If You, O Lord, should mark in me, Your child,
some wounds and tears of my baptismal garb,
I pray that You would heal and mend them now,
that You would lift Your servant from this place
where he has fallen into dust and filth.

O God, my God, Who ne'er forsakes His own,
You know that I have suffered here a loss,
a rift within my soul, a broken heart;
You know that all my lowly misery
does stem from my mortality and sin.

O cleanse me now, O Holy Ancient One,
and make me once again a child of light;
return me to that day, baptismal grace
to wash my soul and body in Your love,
illumine me and set my being right.

O Christ, You grant Your perfect joy to me,
and it shall never be too far away,
if only I will broken be for You;
so break my heart, that I may be renewed,
born from above to live communion's love.



March 2001