Your Life for My Salvation

Where do you pasture your flock,

O good shepherd, you who take on your shoulders the whole flock,

For the whole of human nature that you take on your shoulders forms one sheep.

Show me the place of green pastures and the restful waters,

Lead me to the grass that nourishes,

Call me by name,

So that I who am your sheep may hear your voice.

Give me by your voice eternal life.

Speak to me, you whom my soul loves.

This is how I name you,

For your name is above every name

And cannot be uttered or comprehended by any rational nature.

Your name, which reveals your goodness,

Is the love my soul has for you.

How can I not love you who loved me,

Even though I was black,

So much that you laid down your life for the sheep whose shepherd you are?

Greater love than this cannot be conceived,

That you should purchase my salvation with your life.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa.