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| 'Tsar of Glory' icon. 14th cent. Bulgarian. (Tretyakov Gallery) |
"I abandoned you to pursue the lowest things of your creation. I was dust going to dust." (Augustine, Confessions 1.13.21)
"...let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross..." (Heb. 12:1–2)
"Who will enable me to find rest in you? Who will grant me that you come to my heart and intoxicate it, so that I forget my evils and embrace my one and only good, yourself? What are you to me? [...] In your mercies, Lord God, tell me what you are to me. 'Say to my soul, I am your salvation' (Ps. 34:3). Speak to me so that I may hear. See the ears of my heart are before you, Lord. Open them and 'say to my soul, I am your salvation.' After that utterance I will run and lay hold on you. Do not hide your face from me (cf. Ps. 26:9). Lest I die, let me die so that I may see it." (Augustine, Conf. 1.5.5)
"Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14)
"'Lord hear my prayer' (Ps. 60:2) that my soul may not collapse (Ps. 83:3) under your discipline (Ps. 54:2)... Bring to me a sweetness surpassing all the seductive delights which I pursued. Enable me to love you with all my strength that I may clasp your hand with all my heart. 'Deliver me from all temptation to the end' (Ps. 17:30)." (Augustine, Conf. 1.15.24)