O beloved Father! Oh! Your servant’s only hope
Is to find refuge at Your feet.
You are my one and only source of supreme grace.
How could You show such great mercy
To one as utterly unworthy as I?
How can I ever call myself
Your child?

1.
How sadly I ran away from Your presence!
I became enslaved to Satan.
I turned away from Your tender mercy in my heart
And went off to feed among the swine.
I grew weak with hunger,
Wandering about, feeding on what was fit for animals.
I came back weeping bitterly,
Broken and helpless,
Your servant once again.

2.
I carried within me the nature of a serpent;
Yet You chose to make me
One of Your children of resurrection.
Father, I squandered all that You had given me;
I delighted myself in the filth of this world.
I clothed myself in soil
And stripped myself of heaven.
Oh, I cannot bear even to speak of it!
Your grace alone is my refuge.

3.
I hesitate even to look upon Your holy face,
Yet when I remember Your tender compassion,
I find the courage to open my mouth.
The thought of Your holy hands embracing me
Melts my heart.
The kiss from Your holy lips
Leaves me overwhelmed with emotion.
My heart melts,
And tears fill my eyes.
Your feet are my refuge, my only refuge,
O merciful Father!