For all through the five ages of the world,[1] by means of Patriarchs, of Judges, of Priests, of Kings, and of Prophets, from righteous Abel even unto John the Baptist, Thy forerunner, Thou didst never cease, by wonderful miracles and manifold prophecies, to foretell, to promise, and to prefigure Thy coming, without which we are undone: that so, by means of so many witnesses going before Thee, and proclaiming Thy mysteries, Thou mightest implant in our minds the grace of faith, and by the lively examples of so many ancient Fathers, mightest kindle in our dull cold hearts the fire of Thy love.
CHAPTER IV
☙ Of the redemption of the human race by the mystery of the Incarnate Word
BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee,
my Lord and my God, Creator and Redeemer of the human race, for Thy
exceeding great love in willing that
man,whom thou hadst wonderfully created, should
be still more wonderfully redeemed. For it was
when we were yet thine enemies, and death had
long tyrannized over all the human race, that
Thou didst call to mind Thy rich mercies, and
from the place of Thy habitation in glory, didst
look down upon this vale of tears and wretched.
- ↑ [Probably an allusion to a sermon of St. Gregory the Great (on the gospel for Septuagesima Sunday) in which the five hours of the day, during which the labourers were hired to work in the vineyard, are explained as representing five ages of the world.]
