Ps alter of the Mother of God of St. Demetrius of Rostov

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Since ancient times, as the light of the Christian faith shone in Russia, the veneration of the Most Pure Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord our God Jesus Christ, has been firmly established among Orthodox people. Many laudatory hymns have been composed in her honor, they turn to her in repentant prayers and ask her for intercession in worldly troubles. A collection of such prayers, called the Ps alter of the Mother of God, will be discussed in our article.

Rostov saint - pastor, preacher and teacher

Its author is an outstanding spiritual writer, preacher and teacher of the era of Peter I - Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl Dimitry (Tuptalo). Almost half a century after his blessed death, which followed in 1709, he was canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Both the incorruptibility of his relics and the numerous miracles revealed through prayers at his grave irrefutably testified to his God's chosenness.

In his earthly life, the holy saint of God became famous, in addition to pastoral and teaching activities (in Rostov he founded a Slavic-Greek school), and also howan outstanding spiritual writer, who wrote numerous works on the study of the patristic heritage and hymnography. One of the most famous such works is the Ps alter of the Mother of God.

King David's successor

When compiling it, the author took as a basis the well-known Ps alter (note that this word is feminine) - the Old Testament biblical book, the authorship of which is attributed to King David. It is not by chance that the title of the book comes from the name of an ancient oriental musical instrument, the ps altery. Once, to the sound of its strings, the sons of Israel sang of God, who brought them out of the land of slavery.

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

Unlike the creation of King David, the Ps alter of the Mother of God is a much less well-known work, and even most believers and church people do not know about its existence. The reason for this phenomenon lies, obviously, in the fact that this Ps alter is not included in the prayer rule and is read only in cases where a spiritual need arises.

Ps alter of the Mother of God how to read?

The veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is inseparable from the Orthodox faith. Gratitude to the Mother of the Savior of mankindfrom the darkness of eternal death from time immemorial has been expressed in akathists, prayers, laudatory hymns and hymns. It was the reverent love of the people that prompted the once Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl Dimitry to write a collection entirely dedicated to the doxology of our Heavenly Intercessor, and en titled "The Ps alter of the Mother of God" by him.

How should this set of psalms and prayers be read? There is no specific indication of this in church literature, since canonically it is not included in any divine service, but is designed exclusively for home prayer.

But even without outside help, every believer, guided only by the voice of his heart, feels that the psalms composed by the Rostov saint can become both a source of pure repentant tears and deep consolation - a guarantee of the intercession of Our Lady of Heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God.

The Power of Prayer

The extent to which the Ps alter of the Mother of God can have a tangible effect on a person in each specific case depends only on the one who reads its lines or listens to 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 about what everyone receives according to their faith are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago. And it doesn’t matter who the prayer chants are addressed to - whether to Himself or to His Most PureMothers, only the depth of heartfelt feeling put into them matters.

Modern criticism of St. Demetrius

At the end of the conversation, it is necessary to dwell on one more important aspect of the problem related to the fact that the Ps alter of the Mother of God, the text of which, although compiled by a religious figure glorified as a saint, was not included in the list of materials used during church services.

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

Tested Works

This position causes extreme bewilderment and can only be the result of a misunderstanding of the essence and meaning of the psalms written by an outstanding theologian of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Both during the years of the earthly life of St. Demetrius of Rostov, and after his blessed death, his writings invariably received high praise even from the most severe critics.

With all certainty, they can be attributed to those fruits 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 banned, and therefore, there is no reason to exclude them from the circle of one's spiritual reading. Everyone has the right to make the final decision himself.