A Prayer to God as the Summum Bonum: The “Highest Good,” Ultimate Meaning, in Life

St. Augustine of Hippo

When I search for happiness,

I am really searching for you, my God.

Let me search for you

that my soul may live.

As my body lives by my soul,

my soul lives by you.

Happiness is joy in you, O Lord,

who are the Truth,

my Light, my Salvation and my God.

You are all good things beyond description,

for you are the One, Supreme and Highest Good.

In you our good exists forever,

because it is you yourself.

No one nor anything in this world

can really make us happy,

for you, O Lord, are the true source of happiness.

While I move and bear this body of mine,

I long to one day be happy in

your Dwelling Place

and live with you forever

in your most Blessed Kingdom.

Amen.

Endnote

The prayer is based on the writings of St. Augustine, especially from the little book edited by Gervase Corcoran, Praying with Saint Augustine (Villanova, PA.: Augustinian Press, 1986), pp. 6, 10, 12, 16, 24, 25,