O God, whose reason rules the world,

who formed the starry heights above,

timeless, time’s chain far forth you hurled,

unmoved, gave all things power to move.

Prevailed on by no outsider cause

to fashion all reality;

ideas of love and mental laws

molded the noble world we see.

Your nature perfect beauty, thus

you made the world in tenderness

with sights and sounds to conjure us

to love the source of loveliness.

You named the primal elements 

of earth and water, air and fire,

and balanced out their influence

that none might lower be or higher.

O Father, give me power to climb

and wash in fountains filled with light,

weighed down no more by things of time,

lit by your shining in the night.

The sight of you begins our day,

with you its evening we shall spend;

you carry us, and lead the way,

the journey, and the journey’s end.

Boethius, c. 477 – 524 , Roman senator and philosopher

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Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
    but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.