- For the living
- Anna, John, Father Peter, Maria, Elena, Dimitri
- For the departed
- George, Helen, Basil
Your Orthodox prayer book, made for your daily rule
Morning and evening prayers sized to 5, 10 or 20 minutes, the names of the living and the departed you pray for, your patron saint's troparion, and this year's fasts on the Old or New Calendar.
See your cover free$24.99 once for the whole book, a PDF you print at home on US Letter or A5. The cover, the first page of morning prayers and the year's fasts are free to see.
Look inside a finished book
This book was made for St Nicholas, with six living and three departed names, ten minutes of prayer in the morning and ten in the evening, and the New Calendar for 2026. It has 16 US Letter pages. These are six of them, as they print.
The rest of the book holds the evening prayers, the prayers at meals, the Jesus Prayer, July to December, and a last page naming the book and page of every text.
Sized to the time you have
Each rule begins with the Trisagion prayers and ends with the prayers for your names and a closing prayer. A longer rule keeps everything in the shorter one and adds prayers in a fixed order. Spare minutes go to the Jesus Prayer, counted.
| Your time | Morning prayers | Evening prayers |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | The Trisagion prayers, a troparion on rising, the prayer on rising from sleep, the troparion of St Nicholas, the prayers for the living and the departed with your names, a closing prayer. | The Trisagion prayers, the prayer on going to rest, “The Father is my trust”, the prayers for the living and the departed with your names, a closing prayer. |
| 10 minutes | Adds a second troparion, “Lord, have mercy” twelve times, “Christ, the true Light”, “Hail! Virgin Mother of God”, the prayer to the Guardian Angel and the Jesus Prayer 20 times. | Adds three evening troparia, “Lord, have mercy” twelve times, the Compline prayers to Christ, to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Mother of God, the prayer to the Guardian Angel and the troparion of St Nicholas. |
| 20 minutes | Adds Psalm 50, the Creed, the Diptychs (for your spiritual father, all in need, travellers, those who hate you, all the departed), “It is very meet”, and the Jesus Prayer 33 times. | Adds “Lord, thou knowest”, Psalm 50, the Creed, a second prayer to the Mother of God, “O Lord, forgive them that hate”, and “It is very meet”. |
This is the book above, made for St Nicholas with nine names. The times are estimates for reading aloud slowly, and the book prints its own for each part, for example “about 10 minutes”. Morning and evening are chosen separately, so you can pray 5 minutes in the morning and 20 at night.
Where the words come from
Every prayer is printed word for word from an English translation published before 1931, and so in the public domain in the United States. Their English is older than the prayer book your parish may use. Only the instructions in red are ours.
| Book | Published | What the book takes from it |
|---|---|---|
| G. V. Shann, Euchology | Kidderminster, 1891 | The Trisagion prayers, the troparia, the Compline prayers, the Diptychs for the living and the departed, the closing prayer |
| N. Orloff, The General Menaion | London, 1899 | The troparion of your saint's rank |
| L. C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint | London, 1844 | Psalm 50 |
| R. W. Blackmore, The Doctrine of the Russian Church | London, 1845 | The Creed, the prayers on rising and on going to rest, the prayers at meals |
| O. Shipley, Invocation of Saints and Angels | London, 1869 | The prayer to the Guardian Angel |
| N. F. Robinson, Monasticism in the Orthodox Churches | London and Milwaukee, 1916 | The Jesus Prayer |
Some prayers of the familiar daily rule are not in the book, because we found no public-domain English translation of them:
- The morning prayers of St Macarius the Great and St Basil the Great, and “Arising from sleep, I thank Thee, O Holy Trinity”.
- St John Chrysostom's 24 prayers, and the evening prayers of St Macarius and St John of Damascus.
- The third morning troparion, “Suddenly the Judge shall come”.
- A prayer to your patron saint, and the proper troparion of each saint. The book prints the common troparion of the saint's rank.
- The longer prayers at meals of modern books. The book has the short forms of 1845.
If your priest asks you to say any of these, add them from your parish's prayer book. The FAQ below explains each choice.
For personal prayer. Ask your priest or spiritual father to bless this rule, and follow his guidance where it differs from this book.
See your cover free
One prayer book, made for you
$24.99
- Morning and evening prayers, 5 to 20 minutes each
- Your names and your patron's troparion
- The fasts of 2026 or 2027, Old or New Calendar
- Prayers at meals and the Jesus Prayer
- A printable PDF, US Letter or A5
- Full refund within 14 days
Questions
Is this a printed book?
No. It is an Orthodox Christian prayer book made for you as a printable PDF, 12 to 28 pages depending on your choices. On US Letter, print it double-sided and keep it in a folder. On A5, print it on A4 paper with your printer's booklet setting, fold the sheets and staple them in the middle.
Which translations do you use?
Only English translations published before 1931, so they are in the public domain in the United States. We print them word for word. G. V. Shann, Euchology (1891): the Trisagion prayers, the troparia, the Compline prayers, and the Diptychs for the living and the departed. N. Orloff, The General Menaion (1899): the troparia of the saints. Sir Lancelot Brenton's Septuagint (1844): Psalm 50. R. W. Blackmore, The Doctrine of the Russian Church (1845): the Creed, the prayers on rising and on going to rest, and the prayers at meals. O. Shipley, Invocation of Saints and Angels (1869): the prayer to the Guardian Angel; its editor says his versions are not always literal, so it reads differently from the familiar wording. N. F. Robinson, Monasticism in the Orthodox Churches (1916): the Jesus Prayer. Their English is older than the prayer books most parishes use today, so some lines will read differently. The last page of your book names the book and page of every text.
Which familiar prayers are not in the book, and why?
We print only texts we found in a public-domain English translation. We found none for the morning prayers of St Macarius the Great and St Basil the Great, "Arising from sleep, I thank Thee, O Holy Trinity", St John Chrysostom's 24 prayers, the evening prayers of St Macarius and St John of Damascus, or the third morning troparion ("Suddenly the Judge shall come"). The only English version from before 1931 that we found (London, 1851) replaced every prayer to the Mother of God and the saints with "for Christ's sake", so it cannot be used in an Orthodox book. There is also no prayer to your patron saint ("Pray to God for me, O holy N."), and no proper troparion for each saint and each feast of the Mother of God: the book prints the common troparion of your saint's rank from the General Menaion, the way a parish does when the proper text is not to hand. The meal prayers are the short forms of 1845, not the longer ones in modern books. If your priest asks you to say any of these, add them from your parish's prayer book.
Old Calendar or New Calendar?
Choose your parish's calendar. On both, Pascha is reckoned by the Julian Paschalion, so Great Lent and Pascha fall on the same days. The fixed fasts (Nativity, Dormition, the strict fast days) are 13 days later on the Old Calendar, and the end of the Apostles' Fast moves too. In years when Pascha is late, the New Calendar has little or no Apostles' Fast; the book says so. The Orthodox Church of Finland keeps the Western date of Pascha, so this book does not fit its calendar.
How strict are the fasts in the book?
The book marks which days are fast days and which weeks are fast-free. How strictly to fast (meat, dairy, fish, wine, oil) depends on the day, on local custom and on your health. Ask your priest.
Can I change my rule?
A rule of prayer is best kept with the blessing of your priest or spiritual father. Show him the book. If he asks you to change it, preview again with new choices and buy the new version, or add prayers from your parish's prayer book.
What patron saint do I choose?
The saint whose name you bear. Choose the saint's rank (martyr, hierarch, venerable father or mother, apostle). If your patron is a feast of the Mother of God, write the feast's name. Not sure? Ask your priest, or choose "Another saint" and you get the troparion to all the saints.
Can I type names in Cyrillic or Greek?
Please type them in Latin letters (Ioann, Maria, Dimitrios). The PDF prints most accented letters (é, ö, ñ, š). A few marks its fonts lack, such as the comma in ș or the breve in ă, print as the plain letter (Ștefan becomes Stefan). Cyrillic and Greek letters cannot be printed, so the form asks for Latin ones.
Is this made by a church?
No. PrayerRule is made by Heldig Lab, an independent studio in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is not affiliated with any Orthodox jurisdiction, diocese or parish. It is for personal prayer: ask your priest or spiritual father to bless your rule, and follow his guidance where it differs from this book.
Do I pay before the preview?
No. The cover, the first page of your morning prayers and this year's fasting periods are free. You pay $24.99 once only if you want the whole book. No subscription and no account.
What if something is wrong?
Email heldig.lab@pm.me within 14 days for a full refund. For example: a name printed wrong, a wrong date, a PDF that won't open, or the book is not what you needed. Heldig Lab refunds by hand, to the card you paid with.
What happens to the names I type?
They are used only to make your book, never for advertising, and our analytics never record what you type. A preview you don't pay for is deleted after 30 days. A paid order is kept for 400 days so your link and PDF keep working, then deleted. Email heldig.lab@pm.me and we delete your order, names included, sooner.