On the prayer of identification

This article on Orthodox spirituality, signed Charité Saint-Servais and dated October 1959, addresses the prayer of identification as a response to radical powerlessness in the face of the suffering of a loved one. In the form of a meditation, the text describes an inner journey in several stages: from the initial cry addressed to God in total destitution, to an active prayer in which the believer identifies with the other by placing them before God in their own stead. The central theological contribution consists in distinguishing this identification from substitution: it is not a matter of taking the place of Christ, but of entering into a trusting communion with Him, the one true Substitute. The article also emphasizes the collaborative dimension of prayer, through which God acts in the world through His consenting creatures.