The Nativity Prayer of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.

The Empress’s Nativity Prayer

A Nativ­i­ty prayer hand­writ­ten in Eng­lish by the Roy­al Mar­tyr, Tsar­it­sa Alexan­dra, and giv­en to Charles Syd­ney Gibbes on Christ­mas, 1917, at the Roy­al Fam­i­ly’s first place of exile — Tobol­sk. Gibbes, an Eng­lish­man and tutor to the Tsar’s chil­dren, would lat­er become an Ortho­dox Chris­t­ian monk and priest in his home coun­try. The prayer is repro­duced below exact­ly as in the hand­writ­ten original.

I pray

That Christ the Xmas King may stoop to bless,

And guide you day by day to holiness,

Your Friend in joy, your Com­fort in distress;

I pray

That every cloud may lead you to the light,

And He may raise you up from height to height,

Him­self the Day-Star of your dark­est night;

I pray

That Christ, before whose Crib you bend the knee,

May fill your long­ing soul abundantly,

With grace to fol­low Him more perfectly.

1917

Tobol­sk                                             Alexandra