The "Symbol of Faith" prayer was bequeathed to all Orthodox Christians as obligatory by Seraphim of Sarov, who commanded people to repeat "Our Father" three times a day, the same amount - "Rejoice the Virgin Mary" and once the "Symbol of Faith".
Seraphim of Sarov said that it is by adhering to this rule that a person can fully achieve Christian perfection, since the three prayers listed are the basis of religion.
The first prayer was given to people by the Lord himself, the second was brought from heaven by the Archangel who greets the Virgin Mary, and the "Symbol of Faith" contains the dogmas of the Christian faith that can save the human soul.
Text and explanation of the first part of the prayer
“I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, God true from God true, born, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Who is all."
Here the believer is called to believe in the existence of God, in his actions, as well as openness to all human hearts. His word is the salvation of the entire human race. God is called "Almighty" because he combines the Holy Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And being called "the creator of everything" testifies to the fact that nothing in this world can be without the participation of God.
The Son of the Lord is true God, since his name is one of the divine names. Archangel Gabriel, who descended to Mary from heaven, named him Jesus. The Son of God is called one because he alone is the Son of our God, born in essence from God the Father and making up a single being with him.
The resurrection of Jesus was accomplished with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, therefore Mary was and remained a Virgin before his conception, during and after the birth of the Son of God.
The second part of the prayer "Symbol of Faith"
“For us, for the sake of man and ours, for the sake of salvation, he came down from heaven and incarnated from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. And packs coming with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-giving, Who is from the Father who proceeds, Who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I tea the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the century to come. Amen."
The reference to the time under Pontius of Pontic takes the one who reads the prayer to the moment of the crucifixion of Jesus. And the word "suffering" refutes the false teachers who said that earthly suffering and the subsequent death of the Son of God were not such in the full sense of the word. The phrase "sitting at the right hand" refers to the place of Jesus after the resurrection next to God, on his right side.
Prayer also refers people to the "life of the age to come", when the time will come after the resurrection of all the dead and the fulfillment of Jesus' judgment over mankind.
The prayer ends with the word "Amen," meaning "Truly so," because the Christian Church has kept and will keep the Creed since the time of the first apostles and for centuries.
