Second Saturday of Great Lent: Ss. Ephrem and Isaac, Teachers of Prayer

On the second Saturday of Great Lent, we commemorate two great luminaries of the Church:  St. Ephrem (also remembered on the first Saturday of Great Lent) and St. Isaac. To read about the life of St. Ephrem, click here; for the life of St. Isaac, click here.

Selections from Evening Prayer

Hymn (Enyono)

Blessed are you, our chosen fathers Ephrem and Isaac;
Your Lord saw the beauty of your way of life
and was pleased with you and with your service.
May your prayer be with us.

Blessed are you who are like a choice incense,
and your fragrance gives delights to God Most High.
On account of it He honours and magnifies your memory
in the four quarters of the earth.

Blessed are you who were given to be refreshing springs
and from you flow life-giving waters.
The Church and all her people
drink from them unceasingly.

Blessed are you, our fathers; your crowns are made.
They are waiting for you and will be put on your heads
on the day when the Son of the King will come
in His great glory and all the angels with Him.

Glory to the Father Who chose you, Noble Ephrem and Isaac.;
thanksgiving to the Son Who adorned His Church with you;
adoration to the Holy Spirit Who through you declared the truth.

Hymn (Bo’ootho)

May your prayer be with us, O Noble Isaac.
May the Lord always hear your prayers
and through His Holy Spirit pour His love into our hearts.

By your prayers, O Ephrem, illustrious among the fathers,
may we come to believe more and more in Jesus,
that streams of living water may pour out from our hearts.

O the beauty of prayer with tears, so dear to Isaac,
by which the heart recovers the purity of its Creator,
the mind shines forth with light and insight,
and the spirit is illumined, filled with peace and serenity!

As at times the radiance of the sun is hidden,
some unexplained darkness may fall upon the mind.
The heart should not be troubled or fall into dejection,
but patiently occupy itself with the writings of divine men
and gently force itself to prayer, looking for help.

Tears during prayer are a sign of divine graciousness,
a sign that our repentance has been accepted.
The heart enters the plains of peace and serenity,
and the mind finds the wisdom and power that come from grace.

Glory to the Father Who delights in the prayer of the heart;
adoration to the Son Who teaches perseverance in prayer;
thanksgiving to the Spirit Whose joy we experience in prayer
and Who gave to Saint Isaac the gift of prayer with tears.

Readings:

Genesis 14.17-20
Job 7.1-11
James 4.7-12
John 7.37-39a

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From Francis Acharya, Prayer with the Harp of the Spirit, Volume III: The Crown of the Year Part II: The Seven Weeks of the Fast of our Lord and of His Life-giving Passion and the Night of His Resurrection (Vangamon: Kurisumala Ashram, 1985).