Oratio II

XI. ORATION II. Lord, holy Father, Hagios God, I have bequeathed my soul to you, my God, for who is greater? I will always render thanks and praise to you, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God of our fathers, God of the prophets, God of the apostles, God of the martyrs, who existed before the ordering of the world, God of the living, who are to come to judge the living and the dead: who are the true God, who sit upon Cherubim and Seraphim, who look upon the abysses, who see all things before they are born, who have the power to kill and again to bring to life, who have the power to make green from dry. You, God, ruler of all, free me from this mortal world, hear me praying, as you heard the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, and they did not believe in you nor in your servant Moses. Woe to my feet, Lord. When you rise up to shatter the earth, under what fissure of rocks shall I hide myself from before your might, or to what mountain shall I say: fall upon me, and to what hill shall I say: cover me from before the fear of my Lord, when you rise up to shatter the earth? I ask you, Lord, help me: do not judge me according to my deed, for I have done nothing in your commandments. Hear me praying, as you heard Jonah from the belly of the whale, so may you hear me and cast me out from death to life.

as the Ninevites clothed themselves in ash and sackcloth and performed penance, making confession before your sight for all my sins, you who are the lover of penance, have mercy on me. And David says: Lord, on account of your name, blot out my sin. And I beseech your majesty that you blot out all my sins, hear me praying, as you heard the three boys Ananias, Azarias, and Misael from the furnace of burning fire: and you sent your angel with your dews, and Nebuchadnezzar, the prefect of the kingdom, was confounded: for you are the king of those who reign and the lord of those who rule, who alone have immortality and dwell in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen nor can see. Hear me praying, as you heard Daniel from the lions’ den: and you sent the prophet Habakkuk, and he brought him a meal and said: eat the meal which God has sent to you. And Daniel said: the Lord does not abandon those who seek him. Hear me praying, as you heard Tobit and Sarah while they prayed in the court of their house: then the angel Raphael offered their prayer for them: so may you also hear my prayers and send my prayer to your holy hall, and immediately send your holy angel, who may blot out all my offenses, as you blotted out the unclean spirit from Sarah, daughter of Raguel: and illuminate my heart, as you illuminated the eyes of Tobit. Hear me praying.

just as you heard Susanna from the hands of the elders, so may you deliver me from this mortal world, because you are the lover of a pure conscience. Hear me praying, just as you heard Hezekiah, king of the Jews, and washed away from him the infirmity of his flesh: so may you deliver me, and increase my faith, as you added fifteen years to his life. So may you deliver me from this world, just as you freed Thecla from the midst of the amphitheater, may you deliver me from every infirmity of my flesh. I beseech you, almighty Father, who at the end of times remembered us: you sent us Jesus Christ, your son, our God and Lord, born of the Virgin Mary from the Holy Spirit, announced by the angel Gabriel, through whom you freed us from the danger of imminent death. I beseech you, Son of the living God, who performed such great wonders: in Cana of Galilee you made wine from water, for the sake of the children of Israel you opened the eyes of the blind, you made the deaf hear, you restored paralytics to their limbs, you loosened the tongues of the stammering, you healed those vexed by demons, you made the lame run like deer, you freed a woman from a flow of blood, you raised the dead, you walked upon the waters, [you reached out your hand to the falling Peter] you founded the sea and set its boundary, you who said: thus far will you come and here you will break yourself by your own power.

I implore you, Son of the Most High God, on account of all my transgressions, you who are in heaven, Son in the Father and Father in the Son forever, you who sit upon the Cherubim and Seraphim, the seats of your honor. Angels and archangels stand before you, an innumerable host, fearing and trembling at your honor and power, crying out with a loud voice, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts.” You yourself have made a testament for us and have promised, saying: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” Whatever you ask of my Father in my name, I ask in your name that I may receive. I seek that I may find, I knock that it may be opened to me. I am ready, for the sake of your name, to pour out the sacrifice of blood and to endure any torment. You are my helper: defend me from the adversarial side, may your angel of light protect me, since you have said: “Whatever you believers ask through prayer, it shall be given to you.

Every man is a liar; you alone, God, are truthful. As you have promised, you are able to give, Lord; reveal to me your heavenly mystery, that I may be worthy to see the face of your saints. May the Holy Spirit work virtue in me, for I have pledged myself to serve you all the days of my life, you who suffered under Pontius Pilate the excellent confession, were crucified, descended, and trampled the sting of death, you who said: "Where is the sting of death? Where is death, which reigned?" Death is vanquished, the enemy devil is vanquished; you rose from the dead and appeared to your disciples; you sat at the right hand of the Father, whence you will come to judge the living and the dead. You will rule over us; free me from the hand of the one seeking my soul. By your name I beseech you to grant the best victory over my enemy, for you are powerful and the defender and advocate of the prayers and petitions of our souls. Day and night intercede for my sins; bear my prayer to your Father. And you, Lord holy Father, deign to look upon my prayers, as you looked upon the gifts of Abel. Deign to free me from fire and eternal punishment and from every torment you have prepared for the wicked, through the good and blessed Jesus Christ our Savior, through whom there is honor, power, and glory to you for ever and ever. Amen.