KNEELING PRAYER AT PENTECOST SUNDAY

O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, You bestowed Your peace upon us and You granted us the gift of the Most Holy Spirit. And, while still yet being present with us in this life, You continue to bestow upon the faithful this inheritance that can never be taken away. On this day, in a vivid manner, You sent down this grace upon Your disciples and apostles, confirming their lips with fiery tongues so that, through them, we and the whole human race have received the knowledge of God through our own ears in our own language. We have been enlightened by the light of the Spirit and have been delivered from error, as though from darkness, by the distribution of visible and fiery tongues. Through this mysterious action, we have thereby been taught faith in You; and having been illuminated, we bless You, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as one Divinity and Power and Authority.
You are also the Splendor of the Father, the unchangeable and immutable Image of His essence and His nature, and the Source of wisdom and grace. Open my sinful lips and teach me the manner in which and for what needs I should pray. For You know the great multitude of my sins, but their enormity can be vanquished by your loving-kindness. For behold, I stand before You with fear, and I cast the despair of my soul into the depth of Your mercy. Guide my life along Your ways, for You govern all creation by a word with the ineffable power of Your wisdom; show me the way in which I should walk, O tranquil Haven of those who are turbulently perplexed. Grant the Spirit of Your wisdom to my deliberations, giving the Spirit of understanding to my ignorance. With the Spirit of Your fear, overshadow my deeds and renew a steadfast spirit deeply within me. And with Your Sovereign Spirit, stabilize the indecisiveness of my thoughts, in order that being guided every day by Your gracious Spirit toward those things that are profitable for me, I may be deemed worthy to fulfill Your commandments. Let me be constantly aware of Your coming in glory when You will judge our deeds. Protect me from the corrupting pleasures of this world; strengthen me with the desire to strive for the treasures of the world to come. For You have said, O Master, that whatever anyone asks for in Your name, it will be received without hindrance from Your Father, the co-eternal God. Therefore, on this feast of the descent of Your Holy Spirit, I, a sinner, also entreat Your goodness so that You would grant me whatever I have asked that is for salvation. Indeed, O Lord, You are the bounteous Giver of all benefits; and You are a gracious provider who gives most abundantly those things for which we ask. You are the Compassionate One and the Merciful One who sinless became a partaker of our flesh; and unto those who bend their knees to You, who became the purifier of our sins, You extend your infinite loving-kindness.
O Lord, grant then Your generosities to Your people. Hear us from Your holy heaven. Sanctify us by the power of Your saving right hand. Cover us beneath the shelter of Your wings, and do not despise the works of Your hand. We have transgressed against You alone; against You only have we sinned, but only You do we worship. We do not know how to worship a strange god; neither do we stretch out our hands, O Master, to any other god. Pardon our transgressions and accept our prayers that we offer on bended knees. Extend the hand of Your help to all of us. Accept the prayer of all as if it were pleasant incense, acceptable before Your most gracious kingdom. Lord, O Lord, who delivers us from every arrow that flies by day, deliver us from all things that walk in darkness. Accept the lifting up of our hands as an evening sacrifice. Deem us also worthy to pass blamelessly through the course of the night, un-tempted by evil things; and deliver us from every disturbance and apprehension that comes to us from the Devil. Grant compunction to our souls, and grant that we may meditate upon the trial at Your fearsome and righteous judgment. Nail the fear of You to our flesh, and mortify all of our earthy body members so that during the quietness of sleep we may be enlightened with the vision of Your judgments. Remove from us also every unseemly dream and detrimental carnal passion. Then raise us up again at the time for prayer, fortified in the faith and advancing in your commandments. Through the benevolence and the goodness of Your only- begotten Son, with whom You are blessed, together with your all-holy, gracious, and life-creating Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.