Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622 A really patient man neither complains nor seeks to be pitied; he will speak simply and truly of his trouble, without exaggerating its weight or bemoaning himself. If others pity him, he will accept their compassion patiently, unless they pity him for some ill he is not enduring, in which case he will say so with meekness, and abide in patience and truthfulness, combating his grief and not complaining of it.
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Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916 Whilst you are divided betwixt God and read more
Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916 Whilst you are divided betwixt God and the world, you have neither the pleasures of Religion, nor the pleasures of the world, but are always in the uneasiness of a divided state of heart. You have only so much Religion as serves to disquiet you, to show you a handwriting on the wall, to interrupt your pleasures, and to appear as a death's-head at all your feasts, but not Religion enough to give you a taste and feeling of its pleasures. You dare not wholly neglect Religion, but then you take no more than is just sufficient to keep you from being a terror to yourself, and you are as loth to be very good as you are fearful to be very bad.
Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901 What are our lame praises in comparison with read more
Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901 What are our lame praises in comparison with His love? Nothing, and less than nothing; but love will stammer rather than be dumb.
Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536 To hold your truth, to believe it with read more
Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536 To hold your truth, to believe it with all your heart, to work with all your might, first to make it real to yourself and then to show its preciousness to other men, and then -- not till then, but then -- to leave the questions of when and how and by whom it shall prevail to God: that is the true life of the believer. There is no feeble unconcern and indiscriminateness there, and neither is there any excited hatred of the creed, the doctrine, or the Church, which you feel wholly wrong. You have not fled out of the furnace of bigotry to freeze on the open and desolate plains of indifference. You believe and yet you have no wish to persecute.
The doctrine of justification by faith (a Biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort) has read more
The doctrine of justification by faith (a Biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort) has in our times fallen into evil company and has been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be "received" without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is "saved", but he is not hungry or thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little. The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word.
One good man, one man who does not put on his religion once a week with his Sunday coat, but read more
One good man, one man who does not put on his religion once a week with his Sunday coat, but wears it for his working dress, and lets the thought of God grow into him, and through and through him, till everything he says and does becomes religious, that man is worth a thousand sermons -- he is a living Gospel -- he comes in the spirit and power of Elias -- he is the image of God. And men see his good works, and admire them in spite of themselves, and see that they are God-like, and that God's grace is no dream, but that the Holy Spirit is still among men, and that all nobleness and manliness is His gift, His stamp, His picture: and so they get a glimpse of God again in His saints and heroes, and glorify their Father who is in heaven.
Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460 For the Scriptures, . . . the read more
Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460 For the Scriptures, . . . the existence of God is both a historical truth (God acted into history), and an existential truth (God reveals himself to every soul). His existence is both objectively and subjectively evident. It is necessary logically because our assumption of order, design, and rationality rests upon it. It is necessary morally because there is no explanation for the shape of morality apart from it. It is necessary emotionally because the human experience requires an immediate and ultimate environment. It is necessary personally because the exhaustion of all material possibilities still cannot give satisfaction to the heart. The deepest proof for God's existence, apart from history, is just life itself. God has created man in his image, and men cannot elude the implications of this fact. Everywhere their identity pursues them. Ultimately, there is no escape.
What men turn to is more important than what they turn from, even if that to which they turn is read more
What men turn to is more important than what they turn from, even if that to which they turn is only a higher moral truth; but to turn to Christ is far more important than to turn to higher moral truth: it is to turn the face towards Him in whom is all moral truth; it is to turn to HIm in whom is not only the virtue which corresponds to the known vice from which the penitent wishes to flee, but all virtue; it is to turn the face to all holiness, all purity, all grace. It was this repentance which the apostles preached after Pentecost. ... Roland Allen, Pentecost and the World ... Also see comments on this book in Bookworms August 23, 2000 Commemoration of Rose of Lima, Contemplative, 1617 Four things a man must learn to do If he would make his record true: To think without confusion clearly, To love his fellow men sincerely, To act from honest motives purely, To trust in God and heaven securely. ... Henry van Dyke August 24, 2000 Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle Beginning a short series on the Bible: The Bible is a supernatural book and can be understood only by supernatural aid.
CHRISTMAS DAY Thou hast not made, or taught me, Lord, to care For times and seasons -- but this one read more
CHRISTMAS DAY Thou hast not made, or taught me, Lord, to care For times and seasons -- but this one glad day Is the blue sapphire clasping all the lights That flash in the girdle of the year so fair When thou wast born a man -- because alway Thou wast and art a man through all the flights Of thought, and time, and thousandfold creation's play.
Feast of Charles, King & Martyr, 1649 Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not read more
Feast of Charles, King & Martyr, 1649 Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us.
