A Prayer for a Christian End

O Lord Jesus Christ, the time of my life is growing short, drawing near to the gates of death; I fear and tremble at the hour of death, this fiery baptism, for I am sinful in all things. My heart dreads the sight of the evil spirits seeking my ruin; I am terrified by the passage through the aerial tollhouses—this, Thy righteous judgment, where I must give an account of all I have sinned in life. I am frightened by that unknown land into which Thou shalt settle me after my departure.

O Lord, Lover of mankind, who desirest not the death of a sinner but that he should turn and live, have mercy on me, who turn to Thee. Count me among Thy flock and grant me to obtain a Christian end to my life—painless, blameless, and peaceful. Behold, I, a great sinner, before that hour of death, fall before Thee, and with hope in Thy saving sufferings and crucifixion, I offer tearful repentance for all my sins and iniquities, voluntary and involuntary, known and unknown. Forgive all my sins and iniquities, and in Thy mercy, consume them with the fire of Thy Holy Spirit, that they may not be remembered at the end of my life.

Forgive, O Lord, all offenses and grievances inflicted upon me by my neighbors, and have mercy on all who hate and wrong me, that I may depart from this life in peace with all people. Grant me to spend the remainder of my life in purity and honorable conduct and to end it in peace and repentance.

Before my departure, O merciful Lord, grant me to receive the Most Pure and Life-Giving Mysteries—Thy Most Holy Body and Blood—that, cleansed and sanctified by partaking of these heavenly Mysteries, I may face the final hour of death without fear, preserved and guarded by Thee, All-Good Lord, from all troubles and temptations. By Thy almighty power, deliver me in that hour from the assaults and violence of the wicked demons, protect me from them by Thy holy Angels, strengthen and console my weak soul by the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and Thy Saints. Grant me to pass through the aerial tollhouses in peace, with firm hope in Thee, my Savior.

Yea, O Master, Lord! Deprive me not of Thy great mercy and protection in the fearful hour of my death. Receive my soul then, that I, though a great sinner and unworthy, may by Thy mercy be counted worthy in the life to come to be with Thee, the Source of all good, and to offer prayers and praises unto Thee, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

 

Source: Келейная книжица [Cell Book], Archimandrite John Krestiankin, Pskov: Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery, 2006.