The Á-°Prayer of St EphremÁ-? is ubiquitous during Great Lent, and is used in all weekday
services, and in prayers at home.
This prayer is much like the Á-°Our FatherÁ-?, in the following way. When the disciples
asked the Lord to teach them to pray, He told them to Á-°pray in this wayÁ-?, and then
recited the Á-°Our FatherÁ-?, thus giving us a model for how to pray and a prayer which
perfectly fulfilled these principles. So should we treat the prayer of St Ephrem. Its
content is truly sublime, and teaches us the right way to approach God in prayer, how to
think of ourselves, and what to ask for. It also is a perfect prayer fulfilling these
principles.
Everyone should say this prayer daily during the week in Great Lent. Because of
the physical way in which we say this prayer (it is done with bows and prostrations), it
has the remarkable ability to put the soul in the right frame of mind. One might even go
so far to say that if the Prayer of St Ephrem has been prayed with attention at least once
during the day, and nothing else has been done, the Christian has prayed well.
The reality of our scattered, busy, distracted and often lazy lives is that we do not pray
often enough, or with enough attention, or in the proper frame of mind. If a person is
consistent in praying the prayer of St Ephrem, no matter how well he does in other
prayer and spiritual reading, he has a Á-°life lineÁ-? and is grounded in the most important
aspects of the way a Christian should conduct himself during Lent.
Of course, to just pray the prayer of St Ephrem is NOT enough for a Christian, but a
pastor must prescribe Á-°baby steps for baby feetÁ-? We all are in some measure Á-°babiesÁ-?,
and all of us should pray this prayer, attentively, and carefully, without fail. The person
who takes this advice to Á-°come and seeÁ-? will soon find the fruit of this practice.
The prayer of St Ephrem is found in any complete Orthodox prayer book. For instance,
the Á-°Jordanville prayer bookÁ-? has this prayer in its Triodion section (page 166 in the
latest printing).
Other resources for this prayer include a
Like anything worth doing, the prayer of St Ephrem takes some practice before we can
receive the full benefit. There are bows AND prostrations during the prayer, and a
certain number of repetitions. To someone who is accustomed to this prayer, the physical