Prayer to the suffering Christ

I fall in adoration at your feet, Lord! I thank you, God of goodness;
God of holiness, I invoke you,
on my knees, in your sight. . .
For me, an unworthy sinner,
you have willed to undergo the death of the cross, setting me free from the bonds of evil.
What shall I offer you in return for your generosity?
Glory to you, friend of men!
Glory to you, most merciful!
Glory to you, most patient!
Glory to you who forgive sin!
Glory to you who have come to save us!
Glory to you who have been made man in the womb of a Virgin!
Glory to you who have been bound!
Glory to you who have been scourged!
Glory to you who have been derided!
Glory to you who have been nailed to the cross!
Glory to you, laid in the sepulchre, but risen again!
Glory to you who have preached the Gospel to men and have been believed!
Glory to you who have ascended to heaven!
Glory to you, seated at the right hand of the Father
and who will return with him, in majesty, among the angels, to judge those who have disregarded your passion!
The powers of heaven will be shaken;
all the angels and archangels, the cherubim and seraphim will appear in fear and trembling before your glory;
the foundations of the earth will quake
and all that has life will cry out before your majesty.

In that hour let your hand draw me beneath your wings, and save me from the terrible fire, from the gnashing of teeth, from the outer darkness and from despair without end. That I may sing to your glory:
glory to him who through his merciful goodness
has designed to redeem the sinner.

Ephrem Syrus

Hymn for the night

O Christ, Word of God,
light of light, without beginning,
help of the Spirit, we praise you. Threefold light of one undivided glory, we praise you.
You have banished the darkness and created the light and in this you have created all things seventy generations before your incarnation ex nihilo on one day at the very beginning
To matter you have given life
Giving it the imprint of the face of the world
and the traits of its beauty on the rest of the first 6 days

You have illumined man’s spirit
with reason and wisdom when on the last of the first six days you formed Adam from the moist earth and breathed into him and he became a living soul cast him into a deep sleep and formed Eve from his side the first man and woman with none other before them anywhere else and none other with them at the beginning anywhere else from whom are all men descended here on earth wherein all salvation is worked out from the first adam to the last saint saved by no other than you Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour by your Most Holy Cross
Your eternal light is reflected everywhere,
so that, in the light, man might discover
true beauty, and all become luminous.
You have lit up the heavens with variegated lights.
The night and the day you have commanded to take turns in a rule of fraternal friendship;
the first brings to an end the fatigue of the body,
the other spurs us on to work as commanded;
and we flee from the darkness
to hasten towards that day
which no sadness of the night
can ever bring to an end.
Give to my eyelids a light slumber
that my voice may not long remain silent.
While created things watch to sing psalms with the angels, may my sleep be ever restful in your presence;
may the night make me oblivious of the day’s sins,
and its oddities not beset my dreams.

Even if my body is inert
my spirit, O God, gives you praise! Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
to you be honour and glory and power through all ages. Amen.

Gregory nαzιanzen

Watch O Lord with those who wake or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who wake or sleep.
tend your sick ones,
rest your weary ones;
bless your dying ones;
soothe your suffering ones;
pity your afflicted ones;
shield your joyous ones;
and all for your love’s sake.

St. Augustine of Hippo