wall and fence. The Lord said: I am with you always,

unto the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).1

How to pray to a woman who is preparing to become a mother?

You are pregnant, so pray to the Lord

To God thus: "I thank thee, my Creator, that

You have brought me to a state in which

I am conscious of myself as a mother! Gratifying, desirable for

This is the name of my heart! But in the pleasant consciousness of this name I confess, like St. Solomonia, the mother of the holy martyrs

Maccabees, that I do not comprehend how the

and the living being grows, for I did not arrange the tender limbs of his body, nor did I animate him

Life. Thou, O Lord, hast bestowed existence and life

this tiny creature that announces its existence to me by its movement in me!

Make me a true Christian mother and vouchsafe the fate of those holy mothers who have acquired eternal salvation with those who are born

1 Jerom. Vladimir (Musatov). The Elder's Answers to the Questions of the Cell Disciple. Moscow Metochion of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 2002.

children from them. And grant me like a mother

Samuel the Prophet, to assimilate by fasting and prayer

his mother's name. Cleanse me from all filth of sin, for I realize that as in sin I am

She herself was born, so in sin she conceived what she felt

I am a creature. Therefore, believing and confessing that

Thou alone, O Christ the Saviour, is sinless, I give myself over entirely to Thy paternal providence for me, and with all the strength of my soul I beseech

Thy goodness: complete Thy creation, which was conceived in me, and sustain it with Thy grace

grant my weakness in bearing this burden

I always have patience, but especially in the present

my condition! Knowing that, by definition,

of His all-holy righteousness, expressed in the face of

first mother to all wives, more are waiting for me

sickness of birth, I submit to this saint

determination with humility and complete devotion to Your will. But, Lord, strengthen my