The strongest bedtime prayer is the main evening prayer before going to bed

In the Orthodox tradition, there are bedtime prayers — this is the end of the daily home prayer rule that believers recite before a night's rest. These texts bring together a penitent reflection on the past day, requests for protection during sleep, and the hope that the coming day will be spent in spiritual sobriety and gratitude. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Meaning and place in Church practice

In traditional prayer books, the structure of the "strongest prayer for bedtime" is arranged in a sequence of texts dominated by the prayers of St. Macarius the Great and the famous 24 short petitions of St. John Chrysostom, as well as the formula for handing over the soul to God.

The evening rule goes back to monastic discipline: falling asleep, the monk entrusted himself to the Almighty, remembered his sins and asked the guardian angel for protection from visible and invisible enemies. In the parish environment, this experience has been adapted for the laity.

The prayer of St. Macarius the Great ("Eternal God and King of every creation ...") is a petition for forgiveness of deeds "in deed, word and thought", purification "from all defilement of flesh and spirit" and the gift of peaceful sleep in order to "rise from a humble bed, pleasing the name of God."

The short petitions of St. John Chrysostom ("Lord, do not deprive me of Your heavenly blessings..." and so on) are 24 concise appeals, arranged in steps — from asking for salvation from "ignorance, oblivion and insensitivity" to asking for "a heart enlightened by evil desires."

They are followed by invocations to Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, the guardian angel, and brief formulas of piety, with which the believer "seals" the rule. The finale reads a confession of everyday sins and the formula for handing over the soul to God: "Into Your hands, Lord ...".

Prayer to the guardian angel ("Angel of Christ, my holy guardian ...") is a short appeal with a request to "cover" and "keep" at night, as well as teach in the morning to rise to the good. It is connected with the idea of the Angel's continuous pedagogy: not only protection, but also guidance.

The final confession is "Into Your hands...", whose meaning is to give God both the outcome of the day and life itself, not to "go into the night" in a state of discord or bitterness.

What is called "the strongest" in these prayers

With reasonable consistency and attention, the rule becomes the "strongest" precisely because every evening it brings a person back to the living presence of God — without fuss, without complacency and without fear of the night.

By "strongest" is usually meant that part of the rule that concen- trately combines repentance, a request to be impregnable to enemy suggestions in a dream, and the hope of resurrection for a new day.

When, how and to whom to read

The rule is intended for all Orthodox Christians, both laymen and clerics, but at home it is read individually or with the family. The house rule values not so much "hidden sanctity" as attention and regularity.

On holidays and during Great Lent, additions are possible (for example, the troparia of the feast, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian on weekdays), and on Holy Week, the Hours of Easter are read instead of the usual rule.

Questions and answers

Is it possible to read in Russian? Yes. Church Slavonic and Russian texts are acceptable for home use — the liturgical tradition preserves Slavic, but for careful home reading, translation is appropriate.

What should I do if I get very tired? Keep the semantic framework: brief petitions of St. John Chrysostom, one of the penitential prayers, a prayer to the guardian angel and "Into Your hands ...". Often a person quickly "runs through" the lines - while the meaning of the text escapes him. The clergy argue that it is more important to read at least part of it carefully than inattentively, but completely.