Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

poetry

4 Entries

A morning hymn by St. Ambrose of Milan
Brightness of the Father's glory,
    Spread the splendor of Thy light;
Radiant Fountain, Dayspring dawning,
    Banish now the shades of night!

O true Sun, arise within us,
    Shining with Thy steady beam;
O plant deep within our senses
    God the Holy Spirit's flame!

God the Father, too, we worship,
    Father of all-powerful grace;
Glorious Father everlasting,
    From our hearts all treason chase!

Breathe Thy mighty strength within us,
    Break the pride of Satan's power;
Turn our hardships into triumphs;
    Grant us wisdom every hour.

Guide our minds, uphold our thinking,
    Keep our limbs for service fit;
Feed our faith with love's pure burning,
    Purged from malice and deceit.

Christ our Lord, be bread for eating;
    Faith, our wine for drinking be:
May we taste the joyous Spirit,
    Drunk with His sobriety!

May this new day pass in gladness,
    Modest like the dawn's fresh bloom,
Faith like midday shining brightly,
    Thoughts untouched by evening gloom.

Now the dawn with splendor rises;
    Jesus is our only Dawn:
Son unveiled by heavenly Father,
    Father in the Logos known. St. Ambrose of Milan

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Christ incarnate makes me worthy of God,
Christ humbled for me, raises me high,
Christ, the giver of life,
suffering in human nature,
frees me from the passions.
And so, I sing a hymn of thanksgiving,
to Him who is glorified.

Christ crucified raises me high,
Christ who is slain makes me rise again with Him;
Christ gives me life.
And so, clapping my hands with joy,
I sing to the Saviour a hymn of victory,
to Him who is glorified. Cosmas of Maiuma 8th century

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O Sun of justice, blessed ray, the first source of light;
O ardently Desired, above all else; joy of the good, vision of fulfilled hope,
praised and heavenly, Christ the Creator; fill the void of my miserable voice with Thy almighty word;
and offer it as a supplication
pleasing to Thy Father Most High,
for Thou hast come into the world in likeness to me,
subjecting Thyself to human suffering, the heritage of the curse.
O blessing of life, watchful providence for all, both small and great!
If thou accepted to die for me,
Thou, God and Lord of all, how much more,
for the sake of the body Thou didst assume, of Thy nature,
wilt Thou pardon the weakness that leads me into danger,
interceding for me, a sinner,
with the Father whose glory Thou dost share. Gregory of Narek - Armenian hymnographer, AD 951-1003

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I know that the Immovable comes down;
I know that the Invisible appears to me;
I know that He who is outside the whole creation Takes me within Himself and hides me in His arms,
And then I find myself outside the whole world.
I, a frail, small mortal in the world,
Behold the Creator of the world,
all of Him, within myself;
And I know that I shall not die,
for I am within the Life,
I have the whole of Life springing up as a fountain within me.
He is in my heart, He is in heaven:
Both there and here He shows himself to me with equal glory. St Symeon the New Theologian

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