Merciful Lord, God of hosts! From the depths of our souls we humbly cry out to You: by the power of Your Cross, humble the insolence of those who hate and blaspheme Your holy name, who desecrate and destroy the sanctity of Your temples and persecuting the faithful children of Your holy Church. To all those who suffer and are exhausted for confessing faith in Your name, send Your holy angels, may Your faithful people be strengthened in bearing the good yoke of Your angels the protection and intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and all Your saints. Most merciful Lord! With a painful heart, with tears we pray to You: look at the cry, groaning and tender prayers of all faithful people, from the attack of Your enemies, Lord, those who suffer, the sanctity of Your temples and the grace of Your holy Sacraments are deprived. Have mercy, Lord, on the babies who are not illuminated by the light of Holy Baptism and who are not sealed with the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Have mercy, Lord, the youths, young men and virgins, who are seduced by the haters of Your name into all unbelief, wickedness, blasphemy, dissolute living, envy and malice towards their neighbor. Have mercy, Lord, on the elderly and the sick, deprived at the hour of death of the grace-filled consolation of anointing and the communion of Your Holy Mysteries and who do not look forward to a Christian burial. Protect, Lord, the face of the monastics, expelled from the holy monasteries and those who endure reproach. Above all, strengthen, O Lord, the strength of Your Spirit, Your priests, so that fearlessly, even unto death, they may stand in unity to guard Your flock. For the sake of all who have suffered martyrdom, grant You to reign with Your saints in Your eternal glory. On the Cross, praying for Thy crucifiers and accepting the thieves’ repentance at the last hour, do not destroy, O Lord, the apostates, blasphemers and persecutors of the holy faith and Thy holy Church, but If this is possible, grant them the joy of knowing Thee, Divine Love and Wisdom, and end their days in true repentance. In You, Lord, we trust and will not be ashamed forever, for You are our Intercessor, help and victory, conquering the world, Light more than any light, Joy more than any Joy, Hope that is greater than all hope, True Life and eternal salvation, and to You, who is worshiped in the Trinity, we send all glory, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord is my enlightenment and my Savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, from whom shall I fear? Sometimes you come close to me with malice, even if you tear away my flesh, those who insult me and attack me, you become weak and fall. Even if a regiment rises up against me, my heart will not fear: if it rises up to fight against me, I will trust in him. I have asked one thing of the Lord, and I will require this: that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and visit his holy temple. Because he hid me in his village in the day of my evils, he covered me in the secret of his village, and lifted me up on a stone. And now, behold, I have lifted up my head against my enemies: I have eaten and devoured in his village a sacrifice of praise and shouting: I will sing and sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, my voice, which I have cried, have mercy on me and hear me. My heart says to you: I will seek the Lord, I will seek your face, my face, O Lord, I will seek. Do not turn your face away from me and do not turn away in anger from your servant: be my helper, do not reject me and do not forsake me, O God, my savior. For my father and mother abandoned me, but the Lord will receive me. Lay down the law, O Lord, in your way, and guide me on the right path for my enemy’s sake. Do not betray me to the souls of those who afflict me: for I have stood up as a witness of unrighteousness, and lied untruthfully to myself. I believe in seeing the good Lord on the earth of the living. Be patient with the Lord, be of good courage, and let your heart be strong, and be patient with the Lord.
Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and deliver me from those who rise up against me: deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the blood of blood. For behold, having caught my soul, I have attacked my strength: lower is my iniquity, lower is my sin, Lord: without iniquity I have flown and amended: arise at my meeting and see. And you, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, be vigilant in visiting all the nations, so that you may not restrain all those who practice iniquity. They will return in the evening, and will hunger like a dog, and will go around the city. Behold, they answer with their lips, and the sword is in their mouth: Who is he that hears? And you, Lord, laugh at them and humiliate all languages. I will preserve my power for you: for you, O God, are my protector. My God, his mercy will precede me: my God, he will show me against my enemies. Thou shalt not kill them, lest they forget thy law: waste thy power, and bring down, O my protector, the Lord, the sin of their lips, the word of their lips: and let them be in their pride, and from oaths and lies they will proclaim their end, in the wrath of their end, and they will not: and they will proclaim that God rules over Jacob and the ends of the earth. They will return for the evening, and they will hunger like a dog, and they will go through the city: and they will be spoiled with food: if they are not satisfied, they will grumble. I will sing of your power and rejoice in the morning about your mercy: for you were my protector and my refuge in the day of my tribulation. You are my helper, I sing to you: for God is my protector, my God, my mercy.
* Synodal translation.