We beseech you, O Lord our God, be patient with us sinners. You who know our weakness, protect the work of your hands now and in times to come, deliver us from all temptation and all danger and all the powers of darkness of this world, and bring us into the kingdom of your only Son and our God. For to your most holy Name be the glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever, to the ages of ages. Amen.
An Eastern Orthodox Prayer appointed for afternoon, cited in Stefano Parenti and Paula Clifford, Praying with the Orthodox Tradition (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladamir’s Seminary Press, 1996), p. 60.
As we wait expectantly through the season of Advent, it is helpful to remember that we are living between the times, that Christ has already come among us in great humility and that we await his coming again to judge the living and the dead. Moreover, Advent is at least as much about God’s waiting for us as it is about our waiting for God.
And so, we pray that God would be patient with us sinners. And that God would make haste to deliver us from all temptation and danger and the powers of darkness. That the Sun of Righteousness would rise and bring us all into the fullness of God’s Kingdom.
Even now, God’s prophets cry out. On the horizon, they see the dawn.
Come, Lord Jesus, in your mercy, grace, and truth.