! Drunkenness got the better of me! My soul was exhausted, it was all exhausted from my unfortunate weakness! I can’t get along with myself—that’s my inconsolable sorrow and misfortune. Fear and fear attack me - I wouldn’t die from drunkenness without repentance! I am afraid that the enemy - the devil - will completely destroy me and bring me to hell. I know that I cannot cope with myself on my own. “I am poor and needy, but the Lord cares for me. You are my help and my deliverer, my God! Do not delay” (Ps. 39:18). Lord Jesus Christ! You Yourself said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), but “ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). You, Lord Jesus Christ, healed the paralytic, cleansed the lepers, had mercy on the harlot, and said to the thief: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Touch, O Merciful One, my weakened and prodigal heart with Your omnipotent grace, pour into it strength and courage of spirit to fight the passion of drunkenness, drive away the tempter devil and send me Your Guardian Angel, and “in the midst of destinies” save me, a sinner and sad, Lord! You Yourself said: “I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11) and therefore “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). You Yourself, with Your Divine lips, said: “Him that comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). And so I came to You, my hope and refuge! I cry at Your Most Pure feet, Who was crucified for me. “Do not hide Your face from me, do not reject me and do not forsake me, O God, my Savior!” (Ps. 26:9), grant me strength and strength of will, so that I may drive out the passion that nests within me and may I live in sobriety, piety and firm faith in You, the One True God of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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How to ask a saint for your husband, son or brother to stop drinking
Anyone who decides to beg a saint for help should most likely prepare for long, very difficult spiritual work. The point is not that the saint is not responsive, does not want (or cannot) “do a miracle” here, now. Prayers to St. Nicholas are always accepted by the Lord.
But the laws of spiritual life are such that God - even through the prayers of a great saint! – will never commit violence against a soul that is not ready to accept help from above. After all, man’s free will – God’s gift to him from the creation of Adam – is irrevocable. Only free choice, the will of the sick person, can grant him salvation and healing.
Will it get better? When?
When asking, you need to understand: we are talking about admonishing a lost person using the means that the Lord deems useful. And this, especially if the disease is advanced, is only possible through reaching a kind of low point, “bottom,” when a person realizes his fall, and then, with God’s help, begins a slow ascent. Therefore, one should hardly expect a dramatic change in the situation or an immediate miracle of healing.
One should also not discount the forces of evil behind the passion for drinking wine: temptations can haunt not only the sick person, whose condition can sometimes even worsen, but also those who dare to pray for him. However, one should hope for the deep help of St. Nicholas, whose very name is scary to demons.
What to read?
Of the prayers compiled to the saint, believers especially often read the akathist to the saint. It, as church historians say, was written by the great elder, confessor of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain (that is, a monk of St. Mount Athos) in the 18th century. The Slavic translation of the hymn has been approved for use in the Russian Church since 1782.
This is interesting: How to read the Akathist to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Many believers talk about how their lives change when reading this amazing akathist, how easily the most complex issues are resolved. Even the words of the prayer themselves are joyful, solemn, giving support during a difficult feat of prayer.
It is better to read the akathist while standing, because even the name of the hymn is translated from Greek as “unsaddled.” The Church Charter does not contain any other instructions on the order of reading akathists. However, in the practice of believers, there are different versions of this prayer work:
- daily for 40 days, which calls upon the deep grace of God, the help of the saint, to the one praying, firmly resolved on the feat of prayer for his neighbor;
- reading according to the needs of the soul, especially during exacerbations of passion - as many times as required.
And yet, no matter how persistent the person praying, it is almost always not enough.
St. Martyr Boniface
Audio:
02:12
Oh, long-suffering and all-praised martyr Boniface! We now resort to your intercession. Do not reject our prayers, but graciously hear us. Heal our brothers and sisters (names), who are overcome by the serious illness of drunkenness, and for the sake of their mother, the Church of Christ, and the eternal salvation that is falling away. Oh, holy martyr of Christ, touch their hearts with this grace given from God, quickly raise them from the falls of sin and bring them to saving abstinence. Pray to the Lord God, for whose sake you also suffered, that having forgiven us our sins, may He not turn away His mercy from His people, but may He strengthen us in sobriety and chastity, may He help His right hand For those who are sober, to keep their saving vow to the end, and in the days and in watch for Him at night and give a good answer about Him at the Last Judgment. Accept, O saint of God, the prayers of mothers who shed tears for their children; honest wives, weeping for husbands; children of the orphaned and wretched, abandoned by drunkards; all of us who fall to your icon, may this cry come through your prayers to the Throne of the Most High. Cover and keep us from the evil deception and all the snares of the enemy. In the terrible hour of our exodus, help us to pass through the airy ordeals without stumbling, with your prayers deliver us from eternal condemnation, and may the mercy of God cover us, forever and ever. Amen.
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Who should pray?
Drunkenness is a terrible grief that visits a family. An alcoholic loses interest in work and stops caring for loved ones. People around him shun the addicted person, and only his relatives make efforts to save him from a terrible misfortune. Alcoholism is a disease, it is practically impossible to cure unless the patient himself has a desire for healing.
Saint Nicholas is asked by his wife, mother, and children to get rid of his loved one from drunkenness, but it is not forbidden to pray for help to other relatives or caring people.
Priests advise using other methods to get rid of drunkenness.
Saint Boniface the Merciful
Audio:
00:27
Oh, all-holy Boniface, merciful servant of the Merciful Master! Hear those who come running to you, obsessed with the addiction to drinking wine, and, just as in your earthly life you never refused to help those who asked you, so now deliver these unfortunates (names). Amen.
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Venerable Moses Murin
Audio:
01:36
Oh, the present, you reached the rash of the rainful vodants from the gross sinners, helping you with the slave of Bozhim (names), which are drawn into the prostitute because they will indulge in a non -meal, creepy for the soul and the use of the use of guilty. Bow your merciful gaze on them, do not turn away or despise them, but listen to them as they come running to you. Pray, holy Moses, to the Lord Christ, that He, the Merciful, may not reject them, and may the devil not rejoice at their destruction, but may the Lord have mercy on these powerless and unfortunate ones, who are possessed by the destructive passion of drink. nity, because we are all God’s creatures and redeemed by the Most Pure Blood of His Son . Hear, O Reverend Moses, their prayer, drive away the devil from them, give them the strength to overcome passion, help them, stretch out your hand, lead them to the path of good, free them from the slavery of passions and deliver them from drinking wine so that they, renewed, in With sobriety and a bright mind, they loved abstinence and piety, and eternally glorified the All-Good God, who always saves His creatures. Amen.
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What else can loved ones do for someone who is obsessed with the passion of wine drinking?
Modern psychologists say: the roots of all types of addiction, including alcohol, are in family relationships. This means that the problem is not created by the drinker alone, but also by his loved ones. It’s paradoxical, but besides prayer, the most effective help for a sick person is changing your own lifestyle and position towards the patient.
The Lord will not commit spiritual violence not only against the sick person, but also against his relatives, if they are actually satisfied with their previous way of life. This means that prayer work may go to waste.
What needs to be changed?
The position of a “rescuer”, when a loved one “selflessly” tries to save a drunkard. Having the appearance of caring for one’s neighbor, this is actually a manifestation of pride, a desire to “improve” the life of a husband, son, brother according to one’s own ideas, to control it. Then the patient, confident of impunity, continues to shift responsibility for his life onto his family, which means falling into the abyss of sin.
Psychotherapist Andrey M. says:
“The most difficult thing in the fight against addiction is to “scratch” his relatives from the patient. It's almost never possible to do this. I know the case of a guy who drank for years - until his mother, who fought for him, died. After which the problem of alcoholism was solved almost instantly. To my question about how this happened, he replied: “So now there is no one to save me!”
In fact, there is no need to die to save your neighbor. It’s enough to just start living: think about yourself, your needs, take care of your health, which has long been neglected in the “struggle for salvation.”
At the same time, you must be prepared for the fact that the drinker will not want to solve the problem. Then psychologists advise, in the name of real help (and not “salvation” through persuasion), to go to the end - right up to exchanging housing, breaking off relationships. It is necessary to understand that the desire to “save” one’s neighbor may need to be treated in the same way as his alcoholism. This disease is called codependency.
2
Augusta
2019
Igum. Jonah (Zaimovsky), director of the Moscow St. Danilov Monastery, said in an interview: “Just as an alcoholic has an irresistible desire to drink, in the same way a codependent person has an irresistible desire to control his drinking relative.”
