Romano Guardini
The door is a boundary
between the outside and the inside;
between the marketplace and the sanctuary;
between what belongs to the world,
and what is consecrated to God.
When a person passes through the door,
it tells them:
Leave outside everything
that does not belong inside,
thoughts, desires, worries,
curiosity and vanity.
What is not sanctified,
leave it all outside.
Purify yourself,
you are entering the sanctuary.
Do not rush through
this door!
Let us pass through it
quite slowly
and open our hearts,
that they may perceive what the door speaks.
And even beforehand,
let us pause for a moment,
that this passing
may be steps of purification
and contemplation.
Translated by Vratislav Slezák
