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

Late have I loved You, 
Beauty so ancient and so new, 
late have I loved You!
Lo, You were within,
but I outside, seeking there for You,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with You.
They held me back far from You,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in You.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
You flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
You lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for You;
I tasted You, and now I hunger and thirst;
You touched me, and I burned for Your peace.