Your love for me is perfect, Lord:
it never falters, never fails;
you love me freely, fully,
with merciful forgiveness...
But my love for you often stalls and stumbles:
I'm stingy with my affection,
I hold back,
I cheat you of my heart's devotion,
my day's time, my soul's gratitude...
You created me for love, Lord:
to love and to be loved,
to find in you my heart of hearts,
the path of all my heart's desire..
Forgive me, Lord,
my valentine to you is far from perfect:
it's smudged with my sins,
torn by my rough edges,
wrinkled with my carelessness...
Still, this love note comes from my heart, Lord:
signed by one who loves you,
sealed with my soul's contrition,
delivered with thanksgiving
for your always faithful,
never ending love for me...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
(Tonight's song is Kathleen Deignan's beautiful setting of
Saint Augustine's prayer, "Late have I love you, Lord..."
Sero Te Amvi by Kathleen Deignan
(The first three lines in Latin are translated in in the fourth and fifth.)
Sero te amavi,
pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova.
Sero te amavi!
Late have I loved thee,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.
I was searching all around me; you were all within.
pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova.
Sero te amavi!
Late have I loved thee,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.
I was searching all around me; you were all within.
I grasped at your beauty everywhere
and longed to have and hold what can but be beheld.
Sero te amavi!
You attracted, I, distracted, did not see
the Giver of all gifts was gracing me.
and longed to have and hold what can but be beheld.
Sero te amavi!
You attracted, I, distracted, did not see
the Giver of all gifts was gracing me.
Sero te amavi,
pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova.
Sero te amavi!
Late have I loved thee,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.
pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova.
Sero te amavi!
Late have I loved thee,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.
You called, you shouted – piercing through my deafness;
You flashed, you shone – dispelling all my blindness.
Sero te amavi!
You breathed your fragrance on me,
I drew my breath and now I am breathless for thee.
I tasted your sweetness and now I am famished for you –
you touched me; now I'm burning for your peace.
Late have I loved thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new!
I was searching all around me; you were all within.
Sero te amavi! Vero te amavi…
(Late have I loved Thee! Truly have I loved thee...)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!