Thy birds wake me in the morning, and the murmur of the lake lulls me to sleep in the evening. Yet it is not the birds that wake me, nor the lake that lulls me to sleep, but Thou, O Lord, Holder of Voices.
Thou lendest to the birds Thy voice, and to the lake its midnight murmuring. To every throat Thou hast lent a voice, and into every creature Thou hast sealed a cry. I am surrounded by Thy voice-bearers, as a pupil by many teachers, and I listen to them untiringly from dawn to moonrise.
O Lord, Holder of Voices, speak more clearly through Thy voice-bearers.
The sun speaks to me of the radiance of Thy face, and the stars of the harmony of Thy being. With one tongue speaks the sun, and with other tongues speak the stars, yet all tongues are poured from the same vocal cords. In Thee are the vocal cords, and Thou didst release the first voice, which trembled in the deafness and formlessness of nothing, and shattered into numberless voices and voice-bearers, as a thundercloud into drops of rain.
O Lord, Holder of Voices, speak more clearly through Thy voice-bearers!
One cry burst forth from the breast of the Bride of God when she beheld her Son — one voice of overbrimming love, which could not be held back in silence. And that cry echoed in the heart of the Son, and that echo — that answer to the Mother's love — the Holy Spirit scattered with mighty hands throughout all space. Hence all space is filled with Thy voice-bearers, O my Song and my Love.
O Lord, Holder of Voices, speak more clearly through Thy voice-bearers!
Therefore didst Thou also speak in parables, O Son of God, and interpret with words and give life with words, for Thou knewest the mystery of love. And the mystery of love is the mystery of the word. Through all beings, as through trumpets slender and flaming, words have poured forth, and through words the Love of Heaven.
O Lord, Holder of Voices, teach me Thy Love through all Thy voice-bearers.