cleanse me

andrew-of-creete

Wretch that I am, I have soiled my mind with filth;
   but cleanse me, O Master, I pray Thee, in the waters of my tears
   and make the garment of my flesh
   as white as snow.
When I examine my deeds, O Savior,
   I see that I have surpassed all men in sin
   for I have sinned not in ignorance,
   but consciously, and with understanding.
Spare, O spare the work of Thine hands, O Savior.
   I have sinned, forgive me;
   for Thou alone art pure by Nature,
   and none, save Thee, is free from defilement.

Saint Andrew of Crete, 8th Century, Bishop and Theologian
The Great Canon, Wednesday prayers, Ode 5

____________________

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—  assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,  to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness

image  St Andrew of Crete

 

One thought on “cleanse me

  1. I love the art and prayer. It brings to mind two other great passages: Isaiah 61:10 NIV
    [10] I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

    And also: Ps. 51- ” …a broken and contrite heart you will not despise.”

    Like

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