Friday, September 26, 2008

Pt. 2 HYMNS OF DIVINE LOVE by St. Symeon the New Theologian

"You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of Heaven; You, the land promised to the gentle; You the grazing lands of paradise; You, the hall of the of the celestial banquet; You, the ineffable marriage chamber; You, the table set for all,
You, the bread of life; You, the unheard-of drink;
You, both the urn for the water and the life-giving water;
You, moreover, the inextinguishable lamp for each one of the saints;
You, the garment and the crown and the one who distributes the crowns;
You, the joy and rest; You, the delight and glory;
You, the gaiety; You, the mirth;
and Your grace, grace of the Spirit of all sanctity, will shine
like the sun in all the saints; and You, inaccessible sun, will shine in
their midst and all will shine brightly, to the degree of their faith,
their asceticism, their hope and their love, their purification and
their illumination by Your Spirit.
Oh God, sole, long-enduring One and Judge of all men.
They will receive different dwellings and different places:
their degree of radiance, their extent of love and the vision
that they will have of You, the guage of the greatness
of their glory, of their happiness, of their reputation
will distinguish their abodes, their marvellous dwellings."

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