"And let us go forth to behold ourselves in Your beauty [(hermosura)],"

     "This means:  Let us so act that by means of this loving activity we may attain to the vision of ourselves in Your beauty in eternal life.  That is:  That I be so transformed in Your beauty that we may be alike in beauty, and both behold ourselves in Your beauty, possessing now Your very beauty; this, in such a way that each looking at the other may see in the other his own beauty, since both are Your beauty alone, I being absorbed in Your beauty; hence, I shall see You in Your beauty, and You shall see me in Your beauty, and I shall see myself in You in Your beauty, and You will see Yourself in me in Your beauty; that I may resemble You in Your beauty, and You resemble me in Your beauty, and my beauty be Your beauty and Your beauty my beauty; wherefore I shall be You in Your beauty, and You will be me in Your beauty, because Your very beauty will be my beauty; and therefore we shall behold each other in Your beauty."

     St. John of the Cross, The spiritual canticle, Stanza 36.5.  The collected works of St. John of the Cross, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D. (Washington, DC:  ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1973), 547.  Cf. Obras de San Juan de la Cruz, ed. Silverio de Santa Teresa, O.C.D., vol. 3, Cantico Espiritual, Biblioteca Mistica Carmelitana 12 (Burgos:  Tipografia de «El Monte Carmelo», 1930),  pp. 399-400.
     I have not yet read The spiritual canticle; rather, I stumbled onto this passage while in pursuit of the selection in the Office of Readings for the Feast of St. John of the Cross.  Astonishing material.  I must make The spiritual canticle a priority, and indeed re-read the other works, too.

theologia crucis

     "Oh!  If we could but now fully understand how a soul cannot reach the thicket and wisdom of the riches of God, which are of many kinds, without entering the thicket of many kinds of suffering, finding in this her delight and consolation; and how a soul with an authentic desire for divine wisdom, wants suffering first in order to enter this wisdom by the thicket of the cross!  Accordingly, St. Paul admonished the Ephesians not to grow weak in their tribulations and to be strong and rooted in charity in order to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and height and depth, and to know also the supereminent charity of the knowledge of Christ, in order to be filled with all the fullness of God.  The gate entering into these riches of His wisdom is the cross, which is narrow, and few desire to enter by it, but many desire the delights obtained from entering there."

     St. John of the Cross, The spiritual canticle, Stanza 36.13.  The collected works of St. John of the Cross, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D. (Washington, DC:  ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1973), 549;  Cf. Obras de San Juan de la Cruz, ed. Silverio de Santa Teresa, O.C.D., vol. 3, Cantico Espiritual, Biblioteca Mistica Carmelitana 12 (Burgos:  Tipografia de «El Monte Carmelo», 1930),  p. 403.
     I have not yet read The spiritual canticle; I was put onto this by the Office of Readings for the Feast of St. John of the Cross.  Astonishing material.  I must make this a priority, and indeed re-read the other works, too.

spectacula carnis

"How many are there who return from the amphitheater—beaten because they have been beaten for whom they shout like madmen!  And they would be beaten still more, if their favorites were to win.  For they would then enslave themselves to vain joy, enslave themselves to the triumph of a perverted desire—they who are already beaten by the impulse which makes them run to that place.  Indeed, Brethren, how many do you think were undecided to-day as to whether they should come here or go there?  And they who in this moment of hesitation reflected upon Christ and hastened to church, have overcome, not some mere human person, but the devil himself, the most vicious hounder of souls in all the world.  Those, on the other hand, who in that hesitation chose rather to run to the amphitheater, have obviously been conquered by him whom the others have conquered—but conquered in Him who says, Rejoice, because I have overcome the world." 

     St. Augustine, Sermon 51.2 on the "Agreement of the Evangelists Matthew and Luke in the Lord's genealogy" (c. 400) = no. 1 in St. Augustine:  Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany, trans. Thomas Comerford Lawler, ACW 15 (Westminster, MD:  The Newman Press, 1952), 24 (21-70).  Cf. PL 38, col. 334 (cols. 332-354), as reproduced here; and at Revue Bénédictine 91 (1981):  23-45.
     "May God therefore be with you and make attractive the account you will give of these your spectacles to your friends whom you grieved to see running to the amphitheater to-day and unwilling to come to church" (22), where, "as we said by way of introduction, we are producing a spectacle for your minds" (37).

Straining after Cranmer, or "Why should the Anglicans have all the good English?"

Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent,
Bo(o)ke of the common prayer (1549), as re-keyed at justus.anglican.org (cf. this one reprint here):

Lorde rayse up (we pray the) thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our synnes and wickednes, we be soore lette and hindred, thy bountifull grace and mercye, through the satisfaccion of thy sonne our Lord, may spedily deliver us; to whom with thee and the holy gost be honor and glory, worlde without ende.

Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent,
Book of common prayer (1979), Traditional:

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Collect for the First Thursday of Advent,
Roman missal (1973) and Liturgy of the hours (unfortunately):

Father,
we need your help.
Free us from sin and bring us to life.
Support us by your power.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Roman missal (2010) (thank God):

Stir up your power, O Lord,
and come to our help with mighty strength,
that what our sins impede
the grace of your mercy may hasten.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam,
et magna nobis virtute succurre,
ut, quod nostra peccata præpediunt,
gratia tuæ propitiationis acceleret.
Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum,
qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti,
Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

Stir up your power, O Lord,

and come running with great vigor to our aid,

that what our sins trip [us] up [in the pursuit of],

the grace of your propitiation may accelerate [our progress towards].

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

     Roughly no. 1121 in modern critical editions of the mid-8th-century Gelasian sacramentary (among others of that same period, for example the Gregorian).  Cf. The Gelasian sacramentary:  Liber sacramentorum Romanae ecclesiae, ed. H. A. Wilson (Oxford:  1894), p. 214.  Cf. Corpus orationum no. 2550 =Bruylants no. 545, which is very close.  Indeed, Corpus orationum notes that the Sarum missal so formative for the Book of common prayer is one of five that omits the phrase "per auxilium gloriae tuae", and one of three that substitutes "gratiae" for "gloriae".  Because it does not—not even at CO 13, pp. 157 ff., where CO nos. 2550, 2553, and 2554 are all cited (but without modification)—say at what point in the Catholic tradition "indulgentia" got replaced by "gratia", I'm guessing that this must have been in the post-Vatican II missal:

Exita, domine, potentiam tuam et magna nobis virtute succurre, ut per auxilium gloriae tuae, quod nostra peccata praepediunt, indulgentia tuae propitiationis acceleret.

Thus, Oratio, Ad Laudes Matintutinas and Vesperas, Feria Quinta, Fourth Week of Advent, Liturgia horarum (I have yet to find the Feriae (Weekdays) of the Fourth Week of Advent in the Liturgy of the hours, where what appear seem to be only the prayers for 17-24 December (which are, of course, also present in Liturgia horarum)):

Exita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et magna nobis virtute succurre, ut quod nostra peccata praepediunt, gratia tuae propitiationis acceleret.  Per Dominum.

Oratio throughout the Fourth Week of Advent, pre-Vatican II Brevarium Romanum:

Exita, quaesumus, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni:  et magna nobis virtute succurre, ut per auxilium gratiae tuae, quod nostra peccata praepediunt, indulgentia tuae propitiationis acceleret.  Qui vivis.

 Cf. Oratio, Ad Laudes Matinutinas and Vesperas, Feria Sexta, Fourth Week of Advent, Liturgia horarum (I have yet to find the Feriae (Weekdays) of the Fourth Week of Advent in the Liturgy of the hours, where what appear seem to be only the prayers for 17-24 December (which are, of course, also present in Liturgia horarum)) =Corpus orationum no. 2554 =Bruylants 546:

Excita, quaesumus, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni, ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis te mereamur protegente eripi, te liberante salvari.  Qui vivis et regnas.

Excita, domine, quaesumus, potentiam tuam et veni, ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis te mereamur protegente eripi, te liberante, salvari. 

Ps 79 (Vulgate) iuxta Septuaginta:

excita potentiam tuam et veni ut salvos facias nos

Ps 79 (Vulgate) iuxta Hebraicum:

suscita fortitudinem tuam et veni ut salvos facias nos

"Who says the book is dead?"

     Poster in the reference area, Speer Library, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, June 2006.

"I would like to propose a solution . . . very sporadically attended to. What if we were to say that human beings are created in the image of God?"

"An article appeared recently in the Science section of The New York Times that described the discovery of stone tools on the island of Crete.  According to the article, the tools are 'at least 130,000 years old, which is considered strong evidence for the earliest known seafaring in the Mediterranean and cause for rethinking the maritime capabilities of prehuman cultures.' . . . I would consider this discovery cause for rethinking the definition of the word 'prehuman'". . . .

     Marilynne Robinson, "The human spirit and the good society," in When I was a child I read books (New York:  Picador; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012), 155 (143-164).  "I would like to propose a solution of sorts, ancient and authoritative but for all that very sporadically attended to.  What if we were to say that human beings are created in the image of God?" (158).

"I bow before the cross made precious by Christ, my Master. I embrace it as his disciple."

Salve, crux pretiosa, suscipe discipulum eius, qui pependit in te, magister meus Christus.

Hail, precious cross:  take upon yourself the disciple of him who hung upon you, Christ my Master.

     Antiphon to the Benedictus, Morning Prayer, Feast of St. Andrew, 30 November, Liturgy of the hours.  This was lifted from sec. 10 of the 6th-century Latin > Greek Epistle/Letter of the presbyters and deacons of Achaia (a form of the Martyrdom/Passion of Andrew, a truncated orthodox variant on the late 2nd- or early 3rd-century Greek Acts of Andrew), which reads as follows:

Salve crux. . . . suscipias me, discipulum eius, qui pependit in te. . . . 

Hail, cross. . . . you may take upon yourself the disciple of him who hung upon you. . . .

Later in the next sentence there is a reference to "my Master":

. . . magistro meo. . . . 

. . . my Master. . . .

     Acta apostolorum apocrypha, ed. Richard Adelbert Lipsius & Max Bonnet, vol. 1 =Passio Andreae... (Leipzig:  H. Mendelssohn, 1891), p. 24 l. 8 & p. 25 ll. 6-7, 11.

     The Latin > Greek Epistle/Letter of the presbyters and deacons of Achaia, though discussed at pp. 13-14 of vol. 1 and pp. 427-428 of vol. 2 of Acta Andreae, ed. Jean-Marc Prieur, CCSA 5-6 (Turnhout:  Brepols, 1989), is represented in those volumes only in the apparatus to chaps. 54-64 of the Greek Acts of Andrew (vol. 2, pp. 515-547), where it appears throughout in the form of the siglum Ep, and even then only in conjunction with "les leçons qui intéressent notre propos, à savoir reconstituer le texte des [Greek] AA [proper]" (vol. 2, p. 428).  For the text of the Epistle/Letter itself the reader referred to the edition by Bonnet, in which fragments taken from the Greek Acts and inserted into the Greek < Latin Epistle/Letter appear between parentheses in heavy boldface.  Just such a set of parentheses occurs on p. 25 ll. 24-28 of Bonnet (=vol. 2, p. 515 l. 5-p. 517 l. 12 in Prieur), but if the French on pp. 514 and 516 of Prieur is any indication, our antiphon is not reproduced in the second of the two back-formed Greek versions, but only the first.  See e.g. Bonnet, p. 25 l. 16:  ἐμὲ τὸν μαθητὴν τοῦ ἐν σοὶ κρευασθέντος.
     See also The apocryphal New Testament, ed. J. K. Elliott (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1993), pp. 231 ff., and New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Edgar Hennecke & Wilhelm Schneemelcher, trans. R. McL. Wilson, rev. ed., vol. 2:  Writings relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and related subjects (Louisville, KY:  Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), pp. 101 ff.  Neither these nor the older edition of The apocryphal New Testament ed. James contain an English translation of the Latin Epistle/Letter of the presbyters and deacons of Achaia specifically.
     The antiphon is found at the very top of fol. 85r in "The oldest existing Latin Office book", which was "perhaps copied around 870," the Antiphoner of Compiègne (Paris, BNF lat. 17436), but is undoubtedly older than that, considered as an antiphon (Ritva Jacobsson, “The Antiphoner of Compiègne:  Paris, BNF lat. 17436,” in The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages:  methodology and source studies, regional developments, hagiography: written in honor of Professor Ruth Steiner, ed. Margot A. Fassler & Rebecca A. Baltzer (Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2000), 147 (147-178)).
     The image at the head of this entry is taken from fol. 85 of the digitized copy of the Antiphoner of Compiège available via Gallica (gallica.bnf.france, Bibliothèque nationale de France).