114
that You might deify the whole of me whom You have assumed, and not that You might remain a man in grossness and be held fast in corruption, You who are in every way uncontainable, who are by nature the incorruptible and incomprehensible God. Knowing this, believing that Your divine Body and Your holy Blood have become incomprehensible and truly an unapproachable fire to me, the unworthy one, I would partake of them with shuddering and fear and trembling, first cleansing myself with tears and groans. But now I sit in darkness and ignorance, I wander, held fast, wretched one that I am, by a complete lack of feeling. But yet I beseech You, yet I implore You, falling down and entreating and seeking Your mercy: Look upon me now as always, my all-sovereign King, show Your compassion, show Your sympathy, show Your forgiveness toward me the publican, or rather, the all-prodigal, who has sinned against You beyond every nature, both irrational and rational. For even if I have done every lawless thing in my life, yet I confess You as God, the maker of all things, I worship You as the Son of God, consubstantial with God, who was begotten of Him before all ages (210) and in the last times was born as an infant of the holy Virgin, Mary the Theotokos, and became man, and for my sake suffered and was crucified and was given over to burial, O Savior, and rose from the dead on the third day and ascended in the flesh, from which You were not separated. Therefore, as I believe thus, as I worship You thus, and again hope for You to come and judge all and render to each, O Christ, according to his worth, may faith be reckoned to me instead of works, my God, and do not seek at all from me works that justify, but may this faith of mine suffice for all things. This will be my defense, this will justify me, this will show me to be a partaker of Your eternal glory. For "he who believes," You have said, "in Me, O my Christ, will live and not see death for ever." If, then, faith in You saves the despairing, behold, I believe, save me, shining Your divine light, and my soul which is held in darkness and the shadow of death, Master, appearing, enlighten. And give me compunction, Your life-giving drink, a drink that enriches the senses of my flesh and soul, a drink that always gladdens me and provides me life, of which do not deprive me, O Christ, the humble and the stranger, who has placed all my hopes in You.
114
ἵνα τόν προσληφθέντα με ὅλον θεοποιήσῃς, οὐχί δέ ἵνα ἄνθρωπος σύ παχύτητι μείνῃς καί κρατηθῇς ἐν τῇ φθορᾷ, ὁ ἀκράτητος πάντῃ, ὁ ἄφθαρτος καί ἄληπτος φύσει Θεός ὑπάρχων. Τοῦτο εἰδώς ὡς ἄληπτον τό σῶμά σου τό θεῖον καί αἷμά σου τό ἅγιον πιστεύων γεγενῆσθαι καί πῦρ ὄντως ἀπρόσιτον ἐμοί τῷ ἀναξίῳ, φρίκῃ καί φόβῳ, τρόμῳ τε τούτων ἄν ἐκοινώνουν, ἐν δάκρυσι καί στεναγμοῖς ἐμαυτόν προκαθαίρων. Νῦν δέ ἐν σκότει κάθημαι καί ἀγνοίᾳ, πλανῶμαι, ἀναισθησίᾳ παντελεῖ κρατούμενος ὁ τάλας. Ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως ἱκευτεύω σε, ὅμως ἐκδυσωπῶ σε, προσπίπτων καί παρακαλῶν καί ζητῶν σου τό ἔλεος˙ Ἐπίβλεψον ὡς πάντοτε καί νῦν, παμβασιλεῦ μου, δεῖξον τήν εὐσπλαγχνίαν σου, δεῖξον τό συμπαθές σου, δεῖξον τό ἀμνησίκακον εἰς ἐμέ τόν τελώνην, μᾶλλον δέ τόν πανάσωτον, τόν ὑπέρ πᾶσαν φύσιν ἀλόγων τε καί λογικῶν εἰς σέ ἐξαμαρτόντα. Εἰ γάρ καί πάντα πέπραχα ἄνομα ἐν τῷ βίῳ, ἀλλά Θεόν σε, ποιητήν ὁμολογῶ τῶν πάντων, Θεοῦ Υἱόν σε, τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁμοούσιον σέβω, τόν γεννηθέντα ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρό πάντων τῶν αἰώνων (210) καί ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων τῶν καιρῶν ἐξ ἁγίας Παρθένου, τῆς Θεοτόκου Μαριάμ γεννηθέντα ὡς βρέφος καί γεγονότα ἄνθρωπον, δι᾿ ἐμέ τε παθόντα καί σταυρωθέντα καί ταφῇ, Σῶτερ, παραδοθέντα καί ἀναστάντα ἐκ νεκρῶν μετά τρίτην ἡμέραν καί ἀνελθόντα ἐν σαρκί, ὅθεν οὐκ ἐχωρίσθης. Οὕτως οὖν με πιστεύοντα, οὕτως σε προσκυνοῦντα καί πάλιν σε ἐλπίζοντα ἐλθεῖν καί κρῖναι πάντας καί ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ, Χριστέ, τά κατ᾿ ἀξίαν, ἡ πίστις ἀντί ἔργων μοι λογισθήτω, Θεέ μου, καί μή ζητήσῃς ἔργα με ὅλως τά δικαιοῦντα, ἀλλά ἡ πίστις μοι αὕτη ἀντί πάντων ἀρκέσει. Αὕτη ἀπολογήσεται, αὕτη με δικαιώσει, αὕτη με δείξει κοινωνόν δόξης σου αἰωνίου. Ὁ γάρ πιστεύων, εἴρηκας, εἰς ἐμέ, ὦ Χριστέ μου, ζήσεται καί οὐκ ὄψεται θάνατον εἰς αἰῶνας. Εἰ οὖν ἡ πίστις ἡ εἰς σέ ἀπεγνωσμένους σῴζει, ἰδού, πιστεύω, σῶσόν με λάμψας φῶς σου τό θεῖον, καί τήν ἐν σκότει μου ψυχήν καί σκιᾷ τοῦ θανάτου κατεχομένην, ∆έσποτα, ἐπιφανείς φωτίσῃς. ∆ός δέ μοι καί κατάνυξιν, πόμα τό ζωηρόν σου, πόμα πιαῖνόν μου σαρκός καί ψυχῆς τάς αἰσθήσεις, πόμα εὐφραῖνόν με ἀεί καί ζωήν μοι παρέχον, οὗ μή στερήσῃς με, Χριστέ, τόν ταπεινόν καί ξένον, τόν τάς ἐλπίδας ἐπί σέ ἀναθέμενον πάσας.