31 January 2024
The soul does not just feel like seeing God, it longs for him fervently,
it is on fire with thirst for him.
Saint Jerome
On Prayer
30 January 2024
I believe that it is impossible to grasp all the different forms of prayer without great purity of heart and soul. There are as many forms of prayer as there are states of soul. A person pays in a certain manner when cheerful and in another when weighed down by sadness or a sense of hopelessness. When one is flourishing spiritually, prayer is different from when one is oppressed by the extent of one's struggles.
John Cassian
I believe that it is impossible to grasp all the different forms of prayer without great purity of heart and soul. There are as many forms of prayer as there are states of soul. A person pays in a certain manner when cheerful and in another when weighed down by sadness or a sense of hopelessness. When one is flourishing spiritually, prayer is different from when one is oppressed by the extent of one's struggles.
John Cassian
The Eucharist
28 January 2024
But let the fiery coal of Thy most pure Body and Thy most precious Blood
bring me sanctification, enlightenment and strengthening of my lowly soul and
body, relief from the burden of my many transgressions, protection against
every action of the devil, repulsion and victory over my wicked and evil
habits, mortification of my passions, accomplishment of Thy commandments,
increase of Thy divine grace, and inheritance of Thy kingdom.
St. John Chrysostom
Sacred Meditations
26 January 2024
The old sinful nature strives daily to live anew in thee; and daily must thou destroy it that Christ may daily begin to live in thee.
Blessed Johann Gerhard
The old sinful nature strives daily to live anew in thee; and daily must thou destroy it that Christ may daily begin to live in thee.
Blessed Johann Gerhard
On Silence
24 January 2024
Silence promotes the presence of God, prevents many harsh and proud words, and suppresses many dangers in the way of ridiculing or harshly judging our neighbors… If you are faithful in keeping silence when it is not necessary to speak, God will preserve you from evil when it is right for you to talk.
François Fénèlon
Silence promotes the presence of God, prevents many harsh and proud words, and suppresses many dangers in the way of ridiculing or harshly judging our neighbors… If you are faithful in keeping silence when it is not necessary to speak, God will preserve you from evil when it is right for you to talk.
François Fénèlon
Sign of the Cross
23 January 2024
The sign of the cross makes all those who are born again in Christ kings, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them all as priests. As a result, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal people and sharers in the priestly office [of Christ]. What is there that is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? And what is there that is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord, and to offer the unstained offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart?
St. Leo the Great
The sign of the cross makes all those who are born again in Christ kings, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them all as priests. As a result, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal people and sharers in the priestly office [of Christ]. What is there that is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? And what is there that is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord, and to offer the unstained offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart?
St. Leo the Great
On the Heart of Man
22 January 2024
If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what
might the heart of man become in its journey toward the stars.
GK Chesterton
Over-flowing Compassion
17 January 2024
Have confidence in the compassion of our Creator. Reflect well on what you are now doing, and keep before you the things you have done. Lift up your eyes to the overflowing compassion of heaven, and while He waits for you, draw near in tears to our merciful Judge. Having before your mind that He is a Just Judge, do not take your sins lightly; and having also in mind that He is compassionate, do not despair. The God-Man gives man confidence before God.
Saint Gregory the Great
Have confidence in the compassion of our Creator. Reflect well on what you are now doing, and keep before you the things you have done. Lift up your eyes to the overflowing compassion of heaven, and while He waits for you, draw near in tears to our merciful Judge. Having before your mind that He is a Just Judge, do not take your sins lightly; and having also in mind that He is compassionate, do not despair. The God-Man gives man confidence before God.
Saint Gregory the Great
Peace and Tranquility
16 January 2024
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
Thankful Joy
15 January 2024
It is a loving act to show sadness when our dear ones are torn from us, but it is a holy act to be joyful through hope and trust in the promises of God… Thankful joy is more acceptable to God than long and querulous grief.
Saint Paulinus of Nola
It is a loving act to show sadness when our dear ones are torn from us, but it is a holy act to be joyful through hope and trust in the promises of God… Thankful joy is more acceptable to God than long and querulous grief.
Saint Paulinus of Nola
Sacred Scripture
13 January 2024
For this reason I enter into the pleasant garden of Sacred Scripture, to pick the most brilliant green herbs of sacred verses: I devour them by reading, I repeat them by ruminating, and gathering them at last into the high repose of memory, I taste in this way your sweetness.
John of Fécamp
For this reason I enter into the pleasant garden of Sacred Scripture, to pick the most brilliant green herbs of sacred verses: I devour them by reading, I repeat them by ruminating, and gathering them at last into the high repose of memory, I taste in this way your sweetness.
John of Fécamp
Desolation
12 January 2024
In time of desolation one should never make a change, but stand firm and
consistent in the resolutions and decisions that guided one the days before the
desolation, or to the decision which one observed in the preceding time of
consolation. For just as the good spirit guides and rejoices us in consolation,
so in desolation it is the evil spirit which guides and counsels.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
The Eucharist
11 January 2024
He who has been reborn through Baptism must now be nourished by partaking of the divine Mysteries […]. Therefore, we are now nourished with the food of eternal life, which the Son of the living God handed down to us.
St. Basil the Great
He who has been reborn through Baptism must now be nourished by partaking of the divine Mysteries […]. Therefore, we are now nourished with the food of eternal life, which the Son of the living God handed down to us.
St. Basil the Great
Christ First
9 January 2024
As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality, and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality, and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Repentant
7 January 2024
Do not put off any longer confessing all your sins, for death will soon come. Give and it will be given you; forgive and you will be forgiven… Blessed are they who die repentant, for they shall go to the Kingdom of Heaven!
Saint Francis of Assisi
Do not put off any longer confessing all your sins, for death will soon come. Give and it will be given you; forgive and you will be forgiven… Blessed are they who die repentant, for they shall go to the Kingdom of Heaven!
Saint Francis of Assisi
The Will of the Father
6 January 2024
But it is the will of God that Christ both did and taught. Humility in dealings with others; steadfastness in faith; modesty in words; justice in deeds; mercifulness in works; discipline in morals. To be unable to do a wrong, and to be able to bear a wrong when it is done; to keep peace with the brethren; to love God with all one’s heart; to love God because he is a Father but fear him because he is God; to prefer nothing whatever to Christ because he preferred nothing to us; to adhere inseparably to his love; to stand faithfully and bravely by his cross; when there is any conflict over his name and honor, to exhibit in discourse that steadfastness in which we proclaim him; in torture, to show that confidence in which we unite; in death, that patience in which we are crowned – this is what it means to want to be co-heirs with Christ, this is what it means to do what God commands, this is what it is to fulfill the will of the Father.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
But it is the will of God that Christ both did and taught. Humility in dealings with others; steadfastness in faith; modesty in words; justice in deeds; mercifulness in works; discipline in morals. To be unable to do a wrong, and to be able to bear a wrong when it is done; to keep peace with the brethren; to love God with all one’s heart; to love God because he is a Father but fear him because he is God; to prefer nothing whatever to Christ because he preferred nothing to us; to adhere inseparably to his love; to stand faithfully and bravely by his cross; when there is any conflict over his name and honor, to exhibit in discourse that steadfastness in which we proclaim him; in torture, to show that confidence in which we unite; in death, that patience in which we are crowned – this is what it means to want to be co-heirs with Christ, this is what it means to do what God commands, this is what it is to fulfill the will of the Father.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
On Holy Scripture
5 January 2024
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined.
Soren Kierkegaard
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined.
Soren Kierkegaard
The Blessed Sacrament
3 January 2024
Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. [...] There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.
J.R.R. Tolkien
Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. [...] There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.
J.R.R. Tolkien
Eternal Life
2 January 2024
When I am about to depart from this life, I support myself with this consolation that I believe in God's Son. And yet I am buried; I am eaten by worms; I am consumed by the most foul rottenness, as Job says (Job 17:14): "I said to the rottenness, ‘You are my father,' and to the worms, ‘My mother,' or ‘My sister.' " Here I do not discern God's plan, that although I die and rot away, I must at some time be revived. But God has promised and said (cf. John 14:19): "You will live, for I live, and you will live. I am the Lord your God!" How? In eternal life and with a more beautiful and brighter body than the body of the sun. At present I do not see or feel this, but I believe it and suffer this very short delay. For this life has already been prepared, and in the meantime the crown of the kingdom and glory is being prepared "which the Lord will give me on that Day, the righteous Judge," as Paul says (2 Tim. 4:8), "and not only to me, but also to those who love His coming."
Martin Luther
When I am about to depart from this life, I support myself with this consolation that I believe in God's Son. And yet I am buried; I am eaten by worms; I am consumed by the most foul rottenness, as Job says (Job 17:14): "I said to the rottenness, ‘You are my father,' and to the worms, ‘My mother,' or ‘My sister.' " Here I do not discern God's plan, that although I die and rot away, I must at some time be revived. But God has promised and said (cf. John 14:19): "You will live, for I live, and you will live. I am the Lord your God!" How? In eternal life and with a more beautiful and brighter body than the body of the sun. At present I do not see or feel this, but I believe it and suffer this very short delay. For this life has already been prepared, and in the meantime the crown of the kingdom and glory is being prepared "which the Lord will give me on that Day, the righteous Judge," as Paul says (2 Tim. 4:8), "and not only to me, but also to those who love His coming."
Martin Luther
On Love
1 January 2024
Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop.
Saint Augustine
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