I have incurred Thy wrath with my sins, O Lord; but it is against Thy will that Thou art wroth, for Thou overflowest with abundant mercy and Thy majesty is beyond provocation.

Thou art a sea of compassion, and our errors are but a drop of tainted water. Surely one drop cannot disturb an unencompassable sea.

Thou dost not become anxious when Thou art displeased, and Thou art not wroth when Thou punishest. If Thou wert to become wroth when Thou punishest, the world could not withstand Thy wrath.

Thy blows are filled with love. Thy punishment burns with compassion. In accordance with Thy love, even when Thou punishest Thou strivest only for good.

The staves with which Thou punishest are carved from the wood of Thy loving-kindness. No matter what Thy staff touches, the blow brings great benefit.

When a master punishes his pupil, he beats him not out of hatred, but because he wishes to bring him profit; and out of love does he mete out punishment. Thy blow also strikes from love, for Thou dost not punish out of malice. Thou, O Lord, desirest our own good, and Thou showest Thy loving-kindness in many ways.

It is not difficult for Thee to endure our errors, for Thou hast created our nature. Thou art not burdened by Thy creation, for Thou knewest us before we were created.

Who will endure the hardships of caring for a baby if not the mother who bore him? Who will endure the errors of the world, if not the Lord of all?

It is easy for the Creator to endure all the difficulties wrought by His creatures, for if He had not wanted to endure these difficulties He would not have created them.

Will a woman forget her child or fail to love those who issue from her womb? But even if a woman were to forget her child, God will not forget the world He has created.

His natural compassion was moved, and He conceived and bore creation. Like a babe from his mother’s womb, so did the world come forth from His will.

And lo, He gathers up and carries the world, like a mother carries the fruit of her womb, feeding it with her milk.

The kindhearted Father bore us and nourishes us with the blood of His Son. Thus does a mother give her child her paps to suck, in order to feed him.

A babe sucks at the breast and receives from his mother the food that he requires. He draws out all the food he needs from his mother’s paps.

A babe does not know how to turn away and search for food anywhere else than at his mother’s side.

Thus the world also takes life-sustaining nourishment only from Thee, O Creator; and no one but Thee alone can feed it.