Oh Lord, we are reminded of what we were, and we would begin our praise by the acknowledgment of our natural condition; we would remember the miry clay, and the rock out of which we were hewn, for we were “by nature children of wrath even as others.” Well do we remember when we felt this, and when the bitterness and gall were in our mouths, of which we had to drink both day and night.
How heavy was the load of sin! All our thoughts were engrossed with that sense of pressure and of dread. We looked on the right hand and there was none, and on the left and we found no helper; but then you yourself delivered us by leading us to cast a faith-look to your divine, only begotten, and crucified Son.