Prayers for Every Need

Sickness, grief, travel, the moment you are in, the Church has prayed through it before you.

Alongside the daily rule, the Orthodox Church keeps prayers for the particular moments of life: for the sick, for travel, for those who grieve, for a birth, for the dead, for blessing a home, and in thanksgiving. Some are said at home, others by a priest, and most are found in any Orthodox prayer book.

Life does not stay on schedule, and neither does prayer. Alongside the daily rule, the Church keeps prayers for the particular moments of a life: for the sick, for those who travel, for the anxious and the grieving, for a birth, for the dead, for a home to be blessed, for thanksgiving when the heart overflows.

These prayers are a quiet mercy. In the hour when one does not know what to say, the Church has already said it, the words worn smooth by generations who stood where you now stand. To pray them is to discover that you are not the first to carry this, and not alone in carrying it.

The occasional prayers reach especially toward those we love: the living remembered by name, and the departed commended to God's mercy. They teach that no part of life is outside prayer, that the ordinary, the frightening, and the joyful are all brought, as they come, to the same God.

Questions about Prayers for Every Need

How do Orthodox Christians pray for the dead?

By name, in their daily prayers, and in the memorial service, often called the Panikhida or Mnemosyno. It is commonly served on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after a death and on the anniversary, and at other times as well.

Are there Orthodox prayers for the sick?

Yes: prayers said at home for a sick person by name, and the Mystery of Holy Unction, in which the Church prays over the sick and anoints them with blessed oil.

What if I do not know what to pray?

The Church has already given words for most moments of a life. Pray them slowly, add the names of those you carry, and end with the Lord's Prayer.

More questions about the Orthodox Church, answered ›

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9–10 (KJV, public domain)

In Orthros

Orthros keeps prayers for the occasions of life and a place to remember those you pray for, the living and the departed, by name, kept as private data on your device and, when sync is enabled, in your own iCloud account. Each text with its source shown.