Ephraim: The Nisibene Hymns
Nisibene Hymn 4: The Cry of the Little Ones
My God, I will tread the threshold of your house without ceasing.
I who have rejected all grace will ask boldly,
so that I may receive with confidence.
Refrain: Our hope, be our wall!
For if, Lord, the earth makes a single grain of wheat
many times richer,
how much more will my prayers be enriched by your grace!
Because of the voices of my children,
their sighs and their groans,
open to me the door of your mercy!
For the sake of their voices,
make glad the mourning of their sackcloth!
Firstborn, who were a weaned child
and were at home among the children,
the accursed sons of Nazareth,
listen to my lambs, who have seen the wolves,
for see, they are crying.
For when a flock in the field, my Lord,
has seen the wolves,
it flees to the shepherd and takes refuge under his staff,
and he drives away those that would devour it.
Your flock has seen the wolves,
and see, it cries aloud.
Look how terrified it is!
Let your cross be a staff,
to drive away those that would swallow it up!
Accept the cry of my little ones,
who are altogether pure.
It was he, the Infant of days,
who could appease, Lord, the Ancient of days.
On the day the Babe came down
into the middle of the stall,
the Watchers came down and proclaimed peace.
May that peace be in all my streets, for all my children.
Seventy-two old men, the elders of that people,
were not enough for its breaches.
It was the Babe, the Son of Mary,
who gave peace on every side.
Have mercy on my children, Lord!
In my children remember your own childhood, you who were a child!
Let those who are like your childhood
be saved by your grace!
Mingled together in the middle of the flock
are the cry of the innocents and the voice of the sheep,
calling on the Shepherd of all
to deliver them from all.
There is a joy that is affliction:
misery is hidden in it.
There is a misery that is profit:
it is a fountain of joys in that new world.
The happiness my persecutor has gained
has woes hidden in it; so I rejoice.
The wretchedness I have gained from him
has happiness hidden in it for me.
Who will not give praise to the One who has begotten us,
and can beget again, out of the middle of evil rumors,
voices of good news!
Healer of all, you have visited me in my sicknesses!
I cannot give you payment for your medicines,
for they are beyond price.
Your mercies in their richness surpass your medicines:
they cannot be bought; they are given freely;
it is for tears that they are traded.
How, my Master, can a desolate city,
whose king is far away and whose enemy is near,
stand firm without the help of mercy?
You are a harbor and refuge at all times.
When the seas covered me,
your mercy came down and drew me out.
Let your help take hold of me again!
Apply to my afflictions
the medicine of your salvation and the passion of your help!
Your sign can become
a medicine to heal all.
I am greatly oppressed,
and I hurry to complain against the one who troubles me.
My Lord, let your mercy take the bitterness out of the cup
that my sins have mixed.
I look on every side and weep that I am desolate.
Though my chiefs and my deliverers are very many,
it is One who has delivered me.
My young men have fled, Lord, and gone away,
and they are like chicks that an eagle chases;
see, they hide in a secret place.
May your peace bring them back!
See, my ears miss the sound of my grape pickers,
for their voices have failed.
Blessed One, let it ring out with the good news of your salvation!
I have heard a voice of terror on my towers,
as my defenders cry out while they guard my walls.
Quiet it with the voice of peace!
The noise of my farmers will speak peace outside my walls;
the shouting of my people will speak peace inside my walls,
so that I may give peace outside and inside.
Lord, put an end to the mourning
of this pure altar of yours,
and of your chaste priest,
who stands clothed in mourning, covered with sackcloth!
The Church and her ministers will praise your salvation,
and so will the city and its people.
Lord, let the voice of peace be the reward of their voices!