70

It would not seem reasonable to me to perform the divine sacred rites and to touch the intangible and awesome mysteries, to which is due all glory and honor and worship, now and always, forever, unto all the ages.

20.

Thanksgiving and confession with theology; and concerning the gift and participation of the Holy Spirit. (138)

You appeared for my sake on earth from a Virgin, You who before the ages were invisible, and you became flesh and were shown as a man, You who are enveloped in unapproachable light, and you were considered circumscribable by all, You who are altogether uncontainable, whom no word has strength to express, but the mind, striving, grasps with longing and is unable to hold, shrinking back in fear, and again seeks, burning within, and having perceived You briefly in the radiance, is sent away in trembling and rejoices with joy. For human nature is not able to bear seeing You whole clearly, my Christ, even though we believe we receive You whole from the Spirit, which You give, my God, and from Your immaculate blood and flesh, by partaking of which we confess that we hold and eat You indivisibly, O God, and unconfusedly; for you do not partake of corruption or defilement, but you impart to me Your incorruptible purity, O Word, (139) and you wash away the filth of my evils and you drive out the gloom of my sins and you cleanse the shame of my heart and you thin out the thickness of my wickedness and you make me light, who was formerly darkened, and you make me beautiful in both respects; You illumine me with the splendor of immortality and I am astonished and burn within, desiring to worship You Yourself. But when I, wretched one, consider this, O the wonder!, I find You abiding in me, moving, speaking, and then rendering me speechless at the astonishment of the unapproachable glory. Therefore amazement and perplexity seize me, that him who holds all things in his palm

70

οὐκ ἄν δοκῇ μοι εὔλογον ἱερουργεῖν τά θεῖα καί τῶν ἀψαύστων καί φρικτῶν ἅπτεσθαι μυστηρίων, οἷς πρέπει δόξα καί τιμή καί προσκύνησις πᾶσα νῦν καί ἀεί διά παντός, εἰς πάντας τούς αἰῶνας.

Κ'.

Εὐχαριστία καί ἐξομολόγησις σύν θεολογίᾳ˙ καί περί δωρεᾶς καί μετουσίας Πνεύματος Ἁγίου. (138)

Ὤφθης δι᾿ ἐμέ ἐπί γῆς ἐκ Παρθένου, ὁ πρό αἰώνων ἀόρατος ὑπάρχων, καί σάρξ ἐγένου καί ἄνθρωπος ἐδείχθης, ὁ ἀπροσίτῳ φωτί ἐνειλημμένος, καί περιγραπτός τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐνομίσθης, ὁ παντάπασιν ἀχώρητος ὑπάρχων, ὅν οὐκ ἰσχύει λόγος ἅπας ἐκφράσαι, νοῦς δέ βιαζόμενος δράσσεται πόθῳ καί κρατεῖν οὐ δύναται συστελλόμενος φόβῳ καί πάλιν ζητεῖ καιόμενος τά ἔνδον, φαντασθείς δέ σου βραχύ τῇ λαμπηδόνι τρόμῳ ἀποπέμπεται καί χαρᾷ χαίρει. Στέγειν γάρ οὐ δύναται φύσις ἀνθρώπων ὅλον σε τρανῶς καθορᾶν, τόν Χριστόν μου, εἰ καί ὅλον σε πιστεύομεν λαμβάνειν ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος, οὗ διδώς, ὁ Θεός μου, καί τῶν ἀχράντων αἵματος καί σαρκός σου, ὧν κοινωνοῦντες σε κρατεῖν καί ἐσθίειν ἀδιαιρέτως, Θεέ, ὁμολογοῦμεν καί ἀσυγχύτως˙ οὐ γάρ μεταλαμβάνεις φθορᾶς ἤ ῥύπου, ἀλλ᾿ ἐμοί μεταδίδως τῆς σῆς ἀφθάρτου καθαρότητος, Λόγε, (139) καί ἀποπλύνεις τόν ῥύπον τῶν κακῶν μου καί ἐκδιώκεις ζόφον ἁμαρτιῶν μου καί τῆς καρδίας καθαίρεις μου τό αἶσχος καί τῆς κακίας ἐκλεπτύνεις τό πάχος καί φῶς ποιεῖς με, τόν πρίν ἐσκοτισμένον, καί ὡραῖόν με κατ᾿ ἄμφω ἀπεργάζῃ˙ αἴγλῃ περιλάμπεις με ἀθανασίας καί ἐκπλήττομαι καί καίομαι τά ἔνδον ἐπιθυμῶν σε αὐτόν προσκυνῆσαι. Ὅτε δέ τοῦτο ἐνθυμηθῶ ὁ τάλας, ὤ τοῦ θαύματος, ἐν ἐμοί σε εὑρίσκω καταμένοντα, κινούμενον, λαλοῦντα καί ἄφωνόν με τότε ἀποτελοῦντα τῇ καταπλήξει δόξης τῆς ἀπροσίτου. Θάμβος οὖν συνέχει με καί ἀπορία, ὅτι τόν πάντα συνέχοντα παλάμῃ