December 3, 2021
PRAYER:
It is truly good and right, with all the powers of our heart and mind, to praise you Father and your Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear Father, by your wondrous condescension of loving-kindness toward us your servants, you gave up your Son. Dear Jesus, you paid the debt of Adam for us to the eternal Father by your blood poured forth in loving-kindness. You cleared away the darkness of sin by your magnificent and radiant resurrection. You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a Conqueror. You reconciled heaven and earth. Our life had no hope of eternal happiness before you redeemed us. Your resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence and brought us joy. How inestimable is the tenderness of your love! Amen. ~ GREGORY THE GREAT, 6TH CENTURY.
Exodus 20:18-21
English Standard Version
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.