Monastic & Mystic Prayers
Prayer of the Cloud of Unknowing
From The Cloud of Unknowing, written in Middle English by an anonymous fourteenth-century English contemplative.
God, unto whom all hearts be open,
and unto whom all will speaks,
and unto whom no privy thing is hid:
I beseech you so to cleanse the intent of my heart
with the unspeakable gift of your grace,
that I may perfectly love you
and worthily praise you.
Lift up your heart unto God with a meek stirring of love,
and mean himself and none of his goods.
Smite upon that thick cloud of unknowing
with a sharp dart of longing love,
and go not thence for anything that befalls. Amen.
The Cloud of Unknowing
About the prayer
It is the founding text of the apophatic tradition in English and the source of the modern practice of centring prayer.
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