Prayers to the Martyr Boniface of Tarsus
Troparion, Tone 4
Sent to join the company of the martyrs, thou didst thyself become a true martyr, suffering manfully for Christ, O all-praised one. Returning in thy relics to her who sent thee with faith, O blessed Boniface, pray to Christ God that we may receive forgiveness of our sins.
Kontakion, Tone 4
As an unblemished sacrifice thou didst willingly offer thyself to Him Who willed to be born of the Virgin for our sake, O holy crowned and all-wise Boniface.
First Prayer
O holy passion-bearer of Christ, warrior of the Heavenly King, who didst despise earthly pleasures and ascend through suffering to the Jerusalem on high, O Martyr Boniface! Hear me, a sinner, offering these prayers from my heart, and entreat our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive all my transgressions committed in knowledge and in ignorance.
O Martyr of Christ, who didst show in thyself an image of repentance for sinners! By thy prayers to God, be my helper and defender against the evil adversary, the devil. Many times have I tried to escape his cunning snares, yet, caught by the hook of sin and dragged firmly by him, I cannot free myself unless thou stand beside me in my bitter distress. As often as I have tried to repent, I have lied before God.
Therefore I flee to thee and pray: save me, O holy one of God, from every evil by thine intercession, through the grace of the almighty God, glorified and worshiped in the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Second Prayer
O much-suffering and all-praised Martyr Boniface! We now resort to thine intercession. Reject not the prayers of us who sing thy praise, but mercifully hear us. Look upon our brothers and sisters , possessed by the grievous sickness of drunkenness; behold how for this cause they fall away from their mother, the Church of Christ, and from eternal salvation. O holy Martyr Boniface, touch their hearts with the grace given thee by God; swiftly raise them from sinful falls and lead them to saving self-restraint.
Entreat the Lord God, for Whose sake thou didst suffer, that, having forgiven our transgressions, He turn not His mercy away from His children, but strengthen sobriety and chastity within us. May He help by His right hand those who practice sobriety to preserve their saving resolve to the end, keeping watch over it day and night, and to give a good answer for it at the dread Judgment.
Accept, O favorite of God, the prayers of mothers who shed tears for their children; of honorable wives who weep for their husbands; of orphaned and destitute children forsaken by drunkards; and of all of us who fall down before thine icon. May this cry of ours, through thy prayers, reach the throne of the Most High, that all may be granted health and the salvation of soul and body according to their petitions, and above all the Kingdom of Heaven.
Protect and preserve us from the evil one’s snares and from every device of the enemy. At the dread hour of our departure, help us pass unhindered through the trials of the air, and by thy prayers deliver us from eternal condemnation. Entreat the Lord to grant us an unfeigned and steadfast love for our homeland and invincible strength before the visible and invisible enemies of the Holy Church, that the mercy of God may cover us unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.