Prayer to Our Venerable & God-bearing Father Anthony of the Caves of Kiev

O our good pastor and guide, ever-memorable first instructor of the monks of Russia, venerable and God-bearing Anthony our father! Thou dwellest in heaven above, while we are on earth below, separated from thee not so much in place as by our sinful impurity. Yet, mindful of thy paternal love for thy kinsmen, we fall down and pray to thee with compunction and faith: Help us sinners to cleanse ourselves by repentance and to find mercy and forgiveness with the Lord our Creator. Entreat His goodness, that He grant great and rich mercy to us, fertility to the earth, seasonable weather, peace profound, sincere love for our brethren, unfeigned piety, a sufficiency of life’s necessities; and that we may not turn to evil the good things which He hath given us with His compassionate right hand, but may turn them instead to the glory of His holy name and to our salvation. By thy holy intercession, O favorite of God, keep our pious Orthodox hierarchs in health and length of days, causing them to triumph over all heresies and schisms. By thy right powerful supplications preserve the cities and lands where Orthodox Christians dwell, unharmed by any evil. All those who dwell in this sacred monastery [or who attend this holy parish] and those who repair to it for worship do thou cover with thy heavenly blessing, and grant them consolation, deliverance and healing amid their sorrow, tribulation and sickness, that with thanksgiving we may glorify, praise and magnify the Lord Who hath glorified thee and through thee doth shower wondrous benefits upon us: the unoriginate Father, and His only-begotten Son, and His consubstantial Spirit—the life-creating and indivisible Trinity—and thy holy aid, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Icon from Saint Elisabeth Convent, Minsk, Belarus (catalog.obitel-minsk.com)