Dumb and speechless I feel myself, O my Splendor, when I would express Thy constancy and all Thy fullness. Therefore I beg the whole universe to kneel with me and to speak in my stead — mine, the dumb and speechless.
I build Thee altars of stone, O stone Foundation of my hope. But the proud sons of the world, who make themselves out to be closer neighbors to Thee than Thy saints, mock me: behold the heathen, how he bows more readily to a stone than to the Lord!
Truly, I do not bow to the stone, but together with the stone to the Living Lord. For the stone too has strayed far from the Lord and needs salvation. Sin has made me more unclean than stone before the face of Heaven. Let the stone too be saved together with me, and, as constancy embodied, let it help my feeble words to express the constancy of the justice of God. Therefore I embrace the stone as a fellow-brother in ruin and as a fellow-brother in prayer and salvation.
I burn oil and wax upon the altar of stone, O Unquenchable Light. But the proud puff themselves up and cry: behold the superstitious man, who does not know that God is spirit!
Thy servant knows, O Lord, that Thou art spirit, but he knows also Thy mercy toward all flesh. And when I see the gleaming oil and the fragrant wax, I say to myself: how are you better than oil and wax? As the sun at noonday, so oil and wax at midnight show forth the light of the Lord of glory more clearly than your tongue. Let them be a help to you in prayer. Let them be fellow-brothers to you in prayer and salvation.
I adorn Thine altar with wooden icons, and golden crosses, and silver ripidia, and silken cloths, and books of salvation bound in leather. And I make deep prostrations before Thine adorned altars. But the proud laugh and say: behold the idolater, who bows not to the Lord but to speechless things!
But Thou knowest, O my only Idol, that I bow to Thee alone. Yet lest pride overcome my heart and delay my salvation, I summon both wood and grass, and resins and animals, to cry out to Thee together with me, each in its own tongue. Behold, all creatures need salvation; therefore all must join with man in prayer — man, the leader in sin and the leader in salvation.
I consecrate bread and wine upon Thine altar, and with them I feed my soul. Let the proud mock until the end of time; I shall not be ashamed of my desire to be fed and given drink by Thee, O my Life-giving Nourishment.
I bow before the altar of stone, that I may learn to count all that I eat as Thy holy body, and all that I drink as Thy holy blood.
I pray with all creatures and for all creatures, that I may learn humility before Thee, and that I may utter the whole mystery of my love to Thee, O All-Embracing Love.