Prayer for cleansing and light

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

The poet Georgius Peccator opens his hymn by addressing Christ directly in prayer.

Remember, Christ, Son of the most high God, the heart of your servant, a sinner, who has written these lines. Grant me release from the heart-bred passions that grow in my impure soul. And grant me to see, Savior Jesus, your holy radiance, so that, appearing in that light, I may sing a healing song for souls and limbs to the great Father and the pure Holy Spirit.

Greek

Hymnus ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΙΟ ΑΛΙΤΡΟΙΟ ΥΜΝΟΣ Μνώεο, Χριστέ, υἱὲ θεοῖο ὑψιμέδοντος, οἰκέτεω σέο κῆρ' ἀλιτροῖο γράψαντος τάδε· καί μοι ὄπασσον λῦσιν παθέων κηριτρεφέων, τά μοι ἐμφύει ψυχᾷ ῥυπαρᾷ· δὸς δὲ ἰδέσθαι, σῶτερ Ἰησοῦ, ζαθέαν αἴγλαν σάν· ἔνθα φανεὶς μέλψω ἀοιδὰν ψυχᾶν παίονι, παίονι γυίων πατρὶ σὺν μεγάλῳ πνεύματι θ' ἁγνῷ.

About this text

A short prayer in verse by George, who calls himself a sinner, asking Christ to free him from his passions and let him see Christ's light and sing.

Georgius Peccator wrote this hymn, addressing it to Christ. He identifies himself as a sinner and a servant of Christ, and the poem is a brief metrical prayer. The occasion is personal: the poet asks Christ for purification and for the vision of divine light so that he may sing praise to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The hymn opens by invoking Christ as the Son of the high-ruling God and asking him to remember the sinful servant who wrote these lines. The speaker prays for release from heart-bred passions that grow in his impure soul. He then asks to see Christ's holy radiance, so that, appearing in that light, he may sing a healing song for souls and limbs to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

A reader should know that the poet calls himself a sinner, using the Greek term that means sinful or wicked. The phrase rendered here as heart-bred passions refers to inner afflictions bred in the heart. The holy radiance is the divine light of Christ. The song the poet hopes to sing is described as healing. No biblical quotations or scriptural book names appear in this hymn.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 106 (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.