The Prayer of St. Ephraim and the “Bright Sadness” of Lent

“Of all lenten hymns and prayers, one short prayer can be termed the lenten prayer.    Tradition ascribes it to one of the great teachers of spiritual life-St. Ephraim the Syrian.

O Lord and Master of my life!   Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King!  Grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother; For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

~ From Great Lent by Fr. Alexander Schmemann

“A journey, a pilgrimage! Yet, as we begin it, as we make the first step into the “bright sadness” of Lent, we see – far, far away – the destination. It is the joy of Pascha, it is the entrance into the glory of the Kingdom. And it is this vision, the foretaste of Pascha, that makes Lent’s sadness bright and our Lenten effort a “spiritual spring”. The night may be dark and long, but all along the way a mysterious and radiant dawn seems to shine on the horizon. “Do not deprive us of our expectation, O Lover of man.”

~ From Great Lent by Fr. Alexander Schmemann