Prayer Before Using The Internet

Prayer Before Using The Internet

There is an old joke: How many Orthodox does it take to change a lightbulb?

The answer: Change?

The idea is that the Church doesn't change. In the sense of eternal truths this is of course true. But the Church naturally adapts to reality; the translation of the Bible into other languages, for example, or the development of doctrines for new things like cloning are just a few examples. Below is another adaptation.

The internet is many things - a wonderful source of info, a major way in which we communicate with each other, a convenient place to find the readings of the day, whose saint day it is, etc. It also of course has a dark side - it can be a major waste of time with doom scrolling, it is designed to addict us, we can view inappropriate things, etc. Below is an Orthodox adaptation to the phenomenon of the internet, which has been a major part of our lives for the past 30 years or so and is likely not going away. Use it before you go online. Teach it to your children. Share it with your friends.

“Light from light, only begotten son of the Father of Lights, who dwells in light unapproachable, the beauty of whose countenance is beyond description and whose luminous thoughts are beyond the grasp of any created mind; O Creator of all form and beauty, which are intended for holiness and contemplation of you: do you now guide me who would use the internet, that by so doing I would glorify you, and walk in the light you give me, at all times thinking on whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good, to the sole glory of your most holy name, Jesus: through the prayers of the Virgin Mary, your Mother; of our fathers among the saints Isidore of Seville and Theophan the Recluse; of the Venerable Eugenius of Aitolia, Job of Pochaev, and Nicodemus the Hagiorite; and all the saints. Amen.”