2

I will recount to you, all who fear God; come, hear spiritual and saving deeds and words; come, learn a saving and God-pleasing counsel; come, know how we shall confess to God our Savior; come before the festival of life is dissolved; come before the gates of life are shut, before death comes and finds you unprepared; come before the 60.700 sun sets, before the light grows dark; Come, hear, all you nations, and give ear, all you who inhabit the world; come, earth-born and sons of men, together rich and poor; come, noble and glorious, bond and free; come, every race, and every age, men together and women, small and great, young and old; come, priests of the Lord, and all the fullness of the Church from the ends to the ends of the world; come, young men and maidens, old men with the younger; come, kings of the earth, both the wise and the simple; come, Let us fall down before the Lord who made us; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Come, brothers, and let us know, that the ends of the earth will profit us nothing. Come, see that we entered naked, and again naked we are about to depart there. Come, let us confess to the Lord in tears and groans, in alms, in compassion for the poor; and he himself will teach us how to be saved.

Let us also say to him: Lord, we have sinned against heaven and before you; accept our turning back and repentance, accept our groaning and tears, accept the repentance of us sinners, our lamentation and weeping unto death; accept us, the wretched, and who have lived shamefully; accept us, O lover of mankind, who have greatly angered you; accept us, O Master, who have spent our whole life in profligacy and all wickedness and impurity; accept, O Lord God, us who have disobeyed your commandments; accept us, O Master, your unworthy servants, and do not repay us according to the works of our hands. We confess, O Master, that we are not even worthy to live because of our sins; we confess, O Lord, that we are not worthy even to behold this sun, because there is no sin, no form of any evil, which we wretched ones have not committed; but accept us, O Master, as you did the prodigal son, accept us as the thief, accept us as the harlot and the publican. O Lord, turn us back; O Lord, make us understand, and be not angry, but be merciful to our sins. You are our God, and besides you we know no other. O Lord, deliver us from our enemies, and enter not into judgment with your servants. O Lord, you are God, and we are your people. For we have sinned, we have transgressed, we have done wrong, and we have done evil, and we have sinned in all things, and your commandments we have not heard, and for this reason we have wandered far from you. But have mercy, O Lord, on the works of your hands; have mercy, O Master, on those cast out of paradise by the deceit of the serpent; have mercy on us, and clothe us with a tunic of gladness, and a garment of salvation; have mercy on us, whom the devil has stripped of your help. O compassionate one, have mercy on those who have abandoned you, and have served him; have mercy on the strayed, have mercy on those who have not kept your commands, and have ministered to the evil works of demons; have mercy on those defiled in sins, have mercy on those tyrannized by the devil, have mercy on those sullied in profligacy; have mercy, O merciful one, have mercy, O good one, have mercy, O long-suffering one, for our hands have done every evil and every impurity and greed and injustice. For we have defiled the soul, which you made in your image; we have defiled the body, we have defiled perception. Our tongue has become a sharp sword against our neighbor, our eyes see fire, our hands are full of blood, our feet are swift to do evil to someone.

2

διηγήσομαι ὑμῖν, πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεόν· δεῦτε, ἀκούσατε πράγματα καὶ ῥήματα πνευματικὰ καὶ σωτήρια· δεῦτε, μάθετε βουλὴν σώζουσαν καὶ θεάρεστον· δεῦτε, γνῶτε πῶς ἐξομολογησόμεθα τῷ Θεῷ τῷ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν· δεῦτε πρὶν λυθῇ τοῦ βίου ἡ πανήγυρις· δεῦτε πρὶν ἀποκλεισθῶσιν αἱ θύραι τῆς ζωῆς, πρὶν ὁ θάνατος ἔλθῃ καὶ εὕρῃ ὑμᾶς ἀνετοίμους· δεῦτε πρὶν ὁ 60.700 ἥλιος δύνῃ, πρὶν σκοτάσῃ τὸ φῶς· ∆εῦτε, ἀκούσατε, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐνωτίσατε, πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν οἰκουμένην· δεῦτε, Γηγενεῖς καὶ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πλούσιος καὶ πένης· δεῦτε, εὐγενεῖς καὶ ἔνδοξοι, δοῦλοι καὶ ἐλεύθεροι· δεῦτε πᾶν γένος, καὶ ἡλικία πᾶσα, ἄνδρες ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναῖκες, μικροί τε καὶ μεγάλοι, νέοι τε καὶ γέροντες· δεῦτε, ἱερεῖς Κυρίου, καὶ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἀπὸ περάτων ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης· δεῦτε, Νεανίσκοι καὶ παρθένοι, πρεσβύτεροι μετὰ νεωτέρων· δεῦτε, βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, οἵ τε σοφοὶ καὶ ἰδιῶται· δεῦτε, Προσπέσωμεν ἐναντίον Κυρίου τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἡμᾶς· ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ. ∆εῦτε, ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ γνῶμεν, ὅτι οὐδὲν ὠφελήσουσιν ἡμᾶς τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς. ∆εῦτε, ἴδετε ὅτι γυμνοὶ εἰσήλθομεν, καὶ πάλιν γυμνοὶ μέλλομεν ἀπέρχεσθαι ἐκεῖ. ∆εῦτε, ἐξομολογησώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν δάκρυσι καὶ στεναγμοῖς, ἐν ἐλεημοσύναις, ἐν οἰκτιρμοῖς πενήτων· καὶ αὐτὸς διδάξει ἡμᾶς πῶς σωθῶμεν.

Εἴπωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν· Κύριε, ἡμάρτομεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐνώπιόν σου· δέξαι ἡμῶν τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ τὴν μετάνοιαν, δέξαι ἡμῶν τὸν στεναγμὸν καὶ τὰ δάκρυα, δέξαι ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τὴν μετάνοιαν, τὸν ὀδυρμὸν καὶ κλαυθμὸν τὸν ἐπὶ θάνατον· δέξαι ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀθλίους, καὶ αἰσχρῶς βιώσαντας· δέξαι ἡμᾶς, φιλάνθρωπε, τοὺς πολλά σε παροργίσαντας· δέξαι ἡμᾶς, ∆έσποτα, τοὺς ἐν ἀσωτίᾳ καὶ πάσῃ πονηρίᾳ καὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ τὸν βίον ὅλον δαπανήσαντας· δέξαι, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς, τοὺς τῶν σῶν ἐντολῶν παρακούσαντας· δέξαι ἡμᾶς, ∆έσποτα, τοὺς ἀναξίους δούλους σου, καὶ μὴ ἀποδῴης ἡμῖν κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν. Ὁμολογοῦμεν, ∆έσποτα, ὅτι οὐδὲ τοῦ ζῇν ἄξιοι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν· ὁμολογοῦμεν, Κύριε, οὐδὲ τὸν ἥλιον τοῦτον θεωρεῖν ὑπάρχομεν ἄξιοι, διότι οὐκ ἔστιν ἁμάρτημα, οὐκ εἶδος παντοίου κακοῦ, ὃ οὐκ ἐπράξαμεν οἱ ἄθλιοι· ἀλλὰ δέξαι ἡμᾶς, ∆έσποτα, ὥσπερ τὸν ἄσωτον υἱὸν, δέξαι ὡς τὸν λῃστὴν, δέξαι ὡς τὴν πόρνην καὶ τὸν τελώνην. Κύριε, ἐπίστρεψον ἡμᾶς· Κύριε, συνέτισον ἡμᾶς, καὶ μὴ ὀργισθῇς, ἀλλὰ ἱλάσθητι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. Σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐκτὸς σοῦ ἄλλον οὐκ οἴδαμεν. Κύριε, ἐξελοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ μὴ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τῶν δούλων σου. Κύριε, σὺ εἶ Θεὸς, καὶ ἡμεῖς σὸς λαός. Ἡμάρτομεν γὰρ, ἠνομήσαμεν, ἠδικήσαμεν, καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐποιήσαμεν, καὶ ἐξημάρτομεν ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν σου οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μακράν σου ἀπεπλανήθημεν. Ἀλλ' ἐλέησον, Κύριε, τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· ἐλέησον, ∆έσποτα, τοὺς τῇ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ ὄφεως ἐκβληθέντας τοῦ παραδείσου· ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἔνδυσον χιτῶνα εὐφροσύνης, καὶ σωτήριον ἱμάτιον· ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, οὓς ἐγύμνωσεν ὁ διάβολος τῆς σῆς βοηθείας. Εὔσπλαγχνε, ἐλέησον τοὺς σὲ καταλιπόντας, καὶ ἐκείνῳ δουλεύσαντας· ἐλέησον τοὺς πεπλανημένους, ἐλέησον τοὺς τὰς σὰς παραγγελίας μὴ φυλάξαντας, καὶ ταῖς δαιμόνων κακουργίαις καθυπουργήσαντας· ἐλέησον τοὺς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις μολυνθέντας, ἐλέησον τοὺς τυραννουμένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, ἐλέησον τοὺς ῥερυπωμένους ἐν ἀσωτίᾳ· ἐλέησον ἐλεῆμον, ἐλέησον ἀγαθὲ, ἐλέησον μακρόθυμε, ὅτι πᾶν κακὸν καὶ πᾶσαν ἀκαθαρσίαν καὶ πλεονεξίαν καὶ ἀδικίαν αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐποίησαν. Ἐμιάναμεν γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἣν κατ' εἰκόνα σου ἐποίησας· ἐμιάναμεν τὸ σῶμα, ἐμιάναμεν αἴσθησιν. Ἡ γλῶσσα ἡμῶν μάχαιρα ὀξεῖα ἐγένετο κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν πῦρ βλέπουσιν, αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν αἵματος πλήρεις, οἱ πόδες ἡμῶν ὀξέως εἰς τὸ κακὸν τοῦ ποιῆσαί τινα.