A Valentine for the One who IS love...

Ever thought of sending a Valentine to God - who IS love?

The Lord deserves our love on every day of the year but since February 14 is a day for special greetings, we might consider the following.

Here is a beautiful musical setting* for St. Augustine's prayer, "Late have I loved thee..." (For those not familiar with Latin, the translation of the first three lines is found 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,
late have I loved thee.

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.

Sero te amavi!

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 am 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...)

* from Schola Ministries, translated and composed by Kathleen Deignan, CND


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