The King's Mirror (Speculum regale-Konungs skuggsjá)
Philosophy
The King's Mirror (Speculum regale-Konungs skuggsjá)
Education of princes; Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- Early works to 1600; Scandinavia -- Civilization
“O Thou most merciful God, eternal Father! O Thou most honored
Conqueror, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God! O Thou most
gentle Comforter, Holy Spirit! O Thou perpetual fount of wisdom and
complete and unshaken faith, Holy Trinity! O Thou indivisible Unity, one
omnipotent, unchangeable God: Thou Who sittest above the highest summits
of heaven and lookest into the hidden depths below! For no creature can
escape Thy dominion, though it should wish to flee from Thy wrath. Even
though I should mount to heaven, Thou art there before me; and though I
crawl down into the lowest hiding places of hell, Thy spiritual dominion
is there; and though I were to fly upon the wings of the winds and hide
beyond the uttermost boundaries of the ocean solitudes, even there Thy
right hand would seize me and lead me back into Thy control. For Thy
mind has numbered the sands driven by the winds and by the power of the
ocean about all the earth, and Thine eye knows all the drops of the dewy
rain. Therefore, I implore Thee, O my Lord, do not enter into the seat
of judgment with me, Thy servant, to search out my righteousness; and do
not number the multitude of my sins, but turn Thy face away from mine
iniquities and cleanse me from my secret faults and wash away all my
guilt. For my sins are great and lie heavy upon my head; they are so
many that they seem numberless to me in their multitude,—sins that I
have committed in vain thinking, in foolish words, in neglecting Thy
commandments and forgetting Thy holy law in every way, in indiscreet
testimony and thoughtless oaths, in judging unjustly between men, in
excessive avarice, and in all manner of useless and evil works. I
acknowledge and confess to Thee, O Lord, calling all Thy saints to
witness, that I am so guilty of misdeeds and evil works, that I am
already condemned by the multitude of my transgressions, unless I may
share in the benefits of the exceeding abundance of Thy mercy and of the
good and meritorious intercessions of my Lady, the holy Virgin Mary, and
of all the saints in whom Thou hast been well pleased since the world
began. For the misdeeds and all the iniquity that I have committed from
my childhood to this day are uncovered and revealed unto Thee, even
though I might wish to conceal and not confess them; for short-sighted
frailty was not ashamed to pursue its evil desires before Thy face. But,
O Lord, inasmuch as Thou dost not delight in them who are destroyed in
sin, but wouldst rather that they should live and be led aright, and
because Thou knowest that man is frail and without strength like the
dust of the earth or the crumbling leaf, unless Thou strengthen him with
the power of Thy mercy, therefore, I implore Thee, do not punish me with
the swift judgment of Thy wrath; but let Thy divine patience give me
time and will to repent and ability to do penance. Take away from me, O
Lord, envy and pride, despair and stubbornness, injustice and violence,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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