From the Depths of the Heart

Abraham Terian is professor emeritus of Armenian theology and patristics at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, Armonk, New York. A recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities award and Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, he has extensive publications in the fields of Hellenistic, early Christian, and Armenian religious literature.

Contents

Transcription of Armenian xi
Preface xiii
Introduction xv
  The Life and Times of Gregory xix
  Gregory’s Earlier Works xxiv
  Toward a Better Understanding of the Prayers xxviii
  Gregory’s Esteem for His Book xxxvi
  The Genre of the Prayers and the Title of the Book xxxviii
  The Composition of the Book xliv
  Mix of Poetic Prose and Verse xlvii

Translation of the Prayers
  1 “Plaintive cries from the heart I offer to you” 3
  2 “Grant the mercy of your grace” 7
  3 “Through the prayers in this book” 14
  4 “There is no answering on that day” 20
  5 “How dare I come before your judgment?” 24
  6 “The weight of my sins is scaled in heaps of sand” 30
  7 “Woe to me!” 35
  8 “What will you do, my lost soul?” 39
  9 “I reprimand my soul” 42
  10 “I begin constructing an edifice of faith” 45
  11 “In hope I believe” 48
  12 “Remembering the hope placed in you” 53
  13 “The Holy Trinity to help a sinner like me” 57
  14 “You resuscitated” 60
  15 “You are called Shepherd” 64
  16 “The light of your mercy” 68
  17 “The more you show mercy . . . ” 71
  18 “I beg healing for my soul” 75
  19 “I will testify against myself ” 80
  20 “Confession laid in repentance at your feet” 84
  21 “I shall confess all over again” 90
  22 “My blameworthy soul” 94
  23 “In the inner chambers of my heart” 97
  24 “Spiritual distress” 101
  25 “Like the wrecked sailboat” 105
  26 “At the head of the circle of those who sing in mournful verse” 110
  27 “I have sinned” 115
  28 “Forgive these many sins” 121
  29 “You taught us to be like you in forgiving” 127
  30 “May the truth of your word be affirmed” 132
  31 “You are remembered” 137
  32 “I bare my soul before you” 142
  33(a) “This book’s confessions to affect multitudes” 148
  33(b) “Supplication in the presence of the Holy Spirit” 152
  34 “Confession of faith” 156
  35 “The dew of your goodness” 167
  36 “Your publicly demonstrated passion on the cross” 171
  37 “Yours is all the boundless goodness” 174
  38 “The liberating law of spiritual life” 177
  39 “Much to my shame” 181
  40 “You, Lord Christ, are the answer” 184
  41 “Nothing is impossible for you” 187
  42 “I plead with the one who was crucified with you” 189
  43 “I shall be made whole in soul and body” 191
  44 “You cared so much for my salvation” 193
  45 “Confess your thoughts to God” 196
  46 “You are still the likeness of his image” 201
  47 “Like the Prodigal Son” 205
  48 “Solomon as an example” 207
  49 “Grace greater than all the miracles” 216
  50 “Out of sympathy for me?” 220
  51 “The salvation of Manasseh” 225
  52 “Those narrow windows” 231
   53 “His body and blood for atonement” 234
  54 “My salvation comes from you” 239
   55 “Acceptable prayers” 243
  56 “By my deeds I merited the worst” 247
  57 “Consider my agonizing contrition” 250
  58 “For one sinful like me, you are Savior” 253
  59 “So, come Lord” 256
  60 “Dare I say with David . . . ?” I. 259
  61 “Dare I say with David . . . ?” II. 267
  62 “Passages from the Prophets” 272
  63 “Your name is to be glorified, O Jesus” 275
  64 “I am still sustained by your willing compassion” 281
  65 “When I leave this life” 284
  66 “May the message of these words be engraved as an epitaph” 289
  67 “Gazing at the bottom of hell” 297
  68 “How could the streams of tears from my eyes be dried?” 301
  69 “Reminding me of [dreaded] things to come” 307
  70 “You are life, you are salvation” 310
  71 “And where is salvation in desperate situations?” 314
  72 “I rather speak to you, ascetic communities and monastic disciples” 322
  73 “On the day of my life-breath’s release” 326
  74 “Your mercy is truly there” 330
  75 “Representing heaven on earth” 335
  76 “Wishing salvation” 352
  77 “Friday of the Great Pascha” 356
  78 “Your grace renewed by the blood drops from your side” 360
  79 “At the tribunal of the Last Judgment” 365
  80 “I pray to you, Holy Mother of God” 370
  81 “Through the prayers of my angel” 374
  82 “For the sake of the holy apostles” 377
  83 “Praying for my enemies” 383
  84 “I commit to you today” 388
  85 “Make me arrive at what I hope for” 391
  86 “I plead for all the dead” 394
  87 “If I reach old age” 396
  88 “The lasting prayers of this book” 400
  89 “Son of God is your confessed name” 403
  90 “Mirroring again your changeless image” 404
  91 “Watch over me with your heavenly hosts” 410
  92 “The semantron” 415
  93 “The Holy Myron” 428
  94 “Life in death and Light in darkness” 458
  95 “Renewed by you with eternal life” 460

Colophon by the Author 463
Bibliography 465
General Index 479
Scripture Index 489