Lord, Have Mercy
The most common prayer in Orthodoxy is "Lord, have mercy." In some services we say it 40 times in a row! I've been known to comment that, most of us being white for now, we sure say Lord Have Mercy alot! But this isn't because we have hangups, or we imagine God as a punishing judge, or we have low self-esteem. (Any of these may be true, but not the reason!) Comparing ourselves to God in any quality or attribute has been likened to the mathematical principle that, compared to infinity, any number is as zero.
On the other hand, anything God does for us is Mercy, not just juridical pardoning of legalistic infractions. Mercy may be another name for God's Favor, Grace, Graciousness, Assistance, Energy, Pity, Healing, etc.
It's not uncommon to say it in Biblical Greek, Kyrie eleison,* or Old Church Slavonic (a parent tongue of Russian), Gospodi pomilui.**
(*-"KEER-ee-ay uh-LAY-zawn." **-"GOSS-poh-dee paw-MEEL-oy.")
This is also why the Jesus Prayer is a prayer for Mercy, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner." And why Psalm 51 (50 LXX), the Miserere, is the Number One psalm in Orthodox Church usage.
As we proceed in Orthodox spirituality, we become more conscious of our sinfulness, our huge difference from God's Perfection, our involvement in "the sin of the world," and indeed our hopelessness and utter dependence on God's Mercy. Some of the greatest Orthodox Saints, on their deathbeds, have begged God for more time to turn their lives around! This would be depressing if we didn't have God to turn to, if we didn't know we could look for Mercy from Him, if we didn't know that, as someone once said, as we take one step toward Him, He takes a million towards us...like the forgiving Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
But on the third hand(!), Orthodoxy doesn't use sin or "guilt" to beat up on us or enslave us like some religious groups do. In fact, some Orthodox priests insist on just one sacramental Confession per year, unless something really serious comes up.
So, Lord have mercy!
On the other hand, anything God does for us is Mercy, not just juridical pardoning of legalistic infractions. Mercy may be another name for God's Favor, Grace, Graciousness, Assistance, Energy, Pity, Healing, etc.
It's not uncommon to say it in Biblical Greek, Kyrie eleison,* or Old Church Slavonic (a parent tongue of Russian), Gospodi pomilui.**
(*-"KEER-ee-ay uh-LAY-zawn." **-"GOSS-poh-dee paw-MEEL-oy.")
This is also why the Jesus Prayer is a prayer for Mercy, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner." And why Psalm 51 (50 LXX), the Miserere, is the Number One psalm in Orthodox Church usage.
As we proceed in Orthodox spirituality, we become more conscious of our sinfulness, our huge difference from God's Perfection, our involvement in "the sin of the world," and indeed our hopelessness and utter dependence on God's Mercy. Some of the greatest Orthodox Saints, on their deathbeds, have begged God for more time to turn their lives around! This would be depressing if we didn't have God to turn to, if we didn't know we could look for Mercy from Him, if we didn't know that, as someone once said, as we take one step toward Him, He takes a million towards us...like the forgiving Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
But on the third hand(!), Orthodoxy doesn't use sin or "guilt" to beat up on us or enslave us like some religious groups do. In fact, some Orthodox priests insist on just one sacramental Confession per year, unless something really serious comes up.
So, Lord have mercy!
posted by me at 10:37 PM
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