31 July 2023
For this is what Scripture is – its words are words of eternal life, and
it is written not just so that we should believe, but specially so that we
should possess eternal life in which we may see, and love, and have all our
desires fulfilled. When they are fulfilled, then we shall know the
superabundant love that comes from knowledge, and so we shall be filled with
all the fullness of God.
Saint Bonaventure
The Soul
30 July 2023
The greater perfection a soul aspires after, the more dependent it is upon divine grace.
Brother Lawrence
The greater perfection a soul aspires after, the more dependent it is upon divine grace.
Brother Lawrence
On Good Works
29 July 2023
Wherefore I trust in no good work that I ever did, but only in the death of Jesus Christ.
Robert Barnes
Wherefore I trust in no good work that I ever did, but only in the death of Jesus Christ.
Robert Barnes
Coram deo
28 July 2023
Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint Augustine
Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint Augustine
The Conscientious Reader
27 July 2023
The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.
Saint Isidore of Seville
The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.
Saint Isidore of Seville
Rest Your Heart
26 July 2023
Rest your heart in God, let yourself float on safe waters, loving life as it comes, with all the rough weather it may bring.
Brother Roger of Taizé
Rest your heart in God, let yourself float on safe waters, loving life as it comes, with all the rough weather it may bring.
Brother Roger of Taizé
Dead With Christ
25 July 2023
To be dead with Christ, is to hate and turn from sin; and to live with Him, is to have our hearts and minds turned towards God and Heaven.
John Henry Newman
To be dead with Christ, is to hate and turn from sin; and to live with Him, is to have our hearts and minds turned towards God and Heaven.
John Henry Newman
Sign of the Cross
24 July 2023
Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Earthly Possessions
23 July 2023
Be not anxious! Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are the very source of anxiety. If our hearts are set on them, our reward is an anxiety whose burden is intolerable. Anxiety creates its own treasures and they in turn beget further care. When we seek for security in possessions we are trying to drive out care with care, and the net result is the precise opposite of our anticipations. […] If Christ has been given us, if we are called to his discipleship we are given all things, literally ALL things. He will see to it that they are added unto us. If we follow Jesus and look only to his righteousness, we are in his hands and under the protection of him and his Father. And if we are in communion with the Father, nought can harm us. We shall always be assured that he can feed his children and will not suffer them to hunger. God will help us in the hour of need, and he knows our needs.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Be not anxious! Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time they are the very source of anxiety. If our hearts are set on them, our reward is an anxiety whose burden is intolerable. Anxiety creates its own treasures and they in turn beget further care. When we seek for security in possessions we are trying to drive out care with care, and the net result is the precise opposite of our anticipations. […] If Christ has been given us, if we are called to his discipleship we are given all things, literally ALL things. He will see to it that they are added unto us. If we follow Jesus and look only to his righteousness, we are in his hands and under the protection of him and his Father. And if we are in communion with the Father, nought can harm us. We shall always be assured that he can feed his children and will not suffer them to hunger. God will help us in the hour of need, and he knows our needs.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Iustitiae Domini rectae
22 July
2023
The ordinances of the Lord are right, bringing joy to all
hearts, sweeter than honey
Psalm 19: 9-12
Friends
21 July 2023
By the law of charity we are ordered to welcome into the bosom of love not only our friends but also our enemies. But we call friends only those to whom we have no qualm about entrusting our heart and all its contents.
Saint Aelred of Rievaulx
By the law of charity we are ordered to welcome into the bosom of love not only our friends but also our enemies. But we call friends only those to whom we have no qualm about entrusting our heart and all its contents.
Saint Aelred of Rievaulx
On Faith
20 July 2023
Faith is at the same time a gift and a virtue. It is a gift of God, in so far as it is a light which God infuses into the soul, and it is also a virtue in so far as it is exercised by the soul. Hence faith is given us not only to serve as a rule of belief, but also of action.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Faith is at the same time a gift and a virtue. It is a gift of God, in so far as it is a light which God infuses into the soul, and it is also a virtue in so far as it is exercised by the soul. Hence faith is given us not only to serve as a rule of belief, but also of action.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Blessing Others
19 July 2023
It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses. And people want to be blessed! This is so apparent wherever you go. No one is brought to life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. There is so much taking place around us all the time. And it calls forth only darkness, destruction, and death. As the “blessed ones,” we can walk through this world and offer blessings. It doesn’t require much effort. It flows naturally from our hearts. When we hear within ourselves the voice calling us by name and blessing us, the darkness no longer distracts us. The voice that calls us the Beloved will give us words to bless others and reveal to them that they are no less blessed than we.
Henir Nouwen
It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses. And people want to be blessed! This is so apparent wherever you go. No one is brought to life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. There is so much taking place around us all the time. And it calls forth only darkness, destruction, and death. As the “blessed ones,” we can walk through this world and offer blessings. It doesn’t require much effort. It flows naturally from our hearts. When we hear within ourselves the voice calling us by name and blessing us, the darkness no longer distracts us. The voice that calls us the Beloved will give us words to bless others and reveal to them that they are no less blessed than we.
Henir Nouwen
On Your Soul
18 July 2023
Keep your soul at peace, in order to be able to be attentive and very faithful to the inner movement of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Keep your soul at peace, in order to be able to be attentive and very faithful to the inner movement of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Our Conscience
17 July 2023
When God created man He sowed in him something divine, a certain thought which has in itself, like a spark, both light and warmth; a thought which enlightens the mind and indicates to it what is good and what is evil—this is called conscience, and it is a natural law.
Saint Dorotheus of Gaza
When God created man He sowed in him something divine, a certain thought which has in itself, like a spark, both light and warmth; a thought which enlightens the mind and indicates to it what is good and what is evil—this is called conscience, and it is a natural law.
Saint Dorotheus of Gaza
Everything Preaches
16 July 2023
Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the
shrubs, the sky, and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon
full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify the
sublimity of that sovereign Artist who has given them being.
Saint Paul of the Cross
Guard Your Heart
15 July 2023
Do your utmost to guard your heart, for out of it comes life.
Walter Hilton (1340-1396)
Do your utmost to guard your heart, for out of it comes life.
Walter Hilton (1340-1396)
Body and Blood of Christ
14 July 2023
Since He Himself has declared and said of the bread: This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any more? And when He asserts and says: This is My Blood, who shall ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood? … if Christ could change water into wine, can He not change wine into His own Blood? … They do not remain in their original condition, they have been changed, though the senses cannot tell us this … Do not think it mere bread and wine, for it is the Body and Blood of Christ, according to the Lord’s declaration.
Cyril of Jerusalem
Since He Himself has declared and said of the bread: This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any more? And when He asserts and says: This is My Blood, who shall ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood? … if Christ could change water into wine, can He not change wine into His own Blood? … They do not remain in their original condition, they have been changed, though the senses cannot tell us this … Do not think it mere bread and wine, for it is the Body and Blood of Christ, according to the Lord’s declaration.
Cyril of Jerusalem
Praying the Psalms
9 July 2023
Nourished by the Scripture, we should learn to penetrate so deeply into the meeting of the psalms that we sing them not as though they have been composed by prophet, but as if we ourselves have written them, as if this psalm were out own private prayer to God, uttered amid the deepest compunction of our heart. We should think of the psalms as having been specially composed for us, and recognize that they are expressing is real - not simply historically so in the life and person of the prophet, but now, today, they are being fulfilled in our lives.
St. John Cassian
Nourished by the Scripture, we should learn to penetrate so deeply into the meeting of the psalms that we sing them not as though they have been composed by prophet, but as if we ourselves have written them, as if this psalm were out own private prayer to God, uttered amid the deepest compunction of our heart. We should think of the psalms as having been specially composed for us, and recognize that they are expressing is real - not simply historically so in the life and person of the prophet, but now, today, they are being fulfilled in our lives.
St. John Cassian
Lost in Hate
7 July 2023
Whenever we are lost in hate, we are in hell, no matter how Christian we think we are.
Madeleine L'engle
Whenever we are lost in hate, we are in hell, no matter how Christian we think we are.
Madeleine L'engle
The Word Became Flesh
6 July 2023
He became what we are that He might make us what He is.
Saint Athanasius the Great
He became what we are that He might make us what He is.
Saint Athanasius the Great
Thy Will Be Done
5 July 2023
For no one believes how the devil opposes and exerts all his powers against them, and cannot suffer that any one teach or believe aright. And it hurts him beyond measure to suffer his lies and abominations, that have been honored under the most specious pretexts of the divine Name, to be exposed, and that he be disgraced, and besides be driven out of the heart, and suffer such a breach to be made in his kingdom. Therefore, with all his power and might he chafes and rages as a fierce enemy, and marshals all his subjects, and enlists the world and our own flesh as his allies. For our flesh is in itself indolent and inclined to evil, even though we have accepted and believe the Word of God. The world, too, is perverse and wicked; this he incites against us in various ways, and kindles and adds fuel, that he may hinder and drive us back, cause us to fall and again bring us under his power. That is all his will, mind and thought, for which he strives day and night, and never rests a moment, but employs all arts, malicious devices, ways and means which he can invent.
Martin Luther
For no one believes how the devil opposes and exerts all his powers against them, and cannot suffer that any one teach or believe aright. And it hurts him beyond measure to suffer his lies and abominations, that have been honored under the most specious pretexts of the divine Name, to be exposed, and that he be disgraced, and besides be driven out of the heart, and suffer such a breach to be made in his kingdom. Therefore, with all his power and might he chafes and rages as a fierce enemy, and marshals all his subjects, and enlists the world and our own flesh as his allies. For our flesh is in itself indolent and inclined to evil, even though we have accepted and believe the Word of God. The world, too, is perverse and wicked; this he incites against us in various ways, and kindles and adds fuel, that he may hinder and drive us back, cause us to fall and again bring us under his power. That is all his will, mind and thought, for which he strives day and night, and never rests a moment, but employs all arts, malicious devices, ways and means which he can invent.
Martin Luther
Finding Christ
3 July 2023
You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people’s sufferings and not your own.
Flannery O’Connor
You will have found Christ when you are concerned with other people’s sufferings and not your own.
Flannery O’Connor
Love of God
2 July 2023
My past, O Lord, to Your mercy; my present, to Your love; my future to Your providence.
St. Padre Pio
My past, O Lord, to Your mercy; my present, to Your love; my future to Your providence.
St. Padre Pio
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