The penitential prayer of the Eastern Churches — prayed at every weekday service of Great Lent with prostrations, the most beloved Lenten prayer of the East.
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. [Prostration] But grant unto me, Thy servant, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love. [Prostration] Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. [Prostration]
At every weekday service of Great Lent (Monday through Friday) in the Byzantine and Slavonic traditions; in personal devotion during Lent.
St. Ephrem the Syrian — the 'Harp of the Holy Spirit' — was a Syriac-speaking deacon and theologian of Nisibis and Edessa who composed hundreds of hymns and prayers in Syriac. The Greek prayer that bears his name in the Byzantine liturgical tradition does not appear in his extant Syriac corpus, but reflects his characteristic spirituality and is universally attributed to him in the East.
The prayer is recited at every weekday service of Great Lent in the Byzantine tradition — at Matins, the Hours, Vespers, and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. It is accompanied by prostrations: three full prostrations after the first part of the prayer, twelve metanies (small bows) during the brief silent recitation, and one final prostration after the conclusion.
