The Church gives us prayers that directly ask Christ to calm the storm, just as He did for the terrified apostles on the Sea of Galilee. We’re not making this up or being poetic. There are actual liturgical prayers for severe weather that Orthodox Christians have prayed for centuries.
The most traditional prayer comes from the Orthodox Church in America’s service books. It goes like this: “O Master, Lord our God… Rebuke the raging of the sea and the unnatural violence of the gales; let the storm be stilled and the tempest return to tranquility, through the intercession of the most blessed Lady Theotokos.” You can pray this at home when you’re watching the Weather Channel track another system in the Gulf. You don’t need a priest present.
Another version is even more direct: “O Lord Jesus Christ, as you saved your apostles from perishing in a storm by calming wind and waves on your command, so save us now.” That’s the whole point. We’re asking the same Person who stood up in the boat and said “Peace, be still” to do it again.
What we pray in church
If you’ve been to Divine Liturgy, you’ve already heard prayers for protection from storms. Every Sunday in the Great Litany, we pray “for seasonable weather, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times.” The Church interprets this today as including hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. It’s not just about having a nice spring day for a picnic.
We also pray “from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, deliver us, O Lord.” That covers a lot. A Category 4 bearing down on Beaumont definitely counts as danger and necessity.
The Trisagion works too. “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” Say it three times. It’s what Orthodox Christians pray when we need God’s protection, whether that’s from illness, accident, or a hurricane making landfall at High Island.
The practical side
When a storm’s coming, you do what needs doing. Board the windows if you’re staying. Evacuate if you’re told to evacuate. Fill the bathtubs with water. Get the generator ready. Pray while you’re doing all of it.
Make the sign of the cross. Not as magic, but as a physical reminder that you belong to Christ and you’re asking for His protection. Our grandparents knew this. When thunder cracked, they crossed themselves. We’ve gotten out of the habit, but it’s still a good one.
If you have holy water from Theophany, you can sprinkle it in your home. The Church blesses water precisely because we live in a material world where material things matter. Water, oil, bread, wine, God uses physical stuff to convey grace. So yes, a few drops of holy water while you’re praying for protection makes sense. Just don’t treat it like a lucky charm. You’re not warding off evil spirits. You’re asking God’s blessing on your home and everyone in it.
When the power’s out
You don’t need a prayer book or your phone to pray during a hurricane. If you’re sitting in the dark listening to the wind tear at your roof, pray the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Over and over. Let it match your breathing. That’s what it’s for, to keep us connected to Christ when everything else is chaos.
Or pray Psalm 50 if you know it. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy.” Confession and repentance are always appropriate. We’re not saying God sends hurricanes to punish people, that’s bad theology and pastorally cruel. But we do say that turning to God in fear and need is exactly right. He wants us to come to Him.
The Theotokos is especially close during times of terror. “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.” She’s the one who stood at the foot of the cross. She knows what it is to be afraid and to trust God anyway. Ask her prayers.
After the storm
If you make it through unscathed and your neighbor’s house is gone, that’s when prayer gets harder. Why them and not you? I don’t have an answer that’ll satisfy you. What I do have is the Church’s consistent witness that we pray for those who suffer, we help them with our hands and our money, and we thank God for His mercy without presuming we deserved it more than anyone else.
Pray for the dead if people died. Pray for those who lost everything. Pray for the power crews coming in from Oklahoma and the insurance adjusters and the FEMA people and everyone else trying to put Southeast Texas back together. “Lord, have mercy” covers all of it.
The Church has been praying these prayers for a long time. Antioch knew storms. Constantinople knew storms. Russia knew blizzards and floods. Now we’re praying them in Beaumont and Port Arthur and Orange. Same prayers, same Christ, same trust that He hears us. When the wind’s howling and you’re wondering if the roof will hold, you’re not alone. You’re praying with the whole Church, the living and the departed, all of us asking the Lord who calmed the sea to do it again.
