The Prayer of Cyprian of Antioch on the Day of His Passion

O holy Lord, holy Father, holy God, and my holy God, for who is greater than thee? To thee I render thanks and praise, God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob, God of our fathers, God of the Apostles, and God of the Prophets, and God of the Martyrs, who wast before the ordering of the world, God of the living, who art to come to judge the living and the dead: who art the true God, who sittest upon the Cherubim and Seraphim as the seat of thine honour, and lookest down upon the depths: who seest all things before they are born; who hast power to slay and to restore again; who hast power to make green from dry. Thou Lord of lords over all things, deliver me from this age, and hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, who believed not in thee, nor in thy servant Moses.

Woe for my sins! When thou shalt lift thyself up to break the earth, beneath what cleft of rocks shall I hide myself from before thy power? To what mountain shall I say: Fall upon me; and to what hill: Cover me from before the fear of the Lord, when thou shalt lift thyself up to break the earth? I beseech thee, O Lord, help me: judge me not according to my deeds, for in none of thy commandments have I obeyed. Hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear Jonah from the belly of the whale, so hear me, and cast me forth from death unto life. As the Ninevites put on ashes and sackcloth and did penance before the Lord, so as I make confession before thy sight for all my sins, thou lover of repentance, have mercy on me. But David also says: Lord, for thy name's sake blot out my sin.

And I, beseeching thy majesty: Blot out all my sins, and hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear the three youths from the furnace of fire, Ananias, Azarias, Misael: and didst send thine angel with a cloud of dew, and Nabuchodonosor the ruler of the kingdom was confounded: for thou art King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone hast immortality, and dwellest in unapproachable light, which no man sees, nor can see. Hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear Daniel from the den of lions, and didst send Habacuc the prophet, who brought him a meal, and said: Eat the meal which God hath sent thee. And Daniel said: The Lord will not forsake those who seek him.

Hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear Tobias and Sara while they prayed in the court of their house: then Raphael the angel offered their prayers for them: so do thou also hear my prayers, and admit my prayers to thy holy court, and continually send thine Angel, who may blot out all my offences, as thou didst blot out the unclean spirit from Sara the daughter of Raguel: and enlighten my heart, as thou didst enlighten the eyes of Tobias. Hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear Susanna in the hands of the elders, so deliver me from this age, for thou art a lover of pure conscience. Hear me as I pray, as thou didst hear Ezechias king of Judah and didst take away his infirmity: so also take away from me the infirmity of the flesh, and increase in me faith, as thou didst increase for him fifteen years unto life.

Deliver me from the midst of this age as thou didst deliver Thecla from the midst of the amphitheatre, deliver me from all infirmity of my flesh.

I beseech thee, Father of majesty, who in the end of times hadst mercy on us, sending us Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord God and Saviour, born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, announced by the angel Gabriel, through whom thou hast delivered us from the peril of impending death.

And I beseech thee, Son of the living God, who didst work such great wonders, who at Cana of Galilee didst make wine from water, for the sake of Israel: who didst open the eyes of the blind; who didst make the deaf to hear; who didst restore paralytics to their limbs; who didst loose the tongues of the stammering; who didst heal those vexed by a demon; who didst make the lame run like stags; who didst free the woman from the flow of blood; who didst raise the dead; who didst walk upon the water on foot; who didst stretch out thy hand to Peter as he sank; who didst found the sea, and set a boundary to it, and didst say: Thus far shalt thou come, and here shalt thou break thyself in thy power. I beseech thee, Son of the living God, on account of all my transgressions, who art in the heavens, Son in the Father and the Father in thee for ever, who sittest upon the Cherubim and Seraphim, the seat of thine honour.

Angels and Archangels stand before thee, a number beyond numbering, fearing and trembling at thine honour and power, crying with a great voice and saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. Thou thyself hast made a covenant with us: Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you. Whatsoever you shall ask of my Father in my name, I ask the Father that you may receive. I ask, that I may receive; I seek, that I may find; I knock, that it may be opened to me; I ask in thy name, that thou mayest ask of the Father, and it be given to me. I am ready for thy name's sake to pour out the sacrifice of blood, and to endure whatsoever torment. Thou art, O Lord, my hearer and my defender: defend me from my adversary. May thy angel of light protect me, for thou hast said: Whatsoever you who believe shall ask through prayer, it shall be given to you. Every man is a liar, thou art true.

As thou hast promised, thou hast power, O Lord, to give me every heavenly sacrament of thine, that I may be worthy to see the face of thy saints. May the Spirit work in me, may thy will be done in me: for I have pledged myself to thee all the days of my life, who didst suffer under Pontius Pilate a good confession, who wast crucified and didst descend, and didst trample down the sting of death. Death is conquered, the enemy the devil is conquered. Thou didst rise from the dead, and didst appear to thy Apostles: thou sittest at the right hand of the Father, who art to come to judge the living and the dead. Thou shalt reign, deliver me from the hand of him who seeks my soul. Through thy name deliver me from the adverse power, that thou mayest grant me the strength to conquer my enemy: for thou art the mighty champion and advocate of the prayers and petitions of our souls.

Day and night intercede for my sins, carry my prayer to thy Father. And thou, O holy Lord Father, deign to look upon my prayers, as thou didst look upon the gifts of Abel. Deign to deliver me from fire and everlasting punishment, and from every torment which thou hast prepared for the wicked: through the good and blessed Jesus Christ our Saviour; through whom be to thee praise, honour, power, glory, for ever and ever, Amen.