Prayer Optina elders for every day. Morning and evening prayers

Optina desert can be called whatever you like:a symbol of Orthodoxy, a namolennym place, a holy land - everything will correspond to reality. Its very location: proximity to Kozelsk, a city of Russian glory that held a 7-week defense against the Golden Horde troops to the last inhabitant, implies the presence of a special spirit on this land.

Emergence of the desert

Zhizdra River, fenced edge of the forest, did thisThe corner is an ideal place for the followers of John the Baptist, who was also famous for being the first wilderness breeder, that is, a hermit. Neither the date nor the history of the appearance of the Optina desert is known. But its names (the second - Makarinskaya) testify in favor of the version of the dashing man Opte, who hunted down in the XIV century. Hiding from his pursuers, he just wanted to sit out in a quiet place, but the grace that descended on him turned all his predatory life. He became the first hermit Makari. It can be assumed that the prayer of the Optina Elders for every day has its roots at this particular time.

For a long time, Optina Hermitage was raidedseizures, devastation forces of external and internal enemies of Russia. And only in 1796 through the efforts of Metropolitan Platon, the father Abraham became the head of the monastery, during which the revival of the monastery began and the appearance of the first elders, people who reached certain heights of spiritual perfection.

The heyday of the Optina desert

All-Russian glory, like the real flourishingthe monastery began in the 20s of the XIX century, when the post of abbot was occupied by Archimandrite Moses, a holy man and a wonderful business executive. Under his father, Leo in 1829 officially founded eldership. The venerable elders settled in a small skete, which was built in 1821. The companions of the founder of the Optina Monastery were the holy fathers Cleopas and Theodore. The prayer book was not yet complicated, and the prayer of the Optina Elders for each day was their help in their work. The significance of the Optina Desert in the spiritual life of Russia is very great. Dostoevsky and Solovyov lived in it for a long time, gaining mental strength, and Leo and Alexei Tolstoy visited her. "Father Sergius" was written under the impression of the Optina Monastery.

The Cathedral of the Optina Elders is a unique phenomenon, a special form of holiness, which flourished for 100 years in the Optina Hermitage. Something similar is the place to be except on Mount Athos.

Cathedral of Rev. Optina Elders

The first elders were only 6, appearing here inIn 1829, Ieroshimonakh (the title of a monk-monk with a church priest) Leo brought the all-Russian glory to the hermitage, which did not fade until 1917. In total there were 14 reverend elders, each of them added the greatness of the Optina Hermitage. All of them, possessing a special spirit, had the gift of insight, prophecy and miracles. Much of what they predicted came true.

The legacy of the elders includes books, tips,letters, prayers. The daily prayer of the Optina Elders is also part of this heritage. Isaac II (after him the elders were no longer there) and a number of his associates, the inhabitants of Optina Pustin, were shot in 1937. The abbot of the monastery Nektariy died in 1928 in his cell, warning his arrest for one day.

The hardest years of Orthodoxy in Russia

The fate of hundreds of clergy in the 30sthe years of the twentieth century was tragic. Therefore, the prayer of the last Optina elders contains only a prayer to the Lord for humility, for a calm and dignified acceptance of the challenges of reality, interpreting them as a manifestation of his will, a prayer for sending spiritual strength, no doubt and ability to overcome fatigue at the end of the day. Without such a prayer (it is now included in all Orthodox prayer books), it was probably difficult to keep the faith. One expert called the prayer non-confessional and psychotherapeutic. Of course, repeating her all the time, like a spell, you could somehow wake up and fall asleep in the face of repression of the 37th year. (We are talking about those people who were doomed to this fate, specifically about the clergy).

The unique prayers of the elders

Optina elders advised when referring toThe Lord should avoid verbosity, be concise and specific, therefore their prayers are understandable and loved by many Orthodox. So, an example is the prayer of the Optina Elder Leo. She is known as the cell prayer for suicides. Short and laconic, she turns to the Lord with the only request - to accept and, if possible, forgive the soul of a suicide, but he who does not punish the one who asks for it. After all, church canons forbidden to commemorate in church and bury in the cemetery of suicides killed in a duel and during robbery, drowned men. The wise old men understood that unbearable life circumstances could bring a person to suicide. They allowed in private, bypassing the official church, to pray for the peace of the soul of the person who had laid hands on himself.

Morning Prayer as a spell of happiness

Two more prayers deserve special attention.one of them is the morning prayer of the Optina Elders. After reading them for the first time, it is impossible not to note their dissimilarity with prayers in general. In them, both in the morning and in the evening, there is so much expression and passion that, indeed, they can play the role of affirmations (a brief phrase, with repeated repetition of which in a person’s subconscious mind can strengthen the necessary image or installation). Installation for happiness, for joy, for life in harmony with everyone. This prayer is more like a hymn and a spell at the same time. Repeatedly confessing love to the Lord sounds like an unshakable faith in reciprocity. The person who does this prayer sincerely believes that it is difficult not to respond to such a sincere request for help in only bright and kind things, to a declaration of love for everything and everyone. And the flow of warm gratitude, the repeated "Amen" can lead to a state of joy and benevolence towards the whole world.

The originality of the prayers of the Optina Elders

Evening prayer of the Optina Elders is also capablecause a sense of surprise, and the desire to read it again and again. The effect is reinforced by repeated, repeated appeals and enthusiasm, underlined by exclamation marks. It remains a feeling that these two prayers imply the friendly disposition of the Lord to the one praying. Of course, they are appropriate in the mouth of a life-loving, joyful and successful man, convinced that tomorrow will be as wonderful as today. He reports to God in the evening about a happily lived day. He happily thanks him for his help, forgives everything and everyone (including himself) for the flaws that have been made, and does not doubt that the Lord will do the same.

Good prayers, understandable, close - this is probably the great wisdom of the venerable elders.

Actually, the prayer of the Optina Elders for every day is any a prayer taken from the prayer book and appropriate for a particular occasion. The role of the daily can be performed as morning, evening, and akathist and the service of the icon of the Mother of God, called "The Week of the Loaves."