Praise be to You, my Lord, for Your abundant mercy (1)
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks in this text about God’s vast mercy and the necessity of repentance and prayer. He repeatedly asks God for mercy, confesses sins, and returns to God with a contrite heart.
Spiritual depth:
His Holiness emphasizes that God’s mercy is uncountable—noted as more than raindrops, more than the sand of the seas, more than the stars of the sky and the plants and the mountains—proclaiming the greatness of God’s gift to the person who returns to Him.
Life of repentance:
He calls to abandon insistence on sin and to return sincerely, asking the Lord to accept repentance, forgive sins, and receive petitions with humility of heart and tears.
Prayers and asceticism:
He explains that continuous prayers, tears, and calmness in worship show a state of repentance and attract God’s acceptance, and that sincere repentance brings God’s forgiveness and tranquility of the spirit.
A prayer for peace and the Holy Spirit:
It concludes with a prayer for the peace of Christ and the descent of the Spirit of peace upon the believers, asking God to grant inner peace and to settle His Spirit in their hearts.
Practical message:
A clear direction to believers: confess sin, be humble, there is no excuse before God’s mercy, and persist in prayer and repentance as a daily practice.
Spiritual summary:
The text links true contrition, overflowing mercy of God, and acceptance of repentance, and encourages us to live with a repentant conscience leaning on God’s mercy rather than on the merit of our works.
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