O man, will you not cry out in your despair? Will you continue in darkness, stacking sin upon sin, covering them up in your heart thinking the Master of all does not see? Do you even recognize the heights from which you fell? There is no time to waste! Cry out to God for mercy while there is still time! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
As a fool, I’ve run circles in vain for money, the affection of women, the praise of friends and strangers, and the luxuries of this life. I deserve none of these things, and will surely not find any assurance, love, fulfilment, or comfort in places and situations where the light of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, does not shine.
I start to run the path made straight, but then I stumble. I get back up and then, again, I stumble. Each time the Lord calls me back to Him. He strengthens me through uncreated Grace bestowed through the sacraments of the Church, His body. I run stronger for little longer, then again, I stumble. I get back up, remember my baptism, and make the sign of the cross. I fall on my face before the Cross and repent again of my sins.
Think, O soul, of thine journey after death. How the demons, now invisibly, but then in clear vision, will snatch at you, accuse you of many evils, and try to drag you down to the eternal depths of Gehenna. Cry out now while there’s still time, dear soul! O God be merciful to me, a sinner!
Blessed Theotokos, pray for me now and in the hour of my death. Guide me to the path of repentance, and intercede for me that I may not be snatched from your Son’s hand. Thou who are art above the angels, raise me above this world’s confusion, and please pray for me to your Son that I may find the joys of heaven with all the saints, and are directed to His right side at the final judgment.
Pray unto God for me, O holy God pleaser St. Paul, that He may have mercy on me at the hour of my death, for I fervently flee unto thee, the speedy helper and intercessor for my soul. May I struggle well to receive a crown of immortality as you have written by the Spirit.
O my Holy guardian angel, given to me from heaven, continue to stand by my wretched soul, though I have offended you often throughout my life. Forgive me of these trespasses against you and set me on the path of salvation. Protect me from the demon and his temptations who at present I cannot see. Protect me also in the end, from the myriads of demons that I will see on my journey, when there will be no more time for repentance.
Grant,
O Lord,
repentance
before the end.
For the dreaded judgement, none shall escape. What excuse could I give to the Lord of Hosts for all the sins I’ve committed throughout my wretched life? For each and every time I stumbled, both voluntarily and involuntarily? I have no excuse to give, nor a rock under which I may hide. But John said by the Holy Spirit, that if we confess our sins with our whole hearts, that the Lord will be faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all righteousness. As the Psalmist wrote likewise, He will remove our transgressions from us as far as the East is from the West.
Therefore, with hope and a downcast heart, I repent of my sins unto God this day. O Lord, call my heart to repentance daily so that I, as St. Macarius the Great said, may open mine unworthy mouth without condemnation, and praise Thine Holy name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.