The True and Highest Sweetness

How sweet it suddenly became to me to lack the sweetness of those follies, and what I was afraid to be separated from was now a joy to part with.

You cast them forth from me, You who are the true and highest sweetness. You cast them forth and entered in their place Yourself.

You who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not flesh and blood. Brighter than all light, but more hidden than all depths. Higher than all honor, but not to the lofty in their own conceits.

Now my soul was free from the biting cares of seeking and getting, weltering in filth, and scratching off the itch of my lust.

And my infant tongue spoke freely to You,
my Brightness
and my Riches
and my Health, Lord My God.

- St. Augustine -