Athanasius Prayer

The Prayer of Saint Athanasius He composed it for the place where he would leave the body, in the midst of it, which is today, the day of the month of Pašons, in a peace of God. Bless us. Amen. I go into the hands of God, not the hands of man. Because of this, Lord God of powers, listen to the prayer of your servant Athanasius. Do not send for the soul, for I am a man of blood and flesh, and you know the weakness of the children of Adam, that if a small wound touches one, it touches another, it endangers, and a fear of what sort of strength is this, to go into the hands of God. There are the punishments which you created to avenge the sinners, and the generation of the fire, and the heat, and the stench, and the restlessness of sleeplessness. If I say that I am righteous and I have suffered for your name, you will find me, for I have sinned in this. Another says, "The other angels thought of a book which they created, for to be released in a pure spirit and a fire." So how much more am I? I am earth and bone, and I am flesh which dissolves, becoming earth and bone, and you created me from a woman's womb. You molded me like a potter who bakes in the fire. You gave me bones, you bound me.

The dead, with the flesh, you have covered me. You gave me a veil. You gave me a breath and a spirit.

He is holy. With the little ones, the spirit leaves them, turns them, and dissolves them. The earth trembles to its foundations, he who sits upon the cherubim. Lights are set in place at his door by seventy, seventy and two, two, giving glory to his greatness. He who set aside seven and seven stars in the word of his power, he who gives a limit to the sea so that it does not overflow, he who looses the souls of all, raises them up, and gives them mercy. This one, whom no angel can reveal, except his good son and his holy spirit, or my wretched and sinful soul will be revealed before your lordship, except your mercy, O Lord, my soul and my body and my spirit. Hear me, O God of my life. Take my confession from my hand. Give mercy to my soul as I come before you, O Lord, O Master of all, he who took the prayer of the first man, Adam, and gave him repentance. Take my petition from my hand and send for my soul in an hour of joy and mercy and in peace. Amen. He who heard the prayer of the first martyr, Abel, hear mine also today and send.

after my soul, an angel of righteousness. He who heard the prayer of our father Abraham while he was in the land of Canaan, he overthrew kings who were strong and numerous, and many multitudes before him. May you also hear my prayer today. He who heard the prayer of Isaac, he saved him from the hand of the Philistines. May you also hear my prayer today. Grant me a good encounter. He who heard the prayer of Jacob while he was going to Mesopotamia of Syria, he opened for him

...release, O God. He gave him the wealth of Laban. May you also hear me today. He who heard Joseph in Egypt, may you also hear me today. I come before you. He who heard the prayer of the great prophet Moses, when he brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, may you also hear me today. I am your servant Athanasius. You heard the prayer of Jesus the son of Nauē, as he fought with his enemies. You sent him the commander-in-chief of the host of the heavens, to cause him to take vengeance on his enemies. May you also hear me today, as I come before you, O my Lord. For the way of men is this. But I will go in a way I do not know, after the seventh day, this day which has... the pain of my soul like a wheel before a fire, and like a flame before a brazier. Therefore I will confess to you, God of my life. And also I know that you have heard the cry of your servants. Hear mine also, O Lord, my God. He who brought me out of the darkness of ignorance, may you bring my soul out of my body in an hour without suffering, because you are a good God. You are also the one who heard the prayer of your judges: Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Gideon, and Deborah.

Gothoniēl and Aōth, until they judge your people, they will dwell in the desert. May you also hear me in my prayer, as I pray to your goodness, O Lord, God of Israel. You heard the prayer of Jeremiah the prophet when he was in the pit of the lion. May you also hear me in my supplication and my prayer, as I beseech you from within, O God. For you are one who hears. You also heard Isaiah the great prophet when he cried out to you, praying for

Your people, you saved them from destruction. May you also hear me, and save my soul from destruction. You also heard the prayer of Ezekiel the prophet, and you answered him with a spirit of life. Again, may you also hear my prayer, and give life to my soul, O Lord God of my life. It is you who heard Daniel the prophet when he was in the lion's den; you sent to him Abacum and Ariston. You heard Jonah when he was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, with no way to eat; you caused him to be cast out onto dry land. May you also hear me today, O God, and deliver me from every distress. Whom will you save in this time of fear? It is he who heard the prayer of Elijah the great prophet; you shut the heavens for three years and six months. May you also hear me today, O Lord of heaven and earth. It is he who heard Elisha; he raised up the son of the Shunammite woman for her. Hear me, as I cry out to you in my coming forth from the body, O God of my salvation. It is you who heard the prayer of David when he fled from his enemies. Save my soul also from the hand of the accuser. You were also with the fathers the prophets and the fathers the apostles until they did this.

all the power, and these wonders, and these [lacunae]... and may you also be with me. O God of my life, I am your servant Athanasius. I know that you have heard me in many tribulations, as I cry out to you. Hear me now, my Lord. Send to me Michael, your great archangel, with a merciful heart, that he may take my soul in peace, and deliver it from the accuser who thinks to...

accuse me, do not bring accusation before you. Do not accept accusation against your servant. Do not let those who are beside me be consumed. Let the flame of the fire not be quenched. Give me the means to stand firm before you. The one who judges the whole world with a face without shame, let those who are beside me be ashamed. Let those who are on the right stand beside me. Let the fire of the abyss be quenched. Quench the heat of the shameless one and his powers. Give me the means to overcome shame and fear, for you are the only true God, before whom there is fear, trembling, and prostration. The only God, in whose hands are my soul and my spirit. I beseech you, my Lord, as I come into your hands, the one before whom there is fear and trembling. At his word, the sky and the earth open up, and the mountains tremble to their foundations. The abyss is troubled, for this is the God of the invisible. Likewise, the soul of Athanasius is before this great one who is terrible. If I say, "I am righteous, I am a sinner," who will answer him? Who will cast my soul into Tartarus? Who will answer him in his authority? If they rise again, his is the grasp, and nothing is hidden.

or against him. The hidden things in the heart of man, it is he who examines the hearts and the thoughts, discerning the good and the evil that are in the heart of man. For it is he who is God, it is he who is the Lord of virtue. I exist in this flesh; you gave it to me to fulfill my desire upon the earth, to curse and to bless. If I go out of the body, your authority is that which is lord over me, to speak and not to speak. Because of this, I exist in the flesh; I will not let go. I praise, I bless, I give glory to you.

that I am worthy to worship your law, and to stand before your people, placing my trust in you from my youth until this very day. I will take refuge in his commandments, and I will not fear because of any place or demon at the time of the evening. The men who boast of themselves on earth, saying only, "This world is what we have known, let us delight in eating, drinking, and pleasure," they are foolish, for they do not know that they will die on some day. Those who neglect their souls on the day of their oppression, who hope for the abundance of their wealth, which will not help them in their distress, nor will it lift a little heat from them, nor will they speak a word before the tribunal of Christ. Therefore, their portion is a bitter portion, and their reward is a reward of bile and wrath. For I am a servant of Christ from my youth until my old age, and I will not let go, blessing him and his beloved son, and I have become his successor for all my time. Who is like you, O Christ? Whom everyone desires to see? You are Jesus, the great power of the Father, born from the Virgin without a male, and I will not cease to die for you.

The blessed one, the holy one, I cannot approach you, to die at your door, the one who is constant, who is free forever. You are Jesus, the son of the Father. Amen. You are the one who commands the cherubim and the seraphim. Amen. You are the one who exists with the Father at all times. Amen. You are the one who binds the angels. Amen. You are the strength of the heavens. Amen. You are the crown of the martyrs. Amen. You are the counsel of all the holy ones. Amen.

Amen. You are the one whose counsel, of the Father, is hidden within him. Amen. You are the mouth of the prophets. Amen. You are the tongue of the angels. Amen. You are Jesus, my life. Amen. You are Jesus, the glory of the whole world. Amen. Jesus Christ, the hope of everyone who sets their heart upon him. Who can come to you? Who can approach your presence? Or who can be compared to you, the king who sits upon the cherubim, while the seraphim stand before him? The heaven and the earth look out from within your grace, which grants them their life. The men, the beasts, the wild animals, and the fish—you have created them all. You are the one whom they have interpreted as Emmanuel, which is interpreted as "God is with us." You are the one who is called "Rabouni," God and the small teacher in his birth, the great one in his divinity. If I bless you, the blessing is yours. If I give glory to you, the glory is yours. ... your holy blood has gathered into a single flock. You have gathered them into the place of the true pasture, upon which life will stand forever. You have established them with rods that have mercy, which will shepherd them in righteousness. Do not delay.

of me. You are Christ, for you are merciful, and a lover of soul. You have saved me from destruction through the negligence of my fathers. You have left me to pasture among your people. I have walked among them according to your will. I bless your mouth, the savior of me. I bless your mouth, my blessing of all these blessings, the glory of the saints. Jesus, the power of the cherubim and the seraphim. I will bless your mouth, the one who gives the earth its increase. Jesus, the wise one of

of the strong. I bless you, the crown of the kings of the righteous, your crown which does not wither. The life of everyone, I bless you, the resurrection of everyone, and the light that shines forth from the light, which heaven and earth pursue after its word like a drop of water pursuing a jar. The father of the whole, who opened the abyss, destroyed Edom, brought Adam up with his children, vanquished the enemy and all his power, gave the light of the sun, fixed the orbits of the moon, gave names to the multitude of stars, fixed the seven planets and the seven firmaments, established the earth upon the water, placed the water beneath the earth, and the depths below the earth. I bless you, who created the entire order by his word, when he rested on the seventh day. I bless you, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will not cease to bless you, Jesus, for I come into his hands, because he is my creator, and he is the one who grasps my salvation. Do not shame me in your gaze. Listen, Lord, to my prayer today. Send me Michael, your archangel, to take my soul from my hand in peace, and to set it in the city of your mercy, for yours is the glory and the grasp.

forever and ever, amen. When Apa Athanasios finished the holy prayer, he gave up his spirit like one who had completed his service on the seventh day of Pachons. I, Timothy the deacon, stood near the holy Athanasios as he was about to lay down his body. I bear witness before you in the presence of God... like a column. I saw Michael take the soul of Athanasios and ascend with it to the heights. It bore the likeness of Athanasios alone. I saw the chorus of angels blessing God, saying, "Let us give glory to God, for he has given glory to his saints." As for us, the wretched ones, let us pursue the teachings of our father Athanasios, giving glory to God. Even if we cannot reach the greatness of our fathers, let us at least set our hands to the work, and God will help us complete it. You have seen, O wretched ones, this great struggle, how he fought until he met God and received the crown of life. God spoke with him face to face. He was lifted up upon the cherubim many times, and he put to shame kings and heretics through the power of God that was with him. See what great strength this is, to fall into the hands of the living God. Therefore, if you sin...

...he will meet you. If you do what is good, he will rejoice with you and cause you to meet him in a good meeting. He will give you the ... and the ... of life forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is from his hand. What glory and what honor is fitting for him, and for his father, the good one, and the Holy Spirit, the life-giving and consubstantial, now and at all times, forever.