30 October 2023
At the center of what we believe is the assurance that salvation is
based on the unearned free gift of God's grace. What is so amazing about grace
is that we are sinful by nature and deserve God's anger, we receive the riches
of his love. “For by grace you have been
saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not
a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Luther
29 October 2023
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
Martin Luther
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
Martin Luther
Venerate the Martyrs, but...
27 October 2023
Venerate the martyrs, praise, love, proclaim, honor them. But worship the God of the martyrs.
Saint Augustine
Venerate the martyrs, praise, love, proclaim, honor them. But worship the God of the martyrs.
Saint Augustine
Dawn of Redemption
26 October 2023
Today is the dawn of the new redemption, of the old restoration, of eternal happiness. Today the heavens have distilled honey throughout the whole world. Then, O my soul, kiss this divine manger, press your lips to the Infant’s feet and embrace them. Meditate on the shepherds watching their flocks, contemplate the angelic hosts, prepare to join the heavenly melody, singing with your lips and with your heart: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.’
Saint Bonaventure
Today is the dawn of the new redemption, of the old restoration, of eternal happiness. Today the heavens have distilled honey throughout the whole world. Then, O my soul, kiss this divine manger, press your lips to the Infant’s feet and embrace them. Meditate on the shepherds watching their flocks, contemplate the angelic hosts, prepare to join the heavenly melody, singing with your lips and with your heart: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.’
Saint Bonaventure
God’s Providence
24 October 2023
God’s Providence governs all things, provides for everything, arranges everything, and turns everything to good.
Blessed John Martin Moye
God’s Providence governs all things, provides for everything, arranges everything, and turns everything to good.
Blessed John Martin Moye
God's Children
23 October 2023
There are people who think it's obvious that we are all God's children. They have never thought about how much separates us from God. But when the Spirit convinces us of our sin, it's possible that our own conscience, which is the law's voice in our own heart, can pronounce such an irrevocable judgment on us for all our egoism and impurity that we no longer dare to believe that we can be God's children. Only then can the Holy Spirit show us the truth, the great truth that Christ has died for sinners like us and that it's possible even for us to be God's beloved children. He alone, the Spirit of childhood, can convince us of this.
Bishop Bo Giertz
There are people who think it's obvious that we are all God's children. They have never thought about how much separates us from God. But when the Spirit convinces us of our sin, it's possible that our own conscience, which is the law's voice in our own heart, can pronounce such an irrevocable judgment on us for all our egoism and impurity that we no longer dare to believe that we can be God's children. Only then can the Holy Spirit show us the truth, the great truth that Christ has died for sinners like us and that it's possible even for us to be God's beloved children. He alone, the Spirit of childhood, can convince us of this.
Bishop Bo Giertz
Sign of the Cross
22 October 2023
When, then, you make the sign of the cross on the forehead, arm yourself with a saintly boldness, and reinstall your soul in its old liberty; for you are not ignorant that the cross is a prize beyond all price. Consider what is the price given for your ransom, and you will never more be slave to any man on earth. This reward and ransom is the cross. You should not then, carelessly make the sign on the forehead, but you should impress it on your heart with the love of a fervent faith. Nothing impure will dare to molest you on seeing the weapon, which overcometh all things.
St. John Chrysostom
When, then, you make the sign of the cross on the forehead, arm yourself with a saintly boldness, and reinstall your soul in its old liberty; for you are not ignorant that the cross is a prize beyond all price. Consider what is the price given for your ransom, and you will never more be slave to any man on earth. This reward and ransom is the cross. You should not then, carelessly make the sign on the forehead, but you should impress it on your heart with the love of a fervent faith. Nothing impure will dare to molest you on seeing the weapon, which overcometh all things.
St. John Chrysostom
On Temptations
21 October 2023
If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.
Saint Mark the Ascetic
If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.
Saint Mark the Ascetic
Food of Grown Men
20 October 2023
O Truth Who art Eternity! and Love Who art Truth! and Eternity Who art Love! Thou art my God, to Thee do I sigh night and day. Thee when I first knew, Thou liftedst me up, that I might see there was what I might see, and that I was not yet such as to see. And Thou didst beat back the weakness of my sight, streaming forth Thy beams of light upon me most strongly, and I trembled with love and awe: and I perceived myself to be far off from Thee, in the region of unlikeness, as if I heard this Thy voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men, grow, and thou shalt feed upon Me; nor shalt thou convert Me, like the food of thy flesh into thee, but thou shalt be converted into Me.” And I learned, that Thou for iniquity chastenest man, and Thou madest my soul to consume away like a spider. And I said, “Is Truth therefore nothing because it is not diffused through space finite or infinite?” And Thou criedst to me from afar: “Yet verily, I AM that I AM.” And I heard, as the heart heareth, nor had I room to doubt, and I should sooner doubt that I live than that Truth is not, which is clearly seen, being understood by those things which are made. And I beheld the other things below Thee, and I perceived that they neither altogether are, nor altogether are not, for they are, since they are from Thee, but are not, because they are not what Thou art. For that truly is which remains unchangeably. It is good then for me to hold fast unto God; for if I remain not in Him, I cannot in myself; but He remaining in Himself, reneweth all things. And Thou art the Lord my God, since Thou standest not in need of my goodness.
Saint Augustine
O Truth Who art Eternity! and Love Who art Truth! and Eternity Who art Love! Thou art my God, to Thee do I sigh night and day. Thee when I first knew, Thou liftedst me up, that I might see there was what I might see, and that I was not yet such as to see. And Thou didst beat back the weakness of my sight, streaming forth Thy beams of light upon me most strongly, and I trembled with love and awe: and I perceived myself to be far off from Thee, in the region of unlikeness, as if I heard this Thy voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men, grow, and thou shalt feed upon Me; nor shalt thou convert Me, like the food of thy flesh into thee, but thou shalt be converted into Me.” And I learned, that Thou for iniquity chastenest man, and Thou madest my soul to consume away like a spider. And I said, “Is Truth therefore nothing because it is not diffused through space finite or infinite?” And Thou criedst to me from afar: “Yet verily, I AM that I AM.” And I heard, as the heart heareth, nor had I room to doubt, and I should sooner doubt that I live than that Truth is not, which is clearly seen, being understood by those things which are made. And I beheld the other things below Thee, and I perceived that they neither altogether are, nor altogether are not, for they are, since they are from Thee, but are not, because they are not what Thou art. For that truly is which remains unchangeably. It is good then for me to hold fast unto God; for if I remain not in Him, I cannot in myself; but He remaining in Himself, reneweth all things. And Thou art the Lord my God, since Thou standest not in need of my goodness.
Saint Augustine
Divine Scripture
19 October 2023
Great is the profit of the divine Scriptures, and all-sufficient is the aid which comes from them…. For the divine oracles are a treasury of all manner of medicines, so that whether it be needful to quench pride, to lull desire to sleep, to tread underfoot the love of money, to despise pain, to inspire confidence, to gain patience, from them one may find abundant resource.
Saint John Chrysostom
Great is the profit of the divine Scriptures, and all-sufficient is the aid which comes from them…. For the divine oracles are a treasury of all manner of medicines, so that whether it be needful to quench pride, to lull desire to sleep, to tread underfoot the love of money, to despise pain, to inspire confidence, to gain patience, from them one may find abundant resource.
Saint John Chrysostom
Peace and Tranquility
18 October 2023
If you seek peace and tranquility, you will certainly not find them so long as you have a cause of disturbance and turmoil within yourself.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
If you seek peace and tranquility, you will certainly not find them so long as you have a cause of disturbance and turmoil within yourself.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Prayer and Humidity
17 October 2023
And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in them, hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be ye meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye steadfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.
Saint Ignatius
And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in them, hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be ye meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye steadfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.
Saint Ignatius
Angry People
16 October 2023
From what does such contrariness arise in habitually angry people, but from a secret cause of too high an opinion of themselves so that it pierces their heart when they see any man esteem them less than they esteem themselves? An inflated estimation of ourselves is more than half the weight of our wrath.
Saint Thomas More
From what does such contrariness arise in habitually angry people, but from a secret cause of too high an opinion of themselves so that it pierces their heart when they see any man esteem them less than they esteem themselves? An inflated estimation of ourselves is more than half the weight of our wrath.
Saint Thomas More
On the Misery of Man
14 October 2023
WHEREVER you are, wherever you go, you are miserable unless you turn to God. So why be dismayed when things do not happen as you wish and desire? Is there anyone who has everything as he wishes? No—neither I, nor you, nor any man on earth. There is no one in the world, be he Pope or king, who does not suffer trial and anguish. Who is the better off then? Surely, it is the man who will suffer something for God. Many unstable and weak-minded people say: “See how well that man lives, how rich, how great he is, how powerful and mighty.” But you must lift up your eyes to the riches of heaven and realize that the material goods of which they speak are nothing. These things are uncertain and very burdensome because they are never possessed without anxiety and fear. Man’s happiness does not consist in the possession of abundant goods; a very little is enough. Living on earth is truly a misery. The more a man desires spiritual life, the more bitter the present becomes to him, because he understands better and sees more clearly the defects, the corruption of human nature. To eat and drink, to watch and sleep, to rest, to labor, and to be bound by other human necessities is certainly a great misery and affliction to the devout man, who would gladly be released from them and be free from all sin. Truly, the inner man is greatly burdened in this world by the necessities of the body, and for this reason the Prophet prayed that he might be as free from them as possible, when he said: “From my necessities, O Lord, deliver me.” But woe to those who know not their own misery, and greater woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life. Some, indeed, can scarcely procure its necessities either by work or by begging; yet they love it so much that, if they could live here always, they would care nothing for the kingdom of God. How foolish and faithless of heart are those who are so engrossed in earthly things as to relish nothing but what is carnal! Miserable men indeed, for in the end they will see to their sorrow how cheap and worthless was the thing they loved. The saints of God and all devout friends of Christ did not look to what pleases the body nor to the things that are popular from time to time. Their whole hope and aim centered on the everlasting good. Their whole desire pointed upward to the lasting and invisible realm, lest the love of what is visible drag them down to lower things. Do not lose heart, then, my brother, in pursuing your spiritual life. There is yet time, and your hour is not past. Why delay your purpose? Arise! Begin at once and say: “Now is the time to act, now is the time to fight, now is the proper time to amend.”
Thomas à Kempis
WHEREVER you are, wherever you go, you are miserable unless you turn to God. So why be dismayed when things do not happen as you wish and desire? Is there anyone who has everything as he wishes? No—neither I, nor you, nor any man on earth. There is no one in the world, be he Pope or king, who does not suffer trial and anguish. Who is the better off then? Surely, it is the man who will suffer something for God. Many unstable and weak-minded people say: “See how well that man lives, how rich, how great he is, how powerful and mighty.” But you must lift up your eyes to the riches of heaven and realize that the material goods of which they speak are nothing. These things are uncertain and very burdensome because they are never possessed without anxiety and fear. Man’s happiness does not consist in the possession of abundant goods; a very little is enough. Living on earth is truly a misery. The more a man desires spiritual life, the more bitter the present becomes to him, because he understands better and sees more clearly the defects, the corruption of human nature. To eat and drink, to watch and sleep, to rest, to labor, and to be bound by other human necessities is certainly a great misery and affliction to the devout man, who would gladly be released from them and be free from all sin. Truly, the inner man is greatly burdened in this world by the necessities of the body, and for this reason the Prophet prayed that he might be as free from them as possible, when he said: “From my necessities, O Lord, deliver me.” But woe to those who know not their own misery, and greater woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life. Some, indeed, can scarcely procure its necessities either by work or by begging; yet they love it so much that, if they could live here always, they would care nothing for the kingdom of God. How foolish and faithless of heart are those who are so engrossed in earthly things as to relish nothing but what is carnal! Miserable men indeed, for in the end they will see to their sorrow how cheap and worthless was the thing they loved. The saints of God and all devout friends of Christ did not look to what pleases the body nor to the things that are popular from time to time. Their whole hope and aim centered on the everlasting good. Their whole desire pointed upward to the lasting and invisible realm, lest the love of what is visible drag them down to lower things. Do not lose heart, then, my brother, in pursuing your spiritual life. There is yet time, and your hour is not past. Why delay your purpose? Arise! Begin at once and say: “Now is the time to act, now is the time to fight, now is the proper time to amend.”
Thomas à Kempis
On Virtue
13 October 2023
Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.
Saint Leo the Great
Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.
Saint Leo the Great
On Temptation
12 October 2023
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which are fleeing.
The Desert Fathers
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which are fleeing.
The Desert Fathers
The Divine Service
11 October 2023
This is the function of the Divine Service in the Christian life: to be taken out of ourselves and into the life of God. At the core, the problem of our anxiety is the problem of our constantly drifting away from the center of our lives, which is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Under the pressures of daily living we wander and sometimes run to the edges of life, where we eventually come face-to-face with our own anxiety. This anxiety is a warning sign that we have drifted far. We begin grasping for a secure place to hang on that will prevent us from falling over the mind’s edge into the abyss of despair. […] We tell ourselves all we need to do is try harder or its opposite, relax more. We try to discover some new technique or lifestyle that will resolve the tension. The farther we drift from God, the more we are doomed to our own failing resources. In the end this destroys us both physically and spiritually. God’s response to our drifting is dealt with in the liturgy of public worship, and He begins by giving us a password by which to enter into His presence. That password, given us in the Invocation, is His holy name of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” In the Invocation, in the Benediction, and when we speak or sing in praise saying, “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,” we call on God to lift us out of ourselves and into His healing presence. There, our vision of life is broadened and the air becomes fresh once again. It is there, in the presence of God and lifted out of ourselves by God, that we find healing for all our anxieties, worries, and fears. And if we are willing, they can all be left behind so that we may return to our homes in peace.
Richard C. Eyer, “They Will See His Face”
This is the function of the Divine Service in the Christian life: to be taken out of ourselves and into the life of God. At the core, the problem of our anxiety is the problem of our constantly drifting away from the center of our lives, which is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Under the pressures of daily living we wander and sometimes run to the edges of life, where we eventually come face-to-face with our own anxiety. This anxiety is a warning sign that we have drifted far. We begin grasping for a secure place to hang on that will prevent us from falling over the mind’s edge into the abyss of despair. […] We tell ourselves all we need to do is try harder or its opposite, relax more. We try to discover some new technique or lifestyle that will resolve the tension. The farther we drift from God, the more we are doomed to our own failing resources. In the end this destroys us both physically and spiritually. God’s response to our drifting is dealt with in the liturgy of public worship, and He begins by giving us a password by which to enter into His presence. That password, given us in the Invocation, is His holy name of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” In the Invocation, in the Benediction, and when we speak or sing in praise saying, “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,” we call on God to lift us out of ourselves and into His healing presence. There, our vision of life is broadened and the air becomes fresh once again. It is there, in the presence of God and lifted out of ourselves by God, that we find healing for all our anxieties, worries, and fears. And if we are willing, they can all be left behind so that we may return to our homes in peace.
Richard C. Eyer, “They Will See His Face”
Forgiven Sinners
10 October 2023
In heaven, there are only forgiven sinners. There are no good guys, no upright, successful types who, by dint of their own integrity, have been accepted into the great country club in the sky. There are only failures, only those who have accepted their deaths in their sins and who have been raised up by the King who himself died that they might live.
Robert Farrar Capon
In heaven, there are only forgiven sinners. There are no good guys, no upright, successful types who, by dint of their own integrity, have been accepted into the great country club in the sky. There are only failures, only those who have accepted their deaths in their sins and who have been raised up by the King who himself died that they might live.
Robert Farrar Capon
Expectation and Perfect Joy
9 October 2023
Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness . . . But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us.
Henri Nouwen
Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness . . . But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us.
Henri Nouwen
The Church
8 October 2023
The Church is a hospital, and not a courtroom, for souls. She does not condemn on behalf of sins, but grants remission of sins. Nothing is so joyous in our life as the thanksgiving that we experience in the Church. In the Church, the joyful sustain their joy. In the Church, those worried acquire merriment, and those saddened, joy. In the Church, the troubled find relief, and the heavy-laiden, rest.
Saint John Chrysostom
The Church is a hospital, and not a courtroom, for souls. She does not condemn on behalf of sins, but grants remission of sins. Nothing is so joyous in our life as the thanksgiving that we experience in the Church. In the Church, the joyful sustain their joy. In the Church, those worried acquire merriment, and those saddened, joy. In the Church, the troubled find relief, and the heavy-laiden, rest.
Saint John Chrysostom
Life
7 October 2023
Our life is a short opportunity to say yes to God's love. Our death is a
full coming home to that love. Do we desire to come home? It seems that most of
our efforts are aimed at delaying this homecoming as long as possible.
Henri Nouwen
On Baptism
6 October 2023
I say this in order that we may not adopt the opinion that long prevailed among us, that our Baptism is past and can never be used after we have fallen into sin, The reason for a notion of this sort is that one looks upon Baptism in its aspect of a one-time action. Indeed, the idea goes back to St. Jerome, who wrote, “Repentance is the second plank on which we must swim ashore after the sinking of the ship” in which we embarked and sailed forth when we entered the Christian church at Baptism. The view deprives us of the use of Baptism, so that it can no longer benefit us. Jerome’s statement is not correct, for the ship, Baptism, cannot be shipwrecked because, as we said, it is God’s ordinance and not something of ours. It can happen, however, that we slip and fall out of the ship. But when this happens and someone does fall out, he should at once swim for the ship again and cling to it until he can climb back on deck and sail forward as he had earlier begun to do. Thus we see how splendid a thing Baptism is. It snatches us out of the devil’s jaws, makes God our own, defeats and puts away sin, daily strengthens the new man in us, keeps functioning, and remains with us until we leave our present troubles to enter glory everlasting. Everyone should therefore look upon his Baptism as his everyday wear, to be worn constantly. He should at all times be found in faith and surrounded by its fruits. He should every day suppress the old man and grow toward maturity in the new man. For if we want to be Christians, we must carry on in the word that makes us Christians. But if someone falls away from it, let him come back to it again. For just as Christ, the throne of divine mercy, does not withdraw from us nor prevent us from coming back again to Him, though we sin, so also all His treasures and gifts remain. As we once obtained forgiveness of sins in Baptism, so that forgiveness continues for us as long as we live, that is to say, for as long as we have the old Adam hanging about our necks.
Martin Luther
I say this in order that we may not adopt the opinion that long prevailed among us, that our Baptism is past and can never be used after we have fallen into sin, The reason for a notion of this sort is that one looks upon Baptism in its aspect of a one-time action. Indeed, the idea goes back to St. Jerome, who wrote, “Repentance is the second plank on which we must swim ashore after the sinking of the ship” in which we embarked and sailed forth when we entered the Christian church at Baptism. The view deprives us of the use of Baptism, so that it can no longer benefit us. Jerome’s statement is not correct, for the ship, Baptism, cannot be shipwrecked because, as we said, it is God’s ordinance and not something of ours. It can happen, however, that we slip and fall out of the ship. But when this happens and someone does fall out, he should at once swim for the ship again and cling to it until he can climb back on deck and sail forward as he had earlier begun to do. Thus we see how splendid a thing Baptism is. It snatches us out of the devil’s jaws, makes God our own, defeats and puts away sin, daily strengthens the new man in us, keeps functioning, and remains with us until we leave our present troubles to enter glory everlasting. Everyone should therefore look upon his Baptism as his everyday wear, to be worn constantly. He should at all times be found in faith and surrounded by its fruits. He should every day suppress the old man and grow toward maturity in the new man. For if we want to be Christians, we must carry on in the word that makes us Christians. But if someone falls away from it, let him come back to it again. For just as Christ, the throne of divine mercy, does not withdraw from us nor prevent us from coming back again to Him, though we sin, so also all His treasures and gifts remain. As we once obtained forgiveness of sins in Baptism, so that forgiveness continues for us as long as we live, that is to say, for as long as we have the old Adam hanging about our necks.
Martin Luther
On Compassion
4 October 2023
Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, stirred by pity for the bodily and ghostly griefs of all men. This compassion makes a man suffer with Christ in His passion… Compassion makes a man look into himself, and recognize his faults, his feebleness in virtues and in the worship of God, his lukewarmness, his laziness, his many failings, the time he has wasted and his present imperfection in moral and other virtues; all this makes a man feel true pity and compassion for himself. Further, compassion marks the errors and disorders of our fellow-creatures, how little they care for their God and their eternal blessedness, their ingratitude for all the good things which God has done for them, and the pains He suffered for their sake; how they are strangers to virtue, unskilled and unpracticed in it, but skillful and cunning in every wickedness; how attentive they are to the loss and gain of earthly goods, how careless and reckless they are of God, of eternal things, and their eternal bliss. When he marks this, a good man is moved to compassion for the salvation of all men. Such a man will also regard with pity the bodily needs of his neighbors, and the manifold sufferings of human nature; seeing men hungry, thirsty, cold, naked, sick, poor, and abject; the manifold oppressions of the poor, the grief caused by loss of kinsmen, friends, goods, honor, peace; all the countless sorrows which befall the nature of man.
Blessed John Ruysbroeck
Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, stirred by pity for the bodily and ghostly griefs of all men. This compassion makes a man suffer with Christ in His passion… Compassion makes a man look into himself, and recognize his faults, his feebleness in virtues and in the worship of God, his lukewarmness, his laziness, his many failings, the time he has wasted and his present imperfection in moral and other virtues; all this makes a man feel true pity and compassion for himself. Further, compassion marks the errors and disorders of our fellow-creatures, how little they care for their God and their eternal blessedness, their ingratitude for all the good things which God has done for them, and the pains He suffered for their sake; how they are strangers to virtue, unskilled and unpracticed in it, but skillful and cunning in every wickedness; how attentive they are to the loss and gain of earthly goods, how careless and reckless they are of God, of eternal things, and their eternal bliss. When he marks this, a good man is moved to compassion for the salvation of all men. Such a man will also regard with pity the bodily needs of his neighbors, and the manifold sufferings of human nature; seeing men hungry, thirsty, cold, naked, sick, poor, and abject; the manifold oppressions of the poor, the grief caused by loss of kinsmen, friends, goods, honor, peace; all the countless sorrows which befall the nature of man.
Blessed John Ruysbroeck
On Our Labor
3 October 2023
Our labor here is but brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow. Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.
Saint Clare of Assisi
Our labor here is but brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow. Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.
Saint Clare of Assisi
On Discernment
2 October 2023
How, then, should the person worthy of Christ’s great name behave? What can he do except to always discern his thoughts, words and deeds, and to see whether or not they are of Christ or are alien to him? Much skill is needed here for discernment. Anything effected, thought or said through passion has no association with Christ but bears the adversary’s mark; smearing the soul’s pearl with passion as if with mud, it corrupts the precious stone’s brightness. But a state free from every passion looks to the author of detachment, Christ. He who draws to himself thoughts as from a pure, incorruptible fountain will resemble the prototype as water drawn into a jar resembles water gushing from a fountain.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
How, then, should the person worthy of Christ’s great name behave? What can he do except to always discern his thoughts, words and deeds, and to see whether or not they are of Christ or are alien to him? Much skill is needed here for discernment. Anything effected, thought or said through passion has no association with Christ but bears the adversary’s mark; smearing the soul’s pearl with passion as if with mud, it corrupts the precious stone’s brightness. But a state free from every passion looks to the author of detachment, Christ. He who draws to himself thoughts as from a pure, incorruptible fountain will resemble the prototype as water drawn into a jar resembles water gushing from a fountain.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Christ Crucified
1 October 2023
True reverence for the Lord’s passion means fixing the eyes of our heart
on Jesus crucified… No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of
the cross. No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ. His prayer
brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him. How much more does it
bring to those who turn to him in repentance. Ignorance has been destroyed,
obstinacy has been overcome. The sacred blood of Christ has quenched the
flaming sword that barred access to the tree of life. The age-old night of sin
has given place to the true light. The Christian people are invited to share
the riches of paradise.
Saint Leo the Great
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