Psalter of the Mother of God of St. Demetrius of Rostov

Since ancient times, as light shone in RussiaChristian faith, among the Orthodox people the veneration of the Most Pure Mother of God, the Mother of the Lord our God Jesus Christ, was firmly established. In her honor, many laudatory hymns are composed, to Her turn in penitential prayers and She is asked for intercession in everyday troubles. A summary of such prayers, dubbed the "Psalter of the Mother of God", will be discussed in our article.

Rostov saint - pastor, preacher and teacher

Its author is an outstanding spiritualwriter, preacher and teacher of the era of Peter I - Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl Demetrius (Tuptalo). Almost half a century after his blessed death, which followed in 1709, he was ranked among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. On his choice of God irrefutably evidenced as imperishable relics, and numerous miracles, revealed by prayers on his grave.

In his earthly life, the holy saint of Godbecame famous, except for pastoral and teaching activities (in Rostov he founded the Slavic-Greek school), as well as an outstanding spiritual writer, the pen of which includes numerous works on the study of patristic heritage and hymnography. One of the most famous such works is the Psalter of the Mother of God.

The successor of King David

At its drawing up the author took as a basisthe well-known Psalter (note that this word is feminine) - the Old Testament biblical book, the authorship of which is attributed to King David. The title of the book does not coincide with the name of the ancient oriental musical instrument - the psaltery. Once, under the sound of her strings, the sons of Israel sang God, who brought them out of the land of slavery.

Psalter of the Mother of God of Dmitry Rostov, soas well as the creation of King David, is divided into twenty kathismas - separate parts, including both psalms and eulogies, as well as prayers. The difference is only that the Hebrew psalmist turns in his work to God, and his Russian imitator - to the Queen of Heaven.

Unlike the creation of King David, the PsalterThe Mother of God is a much less famous work, and even the majority of believers and church people do not know about its existence. The reason for this phenomenon obviously lies in the fact that this Psalter is not included in the composition of the prayer rule and is read only in those cases when a spiritual need arises in it.

The Psalter of the Mother of God how to read correctly?

Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is inseparable fromOrthodox faith. Gratitude of the Mother of the Savior of mankind from the darkness of eternal death from time immemorial was expressed in akathists, prayers, laudatory songs and hymns. It was the reverential love of the people that once motivated Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl Dimitry to write a collection devoted entirely to the glorification of our Intercessor of Heaven and entitled "The Psalter of the Mother of God".

How to read this set of psalms and prayers? This is not specifically indicated in the church literature, since it is not canonically included in the composition of a single worship service, but is designed exclusively for domestic prayer.

But even without help, every believerman, guided only by the voice of his heart, feels that the psalms composed by the Rostov saints are able to become both a source of pure penitential tears and a deep consolation - a pledge of the intercession of the Lady of our Heavenly, Blessed Virgin Mary.

The power of prayer

How tangible the action is in eacha particular case can have on a person the Psalter of the Mother of God, depends only on the reader who reads it or remembers them. It is hardly necessary to mention the well-known truth that the power of prayer is determined primarily by the sincerity and faith with which it is pronounced.

The gospel words of Jesus Christ thateveryone gets by their faith, as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. And it does not matter to whom prayer songs are addressed - to Himself or to His Most Pure Mother, only the depth of heart-feltness that is embedded in them matters.

Modern critics of St. Demetrius

At the end of the conversation it is necessary to stopon one more important aspect of the problem connected with the fact that the Psalter of the Mother of God, whose tale, though composed by a religious figure glorified in the saints' face, was not included in the list of materials used during church services.

The matter is that, despite the approval given by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, a number of modern clergymen are skeptical about the spiritual value of this work.

Trudy, time-tested

This position is extremely perplexing and mayis only a consequence of a lack of understanding of the essence and meaning of the psalms written by an outstanding theologian of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. And in the years of the earthly life of St. Demetrius of Rostov, and after his blessed death, his compositions invariably received high praise even from the strictest critics.

With all certainty, they can be attributed to thosefruits of creativity that have passed the test of time, and therefore deserve our attention. It should also be taken into account that they are not under prohibition, and therefore there is no reason to exclude them from the circle of their spiritual reading. The final decision can be made by everyone.

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