hen I acknowledge my sin to you”;† I will confess my weakness to You, O Lord. Often it is a small matter that casts me down and makes me sad. I resolve that I will act with courage, but when even a small temptation comes, I am at once greatly troubled. It is sometimes a trifle, from which a heavy temptation arises. And while I am thinking myself tolerably safe, and when I feel it not, I sometimes find myself almost entirely overcome by a slight breath.
Behold therefore, O Lord, my low estate,† and my frailty which is known to You! Have mercy on me, and “rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink”,† that I do not remain utterly cast down forever. This is that which often strikes me down, and confounds me in Your sight, that I am so subject to fall, and weak in resisting my passions. And although I do not altogether consent, yet their continued assaulting is troublesome and grievous to me; and it is exceedingly weary to live thus daily in conflict. From that my weakness becomes known to me, in that hateful phantoms do always much more easily rush in than depart.
Most mighty God of Israel, zealous Lover of faithful souls, oh, that You would consider the labor and sorrow of Your servant, and stand by him in
