You alone are the Lord.

To be ruled by you is for us salvation.

For us to serve you is nothing else but to be saved by you!

Now how is it we are saved by you, O Lord,

   from whom salvation comes

   and whose blessing is upon your people,

   if it is not in receiving from you

   the gift of loving you and being loved by you?

That, Lord, is why you willed that the Son of your right hand,

   the Man whom you made strong for your own self,

   should be called Jesus, that is to say, Saviour,

for he will save his people from their sins.

William of Saint-Thierry, c.1085-1148, Cistercian monk of northern France

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Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed

—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—

   continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you

   to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.