Cassiodorus

So they say that these eyes have fainted after the Lord’s salvation, because of the holy coming of the incarnation, which they bore with such longing that it could allow them no rest. So they were right to faint, because they had no period of leisure.

You are rightly compared with this figure since you raise your precious head over all races, and you transmit the souls of the just like resplendent stars to the kingdom above. You are a pyramid full of heavenly corn, the blessed gathering of saintly people from diverse nations, the shining assembly of bright minds, a structure that cannot be dismantled since it is fashioned from living stones, the eternal happiness of all who are blessed, brighter than the sun, whiter than snow, without spot or wrinkle. Of you it is written in the Song of Songs: “Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” - "Exposition of the Psalms, Preface 17"

You are properly compared to this figure since you raise up your precious head from all the nations, and you conduct the souls of the just, like exceptional lights to the kingdom above. You are a pyramid filled with heavenly corn, the blessed gathering of saints from many nations, a bright assembly of clear minds, an indestructible building made of living stones, the eternal happiness of all the blessed, brighter than the sun, whiter than snow, without stain, without wrinkle. It is written about you in Song of Songs: “Who is she who comes forth, rising like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, as exceptional as the sun, terrible as an army arrayed for battle?”

With reference to that day the prophet Amos says, “Woe to them that desire the Day of the Lord. To what end is this Day of the Lord for you? The day itself is darkness and not light.” The prophet Zephaniah says the same thing: “The voice of the Day of the Lord is grim and bitter.” That is why the penitent now introduced before us earnestly supplicates in the ordered divisions of his prayer that he may not be convicted for his deeds on that day of judgment. What is more beneficial and farsighted for the person who could have no hope in his own deserts because of the sins which he has committed than to decide to pray to God’s fatherly love while in this world, where there is opportunity for repentance?