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In Matters That Are So Obscure And Far Beyond Our Vision, We Find In Holy Scripture Passages Which Can Be Interpreted In Very Different Ways Without Prejudice To The Faith We Have Received. In Such Cases, We Should Not Rush In Headlong And So Firmly Take Our Stand On One Side That, If Further Progress In The Search For Truth Justly Undermines This Position, We Too Fall With It.

-Saint Augustine

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In Matters That Are

Saint Augustine

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In Matters That Are So Obscure And Far Beyond Our Vision, We Find In Holy Scripture Passages Which Can Be Interpreted In Very Different Ways Without Prejudice To The Faith We Have Received. In Such Cases, We Should Not Rush In Headlong And So Firmly Take Our Stand On One Side That, If Further Progress In The Search For Truth Justly Undermines This Position, We Too Fall With It.

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There Is Nothing More Serious Than The Sacrilege Of Schism Because There Is No Just Cause For Severing The Unity Of The Church.

Your Best Servant Is The Person Who Does Not Attend So Much To Hearing What He Himself Wants As To Willing What He Has Heard From You.

Complete Abstinence Is Easier Than Perfect Moderation.

What Then Is Time? If No One Asks Me, I Know What It Is. If I Wish To Explain It To Him Who Asks, I Do Not Know.

Let Us Leave A Little Room For Reflection In Our Lives, Room Too For Silence. Let Us Look Within Ourselves And See Whether There Is Some Delightful Hidden Place Inside Where We Can Be Free Of Noise And Argument. Let Us Hear The Word Of God In Stillness And Perhaps We Will Then Come To Understand It.

Some People, In Order To Discover God, Read Books. But There Is A Great Book: The Very Appearance Of Created Things. Look Above You! Look Below You! Read It. God, Whom You Want To Discover, Never Wrote That Book With Ink. Instead, He Set Before Your Eyes The Things That He Had Made. Can You Ask For A Louder Voice Than That?

The True Religion Has Always Been One From The Beginning, And Will Always Be The Same.

Truth Is Not Private Property.

Private Property

In The Mass The Blood Of Christ Flows Anew For Sinners.

We Speak, But It Is God Who Teaches.

Love, And He Will Draw Near; Love, And He Will Dwell Within You.

Peace Is Not Sought In Order To Provoke War, But War Is Waged In Order To Attain Peace.

Consequently, Heretics And Schismatics, Separated From The Unity Of This Body, Are Able To Receive The Same Sacrament, But With No Benefit To Themselves; Indeed, More To Their Own Harm, In That They Are Judged The More Severely Rather Than Being Liberated.

For It Is Better To Suffer A Little Want Than To Have Too Much.

I Beseech Thee, My God, I Would Fain Know, If So Thou Willest, For What Purpose My Baptism Was Then Deferred? Was It For My Good That The Rein Was Laid Loose, As It Were, Upon Me, For Me To Sin? Or Was It Not Laid Loose? If Not, Why Does It Still Echo In Our Ears On All Sides, "let Him Alone, Let Him Do As He Will, For He Is Not Yet Baptised?" But As To Bodily Health, No One Says, "let Him Be Worse Wounded, For He Is Not Yet Healed." How Much Better Then, Had I Been At Once Healed; And Then, By My Friends' Diligence And My Own, My Soul's Recovered Health Had Been Kept Safe In Thy Keeping Who Gavest It.

Let Him Who Desires To Be Harsh In Making Demands Upon His Debtors Consider That He Is God’s Debtor.

God Suffers Not The Pain Of Repentance, Nor Is He Deceived In Any Matter, So That He Would Wish To Correct That Wherein He Has Erred. But As When A Man Repents Of Anything, He Wishes To Change What He Has Done; Thus Where You Hear That God Repents, Look For An Actual Change. God Does It Differently From You, Although He Calls It By The Name Of Repentance; For Thou Dost It, Because You Had Erred; While He Does It, Because He Avenges, Or Frees.

When Large Numbers Of People Share Their Joy In Common, The Happiness Of Each Is Greater Because Each Adds Fuel To The Other's Flame.

Without God, We Cannot. Without Us, God Will Not.

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It Was Not The Visible Sun, But Its Invisible Creator Who Consecrated This Day For Us, When The Virgin Mother, Fertile Of Womb And Integral In Her Virginity, Brought Him Forth, Made Visible For Us, By Whom, When He Was Invisible, She Too Was Created. A Virgin Conceiving, A Virgin Bearing, A Virgin Pregnant, A Virgin Bringing Forth, A Virgin Perpetual. Why Do You Wonder At This, O Man?

Every City Is A Living Body.

The World Being Unworthy To Receive The Son Of God Directly From The Hands Of The Father, He Gave His Son To Mary For The World To Receive Him From Her.

The Playthings Of Our Elders Are Called Business.

Passion Is The Evil In Adultery. If A Man Has No Opportunity Of Living With Another Man's Wife, But If It Is Obvious For Some Reason That He Would Like To Do So, And Would Do So If He Could, He Is No Less Guilty Than If He Was Caught In The Act.

My Mother Spoke Of Christ To My Father, By Her Feminine And Childlike Virtues, And, After Having Borne His Violence Without A Murmur Or Complaint, Gained Him At The Close Of His Life To Christ.

Habit, If Not Resisted, Soon Becomes Necessity.

The One Who Is Good, Is Free Even Being A Slave; The One Who Is Bad Remains A Slave Even Being A King.

This World's A Bubble.

When God Is Our Strength, It Is Strength Indeed; When Our Strength Is Our Own, It Is Only Weakness.

Do You Wish To Be Great? Then Begin By Being Little. Do You Desire To Construct A Vast And Lofty Fabric? Think First About The Foundations Of Humility. The Higher Your Structure Is To Be, The Deeper Must Be Its Foundation. Modest Humility Is Beauty's Crown.

Symbols Are Powerful Because They Are The Visible Signs Of Invisible Realities.

I Asked The Whole Frame Of The World About My God; And He Answered, I Am Not He, But He Made Me.

Find Out How Much God Has Given You And From It Take What You Need; The Remainder Is Needed By Others.

The Love Of Our Neighbor Hath Its Bounds In Each Man's Love Of Himself.

Such Then In Number And Importance Are The Precious Ties Belonging To The Christian Name Which Keep A Believer In The Catholic Church, As It Is Right They Should ... With You, Where There Is None Of These Things To Attract Or Keep Me... No One Shall Move Me From The Faith Which Binds My Mind With Ties So Many And So Strong To The Christian Religion... For My Part, I Should Not Believe The Gospel Except As Moved By The Authority Of The Catholic Church.

Salvation Is God's Way Of Making Us Real People.

How Can The Past And Future Be, When The Past No Longer Is, And The Future Is Not Yet? As For The Present, If It Were Always Present And Never Moved On To Become The Past, It Would Not Be Time, But Eternity.

The Dove Loves When It Quarrels; The Wolf Hates When It Flatters.

The Church Even Now Is The Kingdom Of Christ And The Kingdom Of Heaven. Accordingly, Even Now His Saints Reign With Him, Though Otherwise Than As They Shall Reign Hereafter; And Yet, Though The Tares Grow In The Church Along With The Wheat, They Do Not Reign With Him. For They Reign With Him Who Do What The Apostle Says, 'if You Are Risen With Christ, Mind The Things Which Are Above, Where Christ Sits At The Right Hand Of God. Seek Those Things Which Are Above, Not The Things Which Are On The Earth'.

What Then, Is Correctness Of Speech But The Maintenance Of The Practice Of Others, As Established By The Authority Of Ancient Speakers? But The Weaker Men Are, The More They Are Troubled By Such Matters. Their Weakness Stems From A Desire To Appear Learned, Not With A Knowledge Of Things, By Which We Are Edified, But With A Knowledge Of Signs, By Which It Is Difficult Not To Be Puffed Up In Some Way; Even A Knowledge Of Things Often Makes People Boastful, Unless Their Necks Are Held Down By The Lord's Yoke.

Desire Only God, And Your Heart Will Be Satisfied.

Two Cities Have Been Formed By Two Loves: The Earthly By The Love Of Self; The Heavenly By The Love Of God.

Virginity Is Not Honored Simply Because It Is Virginity, But Because It Is Consecrated Of God.

The Angels Surround And Help The Priest When He Is Celebrating Mass.

We Judge All Things According To The Divine Truth.

You Say To Me 'show Me Your God.' I Answer You, 'everything You See In Your Heart That Might Sadden God, Remove.'

Venerate The Martyrs, Praise, Love, Proclaim, Honor Them. But Worship The God Of The Martyrs.

Make Me A Captive Lord, Then I Shall Be Truly Free.

The Arrogance Is Not Greatness But Swelling; And The Swelling Seems Big But It's Not Healthy.

Why Persist In Walking Difficult And Toilsome Paths? There Is No Repose Where You Are Seeking It. Search As You Like, It Is Not Where You Are Looking. You Are Seeking A Happy Life In The Realm Of Death, And It Will Not Be Found There. How Could Life Be Happy Where There Is No Life At All?

Samson Crushed Himself And His Enemies To Death Beneath The Ruins Of A Building. He Can Only Be Excused On The Grounds That The Spirit Of The Lord, Who Wrought Miracles Through Him, Had Bidden Him To Do So. But, Apart From Such Men Excepted By The Command Of A Just Law In General Or Of God, The Very Source Of Justice, In A Special Case, Any One Who Kills A Human Being, Himself Or Another, Is Guilty Of Murder.

Remove Justice, And What Are Kingdoms But Gangs Of Criminals On A Large Scale?... A Gang Is A Group Of Men... In Which The Plunder Is Divided According To An Agreed Convention. If This Villainy... Acquires Territory, Establishes A Base, Captures Cities And Subdues People, It Then Openly Arrogates To Itself The Title Of Kingdom.

To Wisdom Belongs The Intellectual Apprehension Of Eternal Things; To Knowledge, The Rational Knowledge Of Temporal Things.

Christ Held Himself In His Hands When He Gave His Body To His Disciples Saying: 'this Is My Body.' No One Partakes Of This Flesh Before He Has Adored It.

Angels Are Spirits, But It Is Not Because They Are Spirits That They Are Angels. They Become Angels When They Are Sent. For The Name Angel Refers To Their Office, Not Their Nature. You Ask The Name Of This Nature, It Is Spirit; You Ask Its Office, It Is That Of An Angel, Which Is A Messenger.

The Argument Is At An End.

Carnal Lust Rules Where There Is No Love Of God.

The World Is A Great Book, Of Which They That Never Stir From Home Read Only A Page.

Watch, O Lord, With Those Who Wake, Or Watch Or Weep Tonight, And Give Your Angels Charge Over Those Who Sleep. Tend Your Sick Ones, O Lord Jesus Christ; Rest Your Weary Ones; Bless Your Dying Ones; Soothe Your Suffering Ones; Pity Your Afflicted Ones; Shield Your Joyous Ones; And All For Your Love's Sake. Amen.

The Custom Of Mother Church In Baptizing Infants Is Certainly Not To Be Scorned, Nor Is It To Be Regarded In Any Way As Superfluous, Nor Is It To Be Believed That Its Tradition Is Anything Except Apostolic.

No One Can Have God As His Father Who Does Not Have The Church As His Mother.

A Temptation Arises: It Is The Wind. It Disturbs You: It Is The Surging Of The Seas. This Is The Time To Awaken Christ And Let Him Remind You Of These Words

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending. You Plan A Tower That Will Pierce The Clouds? Lay First The Foundation Of Humility.

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In The Usual Course Of Study I Had Come To A Book Of A Certain Cicero.

It Was In His Flesh That Christ Walked Among Us And It Is His Flesh That He Has Given Us To Eat For Our Salvation; But No One Eats Of This Flesh Without Having First Adored It . . . And Not Only Do We Not Sin In Thus Adoring It, But We Would Be Sinning If We Did Not Do So.

One Loving Heart Sets Another On Fire.

All Truth And Understanding Is A Result Of A Divine Light Which Is God Himself.

The Entire Life Of A Good Christian Is In Fact An Exercise Of Holy Desire. You Do Not Yet See What You Long For, But The Very Act Of Desiring Prepares You, So That When He Comes You May See And Be Utterly Satisfied.

Come Unto Me, All Ye That Labor And Are Heavy Laden.

Cantare Amantis Est ... Singing Belongs To One Who Loves." (s. 336, 1 – Pl 38, 1472).

Thou Must Be Emptied Of That Wherewith Thou Art Full, That Thou Mayest Be Filled With That Whereof Thou Art Empty.

Love Can Be Angry... With A Kind Of Anger In Which There Is No Gall, Like The Dove's And Not The Ravens.

No One Knows What He Himself Is Made Of, Except His Own Spirit Within Him, Yet There Is Still Some Part Of Him Which Remains Hidden Even From His Own Spirit; But You, Lord, Know Everything About A Human Being Because You Have Made Him...let Me, Then, Confess What I Know About Myself, And Confess Too What I Do Not Know, Because What I Know Of Myself I Know Only Because You Shed Light On Me, And What I Do Not Know I Shall Remain Ignorant About Until My Darkness Becomes Like Bright Noon Before Your Face.

I Found Thee Not, O Lord, Without, Because I Erred In Seeking Thee Without That Wert Within.

Nothing So Casts Down The Manly Mind From It's Height As The Fondling Of Women And Those Bodily Contacts Which Belong To The Married State.

The Law Detects, Grace Alone Conquers Sin.

"otherwise Grace Is No More Grace," Since It Is Bestowed On Us, Not Because We Have Done Good Works, But That We May Be Able To Do Them.

The Same Divine Authority That Forbids The Killing Of A Human Being Establishes Certain Exceptions, As When God Authorizes Killing By A General Law Or When He Gives An Explicit Commission To An Individual For A Limited Time.

When We Read A Book, Our Most Essential Trait - Imagination - Is Given The Opportunity To Soar.

Though In The Order Of Nature Angels Rank Above Men, Yet, By Scale Of Justice, Good Men Are Of Greater Value Than Bad Angels.

If We Did Not Have Rational Souls, We Would Not Be Able To Believe.

For In Our Hope We Are Saved.

By And By Never Comes.

Recognize In This Bread What Hung On The Cross, And In This Chalice What Flowed From His Side... Whatever Was In Many And Varied Ways Announced Beforehand In The Sacrifices Of The Old Testament Pertains To This One Sacrifice Which Is Revealed In The New Testament.

If God Is, Why Is There Evil? But If God Is Not, Why Is There Good?

To Be Under Pressure Is Inescapable. Pressure Takes Place Through All The World; War, Siege, The Worries Of State. We All Know Men Who Grumble Under These Pressures And Complain. They Are Cowards. They Lack Splendour. But There Is Another Sort Of Man Who Is Under The Same Pressure But Does Not Complain, For It Is The Friction Which Polishes Him. It Is The Pressure Which Refines And Makes Him Noble

God's Faithful Servant Has No Desire For People To Say Or To Give To Him, Or What He Likes To Hear Or See, For His First And Greatest Aim Is To Hear What Is Most Pleasing To God.

Faithful Servants

Don't You Believe That There Is In Man A Deep So Profound As To Be Hidden Even To Him In Whom It Is?

We Come To God By Love And Not By Navigation.

Only He Who Made Man Makes Man Happy.

True Happiness Is To Rejoice In The Truth, For To Rejoice In The Truth Is To Rejoice In You, O God, Who Are The Truth... Those Who Think That There Is Another Kind Of Happiness Look For Joy Elsewhere, But Theirs Is Not True Joy.

Punishment, That Is The Justice For The Unjust.

God Almighty Would In No Way Permit Evil In His Works Were He Not So Omnipotent And Good That Even Out Of Evil He Could Work Good.

There Can Only Be Two Basic Loves... The Love Of God Unto The Forgetfulness Of Self, Or The Love Of Self Unto The Forgetfulness And Denial Of God.

Although God Is All Powerful, He Is Unable To Give More; Though Supremely Wise, He Knows Not How To Give More; Though Vastly Rich, He Has Not More To Give.

As To The Fable That There Are Antipodes, That Is To Say, Men On The Opposite Side Of The Earth Where The Sun Rises When It Sets To Us, Men Who Walk With Their Feet Opposite Ours, That Is On No Ground Credible. Even If Some Unknown Landmass Is There, And Not Just Ocean, There Was Only One Pair Of Original Ancestors, And It Is Inconceivable That Such Distant Regions Should Have Been Peopled By Adam's Descendants.

That Your Enemies Have Been Created Is God's Doing; That They Hate You And Wish To Ruin You Is Their Own Doing. What Should You Say About Them In Your Mind? "lord Be Merciful To Them, Forgive Them Their Sins, Put The Fear Of God In Them, Change Them!" You Are Loving In Them Not What They Are, But What You Would Have Them To Become.

Not All, Nor Even A Majority, Are Saved. . . They Are Indeed Many, If Regarded By Themselves, But They Are Few In Comparison With The Far Larger Number Of Those Who Shall Be Punished With The Devil.

Bad Times, Hard Times, This Is What People Keep Saying; But Let Us Live Well, And Times Shall Be Good. We Are The Times: Such As We Are, Such Are The Times.

It Is Better That The Truth Be Known Than That Scandal Be Covered Up.

Men Are Always Ready To Nose Around And Find Out About Other's Lives, But They Feel Lazy To Know Themselves And Correct Their Own Life.

Chastity, Or Cleanness Of Heart, Holds A Glorious And Distinguished Place Among The Virtues, Because She, Alone, Enables Man To See God; Hence Truth Itself Said, 'blessed Are The Clean Of Heart, For They Shall See God.'

There Is No Health In Those Who Are Displeased By An Element In Your Creation, Just As There Was None In Me When I Was Displeased By Many Things You Had Made. Because My Soul Didn't Dare To Say That My God Displeased Me, It Refused To Attribute To You Whatever Was Displeasing.

The Wicked Have Told Me Of Things That Delight Them, But Not Such Things As Your Law Has To Tell.

God Has Promised Forgiveness To Your Repentance, But He Has Not Promised Tomorrow To Your Procrastination.

Procrastination

Your Persistent Longing Is Your Persistent Voice. But When Love Grows Cold, The Heart Grows Silent. Burning Love Is The Outcry Of The Heart! If You Are Filled With Longing All The Time, You Will Keep Crying Out, And If Your Love Perseveres, Your Cry Will Be Heard Without Fail.

Every Good And True Christian Should Understand That Wherever He May Find The Truth It Is His Lord's.

Beauty Is The Brilliance Of Truth.

The Measure Of Love Is To Love Without Measuring.

To My God A Heart Of Flame; To My Fellow Man A Heart Of Love; To Myself A Heart Of Steel.

To Sing Is To Pray Twice.

Classical Music

When [men] Go To War, What They Want Is To Impose On Their Enemies The Victor's Will And Call It Peace.

As To Those Other Things Which We Hold On The Authority, Not Of Scripture, But Of Tradition, And Which Are Observed Throughout The Whole World, It May Be Understood That They Are Held As Approved And Instituted Either By The Apostles Themselves, Or By Plenary Councils, Whose Authority In The Church Is Most Useful, E.g. The Annual Commemoration, By Special Solemnities, Of The Lord's Passion, Resurrection, And Ascension, And Of The Descent Of The Holy Spirit From Heaven, And Whatever Else Is In Like Manner Observed By The Whole Church Wherever It Has Been Established.

When Regard For Truth Has Been Broken Down Or Even Slightly Weakened, All Things Will Remain Doubtful.

God Is More Truly Imagined Than Expressed, And He Exists More Truly Than He Is Imagined.

If You Are Pleased With What You Are, You Have Stopped Already. If You Say, "it Is Enough," You Are Lost. Keep On Walking, Moving Forward, Trying For The Goal.

Patience Is The Companion Of Wisdom.

God Is Not Greater If You Reverence Him, But You Are Greater If You Serve Him.

Indeed, Man Wishes To Be Happy Even When He So Lives As To Make Happiness Impossible.

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending.

Let Our Lives Be Good, And The Times Are Good. We Make Our Times; Such As We Are, Such Are The Times.

Be Always Displeased At What Thou Art, If Thou Desirest To Attain To What Thou Art Not.

Our Rewards In Heaven Are A Result Of God's Crowning His Own Gifts.

Believe That Others Are Better Than You In The Debths Of Their Soul, Although Outwardly You May Appear Better Than They.

How High A Price We Pay For The Burden Of Habit! I Am Fitted For Life Here Where I Do Not Want To Be, I Want To Live There But Am Unfit For It, And On Both Counts I Am Miserable.

No Eulogy Is Due To Him Who Simply Does His Duty And Nothing More.

Do You Wish To Be Great? Then Begin By Being. Do You Desire To Construct A Vast And Lofty Fabric? Think First About The Foundations Of Humility. The Higher Your Structure Is To Be, The Deeper Must Be Its Foundation.

Do Not Be Afraid To Throw Yourself On The Lord! He Will Not Draw Back And Let You Fall! Put Your Worries Aside And Throw Yourself On Him; He Will Welcome You And Heal You.

For What Is Time? ... Who Can Even In Thought Comprehend It, So As To Utter A Word About It? ... If No One Asks Me, I Know: If I Wish To Explain It To One That Asketh, I Know Not.

I Entered (into My Inward Self) And Beheld With The Eye Of My Soul...the Light Unchangeable.

In What Is Necessary, Unity; In What Is Not Necessary, Liberty And In All Things Charity.

The Kingdom Of Heaven, O Man, Requires No Other Price Than Yourself. The Value Of It Is Yourself. Give Yourself For It And You Shall Have It.

Even In Waging War, Cherish The Spirit Of Peace-maker; That, By Conquering Those Whom You Attack, You May Lead Them Back To The Advantages Of Peace.

If You Understand, It Is Not God.

Faith Is To Believe What You Do Not See; The Reward Of This Faith Is To See What You Believe.

The Mere Change Of Custom, Even Though It May Be Of Advantage In Some Respects, Unsettles Men By Reason Of The Novelty: Therefore, If It Brings No Advantage, It Does Much Harm By Unprofitably Disturbing The Church.

Education Is The Food Of Youth, The Delight Of Old Age, The Ornament Of Prosperity, The Refuge And Comfort Of Adversity, And The Provocation To Grace In The Soul.

We Are And We Know We Are And We Love To Be It And Know It.

While The Best Men Are Guided By Love, Most Mean Are Still Goaded By Fear.

The Soul, Which Is Spirit, Can Not Dwell In Dust; It Is Carried Along To Dwell In The Blood.

It Will Not Be Held Against You That You Are Ignorant Against Your Will, But That You Neglect To Seek Out What It Is That Makes You Ignorant; Not That You Cannot Bring Together Your Wounded Limbs, But That You Reject Him That Would Heal Them.

It Is No Advantage To Be Near The Light If The Eyes Are Closed.

The Devil Invented Gambling.

I Fell Away From You, My God, And I Went Astray, Too Far Astray From You, The Support Of My Youth, And I Became To Myself A Land Of Want.

Keep On Adding, Keep On Walking, Keep On Progressing: Do Not Delay On The Road, Do Not Go Back, Do Not Deviate.

Miracles Are Not Contrary To Nature, But Only Contrary To What We Know About Nature.

Within The Church, Sins Are Forgiven In Three Ways: By Baptism, By Prayer, And By The Greater Humility Of Penance; Yet God Does Not Forgive Sins Except To The Baptized.

They The Hazers Or Eversores Were Rightly Called Overturners, Since They Had Themselves Been First Overturned And Perverted, Tricked By Those Same Devils Who Were Secretly Mocking Them In The Very Acts By Which They Amused Themselves In Mocking And Making Fools Of Others.

And How Shall I Call Upon My God, My God And Lord, Since, When I Call For Him, I Shall Be Calling Him To Myself? And What Room Is There Within Me, Whither My God Can Come Into Me? Whither Can God Come Into Me, God Who Made Heaven And Earth? Is There, Indeed, O Lord My God, Aught In Me That Can Contain Thee?

The Mind Commands The Body And Is Instantly Obeyed. The Mind Commands Itself And Meets Resistance. The Mind Commands The Hand To Move, And It So Easy That One Hardly Distinguishes The Order From Its Execution. Yet Mind Is Mind And Hand Is Body. The Mind Orders The Mind To Will. The Recipient Of The Order Is Itself, Yet It Does Not Perform It.

A Christian Man Is On His Guard With Respect To Those Who Philosophize According To The Elements Of This World, Not According To God, By Whom The World Itself Was Made; For He Is Warned By The Precept Of The Apostle And Faithfully Hears What Has Been Said, 'beware That No One Deceive You Through Philosophy And Vain Deceit, According To The Elements Of The World'

Drunkenness Is A Flattering Devil, A Sweet Poison, A Pleasant Sin, Which Whosoever Hath, Hath Not Himself, Which Whosoever Doth Commit, Doth Not Commit Sin, But He Himself Is Wholly Sin.

You Have Found That You Were More Secure Before You Accumulated So Much. See What Greed Has Imposed On You: You Have Filled Your House And Now You Fear Burglars. You Have Hoarded Money And Lost Sleep. See What Greed Has Commanded You: "do This!" And You Did It.

God Grants Us Not Always What We Ask So As To Bestow Something Preferable.

In My Unloveliness I Plunged Into The Lovely Things Which You Created. You Were With Me, But I Was Not With You. Created Things Kept Me From You; Yet If They Had Not Been In You, They Would Have Not Been At All.

For I Did Not Know That The Soul Needs To Be Enlightened By Light From Outside Itself, So That It Can Participate In Truth, Because It Is Not Itself The Nature Of Truth.

The Heart Of Man Is Restless Until He Finds Rest In Thee.

Every Day My Conscience Makes Confession Relying On The Hope Of Your Mercy As More To Be Trusted Than Its Own Innocence.

The Sole Purpose Of Life Is To Gain Merit For Life In Eternity.

The Bread That You See On The Altar Is The Body Of Christ As Soon As It Is Sanctified By God's Word. The Chalice, Or Better What Is Contained In The Chalice, Is The Blood Of Christ As Soon As It Is Sanctified By God's Word

Dilige Et Quod Vis Fac. (love And Then What You Will, Do.)

We Who Preach And Write, Do So In A Manner Different From Which The Scriptures Have Been Written. We Write While We Make Progress.we Learn Something New Every Day. We Speak As We Still Knock For Understanding...if Anyone Criticizes Me When I Have Said What Is Right, He Does Me An Injustice. But I Would Be More Angry With The One Who Praises Me And Takes What I Have Written For Gospel Truth Than I Would Be With The One Who Criticizes Me Unfairly.

To Dye Oneself With Paints In Order To Have A Rosier Or A Paler Complexion Is A Lying Counterfeit.

A Person Can Do Other Things Against His Will, But Belief Is Possible Only In One Who Is Willing.

They, Then, Who Are Destined To Die, Need Not Be Careful To Inquire What Death They Are To Die, But Into What Place Death Will Usher Them.

Therefore, Give To The Poor. I Beg You, I Admonish You, I Charge You, I Command You To Give.

If You Excuse Yourself In Confession, You Shut Up Sin Within Your Soul, And Shut Out Pardon.

In The House Of God There Is Never Ending Festival; The Angel Choir Makes Eternal Holiday; The Presence Of God's Face Gives Joy That Never Fails.

Don't Hold Yourselves Cheap, Seeing That The Creator Of All Things And Of You Estimates Your Value So High, So Dear, That He Pours Out For You Every Day The Most Precious Blood Of His Only-begotten Son.

The Greatest Kindness One Can Render To Any Man Is Leading Him To Truth.

You Cannot Attain To Charity Except Through Humility.

He Who Devoutly Hears Holy Mass Will Receive A Great Vigor To Enable Him To Resist Mortal Sin, And There Shall Be Pardoned To Him All Venial Sins Which He May Have Committed Up To That Hour.

What Is More Insane Than To Be Partakers Of The Sacraments Of The Lord And Not Partakers Of The Words Of The Lord? These Men Truly Have To Say: "in Thy Name We Have Eaten And Drunk," And They Will Have To Hear: "i Do Not Know You!" (luke 13:26-27). They Eat And Drink His Body And Blood In The Sacrament And Do Not Recognize In The Gospel His Members Spread Over The Whole World, And For This Reason They Are Not Numbered Among Them At The Judgment.

In All Your Movements, Let Nothing Be Evident That Would Offend The Eyes Of Another.

The Will Is Truly Free, When It Is Not The Slave Of Vices And Sins.

Do Not Follow Any Road, But That Which Christ Trod. This Road Seems Hard, But It Is Safe.

If A Shameless Woman Expects To Be Defiled And Then Dies Of Her Fierce Love Because You Do Not Consent, Will Chastity Also Be Homicide?

I Will Not Live An Instant That I Do Not Live In Love. Whoever Loves Does All Things Without Suffering, Or, Suffering, Loves His Suffering.

Put No Faith In Salvation Through The Political Order.

The Truth Is Like A Lion; You Don’t Have To Defend It. Let It Loose; It Will Defend Itself.

Even The Straws Under My Knees Shout To Distract Me From Prayer

There Is No Possible Source Of Evil Except Good.

By Means Of Corporal And Temporal Things We May Comprehend The Eternal And The Spiritual.

Woman Does Not Possess The Image Of God In Herself But Only When Taken Together With The Male Who Is Her Head, So That The Whole Substance Is One Image. But When She Is Assigned The Role As Helpmate, A Function That Pertains To Her Alone, Then She Is Not The Image Of God. But As Far As The Man Is Concerned, He Is By Himself Alone The Image Of God Just As Fully And Completely As When He And The Woman Are Joined Together Into One.

The Holy Scriptures Are Our Letters From Home.

Jesus Took His Flesh From The Flesh Of Mary

If They Find A Christian Mistaken In A Field Which They Themselves Know Well And Hear Him Maintaining His Foolish Opinions About Our Books, How Are They Going To Believe Those Books In Matters Concerning The Resurrection Of The Dead, The Hope Of Eternal Life, And The Kingdom Of Heaven.

The Words Printed Here Are Concepts. You Must Go Through The Experiences.

If By Fate Anyone Means The Will Or Power Of God, Let Him Keep His Meaning But Mend His Language; For Fate Commonly Means A Necessary Process Which Will Have Its Way Apart From The Will Of God And Men.

Baptism Does Not Profit A Man Outside Unity With The Church ... For Many Heretics Also Possess This Sacrament But Not The Fruits Of Salvation ... The Benefits Which Flow From Baptism Are Necessarily Fruits Which Belong To The True Church Alone. Children Baptized In Other Communions Cease To Be Members Of The Church When, After Reaching The Age Of Reason, They Make Formal Profession Of Heresy, As, For Example, By Receiving Communion In A Non-catholic Church.

Pray As Though Everything Depended On God. Work As Though Everything Depended On You.

Charity Is The Root Of All Good Works.

Though Defensive Violence Will Always Be 'a Sad Necessity' In The Eyes Of Men Of Principle, It Would Be Still More Unfortunate If Wrongdoers Should Dominate Just Men.

No One Can Begin A New Life, Unless He Repent Of The Old.

Give What You Command And Command What You Will.

Moreover, From The Time When He Said, 'except A Man Be Born Of Water And Of The Spirit, He Cannot Enter Into The Kingdom Of Heaven;' And Again, 'he That Loseth His Life For My Sake Shall Find It; ' No One Becomes A Member Of Christ Except It Be Either By Baptism In Christ, Or Death For Christ.

For When God Said, "let There Be Light, And There Was Light," If We Are Justified In Understanding In This Light The Creation Of The Angels, Then Certainly They Were Created Partakers Of The Eternal Light Which Is The Unchangeable Wisdom Of God, By Which All Things Were Made, And Whom We Call The Only-begotten Son Of God.

The Rich Are Like Beasts Of Burden, Carrying Treasure All Day, And At The Night Of Death Unladen; They Carry To Their Grave Only The Bruises And Marks Of Their Toil.

Grace Alone Brings About Every Good Work In Us.

You Don't Love In Your Enemies What They Are, But What You Would Have Them Become By Your Prayers.

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