Having woken up, first of all mentally appear before the Lord, fall yourself a sign of the cross and turn to him with the words: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen." Such is the covenant of the ancient ascetics to all conscientious Christians - to fulfill the morning rule daily. Optina Deserts has made a great contribution to prayer. Here, with great zeal and love, they obey the command of the Holy Fathers. The hearts of the Optina Elders are filled with care and love for people, the desire to save souls wandering in the dark and lead them to the Creator. The wisdom of Optina Desert gave us a great gift - "Prayer at the beginning of the day." Complementing the morning prayer rules of Optina Desert with the words of the great elders, the prayer book entrusts the care of his soul and worldly existence to God.
Content of the morning rule
If a person’s desire to follow the righteous path is sincere, it is necessary in the morning to seek protection and guidance. To do this, in the morning, immediately after waking up, while the brain is still clean and drowned in a confusion of thoughts, the Orthodox Christian reads morning prayers. The reading order is accepted by the church and the main prayers should be read in full. The list of obligatory texts includes the most powerful prayers that form the basis of the Christian prayer book: “Our Father”, “The Most Holy Lady”, “Virgin Mary”, “Symbol of Faith”, prayer addresses about the health of the living and the repose of the dead. Additions to the morning rule are not prohibited. It is advisable that the prayers that a person wishes to add to his ministry be approved by a spiritual mentor.
Prayer Testament of the Holy Optina Elders
The Optina Desert morning rule is held according to the canon, where prayers follow in the usual order one after another. However, the wisdom and spiritual purity of the elders of Optina Desert allowed them to find the surprisingly correct prayer “For the beginning of every day.” This morning prayer rule of Optina Desert is addressed directly to the Lord, as the prayer of an unreasonable, but trusting and passionate desire to spiritually see the child. Entrusting himself to the will of God, the prayer book asks for guidance for proper behavior, protection from possible misfortunes and blessings of the Lord in all his undertakings.
The words of prayer are so transparent, pure and full of clear meaning that even a lay person who practically does not know the Old Slavonic language, in which the basic canonical morning rules of Optina Desert are read, can understand every word, every image. When reading the Prayer of the Optina Elders, the greatest blessing is given to speak with God in the words of the great saints.
Prayer to the Virgin in the morning rule
In the morning prayer rules it is permissible to add the prayers that the soul of the prayer book needs at the moment. The prayer addressed to the Virgin - "Queen", is not a prayer obligatory for every day. Rather, it is intended for exceptional cases when a person is in dire need of help. The text contains a fervent prayer to the human intercessor before the Lord: "You see my misfortune, my sorrow."
The monks of the monastery, reading the morning rule of Optina Desert, "Queen" - a prayer to the Virgin, is pronounced in exceptional cases. In the same way, any conscientious Christian can at the end of the morning rule read a prayer, turning to the Mother of God for help. Filling a request for intercession with humility and love, a person will definitely get what he wants.