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
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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