As an example of the kind of prayer the faithful followers of Christ should practice with consistency to attract God’s help and protection, the Lord tells a parable of how two very different people prayed in the temple. A Pharisee prayed with a feeling of personal pride and self-aggrandizement, laying before God all his good deeds as worthy merits, and at the same time demeaning others. A publican, in contrast, prayed with a vivid sense of his own sinfulness and worthlessness. As a result, he went he went back to his home justified “rather than the other,” for, as the Lord expresses in the conclusion of the parable: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Consequently, one must pray with humility, with compunction in the heart over one’s sins. The prayer of the publican: “God be merciful to me a sinner!” has become a model prayer for general use. (Archbishop Averky (Taushev) 1906 – 1976)