1.
I want, against myself, to confess my wickedness; I want to lament my weakness to You, O Lord. Often something insignificant robs me of my courage and plunges me into sadness. I do indeed resolve to act with fortitude, but as soon as a small temptation comes over me, I am thrown into great anxiety. Sometimes a severe temptation arises from a mere trifle. And when I believe I am safe for a time, I must see that, without noticing, I have almost been overcome by a slight breeze.
2.
So look, O Lord, upon my lowliness and my frailty, which are well known to You. Have mercy on me, and draw me out of this mire, so that I do not remain stuck and fall into utter desolation. I am often grieved and blush before Your face that I fall so easily and am so weak in resisting evil inclinations. Although I do not give full consent, it is still troublesome and burdensome for me to be disturbed by them, and it causes me great aversion that I must constantly live in this struggle. Thus I recognize my weakness, because the ugliest thoughts slip into my heart far more easily than they disappear from it.
3.
Oh, that You, mighty God of Israel, You zealous defender of faithful souls, would look upon me, Your servant, in my toil and pain, and assist me in all that I undertake! Strengthen me with heavenly power, so that the old man, the sensuality which is not yet wholly subject to the spirit, does not rule within me, for against it one must constantly struggle as long as a breath of this most wretched life remains. Oh, what a miserable life this is, where one can never be free from temptations and tribulations, where everything is full of snares and enemies. For while one affliction or temptation departs, another attacks, and while the struggle with the first still lasts, several more immediately follow, and quite unexpectedly.
4.
And how can one love a life that has so much bitterness and is subject to so many misfortunes and wretchedness? Indeed, how can one even call this a life, since it brings with it so much death and pestilence? And yet it is loved, and many seek to find their joys and pleasures in it. People often blame the world for its deceptions and its vanity, and yet they are unwilling to resolve to leave it, because the lust of the flesh rules too strongly. On one hand, we are enticed to love the world; on the other, it is presented to us as contemptible. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life draw us to love this world, but because of the punishments and misery that rightly follow, the world becomes hateful and loathsome to us.
5.
And yet, alas, a soul that is devoted to the world is overcome by sinful pleasure. It believes it will find joy among thorns, because it has neither seen nor tasted how sweet communion with God is and how delightful virtue is. But those who completely despise the world and strive, according to a holy rule, to live only for God, truly know that divine sweetness which is promised to those who renounce all things. They also see much more clearly how greatly the world errs and how manifoldly it is deceived.