_Then Psalm l._ Have mercy upon me, O God....
_And these present troparia, tone vi._
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; for, destitute of all
defence, we sinners offer unto thee, as Master, this prayer, Have mercy
upon us.
_Glory._
O Lord, have mercy upon us; for we have put our trust in thee. Be not
exceedingly wroth against us, neither remember our transgressions; but,
as being loving-kind, look now upon us, and deliver us from our enemies;
for thou art our God, and we are thy people, we are all the work of thy
hand, and we call upon thy name.
_Both now._
Open unto us the gates of loving-kindness, O blessed God-bearing one,
that we perish not who put our trust in thee, but through thee may we be
delivered from calamities; for thou art the salvation of the christian
race.
_Then_, Lord have mercy, _xl_.
_The priest saith_, Let us pray to the Lord.
_And this prayer._
O God, our Saviour, who, by thy prophet Nathan, didst grant remission
of his sins to the repentant David, and didst accept the penitent
prayer of Manasse; do thou thyself, in thy wonted love to man, accept
this thy servant, _name_, who lamenteth because of those iniquities
which he hath wrought, overlooking all that he hath done, forgiving his
unrighteousness, and passing-by his transgressions. For thou, O Lord,
hast said that pleasure thou hast not in the death of a sinner, but
rather that he should return and live; and that sins shall be forgiven
until seventy times seven. For as thy greatness is incomparable, so
is thy mercy immeasurable. For if thou shouldest mark transgressions,
who should stand? For thou art the God of the penitent, and to thee we
ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Let us pray to the Lord.
_And another prayer._
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, the shepherd, and the lamb
that taketh away the sins of the world, who didst give remittance unto
the two debtors, and grant pardon of her sins unto the harlot; do thou
thyself, O Master, concede, forgive, and pardon the sins, transgressions,
and the voluntary and involuntary offences, which, in knowledge and in
ignorance, thy servants have wrought, and whatsoever they have done,
as men bearing flesh and living in the world, being beguiled by the
devil. If by word, or by deed, or in knowledge, or in ignorance they
have sinned, or have despised the word of a priest, or are under the
malediction of a priest, or are fallen under their own anathema, or are
bound under an oath; do thou thyself, as the good Master, who requitest
not evil, be pleased that these, thy servants, be loosed by the word,
forgiving them their own anathema and oath, according to the greatness
of thy mercy. Yea, O Master, thou man-loving Lord, hearken unto us
beseeching thy grace for these thy servants; and, as the most merciful
one, overlook all their offences, and deliver them from everlasting
torment. For thou, O Master, hast said, Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. For thou alone art without sin, and to thee we
ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
_After this he saith to him,_
Behold, child, Christ invisibly standeth here to hear thy confession. Be
not ashamed, neither be afraid, and hide nothing from me; but fear not to
tell me all that thou hast done, so that thou mayest receive forgiveness
from our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, his image is before us, and I am only
the witness, that I may bear witness before him of all thou tellest me.
If thou hidest anything from me thou hast double sin. Bethink thee then;
for since thou art come unto the place of the physician, go not thou away
unhealed.
_And then he interrogateth him minutely, question by question, and
waiteth until he answer after each interrogation._[11]
_Admonition._
Concerning all these things thou art bound henceforth to take care;
since, according to the christian mystery, thou art baptized with a
second baptism, and, God helping thee, do thou make a good beginning.
And, above all things, make thou not light of it, to return to the same
things, lest thou become a derision unto men; for this becometh not
christians: but live honourably, and righteously, and devoutly, and may
God assist thee by his grace.
_And when thou hast said all these things unto him, and hast carefully
examined him, and he hath moreover made answer without concealment of all
things concerning himself, say thou also unto him_, Bow thyself. _Then he
that hath confessed boweth his head._
_And the spiritual person saith this prayer._
Let us pray to the Lord.
O Lord God of the salvation of thy servants, who art merciful, and
compassionate and long-suffering, and repentest thee concerning our
miseries, who desirest not the death of a sinner, but that he should
return and live; do thou thyself now be merciful unto thy servant,
_name_, and grant unto him an image of repentance, pardon and remission
of sins; and forgive him every voluntary and involuntary offence:
reconcile and unite him to thy holy church, through Christ Jesus our
Lord, with whom is due to thee might and majesty, now and ever, and to
ages of ages. Amen.
_After this prayer the priest absolveth the penitent, who lowly
kneeleth, saying on this wise, to the completion of the mystery of holy
penitence,_
Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, by the grace and compassion of his love
to man, forgive thee, child, _name_, all thine iniquities; and I, an
unworthy priest, by the power that is given unto me, forgive thee and
loosen thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
_And finally, the priest, while saying the absolution, signeth the
penitent with his right hand with the sign of the cross._
_Then_, It is very meet.... Glory. Both now. _And the dismissal._[12]
[Illustration]
_Chapter VIII._