Hymn to God
O Thou who art beyond all,
What else may we rightly call Thee?
How shall I extol Thee,
Who art prominent over all?
How can any word praise Thee,
When words cannot name Thee?
Alone unutterable,
Thou art the cause of all that can be spoken.
How can the mind consider Thee,
When no mind can grasp Thee?
Alone unknowable,
Thou art the cause of all that can be known.
All things, both the speaking
And the speechless, proclaim Thee.
All things, both the knowing
And the unknowing, revere Thee.
All keen longings, all deep pains,
Are but yearnings for Thee.
To Thee is the prayer of all.
To Thee all, perceiving Thy sign,
Utter a silent hymn.
All things come forth from Thee
And Thou from nothing.
Thus Thou art alone.
In Thee all things abide.
And all ceaselessly hasten toward Thee,
For Thou art the Goal of all.
Thou art the One, and All,
Yet neither one, nor all.
O Most-Named, how then shall I address Thee,
Who alone are unnamable?
What heaven-born Mind could ever penetrate
Thy veil above?
I pray Thee, be gracious.
O Thou Who art beyond all,
What else may we rightly call Thee?
Pseudo-Dionysius
Pseudo-Dyonysius the Areopagite was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late fifth to early sixth century. He was probably Syrian. The real identity of the person who chose to write under the pseudonym of Dionysius the Areopagite is unknown. Even the exact dates of his writings have never been determined. Nevertheless, this somewhat shadowy figure has influenced a great number of mystical writers from the early middle ages on. His formulation of a method of negative theology that stresses the impotence of the human attempt to penetrate the vast mystery of God has had a major impact on eastern theology and also in the west in The Cloud of Unknowing. His primary works include The Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, and The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.