Prayer of St. Irenaeus

It is not thou that shapest God

it is God that shapest thee.

If thou art the work of God

await the hand of the artist

who does all things in due season.

Offer Him thy heart,

soft and tractable,

and keep the form

in which the artist has fashioned thee.

Let thy clay be moist,

lest thou grow hard

and lose the imprint of his fingers.
- St. Irenaeus