The Litany of Peace

(Icon by Mother Anastasia)

The Litany of Peace is one of my favorite parts of the Divine Liturgy; It begins with a prayer for “Peace from on high and the salvation of our souls” and from there goes on to cover just about everything. It is easily adopted for personal and family prayer.

Here is Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev‘s version:

And this is the translation:

-In peace let us pray to the Lord.
-For peace from on high and the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
-For peace in the whole world, the well-being of the holy churches of God, and the union of all, let us pray to the Lord.
-For this house and for those who enter it with faith, reverence, and fear of God, let us pray to the Lord.
-For all the bishops, priests, deacons, clergy, and people, let us pray to the Lord.
-For our public servants, for the government and all who protect us, that they may be upheld and strengthened in every good deed, let us pray to the Lord.
-For our city and every city and country and the faithful living in them, let us pray to the Lord.
-For favorable weather, an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
-For the travelers by sea, air, and land, for the sick, the suffering, for the captives, and for their salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
-For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord.
-Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by your grace.

Commemorating our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Glorious and Blessed Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, together with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves, and each other, and all our life unto Christ our God.

To Thee, Lord.

For unto Thee is due all glory, honor, and worship: to the Father, and to the Son+, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

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More on the Class War

The workers didn’t start it; for us it is purely defensive, a just struggle:

“One can never have too much money. In the U.S., the top one percent of the population rakes in almost a quarter of the national income and enjoys 40 percent of the wealth. That class sees this as a problem. It is not enough.

For ordinary workers, the recession brought only economic hardship. But for corporate America, it meant one thing: opportunity. This is the chance to permanently mold the economy into something approximating the Third World model: vast wealth and privilege for those at the top, and unemployment, falling wages, and inadequate or nonexistent social services for the rest of society.”

Read the rest, from Gregory Elich:

http://www.counterpunch.org/

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