Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion:  The Preceding Evening

The evening before receiving Holy Communion, at Small Compline read the following Kanon following the Creed.

Kanon of Preparation to Receive Holy Communion

First Ode
Come, all you people, let us all sing to Christ God, Who divided the sea, and made a way for the people which He had brought up out of the bondage of Egypt; for He is glorified.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
May Your holy Body be for me the Bread of life everlasting, O compassionate Lord, and may Your precious Blood be a remedy for diverse maladies.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Defiled by unseemly deeds, wretched as I am, I am unworthy, O Christ, to partake of Your immaculate Body and divine Blood; but make me worthy of Them.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
O blessed Bride of God, O good land which produced the Ear of wheat which knew no husbandry and which brings salvation to the world: grant that I who eat of it may be saved.

Third Ode
Establishing me on the rock of faith, You have enlarged my mouth over my enemies; for my spirit rejoices in chanting: there is none holy as our God, and none righteous but You, O Lord.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Grant me, O Christ, teardrops to cleanse the defilement of my heart, that, purified and with good conscience, I may draw near with fear and faith, O Master, to the communion of Your divine Gifts.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
May Your immaculate Body and divine Blood be for the forgiveness of my offenses, for communion with the Holy Spirit, and for life everlasting, O Friend of man, and for estrangement from passions and sorrows.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
O all-holy one, table of the Bread of life Who for mercy's sake came down from on high and gave new life to the world, make even me, who am unworthy, worthy now with fear to taste of it and live.

Fourth Ode
You came from a virgin, not as an ambassador, nor as an angel, but the very Lord Himself incarnate, and You saved me, the whole man. Wherefore I cry to You: Glory to Your power, O Lord.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
O most merciful One, Who was incarnate for us, You willed to be slain as a sheep for the sins of mortals. Wherefore also, I implore You to blot out my offenses.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Heal the wounds of my soul, O Lord, and wholly sanctify me, the wretched one, and make me worthy, O Master, to partake of Your divine mystical Supper.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
Make Him Who came forth from your womb, O Lady, to be gracious also to me; and to keep me, your supplicant, blameless and free of stain, that, by receiving within me the noetic Pearl, I may be sanctified.

Fifth Ode
You Who grants light and are Lord, Creator of the ages: guide me in the light of Your commandments; for we know none other as God but You.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
As You foretold, O Christ, so let it be even now to me Your abject slave, and abide in me as You promised; for behold, I eat Your divine Body and drink Your Blood.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
O Word of God, and God, may the live coal of Your Body be for the enlightenment of me who am darkened, and may Your Blood be for the cleansing of my defiled soul.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
O Mary, Mother of God, august tabernacle of the sweet Fragrance: by your prayers, make me a chosen vessel, that I may partake of the holy Gifts of your Child.

Sixth Ode
Encompassed round about by an abyss of offenses, I appeal to the unfathomable abyss of Your compassion: raise me up from corruption, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
O Savior, sanctify my mind, soul, heart, and body; and grant that without condemnation, O Master, I may approach the dread Mysteries.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Grant me estrangement from passions, and the increase of Your grace, and assurance of life by my participation in Your holy Mysteries, O Christ.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
O Holy Word of God, and God, as I now approach Your divine Mysteries, sanctify the whole of me, by the supplications of Your holy Mother.

Kontakion
Disdain me not to receive now, O Christ, the bread which is Your Body, and Your divine Blood, and to partake, O Master, of Your immaculate and dread Mysteries; and may these not be to me, the wretched one, for judgment, but for eternal and immortal life.

Seventh Ode
When the golden image was adored in the plain of Deira, Your three children trampled underfoot the ungodly decree; and though cast into the midst of the fire, as ones refreshed they chanted: Blessed are You, the God of our fathers.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
May the reception of Your immortal Mysteries, the Source of every good, O Christ, be now light, and life, and dispassion, and the cause of furtherance and proficiency in divine virtue, O only good One, that I may glorify You.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
That I may be redeemed from passions, enemies, want, and every affliction, I now draw near with trembling, love, and reverence to Your immortal and divine Mysteries, O Friend of man, and chant unto You: Blessed are You, the God of our fathers.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
O you who are graced of God, and who gave birth incomprehensibly to Christ the Savior, I your slave, impure as I am, now beseech you, the pure one: from all defilement of flesh and spirit cleanse me who am now about to approach the immaculate Mysteries.

Eighth Ode
O you works, praise the Lord God Who descended into the fiery furnace with the Hebrew children and changed the flame into dew; and supremely exalt Him unto all the ages.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Grant me, who am despairing, to be a communicant now of Your heavenly, dread, and holy Mysteries, O Christ, and of Your divine and mystical Supper, O God my Savior.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I flee for refuge under Your compassion, O good One, and I cry to You with fear: abide in me, O Savior, and I in You, as You said; for behold, trusting in Your mercy, I eat Your Body and drink Your Blood.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
I tremble as I receive the Fire, lest I be burned as wax and as grass. O dread mystery! O divine compassion! How is it that I who am but clay partake of the divine Body and Blood and am made incorruptible?

Ninth Ode
Our God and Lord, the Son of the Father Who is without beginning, has appeared to us incarnate of a Virgin, to enlighten those in darkness, and to gather the dispersed; wherefore we magnify the all-hymned Theotokos.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The Lord is good: O taste and see! For of old He became like us for our sake, and offered Himself once as an offering to His Father, and is ever slain, sanctifying those that partake of Him.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
May I be sanctified in body and soul, O Master; may I be enlightened; may I be saved; may I become Your dwelling-place by the communion of the sacred Mysteries, having You with the Father and the Spirit abiding in me, O most merciful Benefactor.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

May Your most precious Body and Blood be to me as fire and light, O my Savior, consuming the substance of sin and burning the thorns of my passions, and enlightening the whole of me to worship Your Divinity.

Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

God took flesh of your pure blood, wherefore, every generation hymns you, O Lady, and the multitudes of the noetic beings glorify you; for through you we have clearly seen the Master of all, Who assumed the nature of man.

"It is truly proper ...,"