How restless is my soul without you!
When you spoke in my heart,
I was moved from my stupor.
How long I have tried to find joy in vain,
Lost in a world of endless pains.
But you called out to me,
And gave me a sign,
And I was born again.
Praise the Lord!
Type of Prayer:
Reflective Psalm
Terms and/or Concepts:
“How restless is my soul without you,” from the opening of Confessions, describing the prevenient or primordial grace by which we feel the need for God.
“When you spoke in my heart,” relates the inner grace Augustine felt through the Word and Spirit urging him towards God (Confessions, Book VIII, i(1)).
“How long I have tried to find joy in vain,” relates the wasted years during which Augustine chose to pursue his own lusts prior to his conversion (Confessions, Book VIII, i(12)).
“You... gave me a sign,” refers to the external grace Augustine received when he heard a child's voice urging him to “take up and read,” and his eye fell on the passage to flee lustful things (Confessions, Book VIII, i(29)).
“I was born again,” describes the actual moment of conversion, a sharply delineated event taking place in the deepest core of being, from which followed a gradual process of maturation in the outer parts of the personality (Confessions, Book VIII, i(29)).
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