Prayers before Sleep
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.
O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all things with Thy grace, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One. *
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, deliver us and release us from our sins; O Master, pardon our iniquities; O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us; for, being without any defence, this supplication do we sinners offer to Thee, the good Master: have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O Lord, have mercy on us, for in Thee have we put our trust; be not exceedingly angry with us, neither remember our iniquities; but look upon us in mercy, as Thou art good, and deliver us from Thy just wrath; for Thou art our God and we are Thy people; we are all the work of Thy hands, and Thy name is called upon us: have mercy on us.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Open unto us the door of mercy, O blessed Theotokos, that we who trust in thee may not fall, but be delivered from the enemies that oppose us; for thou art the salvation of the Christian race.
Lord, have mercy. (Twelve times)
O eternal God and King of all creation, who hast vouchsafed me to reach this hour, forgive me the sins that I have committed this day in deed, word and thought; and cleanse, O Lord, my lowly heart from every defilement of soul and body. And grant me, O Lord, to go to sleep this night in peace, that rising from my lowly bed I may please Thy holy name all the days of my life, and drive away the enemies that war against me, both bodily and bodiless. And deliver me, O Lord, from vain lusts that defile me, and from evil desires. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of the living God, have mercy on me, this Thine unworthy servant, and uproot from my mind every unseemly and passionate thought; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Lord, Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, be Thou my comforter and forgive me, Thine unworthy servant, all that I, as a man, have sinned this day, willingly and unwillingly, knowingly and in ignorance, through rashness, heedlessness and great sloth, and through my negligence. Whether I have sworn by Thy holy name, or made another swear, or slandered anyone, or blasphemed in my mind, or reviled anyone, or grieved anyone, or spoken ill of anyone, or angered anyone over anything, or lied to anyone; or a brother came to me and I despised him; or I afflicted my brother and embittered him; or while I stood at prayer and psalmody my mind turned to evil and worldly things; or I indulged myself beyond what is fitting, or spoke shamelessly or foully, or laughed foolishly, or was vainglorious, or lived dissolutely, or was proud; or I saw one possessed of beauty and was drawn to it; or I spoke unseemly things with boldness; or I scrutinised the failings of my brother while I disregarded my own iniquities, which are countless and unforgiven; or I neglected my prayer, or have done some other evil which I do not remember: O Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me, Thine unworthy and unprofitable servant, as Thou art good and the Lover of mankind, that I, the prodigal, may lie down in peace and sleep, and glorify Thee, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O Lord our God, whatever I have sinned this day in word, deed and thought, forgive me, as Thou art the Lover of mankind. Grant me peaceful sleep and freedom from disturbance; send me Thy guardian angel to protect and keep me from all evil; for Thou art the guardian of our souls and bodies, and to Thee we send up glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O holy Angel of our Lord Jesus Christ, guardian and protector of my lowly soul and body, forgive me all wherein I have embittered or grieved thee this day, in word or in deed, and shelter me this night from every temptation and snare of the devil, that I may not anger God, the Lover of mankind, and He blot me out of the book of the living; but show me worthy of His love for mankind and His goodness; for blessed is His all-holy name unto the ages of ages. Amen.
To thee, my Champion and invincible Defender, we thy servants, delivered by thee from dangers, ascribe thanksgiving, O Virgin Theotokos; but as thou hast might unassailable, free us from every harm, that we may sing to thee, O blessed one: Rejoice, O Bride unwedded.
O most glorious Ever-Virgin, Mother of Christ God, offer our prayer to thy Son and our God, that He may save our souls.
All my hope I place in thee, O Mother of God: keep me under thy shelter.
My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit: O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee.
It is truly meet that we should magnify thee, O Theotokos, who art ever-blessed and all-immaculate and the Mother of our God. Thee, more honourable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the only Theotokos, we magnify in song.
Enlighten mine eyes, O Christ God, lest at any time I sleep unto death, lest at any time mine enemy say: I have prevailed against him.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Be the helper of my soul, O Christ God, for I walk in the midst of many snares; deliver me from them and save me, as Thou art good and the Lover of mankind.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O most glorious Mother of God, more holy than the holy angels, we magnify thee unceasingly with heart and mouth, and confess thee to be the Theotokos; for thou didst truly bear for us God in the flesh, and thou ever intercedest for our souls.
Let God arise, and let all His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Him flee from before His face. As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish; and as wax melteth before the fire, so let the demons perish from the face of them that love God and sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and say with joy: Rejoice, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, who drivest away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified upon thee, who went down into hell and trampled down the power of the devil, and who gave us His most precious Cross for the driving away of every adversary. O most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, help us, together with the most holy Virgin Theotokos and all the saints, unto the ages. Amen.
Deliver us, relieve us and forgive, O God, our sins, voluntary and involuntary, in deed, in word, in thought and in imagination, by day and by night, in mind and in understanding: forgive us all our sins, as Thou art good and the Lover of mankind.
O good Lord, forgive those who hate and wrong us. Do good to those who do good to us. Grant to our brethren and kinsfolk their petitions that are unto salvation, and life eternal. Visit the sick and grant them healing. Help those who are in distress at sea. Journey with those who travel. Strengthen our God-protected people and its government in battle. Grant forgiveness of sins to those who labour for us and show us mercy. Have mercy, according to Thy great mercy, on those who have entrusted themselves to the prayers of us unworthy ones. Remember, O Lord, our fathers and brethren departed before us, and grant them rest where the light of Thy countenance shineth. Remember, O Lord, our brethren who are in captivity, and deliver them from every misfortune. Remember, O Lord, those who bring offerings and do good works in Thy holy churches, and grant them their petitions that are unto salvation, and life eternal. Remember also, O Lord, us Thy lowly, sinful and unprofitable servants, and enlighten our minds with the light of knowledge, to walk in the way of Thy commandments, through the intercessions of our most pure Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and of all Thy saints; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of Thy most pure Mother, of our venerable and God-bearing fathers and of all Thy saints, have mercy on us. Amen.
O Hope and Sweetness of the whole race of men, O Adornment, Light more radiant than all created beings, O most holy Virgin Theotokos, who in the last times didst bear for us in the flesh that Light, the Redeemer of the first times, and at the setting of the sun didst make to shine upon us like lightning the dawn of the Sun of righteousness that driveth away the darkness: remember us also, who have come to venerate thy holiness and eagerly and with longing call upon thy holy name. Heal the wounds of our souls inflicted by the enemy in the day that is past, for we trust in thee; look upon us, and by thy sweet intercession, O immaculate one, be for us the bringer of mercy from thy Son, that through thee we may pass unharmed through the darkness of this night that lieth before us, safe from all the snares and stumbling-blocks of the devil, and rise again for the hymn of the dawn with unashamed and joyful face, to glorify and give thanks to thy Son and God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
* From Pascha until the Ascension, instead of this prayer the troparion is read: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life” (Thrice).
From the Ascension until Pentecost we begin the prayers with “Holy God”.
