When the Body of the Son of God is set upon His table, bring in before Him all thy petitions earnestly. Reveal thy plagues, O thou sick soul, and show thy diseases, and pour out tears before the table of the Godhead. In that hour when the priest sacrifices the Son before His Father, gird thyself, enter, O soul, and ask for pardon with a loud voice. Say to the Father, “Behold Thy Son, a sacrifice to reconcile Thee: pardon me in Him who died for me and was buried. Behold Thine Oblation: accept from my hands Him who is from Thee.”

With these affections stand, O sinner, at the time of the Mysteries; and beg mercy and receive forgiveness, and then go forth. At the hour of the sacrifice, when it is being offered for thee, do not leave him who is offering and depart. When they drive out “him who has not received the sign,” do thou enter; keep thyself within and hearken to the whisperings of the priest, and hear how he begs mercy for sinners and pardons them; and if thou art in need of pardon, why then dost thou go out? Another bows down and asks mercy for thee; why art thou in haste to wander among the markets in that hour? When those who have not received the sign of the Bridegroom enter her, the Church drives them out and shuts the doors until He comes. She fears lest He should find in her a stranger when He appears in her, and she removes and expels all externs. The bride shuts the doors and eats the Bridegroom who has espoused her; and no stranger may taste of Him, for (this) she does not permit to him.

But (perchance) thou sayest: “I will go and be about business until the consecration (is begun), and in the hour when they open the doors I will go in and receive.” O thou who art wise, drive away and put forth these notions from thee, and suffer thy soul to have a care for her wounds and bind them up. Say to thy soul: ” O thou soul, full of sores, now is the time for thee to receive a medicine for thy wounds. Now is the time for thee to pour out tears before Him who binds up, and He will apply mercy to thy disease which vexes thee. Now is the time when the door of the Great Physician is opened, and He will bind up for naught; bring in thy sore that He may find a remedy for it. Now is the hour for thee to lift up thy voice in supplication; for now the gates on high are opened to prayers. Now is the hour when thou mayest entreat thy Creditor to come forth and cancel the note of hand that is terrifying thee. Now is the hour when the Son of God is sacrificed and set forth upon the table for sinners, to pardon them. Now is the hour when the doors and curtains give way, that the sacrifice may come in and mercy go forth for sinners. Whither, whither wouldst thou go forth, O soul, in this hour when every man enters to gather mercy from the Merciful. O thou soul, the ewe that fell among robbers, be quiet in the fold, full of healing for the broken. Without the door the wolf is hiding and waiting for thee; anoint thy lips with the Blood of the Shepherd, and then go forth and despise him. For the Bridegroom has come down and given thee His Body and sealed thee with His Blood: never shouldst thou go forth from the bride-chamber to them that are without. The way of the world is full of snares and obstacles; the devils are standing on guard at the cross-roads of the earth; and they threaten the soul with rage to destroy it, and they thirst for her blood because of the virtues which are held within her. And with all manner of pretexts and devices they lay snares for her to corrupt her from that virtue which belongs to her. But thou, O soul, hast an armour and a wall, yea, and a Saviour who will not fail thee in the contest. He keeps thee from the pitfalls of the enemy; and he will shew thee a way of life to walk therein. He brings thee in before His Father, that thou mayest see His place; and He shews thee that He is a sacrifice on behalf of sinners. Make thy petition in the name of the Son: offer it to His Father; and He will receive it for the sake of the sign of His Only-begotten.

The Bridegroom is coming down to see the bride betrothed to Him; abide, O soul, in the midst of the bride-chamber, that He may see thee here. Go not forth from the chamber of the Bridegroom, the King, who is coming down to see thee, bearing riches from the house of His Father. The priest, whom thou hast sent, has called Him: wait for Him; for if He come and see thee not, He will be angry. Together with the priest the whole people beseeches the Father that He will send His Son, that he may come down (and dwell upon the oblation. And the Holy Spirit, His Power, lights down in the bread and wine, and sanctifies (or “consecrates”) it, yea, makes it the Body and the Blood. And every one who is in the house bestirs himself, that he may cry,”Our Father”; and the new sons sanctify and bless Him. And by His brooding He mingles them holily, and they become one with Him, as it is written, mystically. But he who goes forth with the hearers, what will he do when they petition Him in in the house, and he is not (there) to cry, “Our Father.” He has cut Himself off; none (else) has cut him off from the brooding. What then has he found in the market-places whither he is roaming? Despise business, and despise profits which cannot be held fast, and at the hour of the Mysteries abide in the house of God. Your enemy is watching, and is athirst for your blood, and so far as he is able he will cut you off from things profitable. When these Mysteries full of life are administered, he fabricates apprehensions of all sorts of losses, and with all manner of devices he, by his subtlety, drives thee forth, that thou mayest be removed from that congregation which is crying “Holy.”

Satan is distressed by these voices of holiness; and if he could he would drive the whole world forth.. There would not remain one man in the holy place to cry, “Our Father.” … In that hour when the bride cries out, “Forgive me my debts” he knows that the Bridegroom, the King, is full of mercy, and that He hears her (the bride), and He forgives her who died for her. Wherefore Satan is concerned and uses much pains to drive men out of the holy place at the time of the Mysteries, lest when the whole congregation cries out, “Forgive me my debts,” the sinner also present himself and be justified. For when the Gift comes forth from God, He gives it to him who is worthy and to him who is unworthy. His grace (or “favour”), when He pours it forth, is like to the sun and the rain, and He has mercy for sinners and for the righteous. And when the congregation asks mercy of God the sinners also who are therein are enriched from His Gift. When the whole congregation asks grace of God, He withholds it not even from the bad who are found therein. But the Evil One strives to steal away men at the time of the Mysteries, that he may cut them off from the Gift of God’s house; and he darkens the soul with restless and cowardly thoughts, and with worldly notions he chokes the mind. It may be he reminds thee of some business thou hadst forgotten, and chokes the soul with anxety concerning that matter, and with some weak thought stirs thee up to depart from the holy place about the unprofitable business. And that thought from Satan drags thee and pulls thee and brings thee forth and makes thee void of profit.