Audi, benigne Conditor.
O MERCIFUL Creator, hear!
To us in pity bow Thine ear:
accept the tearful prayer we raise
in this our fast of forty days.
Our hearts are open, Lord, to Thee:
Thou knowest our infirmity;
pour out on all who seek Thy face abundance of Thy pardoning grace. Our sins are many, this we know; spare us, good Lord, Thy mercy show; and for the honor of Thy name our fainting souls to life reclaim. Give us self-control that springs from discipline of outward things, that fasting inward secretly the soul may purely dwell with Thee. We pray Thee, Holy Trinity, one God, unchanging Unity, that we from this our abstinence may reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.