[Prayer 45] Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart:

Now, confess, my ruined soul
with hope in your heart for salvation
with the belt of faith tight over your kidneys,¹
confess your thoughts to God
as if thoughts were actions,
as if plans were accomplishments,
as if invisible were seen,
as if the heart’s secrets were voiced,
as if sinful intentions were committed wrongs,
as if words were deeds,
as if footprints were flight from God’s will,
hands raised in anger as if they shed blood,
abandoned laughter as if abandoned grace,
vows both reasonable and unreasonable
as if compacts with the devil,
haughtiness as if it could detract
from our creator,
uneasiness of heart as if a lack of faith,
cowardice as if it were defeat,
complaints about passionate temptations
as if betrayals of a vow to the Lord,²
insolence as if it were impiety,
arrogance as if precious vanity,
pride as if fondness for evil,
the involuntary as well as voluntary,
the forced as well as the consenting,
the extrinsic as well as the intrinsic,
the lawless as well as the ungodly,
the smallest as well as the greatest,
the few as well as the many,
the things I have left unspoken as if
they were spoken by the all-knowing,
the unwritten wrongs as if
they were carved by the all-seeing upon a lodestone,³
the slightest contentious thought as if
it were the gravest of burdens,
a hidden matter of measure as if
it were the just demand for payment of tribute
in the amount of four drachmae
from the mouth of a baby whale,⁴
buried deeds as if they were speeding to the ear of God.
Compile and compound them redoubling your effort,
and lament here again what is not, as if it were.
Offer your vanquished soul to God
so that you might receive the forgiveness of sins,
like the sinner who through the Lord’s grace
was justified,
eloquently proclaiming the merits of repentance rather than faultfinding.⁵

Prayer – “Book of Lamentations” St. Gregory of Narek 45

Readings – Ընթերցումներ
Deuteronomy 6:4-7:10; Job 6:13-7:13; Isaiah 40:1-8
Բ. Օր. 6.4-7.10: Յոբ. 6.2-7.13: Ես. 40.1-8:

DAILY SPIRITUAL TASK
Take over a disliked chore for a family member, or friend.