Humility once exalted the tax collector,

    who bewailed his sin

    and cried: ‘Be merciful,’

    and was justified.

Let him be our example,

    for we have all fallen into the abyss of evil.

Let us cry to the Savior

    from the bottom of our heart:

  we have sinned, be merciful,

    for you alone love us.

 

Lord, you condemned the Pharisee

    who, boasting of his works,

    justified himself.

You justified the tax collector

    who, humbling himself,

    with sorrowful sighing asked for mercy.

For you reject proud hearts.

    but do not reject contrite hearts.

So in humility we prostrate ourselves

    before you, who suffered for us.

Grant us forgiveness

    and generous mercy.

 

From Orthodox Lent. Holy Week, Easter

 

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To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”