O Lord, this woman fallen away into manifold sins,
Perceiving at last the God within Thee,
Turned Thy way to bring Thee ointment
In tears she brings Thee myrrh on this eve of Thine unworlding.
"Oh" she cries "what a night! What a night has fallen upon me,
Such dark extravagance, such moonless mania
Of flesh athirst for sin!
Receive now this spring of my tears,
Thou who wringest the seawater out of the clouds.
Bend down to me, to the bewailment in my heart.
Thou who madest the heavens bow when Thou beyond words
Didst empty Thyself into flesh.
Long shall I kiss Thine immaculate feet,
Wash them, and dry them with the hair of my head;
Those selfsame feet whose steps Eve heard
In the dusk of Eden, and hid in her dread.
Savior of souls and me! Who can fathom
The surfeit of my sins, the abyss of Thy judgment?
Forsake not me, Thy rightful slave,
In all Thy measureless mercy."