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RUBRIC: CANTICLE (*erg*)

[BY] THE LORD NERSĒS, CATHOLICOS OF THE ARMENIANS.

[RUBRIC:] Lamentation of a contrite soul.

[RUBRIC: And]

RUBRIC: Plea of each person [of the Trinity]

Confessionally.

[No text provided for translation]

All the world, looking upon me, be [my] fellow-sufferers. I open [my] lips, I speak with my tongue, I cry out against myself: Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.

I became a bosom of sins, a finder of perdition; I dug a pit for myself. I plotted against myself, I betrayed [my soul], I set an ambush. Lord, have mercy.

Once I was light, and now I am darkness and the shadow of death. How shall I recount the number of my sins, for they are exceedingly many? Lord, have mercy.

Heaven and earth, come, lament my wretched soul. I chose evil; I willingly received the multitude of sins. Lord, have mercy.

I am immersed in mire; I wallow in sins; I cannot shake [them] off. Filled with pestilence, I have become foul-smelling for a long time. Lord, have mercy.