The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): MarchBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): March
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
"Who is that?" asked Basiliscus, pointing to the image of Apollo.
"That is the god Apollo," answered Agrippa. "The name is appropriate
enough," said Basiliscus, "for he brings to destruction all who trust
in him."[6] Then he cried aloud to all in the temple, "Hearken, all
men, to my prayer, to the Lord of Heaven and earth." And he prayed,
"God, who art alone and true, with thine only-begotten Son, and the
Holy Spirit; who art invisible, incomprehensible, whom none can
describe and include, who art good and merciful, and acceptest not the
person of man, who createst the things that are out of that which is
not, and enlightenest us who sat in darkness, and gavest us the bright
knowledge of Thy deity: Thou art the helper of all them that trust in
Thee. God, who art alone holy, and dwellest in Thy saints, in me, thy
humble servant, exhibit Thy mercy, and confirm my prayer, for I pray
to Thee of Thy great goodness, Thou who spreadest out the heavens as a
curtain, and by Thy command makest them fast, and adornest them with
the bright shining stars, and with the glory of the sun, and the moon
walking in brightness, and givest us the hours of day; Thou didst make
Thy sun a chamber, and gavest him everlasting limits, and didst set
the moon to rule the course of time, and didst divide the hours and
days and months; Thou didst found the earth by Thy command, that it
should be an habitation for man, and didst give to it an everlasting
bound, and didst clothe it with trees and flowers; Thou didst lay the
sea and bound it by Thy precept, and madest a way over it; and didst
fashion man with Thine own holy hands after Thine image, and didst give
him wisdom and reason, and didst breathe into his face the breath of
life. Lord, who didst create the whole world, who from Adam till this
present, and hereafter till endless ages, keepest those that love Thee,
and glorifiest those that fear Thee! Lord Jesus Christ! hear the prayer
of Thy servant, and be present with me at this hour, and destroy this
deaf, and dumb, and blind, and senseless idol; break and dissolve this
god made with hands, and shew to these heathen the madness of their
worship, and Whom we worship and adore as God. Why do the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing against Thy saints? Look, O Lord,
and keep not still silence, for thus behoves all honour and glory and
magnificence to Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, through ages of
ages. Amen."
[6] A pun in the Greek, impossible to translate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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