Confessions from Hippo

I don't have much time for a post today, but I couldn't let the feasts of St. Monica (yesterday) and St. Augustine of Hippo (today) pass unmarked. In their honor, here are some excerpts from the Doctor's Confessions that have been significant for me in my spiritual growth:

"Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were with thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odors and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace."

"Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee."

"And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought."

"No one knows what he himself is made of, except his own spirit within him, yet there is still some part of him which remains hidden even from his own spirit; but thou, O Lord, knowest everything about a human being because thou hast made him... Let me, then, confess what I know about myself, and confess too what I do not know, because what I know of myself I know only because thou hast shed light on me, and what I do not know I shall remain ignorant about until my darkness becomes like bright noon before thy face."