RECOVERY OF MAN, AND THE PROMISE OF CHRIST'S ADVENT

THE RECOVERY OF MAN, AND THE PROMISE OF CHRIST'S ADVENT

LORD GOD, Almighty and Merciful, Whose nature is love, Whose will is power, Whose property it is ever to have compassion, I bless Thee and give Thee thanks for Thine infinite pity and gracious goodness, with which Thou didst hasten to recall man, deceived by the guile of the devil, and prostrated by contact with deadly sin, from his manifold transgressions and defilements, by the way of penitence, to a state of well-doing. For, through the quickening promise of Thine Advent, Thou didst grant unto him the hope of pardon, Thou didst abundantly bestow upon him the comforting prospect of salvation.

And, lest man should at any time make ignorance a plea for his ill-doing, Thou hast guarded him from error by frequent admonitions, by revealing Thy Law, by inflicting plagues, by open judgments on sinners, by abundant signs, by promise of future blessings; so that all might be without excuse, who are not converted to Thy worship and to the knowledge of the Truth.

For, during the five ages of Patriarchs, Judges, Priests, Kings, and Prophets, from righteous Abel unto John the Baptist, Thy Forerunner, Thou didst not cease by signs and oracles wonderful and many to foretell, promise, and prefigure Thy desired Advent; that, by so many witnesses preceding Thee and declaring Thy mysteries, Thou mightest stir up our minds to receive the Faith, and ardently inflame our dull affections by the lively examples of so many ancient Fathers.
[Meditations on the Life of Christ by Saint Thomas a'Kempis Pt.1 Ch.3]