image by By Jacopo & Domenico Tintoretto, via Wikimedia Commons
You possess me Lord, and I possess you.
You have put your faith and hope in me.
And I have put my faith and hope in you.
My life, my honor, my happiness, my peace
All rest in you.
You can see me every second of my life;
Let me see you.
I pray that you will grant me a single moment
When I can look at you face to face.
Then I will be able to give you
All my heart, all my love.
Do not wait until I have died,
But let me see you even here on earth.
I know I have no right to ask this favor
Because my heart is so luke-warm, so indifferent.
Make me worthy of such a privilege;
Make my heart ready to receive you.
And my soul ready to see you.
Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) Byzantine monk & mystic
_________________________
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,
looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
prayer & verse 
I wonder if this prayer of Symeon was ever answered in a way that satisfied his hunger?
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