As the day of my vow, such as it is, draws near — with your intercession before God — so greatly do the longing and the shame of my mind contend with one another. For I beg a blessing upon an unfinished work. There would be some slight excuse if greatness were to veil and cover the fault of my sloth within it. But as it is, what can be more unshapely than a thing at once trifling and unpolished? There is one thing, therefore, that consoles my trembling spirit with a bold encouragement: namely, that by your coming — if God deigns to hear us — all things are to be turned for the better. For there is nothing which you cannot either set in order by praying, or excuse by pleading. Only, just as we are certain of the vow of your proven piety, so may we rejoice in the foregoing announcement of the awaited visitation.