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Writer's pictureFr. Seraiah

Can I Get an Imprecation?

If you know the Scriptures as well as you should (hint, hint...) then you are aware that there are a number of imprecatory prayers and Psalms to be found within them. The point of imprecatory prayers is to ask God to intervene when one person or a group of people are attacking the faithful and have shown no penitence about it. Imprecatory prayers help us to avoid trying to take things into our own hands, and also help to acknowledge that the Lord is the only One with the right and authority to inflict vengeance.


Sometimes these imprecations are very direct (i.e. "blot out their names from the book of life", or "crush them on the rocks" kind of stuff). Sometimes they are less so. The opposite of an imprecation is a blessing: a call for God to bring grace and mercy to someone who is genuinely penitent. Blessings, however, never ever approach the idea of saying something as anemic as, "God, there is a bit of niceness in these people who hate You and are trying to destroy us and our children, so please bless them in that peachy-keen niceness, and make everything just okey-dokey for them."


Let me make this as clear as I can without degenerating into snarky rebellion. A blessing is just that: a blessing (with Divine grace) and not a sprinkling of fairy-dust niceness over some nice things. It appears to be an appropriate time to pray imprecatory prayers (even daily) against all those who are attacking the Church; both those from inside and outside her ranks.

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