Prayers for Mankind
(A symphony of prayers by Father Alexander Men)

Father Alexander Men (1935–1990) was an Orthodox Christian priest, renowned theologian, biblical scholar, preacher, and writer who has come to be perceived as a saint and martyr by many throughout the world.

Father Alexander Men was an influential leader, and some say the architect of religious renewal in Russia at the end of the Soviet period. He wrote a great number of books, ranging in style from the academic to the poplular, including a seven-volume study of world religions. He also lectured widely and made regular appearances on radio and television, thus becoming a nationally known figure. Men founded the first Sunday school after the communist persecution, established an Orthodox open university and founded a charity volunteer group at a children’s hospital. He baptized thousands into the faith, and as well as carrying out his day to day ministirial duties he was hailed as “the apostle to the intellectuals”.

On a Sunday morning in 1990, whilst on his way to the church where he served, Men was assassinated. However, his life, character and ideas continue to speak powerfully to a wide range of people, not only in Russia and the Eastern Orthodox Church. As his legacy and works become better known outside of Russia, through his writings, memory and spiritual heritage, he continues to influence and inspire people the world over.

Raised in Orthodoxy, loving the Orthodox faith, and serving Christ to his last breath, Father Alexander Men always believed that loving Christ meant loving all people. And this meant loving the whole world regardless of culture or creed: “Just as the colour white absorbs the spectrum, thus does the Gospel embrace the faith of the Prophets, the Buddhist thirst for salvation, the dynamism of Zoroaster and the humanity of Confucius. It sanctifies all that is best in the ethics of the ancient philosophers and in the mysticism of the Hindu wise men.” (Epilogue of Vol. VI of the series “In Search of the Way, the Truth and the Life”.) Contemporary in their language and in the problems they give voice to, Men’s prayers in essence express the expectations of every human being living on earth.

1st Movement: Morning Prayer

Man, embarking on a new day and turning to the Lord, unites himself with the world, and in return endows it with his consciousness. This prayer is filled with light, energy, hope and an unbounded trust in the Creator.

2nd Movement: A Prayer for Unity

In this prayer, Man expresses his at-oneness with humankind by expressing his at-oneness with God. By entering into his own depths, he opens himself up to God, and God opens up to him the world in its oneness and wholeness.

3rd Movement: A Prayer for Humility

Father Alexander Men links the concept of humility directly to Christ when, in His human hypostasis, at the moment of extreme spiritual strain, he cries out to the Father renouncing His own will: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42). The process of understanding the will of the Creator is fundamental, both to the creativity of the individual, and to all of world culture. For instance, the humility of Abraham, as he acquiesced in the will of God, led to the emergence of the people of Israel and was simultaneously both a creative act of Abraham himself, and an act of divine will. By such means, humility – as submission to the supreme will –becomes an act of theanthropic will, and thereby sanctifies any act of the personal will.

4th Movement: I Love You, Lord

The chief characteristic of this prayer is its intimacy. It is as if the words are proceeding from the mouth and heart of the priest himself and is, in essence, a personal confession of faith.

The prayer speaks of the two basic commandments of the Old Testament: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength”; and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Mark 12:30-31). At the same time, Father Alexander Men speaks clearly of the new commandment that Christ gave to His disciples: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34). Therein lies the grace-filled power of this prayer: the power of love which comes from God; love as a gift and an inheritance; and love which binds the hearts of men in unity, as the Lord has loved them.

5th Movement: A Prayer for the Gift of Wisdom and Love

This prayer is very passionate and its dramaticism unfolds in the realm of human relations.

Father Alexander Men always believed that people cannot overcome their numerous vices and spiritual flaws on their own, without help from above. Therefore, the basic motif here is a plea for the provision of grace-filled help.

6th Movement: A Prayer for the Disciples of Christ

The concluding prayer of the symphony is a prayer of thanksgiving. It sums up, as it were, the experience of two millenia of Christianity. At the same time, Father Alexander unfolds its content so that it is turned towards present- day Mankind, and makes the prayer a new starting point. In his words: “Christianity, my friends, has only begun, it is a universal religion, for it a thousand years are but as one day. This is only the beginning, only the first steps.” For Father Alexander, being a pupil of Christ meant a complete and untiring participation in the transfiguration of the world in human hearts. As he himself said: “The disciples of Christ are they who have become fully reconciled to God and have received the seal of the Holy Spirit, they who together tread His path and whose mutual relations are based on an eternal and unshakeable spiritual bond — Christ Himself.” As it has been written: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

© Alexander Levine, 2010