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You who are wrapped in unapproachable light, and were thought to be circumscribed by all, You who are altogether uncontainable, whom no word has the strength to express, but the mind, striving, grasps with longing and cannot hold on, shrinking in fear and again it seeks, burning within, and having glimpsed a little of Your radiance, it is sent away with trembling and rejoices with joy. For the nature of men cannot bear to see all of You clearly, my Christ, even if we believe we receive all of You from the Spirit, which You give, my God, and of Your immaculate blood and flesh, partaking of which we confess to 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 drive out the gloom of my sins and You cleanse the shame of my heart and 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 dwelling in me, moving, speaking and then rendering me speechless by the astonishment of Your unapproachable glory. Amazement therefore and perplexity seize me, because I see Him who holds all things in His palm being held in my heart. But what is this strange mercy of Yours, my Christ, what is this infinite condescension, O Word? Why have You come to my poverty, how did You even enter a defiled house, You who dwell in unapproachable light, my God? And how do You keep it unconsumed,

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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 συνεχόμενον ἐν καρδίᾳ μου βλέπω. Ἀλλά τί σου, Χριστέ μου, τό ξένον τοῦ ἐλέους, τίς ἡ ἄπειρος συγκατάβασις, Λόγε; Τί πρός τήν ἐμήν ἐλήθυθας πτωχείαν, πῶς καί εἰσῆλθες εἰς ῥυπῶσαν οἰκίαν, ὁ ἀπροσίτῳ οἰκῶν φωτί, Θεέ μου; Πῶς δέ καί τηρεῖς ἀκατάφλεκτον ταύτην,