30 November 2024
Let us give thanks to God the Father through His Son in the Holy Spirit,
who for His great love wherewith He loves us has had mercy on us and has
quickened us together with Christ even when we were dead in sins, that in Him
we might be a new creature and a new handiwork.
Pope St. Leo the Great
Holy Communion
29 November 2024
The truth is, that this doctrine, so clearly revealed in the New Testament, so clearly confessed by the Early Church, lies at the very heart of the Evangelical system - Christ is the centre of the system, and in the Supper is the centre of Christ's revelation of Himself. The glory and mystery of the incarnation combine here as they combine nowhere else. Communion with Christ is that by which we live, and the Supper is "the Communion."
C. P. Krauth
The truth is, that this doctrine, so clearly revealed in the New Testament, so clearly confessed by the Early Church, lies at the very heart of the Evangelical system - Christ is the centre of the system, and in the Supper is the centre of Christ's revelation of Himself. The glory and mystery of the incarnation combine here as they combine nowhere else. Communion with Christ is that by which we live, and the Supper is "the Communion."
C. P. Krauth
God's Presence
28 November 2024
The shepherd says: I pity the one who draws herself back from my love, and does not seek the joy of my presence, though my heart is an open wound with love for her. After a long time, he climbed a tree, and spread his shining arms, and hung by them, and died, his heart an open wound with love.
John of the Cross
The shepherd says: I pity the one who draws herself back from my love, and does not seek the joy of my presence, though my heart is an open wound with love for her. After a long time, he climbed a tree, and spread his shining arms, and hung by them, and died, his heart an open wound with love.
John of the Cross
On Bible Variety
27 November 2024
I think it is possible to say that in spite of all it's extraordinary variety, the Bible is held together by a single plot. It is one that can be simply stated: God creates the world; the world gets lost; God seeks to save the world.
Marcus J. Borg
I think it is possible to say that in spite of all it's extraordinary variety, the Bible is held together by a single plot. It is one that can be simply stated: God creates the world; the world gets lost; God seeks to save the world.
Marcus J. Borg
The Great Physician
26 November 2024
The great Physician of souls, who is the ready liberator not only of you but also of all who are enslaved by sin, is ready to heal your sickness. From Him come the words, 'Those who are well have no need of a Physician, but those who are sick...For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' What excuse have you, what excuse has anyone, when He speaks this way? The Lord wishes to cleanse you from the trouble of your sickness and to show you light after darkness.
St. Basil the Great
The great Physician of souls, who is the ready liberator not only of you but also of all who are enslaved by sin, is ready to heal your sickness. From Him come the words, 'Those who are well have no need of a Physician, but those who are sick...For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' What excuse have you, what excuse has anyone, when He speaks this way? The Lord wishes to cleanse you from the trouble of your sickness and to show you light after darkness.
St. Basil the Great
On the Baptism of Christ
25 November 2024
I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Lives Contrary to God’s Word
22 November 2024
When a man has fallen it is not possible for him to be raised by human power, nor can human evil be destroyed by human righteousness. The commission of sin involves injury to God Himself, for it says, "you dishonor God by breaking the law" (Rom 2:223). There is need of virtue greater than is found in man to be able to cancel the indictment.
St. Nicholas Cabasilas
When a man has fallen it is not possible for him to be raised by human power, nor can human evil be destroyed by human righteousness. The commission of sin involves injury to God Himself, for it says, "you dishonor God by breaking the law" (Rom 2:223). There is need of virtue greater than is found in man to be able to cancel the indictment.
St. Nicholas Cabasilas
On Holiness
21 November 2024
Holiness consist simply in doing God’s will, and just being what God wants us to be.
Thérèse de Lisieux
Holiness consist simply in doing God’s will, and just being what God wants us to be.
Thérèse de Lisieux
Prayers and the Holy Spirit
15 November 2024
The Holy Spirit permeates Himself into our prayers so that He covers up our ignorance and forgetfulness and asks of God that which is beneficial for us.
Johann Gerhard
The Holy Spirit permeates Himself into our prayers so that He covers up our ignorance and forgetfulness and asks of God that which is beneficial for us.
Johann Gerhard
On Possessions
14 November 2024
And all the time the joke is that the word ‘Mine’ in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say ‘Mine’ of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens.
C.S. Lewis
And all the time the joke is that the word ‘Mine’ in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say ‘Mine’ of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens.
C.S. Lewis
Antidote For Original Sin
13 November 2024
Those who have been tricked into taking poison offset its harmful effect, by another drug. The remedy, moreover, just like the poison, has to enter the system, so that its remedial effect may thereby spread through the whole body. Similarly, having tasted the poison, that is the fruit, that dissolved our nature, we were necessarily, in need of something, to reunite it. Such a remedy had to enter into us, so that it might, by its counteraction, undo the harm the body had already encountered from the poison. And what is this remedy? Nothing else than the body that proved itself superior to death and became the source of our life.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Those who have been tricked into taking poison offset its harmful effect, by another drug. The remedy, moreover, just like the poison, has to enter the system, so that its remedial effect may thereby spread through the whole body. Similarly, having tasted the poison, that is the fruit, that dissolved our nature, we were necessarily, in need of something, to reunite it. Such a remedy had to enter into us, so that it might, by its counteraction, undo the harm the body had already encountered from the poison. And what is this remedy? Nothing else than the body that proved itself superior to death and became the source of our life.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
The Body of Christ
12 November 2024
The consecrated bread is the body of Christ also when it lies on the altar or when the pastor holds it in his hand. This is the Lutheran view.
Hermann Sasse
The consecrated bread is the body of Christ also when it lies on the altar or when the pastor holds it in his hand. This is the Lutheran view.
Hermann Sasse
God's Yoke
11 November 2024
For God is a God who bears. The Son of God bore our flesh, he bore the cross, he bore our sins, thus making atonement for us. In the same way his followers are also called upon to bear, and that is precisely what it means to be a Christian. Just as Christ maintained his communion with the Father by his endurance, so his followers are to maintain their communion with Christ by their endurance. We can of course shake off the burden which is laid upon us, but only find that we have a still heavier burden to carry — a yoke of our own choosing, the yoke of our self. But Jesus invites all who travail and are heavy laden to throw off their own yoke and take his yoke upon them — and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. The yoke and the burden of Christ are his cross. To go one’s way under the sign of the cross is not misery and desperation, but peace and refreshment for the soul, it is the highest joy. Then we do not walk under our self-made laws and burdens, but under the yoke of him who knows us and who walks under the yoke with us. Under his yoke we are certain of his nearness and communion. It is he whom the disciple finds as he lifts up his cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For God is a God who bears. The Son of God bore our flesh, he bore the cross, he bore our sins, thus making atonement for us. In the same way his followers are also called upon to bear, and that is precisely what it means to be a Christian. Just as Christ maintained his communion with the Father by his endurance, so his followers are to maintain their communion with Christ by their endurance. We can of course shake off the burden which is laid upon us, but only find that we have a still heavier burden to carry — a yoke of our own choosing, the yoke of our self. But Jesus invites all who travail and are heavy laden to throw off their own yoke and take his yoke upon them — and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. The yoke and the burden of Christ are his cross. To go one’s way under the sign of the cross is not misery and desperation, but peace and refreshment for the soul, it is the highest joy. Then we do not walk under our self-made laws and burdens, but under the yoke of him who knows us and who walks under the yoke with us. Under his yoke we are certain of his nearness and communion. It is he whom the disciple finds as he lifts up his cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Kingdom of God
9 November 2024
The kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. It frees us from all blame and makes us to be the children of God, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and heirs of a heavenly inheritance.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
The kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. It frees us from all blame and makes us to be the children of God, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and heirs of a heavenly inheritance.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
God's Precepts
8 November 2024
Brothers, we say this not to cause despair, but to show how great the heavenly precept is when contrasted with the earthly impossibility of carrying it out, and how it can be implemented not by human effort but only by divine grace, with Christ Himself as the Source, since He says: "Those things that are impossible for human beings are possible for God."
St. Peter Chrysologus
Brothers, we say this not to cause despair, but to show how great the heavenly precept is when contrasted with the earthly impossibility of carrying it out, and how it can be implemented not by human effort but only by divine grace, with Christ Himself as the Source, since He says: "Those things that are impossible for human beings are possible for God."
St. Peter Chrysologus
Grace
7 November 2024
The kindhearted God gives us what we ask for not because of our prayers; rather does He nourish us according to His compassion, for it is He Who created us... For who asked the Father to give His own Son up to death on the cross? Or who entreated the Son to die for sinners? To which righteous man did the thought occur to ask the Father to give up His Son for transgressors? It is truly an unprecedented event, and the thought occurred to no one. The Father gave up His Son to death on the cross, and through His death sinners obtained life. And if He gave away His greatest treasure, can there be any obstacle to prevent a man who asks such a Lover of mankind from receiving all that he needs?
St. Ephrem the Syrian
The kindhearted God gives us what we ask for not because of our prayers; rather does He nourish us according to His compassion, for it is He Who created us... For who asked the Father to give His own Son up to death on the cross? Or who entreated the Son to die for sinners? To which righteous man did the thought occur to ask the Father to give up His Son for transgressors? It is truly an unprecedented event, and the thought occurred to no one. The Father gave up His Son to death on the cross, and through His death sinners obtained life. And if He gave away His greatest treasure, can there be any obstacle to prevent a man who asks such a Lover of mankind from receiving all that he needs?
St. Ephrem the Syrian
On Suffering
6 November 2024
No matter what kind of bitterness befalls you, no matter what unpleasantness happens to you, say, 'I will endure this for Jesus Christ!' Just say this and it will be easier for you. For the name of Jesus Christ is powerful -- in His presence all unpleasant events are quelled, demons vanish, your annoyance will abate and your faintheartedness will be set at ease when you repeat his sweetest name.
Elder Anthony of Optina
No matter what kind of bitterness befalls you, no matter what unpleasantness happens to you, say, 'I will endure this for Jesus Christ!' Just say this and it will be easier for you. For the name of Jesus Christ is powerful -- in His presence all unpleasant events are quelled, demons vanish, your annoyance will abate and your faintheartedness will be set at ease when you repeat his sweetest name.
Elder Anthony of Optina
On the Baptism of Christ
5 November 2024
I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
The Universal Church
4 November 2024
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has deigned to style the universal Church of God His body, and has made us individually members one of another, has moreover granted to all of us to live in intimate association with one another, as befits the agreement of the members. Wherefore, although we dwell far away from one another, yet, as regards our close conjunction, we are very near.
St. Basil the Great
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has deigned to style the universal Church of God His body, and has made us individually members one of another, has moreover granted to all of us to live in intimate association with one another, as befits the agreement of the members. Wherefore, although we dwell far away from one another, yet, as regards our close conjunction, we are very near.
St. Basil the Great
Sermon for All Saints Day (Matthew 5:1-12)
3 November 2024
Calvary is for you, from Him, a gift. Blessed are those who are given to. They are “the poor in spirit” of the first Beatitude. If there is any hope of deliverance, it can only come from God. The poor in spirit wait on the Lord. As He gives, they are given to. His giving to them is not blocked or hindered by what they have crammed together and would use for bargaining. “God gives into empty hands,” says Augustine, not into hands full of what we would boast of before God. There is no room for the gifts to be given into. Sometimes, with drastic mercy, our Father empties our hands so there may be room for His gifts. Blessed are those who are given to by God. Blessed are they who receive their death as a gift from His hands. Nothing is outside His hands. Despite the pain and perplexity of any way of dying, we are never outside His hands, and within His hands and from His hands our deaths are a gift by way of which He brings us to the fullness of His promises. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
In the Gospel this word “blessed” is always in relation to Jesus. It rings with gladness. […] But happiness is often something so fleeting or shallow, and here is something from our Lord, a lively, joyful gift for all our living and all our dying. Not spoonfuls, not bucketfuls, but the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1). “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). You were “buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). You who were dead in sin God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having blotted out the charges of the Law against us. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3–4).
Norman Nagel
Calvary is for you, from Him, a gift. Blessed are those who are given to. They are “the poor in spirit” of the first Beatitude. If there is any hope of deliverance, it can only come from God. The poor in spirit wait on the Lord. As He gives, they are given to. His giving to them is not blocked or hindered by what they have crammed together and would use for bargaining. “God gives into empty hands,” says Augustine, not into hands full of what we would boast of before God. There is no room for the gifts to be given into. Sometimes, with drastic mercy, our Father empties our hands so there may be room for His gifts. Blessed are those who are given to by God. Blessed are they who receive their death as a gift from His hands. Nothing is outside His hands. Despite the pain and perplexity of any way of dying, we are never outside His hands, and within His hands and from His hands our deaths are a gift by way of which He brings us to the fullness of His promises. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
In the Gospel this word “blessed” is always in relation to Jesus. It rings with gladness. […] But happiness is often something so fleeting or shallow, and here is something from our Lord, a lively, joyful gift for all our living and all our dying. Not spoonfuls, not bucketfuls, but the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1). “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). You were “buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). You who were dead in sin God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having blotted out the charges of the Law against us. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3–4).
Norman Nagel
The Honor of the Saints
2 November 2024
The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.
St Bernard of Clairvaux
The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.
St Bernard of Clairvaux
Vouchsafe Me
1 November 2024
Enter not into judgment with me, O our Lord, for no living creature can be justified before Thee. Thou alone, O Lord, art pure. Spare me and cleanse me of my sins by Thy grace. Vouchsafe me, O kind-hearted One, Thy great compassions, that they might make me rich and that I might receive forgiveness, and Thine angels might rejoice according to Thy word, O Thou who art kindhearted toward sinners.
St. Ephrem the Syrian
Enter not into judgment with me, O our Lord, for no living creature can be justified before Thee. Thou alone, O Lord, art pure. Spare me and cleanse me of my sins by Thy grace. Vouchsafe me, O kind-hearted One, Thy great compassions, that they might make me rich and that I might receive forgiveness, and Thine angels might rejoice according to Thy word, O Thou who art kindhearted toward sinners.
St. Ephrem the Syrian
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