A PRAYER FOR THE SALVATION OF RUSSIA
< Do Thou, O Lord, Who art in the heavens, look down upon Thy Rus', tormented to exhaustion, as she is, through being crucified upon a cross, shackled with red chains, oppress'd by a red yoke, harried by red violence, and deprived of the Russian name. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < Look down upon Thy persecuted Church; upon Thy bishops and clergy, who are being slain and imprisoned; upon Thy temples, which have been looted and turned into houses of ill-repute; upon the desecrated relics of those who pleased Thee; and upon Thine holy ikons, which have been most-sacrilegiously deprived of their precious coverings. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < Look down upon Thy Russian Orthodox nation; upon our destroyed homes, neglected and decaying; upon our impoverish'd fields; upon our laborious work, consumed away by burdensome taxes; upon markets that are bereft of goods; upon unplowed strips of land; upon straying and homeless children; upon the lack of work in the cities; upon the dearth of fodder in the villages; upon the entirety of our wasted lives; and upon the whole of our wretched lot. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < We know, O Lord, that great is our sin before Thee. The devil did seduce us with the property of others, with idle living, and with easy riches. We became intoxicated with mutual spite and malice; we lost our love of neighbor; we became wolves, one to another; and we forgot about our Native Land. We allowed our lawful Sovereign, Thine Anointed One, Emperor Nicholas II, together with the Tsaritsa, the youthful Heir-Apparent and the pure maiden Tsarevnas, to be bestially tortured to death at the hands of Jews. But do Thou, O Lord, mercifully forgive us those great sins of ours, which we have wept o'er for so many years, and for which we have paid the price of redemption by our considerable torments. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < Now, O all-merciful Lord, do send us wisdom and strength, that we might topple and bring down that dominion of antichrist which reigneth o'er us. Put an end to our discord and dissension. Kindle the unity of Russian brotherhood within our hearts. Enlighten those who are strong and honest, and set them upon the path [of righteousness]. Embolden those who are weak. Strengthen those who are faint of heart. Unite us all together; give us understanding, and guide us to a Russian victory. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < Extend Thy blessing hand, O Lord, o'er the entirety of Thy land of Russia, with all her cities and villages, with her paths and hills, with her forests and waters, with her beasts and fishes, with the cupolas of her churches, with the quiet peal of her bells as they call us to prayer, and with all her Orthodox folk. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! < Grant, O Lord, that we might by our own hands free our Native Land, that she may once more become Holy Rus', a Christian Realm, with a Russian and Christian government ruling o'er her. < O Lord! Save Russia, do! <
Translated into English by G. Spruksts from the Russian text appearing in "Pravoslavnaya Rus'" ["Orthodox Rus'"], No. 20 (1641), 14/28 October 1999. ("Pravoslavnaya Karpatskaya Rus'" ["Orthodox Carpatho-Rus'"], No. 12, 15 June 1932.)