A Prayer Composed by St. Augustine, and recommended to the Devotees of all Christians by Urban VIII. Before Thy eyes O Lord, we bring our sins, and with them compare the stripes we have received. If we weigh the evil we have done, we find what we suffer to be much less than we deserve. What we have committed far outweighs what we endure. We feel the punishment of sin and yet we turn not from our willfulness in sinning. Our weakness faints under thy scourges; but our perverseness is still the same. Our deseased mind is racked with pain and our neck is as stiff as ever. Our life is spent in sighs and grief; but in our actions we are not reformed. If thou expect our amendment, we grow no better; if thou take revenge, we are not able to subsist. When we are chastised, we acknowledge what we have done; but when thy visitation is over, we forget what we have wept for. If thou stretch out thy hand, we promise duty; if thou suspend the sword, we keep not our promise. If thou strike, we cry for pardon; if thou pardon, we provoke thee again to strike. Here O Lord, are criminals confessing their guilt; we know that unless thou forgive us, thou mayest justly destroy us. Grant without our merit, what we ask, O Almighty Father, who out of nothing didst create us to thee, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 06:52:20 +0000