Prayer of Supplication to the Most Holy Theotokos, by Our Holy Father Mark the Monk

Many and glorious are the gifts given me by my Creator and God; but I, the wretched one, forgot them all and became ungrateful; I imitated the senseless dumb beasts and became like them; I grew poor in virtues and rich in passions; I was filled with sin and shame, and was deprived of divine boldness; I became condemned by God, convicted by my sins and put to shame by my evil deeds. Before death I am dead, before the judgement I am self-condemned, and before those eternal torments I am tormented by thoughts of despair. Therefore to thee alone I flee, my swift helper, O Theotokos, all-holy, Mother of the Saviour; thee I entreat, I who owe those ten thousand talents, who have squandered in prodigality the wealth of my Father, and have sinned more than the harlot and Manasseh and the merciless rich man; I have become a slave of lusts, a harbourer of evil thoughts, a speaker of base words, and a stranger to every good deed. Now therefore I entreat thee: have mercy on my poverty and be merciful to my weakness, for thou hast great boldness before God who was born of thee, such as none other hath. Thou canst do all things, O Mother of God, and art mighty in all, for thou art higher than all creatures, and nothing is impossible to thee that thou willest. Despise not my tears, abhor not my sighing, turn not away from my supplication and this pain of my heart, but by thy motherly intercession make thy good and sweet Son and our God merciful to me, and make me, this sinful and unworthy servant of thine, worthy to regain the first beauty of the virtues and to be parted from the ugliness of the passions; to be set free from sin and to become a servant of righteousness; to put off the coarseness of fleshly lusts and to put on the radiance of spiritual purity; to die to the world and to live in the service of God. Be my companion on the road; if I cross the sea, be my helper; and ever fight against my enemies, the demons who war against me from on high. In watchfulness be my strength; if I sleep, be my protector; if I am given over to affliction, deliver me; in faint-heartedness be my comforter; save me from those who do harm, and clear me before slanderers; if I draw near to death, come swiftly to me and drive away my invisible enemies with terror, that those my enemies, the evil demons, may know that I am thy servant. Yea, O most holy Lady Theotokos, hear this weak supplication of thy servant; look upon my soul and save it; deliver me from mine enemies, and let me not be put to shame in my hope, O Hope of all the ends of the earth. Quench the heat of the battles of the flesh, calm the waves of unseemly anger, banish from my mind the arrogance and wantonness of vain youth; cut off from my mind the fantasies of the evil spirits by night and the unclean thoughts that come to mind by day; teach my tongue good speech and mine eyes to look aright; direct my feet on the straight path of the virtues, the way of God’s commandments; and make my hands pure, that I may worthily lift them up to the King on high; fill my mouth with praise, that it may boldly call upon God: Our Father, who art in heaven; open my ears to hear as is meet the words of the holy Scriptures, sweeter than honey, and to do them by thy grace and help. Grant me a time of repentance and zeal for conversion; deliver me from sudden death, and save me from the condemnation of conscience. Then, at the parting of my soul from this wretched body, stand by me, my hope and helper, and lighten for me, the helpless one, that unbearable distress. In straits and affliction be my comforter; in that bitter toll-gathering of the aerial publicans and the princes of darkness, bring me safely through; tear up the handwritings of my many sins; set me before the good God who loveth mankind; make me worthy of the blessed standing at His right hand on the day of judgement; deliver me from the eternal and unbearable torments, and show me an heir of the sweet and unfading good things of God. This confession I offer to thee, O most holy Lady Theotokos, light of these my darkened eyes and comforter of this my afflicted soul, my hope and refuge after God: accept my supplication with sweetness and mercy, and blot out all my faults and iniquities, and make me worthy in this life to partake without condemnation of the incorrupt and all-holy Body and Blood of Christ, thy Son and God, and in the age to come show me an heir of the sweet heavenly supper, the delight of Paradise, the kingdom of heaven, where is the dwelling of all the saints who rejoice from the ages, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Accept our prayer, O most holy Theotokos, Mother of Christ, heaven and cherubim, throne of the Lord, pillar of fire, cloud of light, golden jar filled with the manna of heavenly dew, ark of the law, tabernacle of holiness, intercessor and champion of all the world, O most holy Lady Theotokos: labour for our souls and bodies before thy Son and our God.