O Eternal Truth, O True Love, and Ever-Beloved!
Urged to reflect upon myself, I, in my inmost soul flocked unto Your guidance. And, with Your assistance, I was able to follow it. I entered my own reflection, as if through the eye of my very soul, and I beheld that which was beyond its own pupil, beyond even my highest spirit — was Your immutable Light, alone. It was not the ordinary light perceptible unto all Flesh, nor was it merely analagous, or of greater magnitude therein, shining more clearly and diffusing itself everywhere by its intensity. No, it was something entirely distinct, something altogether different from all of these things; and it did not float upon my mind as oil upon the surface of water, nor was it above me as the Heavens are above the Earth. This Light was above me because it had made me; I was below it because I was created by it. Whosoever has come to know the Truth knows well this Light.
O Eternal Truth, O True Love, and Ever-Beloved! You are my Lord. Unto You I do sigh through the day and through the night. When I first came to know You, You drew me unto Yourself so that I might see what I must, although I, myself, was not yet ready to see this. Meanwhile, You overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth intense beams of Your Light, and I trembled at once with love and with dread. I realized that I live in a realm unlike Your own, and that I am far distant from You. I thought that I heard Your voice from on High, saying: “I am the food of mortals grown! Grow then, and you shall feed upon Me. Yet I shall be more than mere sustenance for your Flesh, but you, yes you, yourself, shall be changed into Me.”
I sought a way to gain the strength necessary to enjoy You. But I did not find it until I embraced Your chosen manifestation, the Mortal Child, who is above all others, blessed for ever. Who was calling me and saying: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Who was offering the food that I had lacked the strength to take, the food that had mingled with our Flesh. For the Word became Flesh, that Your wisdom, by which You created all things, might provide milk for us children.
Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever-ancient, ever-new, late have I loved You! You were inside me, although I was beside myself, and it was there that I had searched for You. In my heedlessness, I plunged into the lovely things that You had created. You were with me, although I was not with You. Mere artificice had kept me from You; yet — had it not existed within You, it would not have existed at all. You called, You shouted, and You broke through my deafness. You flashed, You shone, and You dispelled my blindness. You breathed Your fragrance upon me; I breathed You in, and now I pant for You. I have tasted You, and now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and now I burn for Your peace.