ROCOR litanies for coronavirus

It will be interesting to look back at all the liturgical alterations made in the wake of the coronavirus. Some of the prayers and litanies are quite beautiful and some are frankly clunky - poor grammar and muddled imagery. Some jurisdictions borrowed from existing prayers while others started out fresh. My preference is for using extant prayers as they are extant for a reason (they were well written enough to be published and republished).

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(ROCOR-Chicago) - Instructions: Special Prayer at the Divine Liturgy

Dear Father Rectors,

Christ is amongst us!

Beginning immediately, with the blessing of Archbishop Peter we are to replace the prayer for Ukraine during the Divine Liturgy and to insert the prayer from the moleben “Hymn of Supplication In Time of Destructive Pestilence & Deadly Plague”. That prayer is found on p. 197 of part III of the Jordanville Trebnik in Church Slavonic, and in English here:

“O Lord our God, from Thy holy height regard the supplication of us, Thy sinful and unworthy servants, who have angered Thy goodness by our iniquities, and have provoked Thy lovingkindness; and enter not into judgment with Thy servants, but avert Thine awesome wrath, which is justly brought to bear upon us. Withdraw the threat of destruction; sheath Thy dread sword, which invisibly cutteth us down before our time; spare Thy poor and wretched servants, and confine not in death the souls of us who in repentance, with contrite heart and tears, fall down before Thee, our wise, kindly and readily placated God. For Thine it is to have mercy and to save us, O our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory—to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit—now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.”

The petitions said during the ektenia following the reading of the Gospel for Ukraine should remain, but the prayer is set aside in place of the prayer above until further notice. This prayer may also be read during the Presanctified Liturgy according to Archbishop Peter’s blessing.

In Christ,

Archpriest Gregory Joyce
Secretary, Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America