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76 |
The following Stanzas are from the triodion sung at Compline on Palm Sunday: which has the same name among the Greeks as among ourselves.
10,9,10,9
IhsouV uper tou kosmou.
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Jesus, hastening for the world to suffer, Enters in, Jerusalem, to thee: With His Twelve He goeth forth to offer That free sacrifice He came to be. | |
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They that follow Him with true affection Stand prepared to suffer for His Name: Be we ready then for man's rejection, For the mockery, the reproach, the shame. | |
Now, in sorrow, sorrow finds its healing: In the form wherein our father fell, CHRIST appears, those quick'ning Wounds revealing, Which shall save from sin and death and hell. | |
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Now, Judaea, call thy Priesthood nigh thee! Now for Deicide prepare thy hands! Lo! thy Monarch, meek and gentle by thee! Lo! the Lamb and Shepherd in thee stands! | |
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To thy Monarch, Salem, give glad greeting! Willingly He hastens to be slain For the multitude His entrance meeting With their false Hosanna's ceaseless strain. "Blest is He That comes," they cry, "On the Cross for man to die!" |
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78 |
It would be unpardonable not to give a portion of that which the Greeks regard as the King of Canons--the Great Canon of the Mid-Lent week. It is a collection of Scriptural examples, turned to the purpose of penitential Confession. It is impossible to deny the beauty of many stanzas, and the ingenuity of some tropological applications. But the immense length of the Canon, for it exceeds three hundred stanzas, and its necessary tautology, must render it wearisome, unless devotionally used under the peculiar circumstances for which it is appointed. The following is a part of the earlier portion.
6,6,8,6,10,10
Poqen arxomai qrhnein;
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Whence shall my tears begin? What first-fruits shall I bear Of earnest sorrow for my sin? Or how my woes declare? O Thou! the Merciful and Gracious One Forgive the foul transgressions I have done. | |
With Adam I have vied, Yea, passed him, in my fall; And I am naked now, by pride And lust made bare of all; Of Thee, O GOD, and that Celestial Band, And all the glory of the Promised Land. | |
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No earthly Eve beguiled My body into sin: A spiritual temptress smiled, Concupiscence within: Unbridled Passion grasped the unhallowed sweet: Most bitter--ever bitter--was the meat. | |
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If Adam's righteous doom, Because he dared transgress Thy one decree, lost Eden's bloom And Eden's loveliness: What recompence, O LORD, must I expect, Who all my life Thy quickening laws neglect? | |
By mine own act, like Cain, A murderer was I made: By mine own act my soul was slain, When Thou wast disobeyed: And lusts each day are quickened, warring still Against Thy grace with many a deed of ill. | |
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Thou formed'st me of clay, O Heav'nly Potter! Thou In fleshly vesture didst array, With life and breath endow. Thou Who didst make, didst ransom, and dost know To Thy repentant creature pity show! | |
My guilt for vengeance cries; But yet Thou pardonest all, And whom Thou lov'st Thou dost chastise, And mourn'st for them that fall: Thou, as a Father, mark'st our tears and pain, And welcomest the prodigal again. | |
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I lie before Thy door, O turn me not away! Nor in mine old age give me o'er To Satan for a prey! But ere the end of life and term of grace, Thou Merciful! my many sins efface! | |
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The Priest beheld, and passed The way he had to go: A careless glance the Levite cast, And left me to my woe: But Thou, O JESU, Mary's Son, console, Draw nigh, and succour me, and make me whole! | |
Thou Spotless Lamb divine, Who takest sins away, Remove, remove, the load that mine Upon my conscience lay: And, of Thy tender mercy, grant Thou me To find remission of iniquity |
[In Mr. Young's book: composed by Dr. Schroeder.]