The Our Father

“It is for God to grant His grace, your task is to accept that grace and to guard it.”
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Orations

The priest says the following Prayer before the Our Father:

Priest: We entrust our whole life and hope to you, O master, lover of humankind, and we ask and pray and prostrate humbly before you: Count us worthy to partake with a pure conscience of your heavenly and awesome Mysteries of this holy and spiritual table, for remission of sins, for forgiveness of transgressions, for communion of the Holy Spirit, for inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, for confidence toward you but not for judgment nor for condemnation: And count us worthy, O master, that with confidence, and without condemnation, we may call on you, O heavenly God, as Father and say:

The Our Father:

All: Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Priest: For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory: of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
People: Amen.
Priest: Peace be to all.
People: And to your spirit.
Deacon: Let us bow our heads to the Lord.
People: To you, O Lord.

The priest says the following Prayer after the Our Father:

Priest: We thank you, O invisible king, who by your immeasurable power made all things and in the multitude of your mercies brought all things out of non-existence into existence. O master, look down from heaven on those who have bowed their heads to you. They bow not to flesh and blood but to you, O fearful God. Therefore, O master, distribute these offerings to all of us for our good according to the need of each. Travel with those traveling on water, on land and in the air. Heal the sick, O physician of our souls and bodies. Through the grace and compassion and love for humankind of your only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, together with your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
People: Amen.

Priest: Holy things are for the holy!
People: One is holy! One is Lord: Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The sacrament of the Eucharist is intimately linked to the sacrament of Repentance. This exchange between celebrant and people, which immediately precedes the receiving of the gifts now consecrated on the altar, makes this relationship clear. We confess that our whole life is entrusted to God and it is only by His grace that we are able to receive these gifts. In humility and obedience we partake. It is precisely by revealing our unworthiness that the sacrament of Repentance fills us with the virtues of humility and obedience, which make us truly worthy to receive and preserve these gifts from God. It is Christ, not ourselves, through the sacraments of the Church that makes us holy and worthy. This is why only Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves through the sacrament of Repentance and the disciplines of fasting and prayer may approach the cup. This is why we sing, “One is Holy.” It is only in this way, in Christ, that we can call upon our heavenly Father with confidence. And we do so in the most intimate way. Abba. Father. Our Father. It is only in this way that we can approach the heavenly mysteries and preserve them. This is only possible through God’s grace and compassion and love for humankind.