CHAPTER III Of the reinstatement of man, and the promise of Christ’s coming
CHAPTER III
Of the reinstatement of man, and the promise of Christ’s coming
O ALMIGHTY and most gracious God, Whose nature is goodness, Whose Will is power, Whose property it is to have mercy, I bless Thee, and render thanks to Thee for Thy infinite love, and for Thy free and undeserved goodness, in that Thou didst lose no time in calling back man, who had been taken captive in the snare of the devil, and brought low by the poison of a mortal disease, from his manifold wanderings from the right way, and from the defilement of his sins, into the way of repentance, and a state of righteousness; by giving to him, through the saving promise of Thy coming, the hope of pardon, and the prospect of a remedy to be brought within his reach.
And lest man should at any time seek to plead ignorance as an excuse for the malice of his sin, Thou didst give him frequent warning of the error of his ways, by revealing to him Thy law, by smiting him with Thy heavy hand, by exercising open judgements upon sinners, by working frequent miracles, and by promising good things to come; that so they might be without excuse who should not turn to Thee as their God, and to a knowledge of the truth.
For all through the five ages of the world, by means of Patriarchs, of Judges, of Priests, of Kings, and of Prophets, from righteous Abel even unto John the Baptist, Thy forerunner, Thou didst never cease, by wonderful miracles and manifold prophecies, to foretell, to promise, and to prefigure Thy coming, without which we are undone: that so, by means of so many witnesses going before Thee, and proclaiming Thy mysteries, Thou mightest implant in our minds the grace of faith, and by the lively examples of so many ancient Fathers, mightest kindle in our dull cold hearts the fire of Thy love.