No matter what trouble a person has, he can almost always find the answer in the instructions of the Otpin elders. If your spouse is unfaithful, you can find advice, your faith has weakened, and here the elders have something to say.
These figures of the Orthodox Church are an important conductor of the wisdom of God into our material world. They are both an example and mentors to those who are not yet experienced enough in spiritual matters to find the path of light on their own.
Among the rich heritage of the monastery, Orthodoxy has preserved and brought to us the prayers of the Optina elders. Believers like to call them “strong.” This is not entirely correct, because it is not prayers that are strong, but faith. And yet these texts are filled with God’s grace, so it is useful for an Orthodox Christian to know them.
Variations of the Optina prayer
There are two forms of prayer of the monks from Optina Pustyn - full and abbreviated. Most believers are familiar with and actively read the abbreviated version of the chant. Although the full version takes longer, it is not recommended to abandon it. This version has a strong impact on a person and his destiny.
Daily prayer will strengthen your connection with the Almighty and cleanse the vibrational field. In addition to the morning prayer, there is also an evening prayer, which must be read before going to bed. This will ensure a restful, peaceful sleep.
Optina elders
Prayer of the Optina Elders for every day (complete)
Almost any prayer book contains the prayer of the Optina elders. But it is quite difficult to find out who the author of this text is, since the sources do not say anything about this.
There is a legend that says that the main part was built by the Monk Ambrose. Some versions of his existence also talk about this.
But over time, the elders who lived after the Monk Ambrose made their additions to the original chant, adding a sentence or a word - this is how the prayer known to everyone appeared.
What to do if a person has not prayed in the morning or evening
In the lives of lay people, sometimes even monks, such circumstances occur, sometimes truly beyond a person’s control. The monks advised not to be embarrassed in this case, but to humble yourself, confessing your weakness to God. At the same time, according to the word prpp. Nikona, you must try not to “miss” the rules in the morning and evening. After all, this is a spiritual acquisition, and depriving oneself of communion with God is an irreparable loss.
This is interesting: Spiritual heritage: prayers of the Optina elders
About the dangers of an overly large rule
Spiritual children have more than once turned to the monks with a request to bless them by adding bows to the usual prayers, or reading canons and akathists. The elders extremely rarely, and were not very willing, blessed such feats. They believed that excessive passion for such doing could lead to:
- to fatigue, distraction of attention simply due to physical weakness; this may lead to a complete cooling towards spiritual life;
- if it seems to a person that the prayer is going well, he will immediately be exposed to another danger - Pharisaic pride, arrogance of his “righteousness.”
Meanwhile, the basis of spiritual work is humility, which can be violated by excessive, “beyond reason” zeal.
About constancy
There is no need to take on a big rule, but remembrance of God, preferably unceasingly, is necessary for a layman just as it is for a monk. These can be short but frequent petitions, for example, “Lord, have mercy,” “Lord, protect.” The reverend fathers also advised:
- call on God's blessing for every deed (St. Hilarion);
- especially to pray when sorrows occur (St. Nikon).
Cathedral of the Venerable Optina Elders
Do I need to personally attend the ordered prayer service, akathist, or memorial service?
St. Ambrose insisted that this was highly desirable, citing as an example the Canaanite wife who begged Christ to cast out a demon from her daughter:
“The twelve apostles asked the Savior for their Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; and she began to ask - she begged.”
The monk, who often dressed his advice in a good joke, loved the following saying:
“God help me, and the man himself, don’t lie down!”
How to tune in?
St. Nikon advised to put aside all worldly worries and cut off extraneous thoughts. The monk wrote:
“Especially during prayer, leave all thoughts about worldly things. After prayer, at home or in church, in order to maintain a prayerful, tender mood, silence is necessary. Sometimes even a simple insignificant word can disrupt and frighten away tenderness from our soul. Silence prepares the soul for prayer. Silence, how beneficial it is for the soul!”
But what to do if thoughts still attack, so that it is very difficult to say the words of prayer “from the heart”? Maybe try again and start praying from the beginning? St. Ambrose believed that no, but one should humbly confess to the Lord one’s powerlessness, lack of faith, and perhaps passions that prevent one from praying. And with God’s help, continue the rule.
Fruits of labor
The elders advised not to seek high states of tenderness, delight, or tears during prayer. Such gifts are the result of developing humility. St. Anatoly said:
“Let us humble ourselves, and the Lord will cover us, and we will be holy. Until we humble ourselves and appease God, even if we break our foreheads on the floor with bows, our passions will not diminish.”
These are the advice of the fathers who helped many souls and continue to help now: after all, as the spiritual children of the elders, we also live in a difficult time of growing godlessness. That is why many people need the advice of saints today.
Natalia Sazonova
Prayer of the last Optina elders for every day (short)
This sacred text heals and attunes a person to humility, that is, accepting any events in his life with peace and gratitude. With the development of humility, a person’s spiritual vision opens, which helps to see primarily positive qualities in people.
Below is a short form of the prayer of the elders of the Optina Hermitage at the beginning of the day.
Reverend Fathers and their spiritual heritage
Optina Pustyn became a legend even before the revolutionary events: here is the place of service of the most famous confessors of Russia, called the elders by the people. And after the monastery was closed, the memory of the saints was not extinguished for many decades. They prayed to them, their teachings were carefully preserved and rewritten. The prayers created by the elders of Optina also preserved the memory of the believing people. But are all of them really like that?
Optina Pustyn
Nowhere is the heritage of the saints treated so carefully, and at the same time, so thoroughly, as in Optina itself, which is still a functioning monastery.
Interesting fact
Since 1988, Ambrose of Optina was glorified as a venerable saint, and on July 26-27, 1996, thirteen more elders. Since then, the monastery has been collecting data bit by bit about their lives, miracles, and teachings.
The monastery’s website contains brief and detailed lives of the Optina elders, their lifetime portraits, photographs, and almost all of their writings.
There is a special section on the website called “Optina Prayer Book”. Here you can find:
- canons, akathists to the monks;
- rule prp. Ambrose, read during temptations and everyday sorrows;
- finally - 10 short prayers created by ascetics; among them the most extensive is at the beginning of the day; there are also petitions for the beginning of a business, during sorrows, for the family, for those at war, during carnal warfare, and also several with the inscription “From the Antichrist”; but “evening prayer” is not among them.
Evening prayer of the Optina Elders
The chants of Optina Pustyn fell in love with modern people due to the simplicity of the presentation of requests addressed to God. Since the texts are written in understandable, modern Russian, they easily enter the mind and are read in one breath.
Evening hymns thank the Lord for the past day and ask Him for help in the future. Regardless of how your day has gone, it will be useful to read or listen to this appeal to Jesus, compiled by the elders, before going to bed.
Read evening prayers for the coming sleep
From the practice of Christian life we know about the difficulty of finding even a little time for evening prayers. Therefore, it is necessary to seek advice and blessing from a priest. Ideally, a Christian should have a spiritual father - a permanent priest who will be your mentor and assistant in worldly life. Because the number of questions increases as we deepen into the Christian life. But if it is not there yet, contact any priest for advice.
Remember that prayer is spiritual food. And the soul will also be hungry, as if you had not eaten for several days. Even if you are very tired, force yourself to do spiritual work, for the Kingdom of God is taken with effort. But you should not read evening prayers for the coming sleep in a hurry. There is no benefit in this approach; it’s the same as speaking in an incomprehensible language and expecting that you are understood. The time of communication with God should belong only to Him. Reading evening prayers does not mean that you need to pray just before going to bed. When returning home from work, you spend a lot of time on the road: metro, traffic jams, long distances. This time can be used for prayer. The priests say that the road can be a good school in prayer practice. Nowadays there is a large selection of spiritual literature of various formats. And for convenience, you can purchase a travel prayer book.
If you make it a rule to communicate in prayer with God during the road, and do it with a pure heart, then your emotions and fatigue will subside and be transformed into positive feelings. This will be a sign that the communication was two-way, and the Lord is with you. If it is not possible to read prayers according to the prayer book, pray a short prayer: “Lord, have mercy.”
Count how many temporary losses there are in your day, and you will see that it is not so difficult to find time for yourself. Those who want look for opportunities; those who don’t want look for reasons. That is, the main problem in actions is laziness. But, remember, all actions of Christian life are aimed at saving the soul, so choose for yourself the degree of importance of the actions. Help you, Lord!
Prayer to Ambrose of Optina (description)
During his lifetime, the Monk Ambrose was one of the revered elders. People often turned to him for help or advice. He was distinguished by his fortitude and faith in God. Almost all of his earthly life the monk suffered from a somatic illness, which did not allow him to fully attend church services.
Petitions addressed to St. Ambrose heal physical and mental illnesses, giving peace and tranquility to the soul. They turn to the monk for help for any reason - raising children, healing, strength of spirit and faith in the Lord.
The prayer calls on Elder Ambrose to hear and help avoid misfortunes, troubles, illnesses, and devilish temptations. In it, a person asks for peace, prosperity, protection for his homeland and himself.
Anthony of Optinsky wrote many prayers
Anthony of Optina was one of the most prolific monks of the Optina Hermitage in terms of prayers. Here are the most popular:
About the beginning of every business
God, come to my help, Lord, strive for my help. Rule, Lord, everything I do, read and write, everything I think, speak and understand, for the glory of Your Holy Name, so that all my work may begin from You and end in You. Grant to me, O God, that I may anger Thee, my Creator, neither by word, nor by deed, nor by thought, but may all my deeds, advice and thoughts be for the glory of Thy Most Holy Name. God, come to my help, Lord, strive for my help.
About family
In the hands of great mercy, O my God, I entrust: my soul and much-painful body, the husband given to me from You, and all my beloved children. Thou shalt be our Helper and Patron throughout our life, in our exodus and at death, in joy and sorrow, in happiness and misfortune, in illness and health, in life and death, in everything may Thy holy will be with us, as on heaven and earth. Amen.
For the enemies
Forgive those who hate and offend us, Thy servants (names), O Lord, Lover of Mankind: for they do not know what they are doing, and warm their hearts to love us, the unworthy.
Venerable Anthony of Optina - author of three famous prayers
Who are the Optina elders: history
Optina Pustyn is a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church, founded in the 14th century by a bandit who repented of his sins. That robber's name was Opta (Optia), having become a monk, he chose the name Macarius (the first name was Makarieva Pustyn).
Over time, the place turned into a monastery, where people began to live who wanted to spend many years in complete solitude. The founder is considered to be Hieroschemamonk Lev. It was he who inspired the emergence of the Optina eldership.
With the advent of Soviet power, like all churches, this monastery was closed. During the Second World War, its building housed a hospital, then a camp. But in the eighties it was returned to the Church.
The monks who lived on the territory of the monastery in Optina Pustyn had the gift of clairvoyance and healing. Therefore, many pilgrims came to the elders to heal their souls or bodies.
