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“The Beauty of Creation Bears Witness to God” by Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)
Translated from the Latin by Anonymous
Question the beauty of the earth,
the beauty of the sea,
the beauty of the wide air around you,
the beauty of the sky;
question the order of the stars,
the sun whose brightness lights the day,
the moon whose splendor softens
the gloom of night;
question the living creatures
that move in the waters,
that roam upon the earth,
that fly through the air;
the spirit that lies hidden,
the matter that is manifest;
the visible things that are ruled,
the invisible that rule them;
question all these.
They will answer you:
“Behold and see, we are beautiful.”
Their beauty is their confession of God.
Who made these beautiful changing things,
if not one who is beautiful and changeth not?