Patristic Quote for the Day

In honor of Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent, from the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete:

Come, wretched soul, with thy flesh to the Creator of all.
Make confession to Him, and abstain henceforth from thy past brutishness;
and offer to God tears of repentance:
Have mercy upon me, O God! Have mercy on me!

I have rivalled in transgression Adam, the first-formed man,
And I have found myself stripped naked of God,
And of the eternal kingdom and its joys, because of my many sins:
Have mercy upon me, O God! Have mercy on me!

Woe to thee, miserable soul! How like thou art to the first Eve!
For thou hast looked in wickedness and wast grievously wounded;
Thou hast touched the tree and rashly tasted the deceptive food:
Have mercy upon me, O God! Have mercy on me!

Instead of the visible Eve, I have the Eve of my mind:
The passionate thought in my flesh, showing me what seems sweet;
yet whenever I taste from it, I find it bitter:
Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

Adam was justly banished from Eden
Because He disobeyed one commandment of Thine, O Savior.
What then shall I suffer, for I am always rejecting Thy words of life?
Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of all,
Take from me the heavy yoke of sin,
And in Thy compassion grant me remission of sins.
Have mercy on me, o God! Have mercy on me!