There was a time when I did not exist,
and you have created me;
I did not implore you for a wish,
and you have fulfilled it;
I had not come into the light,
and you have seen me;
I had not yet appeared,
and you have taken pity on me;
I had not called for you,
and you have taken care of me;
I did not raise my hand,
and you have looked at me;
I had not prayed to you,
and you were merciful to me;
I had not uttered a sound,
and you have heard me;
I had not groaned,
and you have lent an ear;
With prescient eyes you saw
the crimes of my guilty self,
and yet, you have formed me.
And now, I who have been created by you,
and saved by you,
and have been tended with such care,
Let me not completely perish by the blow of sin –
that is but the slanderer’s invention;
Let not the fog of my stubbornness
triumph over the light of your forgiveness;
Nor the hardness of my heart
over your forbearing goodness;
Nor my mortal carnal being
over your most perfect fullness;
Nor my material weakness
over your unconquerable grandeur.
Gregory of Narek, c.950 – c.1003, Armenian mystic and theologian
The Westminster Collection of Christian Prayers slightly modernized
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with his pleasure and will
to the praise of his glorious grace,
which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
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