Søren Kierkegaard, who lived from 1813 to 1855, was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and the father of modern existentialism. He spent his life writing about the human condition, faith, and the nature of truth. 

Kierkegaard was a fierce critic of the Danish state church and what he saw as "lukewarm" Christianity. He argued that true faith was not a matter of simply belonging to a church, but an intense, passionate, and deeply personal commitment. 

He is best known for his concept of the "leap of faith," which he believed was a necessary, irrational act required to genuinely embrace Christianity. In his view, faith was not something that could be proven by logic or reason alone. 

Through works like Fear and Trembling and The Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard explored profound themes of despair, anxiety, and the individual's desperate search for meaning. His radical focus on subjectivity and the individual's spiritual journey made him a hugely influential figure, and his work continues to challenge people of faith and philosophy to this day. 

How could anything rightly be said about love if You were forgotten, 
O God, 
You from whom all love comes; 
You who holds back nothing but gives Yourself in love; 
You who are love, so the lovers are only what they are through being 
in You? 

How could anything rightly be said about love if You were forgotten, 
You who manifests what love is, 
You who reminds us to love as we are loved; 
You who are everywhere present and never without the works of love, 
the acts of love? 
How could anything rightly be said about love if You were forgotten, 
O Love Eternal?  

Amen