I lead my congregation by saying one of these two prayers, except during fasting seasons:
A Prayer of St. John of Damascus
O Lord and Master Jesus Christ, our God, who alone hath power to forgive the sins of men, do thou, O Good One who lovest mankind, forgive all the sins that I have committed in knowledge or in ignorance, and make me worthy to receive without condemnation thy divine, glorious, immaculate and life-giving Mysteries; not unto punishment or unto increase of sin; but unto purification, and sanctification and a promise of thy Kingdom and the Life to come; as a protection and a help to overthrow the adversaries, and to blot out my many sins. For thou art a God of mercy and compassion and love toward mankind, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto the ages of all ages.
All: Amen.
Another Prayer of St. John of Damascus
I stand before the gates of thy Temple, and yet I refrain not from my evil thoughts. But do thou, O Christ my God, who didst justify the publican, and hadst mercy on the Canaanite woman, and opened the gates of Paradise to the thief; open unto me the compassion of thy love toward mankind, and receive me as I approach and touch thee, like the sinful woman and the woman with the issue of blood; for the one, by embracing thy feet received the forgiveness of her sins, and the other by but touching the hem of thy garment was healed. And I, most sinful, dare to partake of thy whole Body. Let me not be consumed, but receive me as thou didst receive them, and enlighten the perceptions of my soul, consuming the accusations of my sins: through the intercessions of Her that, without stain, gave Thee birth, and of the heavenly Powers: for thou art blessed unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
All: Amen.
In Lent, during the Apostle’s Fast, the Dormition Fast, and Advent, I lead us in praying this far more penitential prayer:
A Prayer of St. Basil the Great
O Lord, I know that I am unworthy to receive thy Holy Body and Precious Blood; I know that I am guilty, and that I eat and drink condemnation to myself, not discerning the Body and Blood of Christ my God. But trusting in thy loving-kindness I come unto thee who has said: He that eateth my Body and drinketh my Blood shall dwell in me and I in him. Therefore, O Lord, have compassion on me and make not an example of me, thy sinful servant. But do unto me according to thy great mercy, and grant that these Holy Gifts may be for me unto the healing, purification, enlightenment, protection, salvation and sanctification of my soul and body, and to the expulsion of every evil imagination, sinful deed or work of the Devil. May they move me to reliance on thee and to love thee always, to amend and keep firm my life; and be ever in me to the increase of virtue, to the keeping of thy Commandments, to the communion of the Holy Spirit, and as a good defense before thy dread Judgment Seat, and for Life Eternal.
All: Amen.
If we are pressed for time, or if I feel the congregation might not entirely understand “Thou”, which is a problem that one of my congregations occasionally has, I will instead use one of these two prayers of Syriac Orthodox origin:
A Brief Pre-Communion Prayer
My God and my Lord, make me worthy to receive Your Holy Body and life-giving precious blood for the eradication of my evil desires, and for the expulsion of my sinful deeds. Help me God, for partaking in these Holy Mysteries, for the remission of my debts, and forgiveness of my sins, and for the purification of my body and the enlightenment of my soul; into life everlasting.
All: Amen.
A Pre-Communion Prayer in Simple Langhage
O Bread Who came down from heaven nourishment for men, grant that I partake of You in all pure desire, adoration and exaltation. O delightful Wine of life, may I be intoxicated by Your divine love. O You Who cried out saying: “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink,” behold, my soul in thirst has come to You to drink of You. O Water of life, O God, I am not worthy for You to enter into my heart, but only say a word to heal my soul in thirst has come to You ti drink of You, O Water of life. O God, I am not worthy for You to enter into my heart, but only say a word to heal my soul that is longing for You just as the hart pays after the water brooks. O Cup of blessing and salvation, O Heavenly Manna, and Bread of life, Abide with me forever.
All: Amen.
The purpose of these prayers is to call to mind 1 Corinthians 11:27-34, which were formally read on Maundy Thursday by every church, but now most churches omit them, because they were deleted from the Novus Ordo Lectionary due to the ideology of Fr. Annibale Bugnini, who was of the belief that people should always receive the Eucharist, which I regard as an implausible exegesis of 1 Corinthians, and the Revised Common Lectionary followed suit, and now we have a situation where people take communion casually. To quote (and this should come as no shock to anyone, for I often quote him, despite disagreeing with him vehemently on several important issues) Metropolitan Kallistos Ware*, I support frequent communion but not casual communion. People should not partake of the Eucharist without an examination of conscience and in some cases, auricular confession is really needed to reconcile someone. And if someone is baptized but has been apostate, for example, if they left Christianity to join a witch’s coven, and have now returned, I really need to chrismate (confirm) them (chrismation is like the Western rite of confirmation, albeit devoid of the catechtical questions, and offered to everyone being received or re-received, including infants, and while the liturgy we celebrate is definitely Western, in terms of sacramental theology, I have become thoroughly Eastern, Oriental and Assyrian in outlook). Assyrian, specifically, in still allowing anyone who believes in the Real Presence to partake of the Eucharist, which makes having highly penitential pre-communion prayers even more important.
