Thee have I angered, yet to Thee do I run, according to Thy great capacity to forget evil-doing. Thee have I offended, yet to Thee do I run, according to Thy great love for mankind, and I entreat and cry to Thee: Turn Thy face from my sins and blot out mine iniquities. Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!
I have nothing to offer Thee, neither a good deed, nor a pure heart, but hoping in Thy compassion I lay myself down, that Thou mightest bring me to contrition and unwaivering observance of Thy commandments, and that I might not fall so easily into sin again, but serve Thee henceforth in reverence and truth all the days of my life.
--St. Ephrem the Syrian, *A Spiritual Psalter* #146
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