ook, if you do not want to fear, probe your inmost self. Examine it with care. Does not a poisoned vein of the wasting love of the world still pulse there? Are you not moved by some physical desires or caught in some law of the senses? Are you never elated with empty boasting?

Only when you have sifted everything in the deepest recesses of your inner being can you dare to announce that you are pure and crystal clear.

Prayer. Behold my heart, O Lord, my God. Look deep inside it and cleanse it of all disordered affection by directing my eyes to you and lifting my feet out of the snare.

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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