Dear All
I just wanted to share with you a couple of other Fractions that
are very beautiful but perhaps not prayed that often.
A Fraction to the Son
O Lord, You Who is and Who was, the Self-Existent and the Eternal, Who was before all Creation, Who reigns with the Father and Who is One with Him in Lordship, the Source of Mercy Who of His own will chose to suffer in the stead of sinners of whom I am chief… when You desired to save me, You did not send me an angel nor an archangel, neither a cherub nor a prophet, but You Yourself descended from Your Father’s bosom to the Virgin’s womb, and You lived in lowliness and walked upon the earth as mankind; and this is the wonder of Your humility!
The manger carried You as poor and swaddling cloths wrapped You; arms held You and the Virgin’s knees magnified You; the mouth kissed You and milk nourished You; You Who sustain all Creation by Your Grace.
For my sake, my Master, You endured shame and blasphemy, humiliation and curses, threats and strikes. The obstinate people unjustly condemned You, not knowing that You are the Saviour of the world. They passed the sentence that You were deserving of death, crying aloud in Your face that You be crucified for Your people. The cruel people made You carry the wood of the Cross for me, I who carry the sentence of death by my own free will.
The transgressors struck You on Your head and spat on Your face, put a crown of thorns on Your head and a reed in Your right hand, clothed You in a scarlet robe and mocked You. And You, in Your humility, endured all these for my sake.
They lifted You up on the Cross, You Who lift up the ends of the earth by Your might. In Your thirst, they gave You vinegar to drink, You Who give all Creation to drink of Your Grace.
They made You stand in the council as a lowly One, struck You on Your face for my sake and scourged You on Your back. You were buried in the tomb as the dead that You might bury my iniquities. They guarded Your tomb and feared You, for indeed You are feared above all gods[3].
You arose, O my Saviour, with great might, and tore asunder the sting of Hades for me. You gave me Your Flesh and Blood that I might live because of them, and made me to hear Your voice, saying, “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him. For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who feeds on Me will live because of Me”.
You taught me to keep Your commandments and obey Your Law. And You called after me, saying, “Come, draw near to Me, that you may be justified from your sins”. Here I am, my Master, knocking the door of Your compassion. Accept from me this Sacrifice, as a ransom for my sins and the errors of ignorance of Your people. Abide in us through Your Holy Spirit, and cleanse us from every iniquity and hypocrisy. May Your Flesh and Blood be an atonement, redemption and purification for us from all our transgressions. I have come forward to touch Your Flesh and Blood yearning for Your love- so do not consume me with Them, O my Creator, but consume all the thorns that choke my soul.
Accept this Sacrifice for the sake of Your Mother, so that we may come to You, and You may come and dwell in us through Your Holy Spirit, and that with intimacy we may dare to call God, Your Father, ‘our Father’, and lift up our voices and say, “Our Father…”.
Comments
O Lamb of God, Who by Your sufferings bore the sins of the world, may You, by Your compassion, blot out our iniquities. O Only-Begotton of God, Who by Your Passion cleansed the defilement of the world, may You, by Your mercies, cleanse the defilement of our souls. O the Messiah of God, Who by Your death killed the death which had killed all, may You, by Your might, bring to life our dead souls.
O You Who accept oblations, Who offered Yourself in the stead of sinners, accept the repentance of us sinners, for without favour we have come forward to Your presence knocking the door of Your compassion. Therefore, O Rich in Mercy, endow us healing from the treasures of Your remedies. Heal our wretched souls, O Tenderhearted One, with the balm of Your life-giving Mysteries. Cleanse our bodies, wash us from our iniquities, and make us worthy of the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our souls. Enlighten our minds that we may behold Your greatness. Purify our thoughts and mingle us with Your glory.
Your love brought You down to our lowliness, may Your Grace lift us up to Your heights. Your compassion coerced You to take our flesh. You, the Invisible, have revealed Yourself; reveal in the souls of Your servants the glory of Your invisible Mysteries.
And at the lifting up of the Sacrifice upon Your altar, may the sin in our members fade away by Your Grace. At the descent of Your glory upon Your Mysteries, may our minds ascend to behold Your greatness. At the changing of the bread and wine to Your Flesh and Blood, may our souls be changed to partake of Your glory, and our souls unite with You.
Create in us, O our Lord and God, a clean heart, and may Your Holy Spirit dwell within us. Renew our senses by Your might, and deem us worthy of Your Gift. Of the chalice of Your Blood we drink; grant us the spiritual savour that we may relish the taste of Your life-giving Mysteries.
We come forward to Your presence certain of Your mercy, and You dwell within us through love. Fill us with Your fear and set alight our hearts with yearning for You. Implant in us Your Grace. Purify our senses in Your mercy. Grant us pure tears and wash us from the defilement of sin. Make us holy temples for Your indwelling, and purified vessels to receive You, so that by tasting Your Flesh we be made qualified to taste of Your Grace, and by drinking Your Blood we be made qualified for the sweetness of Your love.
You granted us to eat Your Flesh visibly, grant us to unite with You invisibly. You granted us to drink of the chalice of Your Blood visibly, grant us to be mingled with Your holiness mystically. And as You are One in Your Father and Your Holy Spirit, we may become one in You and You in us, and Your saying, “That they may be one in Us” be fulfilled, so that with intimacy we may call God Your Father, ‘our Father’, and say aloud, “Our Father…”.
Thus truly the Logos of God suffered in the flesh and was sacrificed and broken on the Cross. His soul parted from His body,
while His divinity in no way parted either from His soul or from His body.
He was pierced in His side with a spear; blood and water flowed from Him for the forgiveness of the whole world. His body was smeared in them, and His soul came and was reunited with His body.
On behalf of the sins of the whole world, the Son died on the Cross.
He turned us from the way on the left towards the right. Through the blood of his Cross, He established the reconciliation of the heavenly with the earthly, and united the people with the peoples and the soul with the body.
And on the third day He rose from the tomb.
One is Emmanuel who cannot be divided after the union; there is no division into two natures. Thus we believe, thus we confess, and thus We affirm that this Body belongs to this Blood, and this Blood belongs to this Body.
You are Christ Our God, who for our sake were pierced in Your side with a spear on the heights of Golgotha in Jerusalem.
You are the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world.
Absolve us of our transgressions and make us stand at Your right hand side.
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who are blessed by the Cherubim, hallowed by the Seraphim, and exalted by thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand of the rational servants;
who sanctify and complete the gifts and the fullness of the fruits that have been brought to You as a sweet savor; sanctify also all of our bodies, our souls, and our spirits,
so that with a pure heart and an unashamed face, we may call upon You, O God the Father who are in the heavens, and pray, saying,
Our Father
Prayed for the Feast of the Cross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCMh24ahPik
^(Prayed by Fr. Moses Samaan of St. Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church of San Diego, CA)