If we consider our actions, we might despair, yet we come to You in humble supplication, for You are our Father, who has declared, “Israel is my firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). Although we are mere clay shaped by Your will, and though a vessel cannot question its creator, we, Your children, implore You: do not be overly angered with us. We do not challenge Your wrath, nor do we seek to provoke Your patience, through which we store up judgment for the day of reckoning. Instead, we request that You spare us excessive anger, remembering not our sins in the time of retribution, but rather look upon us, Your people, once called by Your name, and have mercy upon the city of Your sanctuary—Zion and Jerusalem—that was once a source of joy and virtue and a vision of peace. Yet now, Your holy house, where our fathers exalted You, stands in ruins, devastated by flame, leaving no place for offerings, no observance of the Passover, nor any rituals You commanded. Truly, all we held dear has been laid waste. Will You then withhold Your mercy from us? Will You remain silent before those who blaspheme, striking and humbling us in a manner beyond the usual? Some believe this came to pass in the times of the Assyrians and Babylonians. But we focus on the words of our Savior: “I was revealed to those who did not ask Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me” (Isa. 65:1), which resonates with the days of Roman conquest mentioned by Josephus in his accounts of Jewish captivity. It is evident that what was once glorious has been reduced to rubble, and the magnificent temple is now a desolate wasteland and a home for owls, while those who gather in their synagogues speak in vain. Are we to endure this affliction and profound humiliation? This condition can be reflected within the Church or within the soul of a holy person, which embodies the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yet if, due to our failings or those of the community, the Lord forsakes His Zion, it becomes vulnerable to the fiery darts of the enemy. Adulterers corrupt their very hearts like a melting furnace, and when purity is cast aside, the flames of lust consume the temple of God, leading to the downfall and destruction of all that was once praiseworthy within us, fulfilling the words of the psalmist: “Thy sanctuary shall be burned with fire; the dwelling place of Thy name shall be defiled on the earth” (Psalms 43:7). Only the one who brings forth rivers of living water can extinguish such flames.
THEOSIS