Litany of Supplication
 The "Great Entrance" has taken place. The Holy Gifts, later
to be changed into the real Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus, have
been brought from the "Prothesis" (Preparation Table) in a Procession
and placed upon the Holy Altar Table. The Deacon or the Priest commence the "Petitions" as follows:
"Let us complete our prayer and supplication to the
Lord."
Even though we have expressed our prayers, it is time now to make those prayers more complete because
the Great Moment is soon at hand.
"For the Precious Gifts here presented, let us beseech
the Lord."
At this point our hearts should be clean of any vengefulness maliciousness or negative attitudes towards others. Remember the Lords words, "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt 5:23-24). We entreat, we beseech the Lord to receive, to accept these Gifts, which
we are offering and which in turn will grant us a new spirit.
"For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger,
and necessity,
let us beseech the Lord."
Then we hear a grouping of six more petitions, to which the congregation chants, "Grant this, O Lord."
1. "For this whole day, that it may be perfect, holy,
peaceful, and
sinless, let us ask of the Lord."
All Christians should strive to live perfect days blessed with Christian acts. But since many of us so easily drift from the prescribed course, at this moment of the Liturgy we ask our Lord to give us a peaceful day with all that surrounds us and more so a blameless one - to help us avoid any possible sin.
2. "For an Angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian
of our souls
and bodies, let us ask of the Lord."
We ask God to send us each day a guardian angel over our souls. Such an angel guides us to enlightenment and divine knowledge of faith. He also takes our payers and offers them to God at the heavenly throne. He protects from all evil and from life's temptations. He is an aid in our spiritual struggles. During our baptism we were offered an Angel.
3. "For the forgiveness and remission of our sins and
transgressions,
let us ask of the Lord."
We pray to our Lord to forgive us from our sins, but also from every transgression, which we so often commit. By remitting our sins we
are re-instated in His Grace and become candidates of His Kingdom in Heaven.
4. "For all things that are good and profitable unto
our souls, and for
the peace in the world, let us ask
of the Lord."
Saint Paul tells us in his first Epistle to the Corinthians that "everything is permitted to us, but not everything is to our advantage." We therefore must distinguish between what is good and what is bad for
our life. This is a major problem in this day and age of materialism. We tend to think only about material and sensual pleasures, glory and power, authority, honors, physical rest, having a good time, making easy money and so forth. In reality we are pretty heard hearted and indifferent to many important moral issues. We are not well equipped to make the proper discernment for what is best for our soul. In this petition we pray that God grants us those things which
are profitable to our soul and surely will ultimately be profitable to our body.
In this fourth petition we also pray for peace in the world as we also prayed during the beginning of the Holy Liturgy.
5. "That we may complete the remainder of our lives
in peace and
penitence, let us ask of the Lord."
In the first petition we asked the Lord to safeguard us from sin for the whole day. We are living a life filled with anxiety and this world's matters and have little appreciation about our life that is quickly passing by. Now through this petition we beseech the Lord to grant
us the remainder of our days, peace of mind and heart, and also to aid us to recognize our sins for which we must truly repent, to ultimately save our souls.
Our happiness depends on our witnessing of our conscience. This is our ability to sleep calmly without any feelings of guilt. When we have peace in our heart, the Holy spirit nurtures and comforts us. To find this peace we must repent. We must be aware of our sinfulness and have sorrow over our condition and seek help from God. We all have a tendency to sin and we need to continually ask for God's help to help us in our struggle.
6. "That the end of our lives may be Christian, without
pain,
blameless, and peaceful, and for
a good account before the fearful
judgment seat of Christ, let us ask of the Lord."
All of our lives should be lived according to the Christian principles, unto the very end. If we do our death will be the beginning of a new eternal life. For this we ask the Lord to help us to our very
last day, to live without torment of various ailments and sicknesses, to live without being ashamed of any of our acts, to live in peace with all, but more so to enable us to give a good account, a good defense when we shall come face to face with our God Jesus, on the day of the Last Judgment.
After the six petitions we again commemorate the ever blessed Virgin Mary and we are reminded of her pure life and that of the Saints.
During these petitions, inside the Altar the Priest recites a very significant prayer:
"O Lord, God Almighty, Who alone art Holy; Who dost
receive the
sacrifice of praise from those, who call upon Thee
with all their
heart, receive also the supplication of us sinners,
and accept it at
Thy Holy Altar, and enable us to offer to Thee Gifts
and spiritual
sacrifices, for our sins and for the omissions of
the people; and make
us worthy to find grace in Thy Sight, that our sacrifice
may be well
pleasing unto Thee, and that the good Spirit of Thy
grace may dwell
upon us, and upon these Gifts presented here, and
upon all Thy
people."
The ending of this beautiful prayer is heard aloud by the faithful as follows:
"Through the mercies of Thine Only-Begotten Son, with
Whom Thou art
blessed, together with Thine All-Holy and good and
life-giving Spirit,
now and for ever, and from all Ages to all Ages."
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