Penitence - Andrew of Crete

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.

Thou formedst me of clay,
O Heavenly 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.

I lie before thy door,
Oh, 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!

Thou spotless Lamb divine,
Who takest sin awav,
Remove far off the load that mine
Upon my conscience lay:
And, of thy tender mercy, grant thou me
To find remission of iniquity.

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Andrew of Crete [aka Andrew of Jerusalem] (c. 650 – c.740) born in Syria, worked in Turkey, Greece and Israel

Translated by John Mason Neale

Source: A Library of Religious Poetry, Philip Schaff and Arthur Gillman, Funk and Wganalls, 1889