The chamber of my soul is not aired out, and Thou knockest at the door, O Dread Holy Spirit. Only one moment, while I air my chamber of unclean spirits, and I will open to Thee. For even were I to open now, Thou wouldst not enter a chamber full of foul stench, and Thou wouldst withdraw from my door forever. Only one moment, I pray Thee, my greatest Guest!
Ah, my shame and my sorrow, how this one moment drags on! A little while longer, a little while, and my whole lifetime on earth will fit into this one moment. And Thou waitest patiently before the door, and listenest for my breath.
Insolent are the uninvited guests within me, insolent and greatly multiplied. If I go to open the window, they pull my arms back. If I go toward the door, to feel Thy life-giving presence, they entangle themselves about my feet. They have bound me by habit to their vile stench, so that I dread freshness and tremble at newness. Ah, only let me not be too late to open the door to Thee!
But behold, even at the price of the death of this slavish life, I will open all the windows wide, and in the name of the Most Pure Maiden and Her Son, when Thou enterest, Thou wilt bring my carcass to life with Thy life-giving breath, with Thy youthful strength, with Thy dew of love.
O Spirit of manly strength, of morning vigor, of evening stillness; lighter than sleep, swifter than wind, fresher than dew, sweeter than a mother's voice, brighter than flame, holier than all altars, mightier than the universe, more alive than life — to Thee I pray and bow before Thee: join Thyself to me on the steep path toward the eternal blessedness of the Triune Godhead.
O fiery Spirit, who never partest from Eternal Virginity, pierce my soul, and cleanse it, and illumine it, and perfume it with heavenly incense, and take up Thy dwelling in it, and make it Thy bride, that in it the song of the wisdom of God might be conceived; that in it the Eye of Eternity might be opened.
Thou who risest early and never sleepest, teach me to watch wakefully and to wait patiently.