There is an arresting phrase in today's collect, in which we ask to be "freed from the fetters of sin our weakness has forged", a peccatorum nexibus quae pro nostra fragilitate contraximus . . . liberemur. So much of what we dislike about ourselves, and which others also dislike about us, stems from weakness rather than deliberate malice. Forgiveness is never easy, as we all know. Sometimes, to forgive oneself while at the same time striving to change that which requires change is the hardest task of all. We cannot for one moment escape ourselves.