ord, you command me to be continent. You have commanded me to abstain from concubinage, and in place of marriage itself--which you permit--you have counseled something better.

Since you granted this to me, it has been fulfilled even before I became a dispenser of your sacrament. Yet, in my memory, of which I have said many things, there still live images of such things as my former habits implanted there.

Prayer. Your hand, O God Almightly, is able to heal all the infirmities of my soul.

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Augustine Day by Day: Minute Meditations for Every Day Taken from the Writings of Saint Augustine. Catholic Book Publishing Co. New York, 1986.

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