When it is possible for us to rise in the middle of the night for prayer, or perhaps impossible for us to sleep so that we turn to prayer, we are able to enter into a long tradition. We find this witnessed to in the Old Testament by the great prophet David We also find it in the New Testament, there in the jail of Philippi where the apostles Paul and Silas hymned God at midnight, "the prisoners listening to them" (Acts J 6: 25). This prayer has a particular grace, for while everything is silent and at rest, the soul which loves God rises from her sleep, and together with the heavenly realms, the angels, she sends up her praises and thanksgivings. The saints throughout the ages have had much to tell us concerning the particular blessing the soul feels when it prays at this hour.
"At midnight I will rise to praise You."
Psalm 119
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Come, let us worship God our King!
Now that You have raised me from my bed of sleep, O Lord, enlighten my mind and heart. Open my lips that I may sing to You: Holy, Holy, Holy are You, O God! Through the prayers of the Theotokos, have mercy on us!
Having risen from sleep, I thank You, O Holy Trinity, for in Your great goodness and forbearance You have not become angry with me in my negligence and sinfulness, nor have You destroyed me in my transgressions, but in Your compassion You have raised me up as I lay in despair that I might sing the glories of Your majesty.
Enlighten the eyes of my understanding. Open my heart to receive Your words; teach me Your commandments; help me to do Your will, confessing You from my heart, singing and praising Your all-holy name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth! Through the prayers of our holy fathers, may the Lord have mercy on us. Amen.
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Taken from A Manual of the Hours of the Orthodox Church, translated by Holy Myrrh bearers Monastery in Otego, NY. No copyright was applied to the original work.
Posted on www.holycrossonline.org.