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Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem in Contemporary English
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, 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 transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.
Εὐχή τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἐφραίμ
Prayer of the Holy Ephraim
Κύριε καὶ Δέσποτα τῆς ζωῆς μου,
Lord and Master of‑the life of‑me,
πνεῦμα ἀργίας, περιεργίας, φιλαρχίας, καὶ ἀργολογίας
spirit of‑sloth, of‑meddling, of‑love‑of‑rule and of‑idle‑talk
μή μοι δῷς.
not to‑me give.
Πνεῦμα δὲ σωφροσύνης, ταπεινοφροσύνης, ὑπομονῆς καὶ ἀγάπης
Spirit however of‑chastity, of‑humble‑mindedness, of‑patience and of‑love
χάρισαί μοι τῷ σῷ δούλῳ.
grant to‑me the Your servant.
Ναί, Κύριε βασιλεῦ, δώρησαί μοι
Yeah, O Lord King, grant to‑me
τοῦ ὁρᾶν τὰ ἐμὰ πταίσματα,
to‑see the my stumblings/faults,
καὶ μὴ κατακρίνειν τὸν ἀδελφόν μου.
and not to‑judge the brother of‑me.
Ὅτι εὐλογητὸς εἶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
For blessed You‑are unto the ages of‑the ages. Amen.
The prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, as reflected in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, presents a full roadmap of the Christian spiritual life, guiding the faithful from the renunciation of worldly attachments to the heights of divine love. Each petition names both the vices that obstruct the soul—sloth, despair, lust for power, idle talk—and the corresponding virtues that heal them—chastity, humility, patience, love—showing that the path of repentance is both inward and outward: self-knowledge, mourning over sins, and disciplined prayer are inseparable from mercy, silence, and non-judgment toward others. The prayer culminates in the doxology, “For blessed Thou, unto the ages of ages. Amen,” which frames the entire ascent as a response to God’s eternal goodness and teaches that every spiritual gift, every insight, and every act of love flows from Him alone. Taken together, these petitions form a complete portrait of the Christian life: a continual movement of purification, illumination, and deification, in which the believer learns to see one’s own faults, love God and neighbor, persevere in trials, and offer every thought, word, and deed as a living doxology, ever advancing “from glory to glory” in the eternal presence of God.
