Highly Recommended

for those of us suffering from depression, SADD, grief, etc.

The Akathist Prayer Jesus: Light to those in Darkness by Archpriest Fr. Lawrence Farley.

Here's a link to the PDF: Jesus: Light to Those in Darkness

An Akathist is an ancient format of hymn dating from the 6th century onward. Akathist prayers/hymns are still being composed today in the Orthodox Church. The hymn consists of thriteen sections, and each section has a kontakion (verse thingy) and an ikos (another verse thingy in a slightly different format). If done correctly, one part is plain canted, and another part is sung. When I pray such prayers/sing such hymns, I end up plain canting the whole thing because I have not learned the melody sufficiently well yet to put it into the verses on the fly. I need to practice more. If anyone knows of a link where I can download the sheet music for the standard akathist melody, I'd appreciate it.

We must remember to call upon our Lord Jesus Christ in our times of darkness. For He is our Light!

The icon is found originally in the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, Egypt.