Prayer: “Late Have I Loved You” by St. Augustine

Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new!
Late have I loved you!

And behold, you were within, and I without,
and without I sought you.

And deformed, I ran after those forms of beauty
you have made.

You were with me, and I was not with you,
those things held me back from you,
things whose only being was to be in you.

You called; you cried;
and you broke through my deafness.

You flashed; you shone;
and you chased away my blindness.

You became fragrant;
and I inhaled and sighed for you.

I tasted, and now hunger and thirst for you.
You touched me; and I burned for your embrace.