On this, the week of Thanksgiving, let us join our forefathers in giving thanks to God. While Thanksgiving as a holiday is relatively recent, the practice of gratitude is ancient and deeply rooted in Jewish and Christian teachings.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus was a theologian of early Christianity and one of the eight doctors of the Patristic Church, so titled for their immense impact in defining doctrines of the Christian faith. Beyond his theological contributions, he was also a gifted poet. May the following poem from Gregory bless you this Thanksgiving.
Thanks be to you, O king of all and maker of all.
Thanks be to you, who established the intelligible by your word,
and the visible by your command, things which previously were not, and you made them known from what was hidden.
A choir inviolate surrounds your throne
where there are thousands and more myriads,
a fiery chorus of an angelic army, a people uncorrupted
from the beginning of the first born, and a chorus of brilliant stars,
the spirits of holy men and the souls of the just,
all of them assembled together and circling your throne,
singing unceasingly in gladness and in fear
offering up a perfect and ceaseless hymn.
Thanks be to you, O king of all and maker of all.
Such is the perfect hymn from the celestial chorus.
Indeed I beseech you, incorruptible Father, and I bend the knee
of my heart, immortal Father, and my inner mind
lies prostrate before you. I bow my head to the ground
in supplication. I lie down as a suppliant and pour out tears.
For I am not worthy to look up to heaven.
But have mercy on me, Father of mercy, be propitious
to your whimpering servant. Stretch out your hand to me
in the jaws of death, cleanse all my thoughts.
Do not strip me of your Spirit, but ever more pour
strength and perseverance into my breast,
that I may sing you rightly with my heart and with my lips.
Just as you had been present to my father be present to me your servant,
give me as well a pure life and a pure end,
to have good hope and mercy and grace.
Like a generous king, blot out all the sins that I have committed
from my youth. So that thanks may be to you all days,
thanks be to you all days, even unto the ages of ages.1
Origen would subscribe (maybe?)…
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St Gregory of Nazianzus, Poems on Scripture: English Translation, ed. John Behr, trans. Brian Dunkle, vol. 46, Popular Patristics Series (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2012), 123–125.