I thank Thee, O Lord, I thank Thee, the only Knower of the Heart, the righteous King, the all-merciful, I thank Thee, the Word without beginning and omnipotence, Who came down to earth and became incarnate my God, Who was made what He was not, a man like unto me, without change, without precipitation, and without any sin, so that, having suffered, being impassible, unjustly from the wicked, I might grant to me, who was condemned, impassibility through the imitation of Thy passions, O my Christ.

Righteous, therefore, is Thy judgment, and at the same time is Thy commandment, which Thou hast commanded us, O All-Merciful, to keep. It consists in imitating Thy humility, so that just as Thou Thyself suffered, being sinless, so we, who have sinned, may endure everything: temptations, and persecutions, and scourges, and sorrows, and finally, (even the most) death at the hands of the wicked.

For Thou hast heard of Thyself that Thou art possessed, Thou hast been considered a deceiver, an unbeliever, an adversary of God, and a transgressor of the law. Caught as a criminal and bound, Thou wast led alone, when all Thy disciples and friends forsook Thee; Thou hast stood before the judge as a condemned man to the Word, and hast received the sentence which he pronounced against Thee. Because you spoke, you were beaten by a servant, and because you were silent, you were immediately condemned to death.

For Thy words were a sword to the wicked, and Thy silence to the King was the cause of condemnation. Wherefore the unrighteous, not being able to bear Thee alone to see the righteous, have given Thee over to a most shameful death. Then Thou wast beaten on the head, crowned with thorns, clothed in scarlet chlamys, and mocked by the wicked, hearing the mocking, "Rejoice, King of the Jews!" Thou hast been nailed with hands and feet, watered with a drink, and pierced with a spear in Thy side, O All-Merciful. Unable to bear this, the earth shook with fear and soon gave up the dead (imprisoned) in it. The sun, seeing Thee, turned into blood, and then the moon was covered with darkness; and the curtain of the temple of that time was torn in two from top to bottom.

None of these things were understood at all by those wicked men, but they also set guards over him who lay in the tomb and sealed the stone, thinking (thus) to keep Thee. But Thou, O Lord, hast risen by Thy power, leaving the seals of the transgressors intact (and unharmed). And the angels, having come, rolled away the stone, striking with fear those who were guarding there. But even (then), completely unwilling to understand at all, they remained blinded in mind and having a hardened heart until death.

And so, what is great for me, if I also suffer, as Thou Thyself, O Lord, being sinless, suffered for the sake of the world, that I might save the world, I (I say), who have sinned very much from my youth, and have provoked Thee, O Christ, to anger Thee, in deeds and words. Truly great for me, and better above all glory, since it makes me a partaker of Thy ineffable glory, is the participation in sufferings, the imitation of Thy works, and Thy humility, which brings deification with understanding to those who pass through it.

Thank You, Vladyka, that I suffer more unjustly. But if it be righteous, then let it be (this), O Christ, for the atonement of sins and for the cleansing from my innumerable transgressions.

And do not allow, O Lord, that I should ever be subjected to suffering, or temptation, or sorrow beyond my strength; but always give me both relief, O my God, and strength, that I may bear sorrows. For Thou art from the beginning, O Most Merciful, the giver of good things to those who fall down from their hearts to Thy dominion, according to the dignity of faith and works and good hopes, bestowing gifts and all the gifts of Thy Divine and worshipped Spirit, now and ever, and always, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Hymn 16. All the saints, being illumined, are enlightened and see the glory of God, as far as it is possible for human nature to see God.

Look down from on high. O my God, and be pleased with me to appear and converse with the beggar.

Open the heavens and show me Thy light, or rather, open my mind, and now, as once, having entered within me, speak through my unclean tongue and refute the falsehood of those who say that now there is no one who would see God intelligently, and until that time there was none but the apostles. But even they, they say, have not even clearly seen God Thy Father, teaching that He is invisible to all, as well as invisible, and quoting the saying of Thy beloved disciple John, who says that no man has ever seen God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). Tell me quickly, my Christ, what should I do, so that I do not seem to the foolish a chatterbox?

Write, He said, what I will speak, write and do not be afraid.

I am God before all days, times and years, and even before all ages, before all creatures, visible and intelligible, above the mind and the word, above every concept.