Sunday, August 07, 2011

Estote Ergo Vos Perfecti

Be ye therefore
    perfect;
Be less
    and cease to be.
There is no
    going downward
Save into
    the great sea,
Where things
    continue falling
Forever
    and a day;
Except that
    all is darkness,
Down there, o soul of me.

Be ye therefore perfect.
But how will I do that?
Patience, little brother,
And inwardly take thought.
Breathe evenly. Remember
What many have forgot:
The hill to climb is higher
Even than Ararat.


John Senior was a significant influence in the restoration of the classical liberal arts in Catholic higher education. The above was composed by his professor, Mark Van Doren, on the occasion of Senior's reception into the Church in 1960. It is provided courtesy of "Rooster Cogburn," and is reproduced here without permission or shame.
 

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