06 February 2006

For All the Sins of Men...

For all the sins of men I repent before You, Most Merciful Lord. Indeed, the seed of all sins flows in my blood! ... For all the history of mankind from Adam to me, a I sinner, I repent; for all history is in my blood. For I am in Adam and Adam is in me. - Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich. Prayers by the Lake

In Adam we have all been one,
One huge rebellious man,
We all have fled that evening voice
That sought us as ran.

We fled Thee and in losing Thee
We lost our brother too.
Each singly sought and claimed his own;
Each man his brother slew.

By Thy strong love it sought us still
And sent Thine only Son,
That we might hear His shepherd's voice
And hearing Him be one.

O Thou, who when we loved Thee not,
Didst love and save us all,
Thou great good Shepherd of mankind,
O hear us, when we call.

Grant us Thy Spirit, teach us truth,
Thou, Son, O set us free
From fancied wisdom, self-sought ways,
To make us one in Thee.

Then shall our song united rise
To Thine eternal throne
Where with the Father evermore
And Spirit Thou art one. Amen. (Martin Franzmann)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great quote from Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich! I've been told that Christians from the East don't have the doctrine of sin right. This quote sure does not fit with that caricature! Keep the good quotes coming, whether from East or from West. I'm sure there's only one Truth!

William Weedon said...

Interesting that in the discussions with Patriarch Jeremias II in the 16th century, the Patriarch *accepted* the article on original sin in the Augsburg Confession as far as the topic of original sin went. He wanted to discuss whether or not a three-fold immersion was used in Baptism, to be sure, but as to original sin, he agreed and quoted Psalm 51.