O God, watch over me always

whitemonasteryshenudainside
White Monastery, Egypt, by Roland Unger [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

O God, watch over me always,
   in my work, in my words, in the thoughts of my heart.
O God, have pity on me,
   in this world and in the world to come.
O God, have pity on me,
   for I have sinned against you like the mortal that I am;
   but, kind and gentle Master, forgive me.
O God, may I not be afraid or disturbed
   when the time comes for my soul to leave my body.
O God, do not be angry then and rebuke me,
   do not give vent to wrath and punish me.
O God, do not show me the anger
   that my sins and misdeeds deserve.
O God, do not hide your face from me when I come before you,
   do not turn away from me
   when you pronounce your sentence on our lives –
   the lives we have lived openly
   and the lives that have been ours in secret.
O God, your Word was made flesh for me;
   for me he was crucified, died, was buried
      and on the third day rose again.
   Bind me to you, and let no evil spirit lord over me
      and snatch me out of your hands.
O God, do not let me give way to disloyalty.
   May the Enemy find nothing in me that he can call his own.
O God, sharpen my will.
   May it be like a sword and cut all sinful thoughts out of my mind.
O God, as you calmed the sea with a word,
   so drive out the evil passions from my sinful nature.
   May sin die down and disappear from all my members.
O God, grant that my heart may always be pure
   and my faith orthodox forever, yes forever. Amen.

Shenute, c.347- c.465, abbot of the White Monastery in Egypt

___________________

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 thoughts on “O God, watch over me always

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