Confessions 2

Deo Vobiscum, God be with you my brothers,

Today we will follow up on the previous post about restless hearts from Book 1 of Confessions- jumping directly to Book 10, if the previous was a "wake-up call" in the life of the Saint this one was a lament for all the years he spent pointed outward and seeking satisfaction and fulfilment from created things, this passage is beautiful in the way that he uses human senses to describe his yearning for the Love and Fulfilment that only God can provide. Without further ado here goes:


"Belatedly have I loved thee, O beauty so ancient yet so new: late have I loved thee,

And see, you were within yet I was in the external world and sought you there,

And in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made,

You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you,

though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all.

You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness.

You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness.

You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you.

I tasted you, and I now hunger and thirst for you.

You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours."

~St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Book10