PRAYERS · SAINT PRAYER

Late Have I Loved Thee by St. Augustine of Hippo

Love of GodSt. Augustine of HippoConversion
Too late loved I Thee, O Thou Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I loved Thee! And behold, Thou wert within, and I abroad, and there I searched for Thee; deformed I, plunging amid those fair forms which Thou hadst made. Thou wert with me, but I was not with Thee. Things held me far from Thee which, unless they were in Thee, were not at all. Thou calledst, and shoutedst, and burstest my deafness. Thou flashedst, shonest, and scatteredst my blindness. Thou breathedst odors, and I drew in breath and pant for Thee. I tasted, and hunger and thirst. Thou touchedst me, and I burned for Thy peace.

SOURCES

  • St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book X, Ch. 27 (trans. Edward Bouverie Pusey, 1838, public domain)

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