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Let Your Old Age Be Childlike, And Your Childhood Like Old Age; That Is, So That Neither May Your Wisdom Be With Pride, Nor Your Humility Without Wisdom.

-Saint Augustine

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Let Your Old Age

Saint Augustine

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Let Your Old Age Be Childlike, And Your Childhood Like Old Age; That Is, So That Neither May Your Wisdom Be With Pride, Nor Your Humility Without Wisdom.

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Idolatry Is Worshipping Anything That Ought To Be Used, Or Using Anything That Is Meant To Be Worshipped.

What Is Reprehensible Is That While Leading Good Lives Themselves And Abhorring Those Of Wicked Men, Some, Fearing To Offend, Shut Their Eyes To Evil Deeds Instead Of Condemning Them And Pointing Out Their Malice.

If You Don't Believe It You Won't Understand It.

He That Is Kind Is Free, Though He Is A Slave; He That Is Evil Is A Slave, Though He Be A King.

Charity Is The Root Of All Good Works.

In No Passage Of The Holy Canonical Books There Can Be Found Either Divine Precept Or Permission To Take Away Our Own Life, Whether For The Sake Of Entering On The Enjoyment Of Immortality, Or Of Shunning, Or Ridding Ourselves Of Anything Whatever. Nay, The Law, Rightly Interpreted, Even Prohibits Suicide, Where It Says, 'thou Shalt Not Kill.' This Is Proved Especially By The Omission Of The Words "thy Neighbor," Which Are Inserted When False Witness Is Forbidden.

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.'

For A Sentence Is Not Complete Unless Each Word, Once Its Syllables Have Been Pronounced, Gives Way To Make Room For The Next.

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.

In The Absence Of Justice, What Is Sovereignty But Organized Robbery?

It Is Salutary For Us To Learn To Hold Cheap Such Things, Be They Good Or Evil, As Attach Indifferently To Good Men And Bad, And To Covet Those Good Things Which Belong Only To Good Men, And Flee Those Evils Which Belong Only To Evil Men.

The Sacraments Are The Salvation Of Those Who Use Them Rightly, And The Damnation Of Those Who Misuse Them.

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

It Is This One Spirit Who Makes It Possible For An Infant To Be Regenerated . . . When That Infant Is Brought To Baptism; And It Is Through This One Spirit That The Infant So Presented Is Reborn. For It Is Not Written, 'unless A Man Be Born Again By The Will Of His Parents' Or 'by The Faith Of Those Presenting Him Or Ministering To Him,' But, 'unless A Man Be Born Again Of Water And The Holy Spirit.' The Water, Therefore, Manifesting Exteriorly The Sacrament Of Grace, And The Spirit Effecting Interiorly The Benefit Of Grace, Both Regenerate In One Christ That Man Who Was Generated In Adam.

Except He Be Willing, Man Cannot Believe.

He Who Loves The Coming Of The Lord Is Not He Who Affirms That It Is Far Off, Nor Is It He Who Says It Is Near, But Rather He Who, Whether It Be Far Off Or Near, Awaits It With Sincere Faith, Steadfast Hope, And Fervent Love.

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.

God In His Omnipotence Could Not Give More, In His Wisdom He Knew Not How To Give More, In His Riches He Had Not More To Give, Than The Eucharist.

Late Have I Loved You, O Beauty Ever Ancient And Ever New! Late Have I Loved You! And, Behold, You Were Within Me, And I Out Of Myself, And There I Searched For You.

God Of Our Life, There Are Days When The Burdens We Carry Chafe Our Shoulders And Weigh Us Down; When The Road Seems Dreary And Endless, The Skies Gray And Threatening; When Our Lives Have No Music In Them, And Our Hearts Are Lonely, And Our Souls Have Lost Their Courage. Flood The Path With Light, Run Our Eyes To Where The Skies Are Full Of Promise; Tune Our Hearts To Brave Music; Give Us The Sense Of Comradeship With Heroes And Saints Of Every Age; And So Quicken Our Spirits That We May Be Able To Encourage The Souls Of All Who Journey With Us On The Road Of Life, To Your Honor And Glory.

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.

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

We Judge All Things According To The Divine Truth.

Solvitur Ambulando . . . It Is Solved By Walking.

That One Woman Is Both Mother And Virgin, Not In Spirit Only But Even In Body. In Spirit She Is Mother, Not Of Our Head, Who Is Our Savior Himself-of Whom All, Even She Herself, Are Rightly Called Children Of The Bridegroom-but Plainly She Is The Mother Of Us Who Are His Members, Because By Love She Has Cooperated So That The Faithful, Who Are The Members Of That Head, Might Be Born In The Church. In Body, Indeed, She Is The Mother Of That Very Head.

He Who Commends The Nature Of The Soul As The Supreme Good, And Condemns The Nature Of The Flesh As Evil, At Once Both Carnally Desires The Soul, And Carnally Flies The Flesh, Because He Feels Thus From Human Vanity, Not From Divine Truth.

I Am Convinced That In All History There Has Never Been A Greater Need To Pray For Our Pastors Than Exists Right Now! Pastors Are Experiencing An Unprecedented Wave Of Attacks, Stresses, Challenges. Obstacles. Pressures.

It’s Not In The Book Or In The Writer That Readers Discern The Truth Of What They Read; They See It In Themselves, If The Light Of Truth Has Penetrated Their Minds.

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

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.

The Heavenly City Outshines Rome Beyond Comparison. There, Instead Of Victory, Is Truth; Instead Of High Rank, Holiness; Instead Of Peace, Felicity; Instead Of Life, Eternity.

The Law Detects, Grace Alone Conquers Sin.

Charity Is No Substitute For Justice Withheld.

What Thou Meanest By Seizing The Whole Earth; But Because I Do It With A Petty Ship, I Am Called A Robber, Whilst Thou Who Dost It With A Great Fleet Art Styled Emperor.

Let Your Old Age Be Childlike, And Your Childhood Like Old Age; That Is, So That Neither May Your Wisdom Be With Pride, Nor Your Humility Without Wisdom.

Love And Say It With Your Life.

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.

Every Infinity... Is Made Finite To God.

It Is A Sin To Judge Any Man By His Post

Let Us Understand That God Is A Physician, And That Suffering Is A Medicine For Salvation, Not A Punishment For Damnation.

Love All Men, Even Your Enemies; Love Them, Not Because They Are Your Brothers, But That They May Become Your Brothers. Thus You Will Ever Burn With Fraternal Love, Both For Him Who Is Already Your Brother And For Your Enemy, That He May By Loving Become Your Brother.

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.

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

For Why, My Brothers And Sisters, Would You Rejoice In Silver? Either Your Silver Will Perish, Or You Will, And No One Knows Which Will Perish First. For Neither Can You Remain Here Always, Nor Can Silver Remain Here Always; So Also With Gold, Wardrobes, Houses, Money, Real Estate-and In The End, Even The Light By Which We Enjoy All These Things. So Do Not Be Willing Then To Rejoice In Such Things As These. Rejoice Instead In The Light That Has No Setting; Rejoice In The Dawn Which No Yesterday Precedes, And No Tomorrow Follows.

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

Unhappy Is The Soul Enslaved By The Love Of Anything That Is Mortal.

It Is Indeed Better (as No One Ever Could Deny) That Men Should Be Led To Worship God By Teaching, Than That They Should Be Driven To It By Fear Of Punishment Or Pain; But It Does Not Follow That Because The Former Course Produces The Better Men, Therefore Those Who Do Not Yield To It Should Be Neglected. For Many Have Found Advantage (as We Have Proved, And Are Daily Proving By Actual Experiment), In Being First Compelled By Fear Or Pain, So That They Might Afterwards Be Influenced By Teaching, Or Might Follow Out In Act What They Had Already Learned In Word.

What You Are Must Always Displease You, If You Would Attain To That Which You Are Not.

You Have Been Professing Yourself Reluctant To Throw Off Your Load Of Illusion Because Truth Was Uncertain. Well, It Is Certain Now, Yet The Burden Still Weighs You Down, While Other People Are Given Wings On Freer Shoulders, People Who Have Not Worn Themselves Out With Research, Nor Spent A Decade And More Reflecting On These Questions.

Beauty Grows In You To The Extent That Love Grows, Because Charity Itself Is The Soul's Beauty.

The Customs Of God's People And The Institutions Of Our Ancestors Are To Be Considered As Laws. And Those Who Throw Contempt On The Customs Of The Church Ought To Be Punished As Those Who Disobey The Law Of God.

For What Am I To Myself Without You, But A Guide To My Own Downfall?

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.

He Indeed Possesses The Character Imposed On Him, But He Wanders As A Renegade.

Only He Who Made Man Makes Man Happy.

Cursed Is Everyone Who Places His Hope In Changing The Nature Of Man

What Do I Love When I Love My God?

He Was Created Of A Mother Whom He Created. He Was Carried By Hands That He Formed. He Cried In The Manger In Wordless Infancy. He, The Word, Without Whom All Human Eloquence Is Mute.

Any Woman Who Does Not Give Birth To As Many Children As She Is Capable Is Guilty Of Murder.

The Way To Christ Is First Through Humility, Second Through Humility, And Third Through Humility. If Humility Does Not Precede And Accompany And Follow Every Good Work We Do, If It Is Not Before Us To Focus On, It It Is Not Beside Us To Lean Upon, If It Is Not Behind Us To Fence Us In, Pride Will Wrench From Our Hand Any Good Deed We Do At The Very Moment We Do It.

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

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.

Two Works Of Mercy Set A Person Free: Forgive And You Will Be Forgiven, And Give And You Will Receive.

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

The One Who Is Our Very Life Descended Into Our World, And Bore Our Death, And Slew It With The Abundance Of His Own Life. Thundering, He Called Out To Us To Return To Him In Heaven.

This Very Moment I May, If I Desire, Become The Friend Of God.

The World's Verdict Is Conclusive.

If I Am Given A Formula, And I Am Ignorant Of Its Meaning, It Cannot Teach Me Anything, But If I Already Know It What Does The Formula Teach Me?

God Had One Son On Earth Without Sin, But Never One Without Suffering.

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.

By And By Never Comes.

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.

God Does Not Give Heed To The Ambitiousness Of Our Prayers, Because He Is Always Ready To Give To Us His Light, Not A Visible Light But An Intellectual And Spiritual One; But We Are Not Always Ready To Receive It When We Turn Aside And Down To Other Things Out Of A Desire For Temporal Things.

Man Has Been Naturally So Created That It Is Advantageous For Him To Be Submissive, But Disastrous For Him To Follow His Own Will, And Not The Will Of His Creator.

It Is Said That There Is No Salvation Outside The Church. Who Denies This? And Therefore Whatever Things Of The Church Are Had Outside The Church Do Not Avail Unto Salvation.

Then Assuredly The World Was Made, Not In Time, But Simultaneously With Time.

Let Those Who Think I Have Said Too Little And Those Who Think I Have Said Too Much, Forgive Me; And Let Those Who Think I Have Said Just Enough Thank God With Me.

Longing Desire Prayeth Always, Though The Tongue Be Silent. If Thou Art Ever Longing, Thou Art Ever Praying.

I Will Plant My Feet On That Step Where My Parents Put Me As A Child, Until Self-evident Truth Comes To Light.

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

Beauty Is The Brilliance Of Truth.

Conscience And Reputation Are Two Things. Conscience Is Due To Yourself, Reputation To Your Neighbour.

God Is Best Known In Not Knowing Him.

And So, Lastly, Does The Very Name Of "catholic", Which, Not Without Reason, Amid So Many Heresies, The Church Has Thus Retained; So That, Though All Heretics Wish To Be Called Catholics, Yet When A Stranger Asks Where The Catholic Church Meets, No Heretic Will Venture To Point To His Own Chapel Or House.

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.

For In Our Hope We Are Saved.

I Would Not Believe In The Gospel, If The Authority Of The Catholic Church Did Not Bid Me To Do So.

Thou Movest Us To Delight In Praising Thee; For Thou Hast Formed Us For Thyself, And Our Hearts Are Restless Till They Find Rest In Thee.

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

God Bids You Not To Commit Lechery, That Is, Not To Have Sex With Any Woman Except Your Wife. You Ask Of Her That She Should Not Have Sex With Anyone Except You -- Yet You Are Not Willing To Observe The Same Restraint In Return.

It Is Not Often That We Use Language Correctly; Usually We Use It Incorrectly, Though We Understand Each Others Meaning.

Moral Character Is Assessed Not By What A Man Knows But By What He Loves

Augustinethe Wounds Of A Friend Are Better Than The Kisses Of An Enemy. To Love With Sternness Is Better Than To Deceive With Gentleness.... In Luke [14:23] It Is Written: "compel People To Come In!" By Threats Of The Wrath Of God, The Father Draws Souls To His Son.

Christ Was Born Of A Woman Without The Man.

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

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.

Purity Of Soul Cannot Be Lost Without Consent.

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

Sin Is Looking For The Right Thing In The Wrong Place.

I Make Bold To Say That It Is Profitable For The Proud To Fall, In Order That They May Be Humbled In That For Which They Have Exalted Themselves.

The Fellow Who Eggs You On To Avenge Yourself Will Rob You Of What You Were Going To Say - As We Forgive Our Debtors . When You Have Forfeited That, All Your Sins Will Be Held Against You; Absolutely Nothing Is Forgiven.

We Were Ensnared By The Wisdom Of The Serpent; We Are Set Free By The Foolishness Of God .

Narrow Is The Mansion Of My Soul; Enlarge Thou It, That Thou Mayest Enter In. It Is Ruinous; Repair Thou It. It Has That Within Which Must Offend Thine Eyes; I Confess And Know It. But Who Shall Cleanse It? Or To Whom Should I Cry, Save Thee? Lord, Cleanse Me From My Secret Faults, And Spare Thy Servant From The Power Of The Enemy. I Believe, And Therefore Do I Speak.

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

It Is Not The Punishment But The Cause That Makes The Martyr.

Since You Cannot Do Good To All, You Are To Pay Special Attention To Those Who, By The Accidents Of Time, Or Place, Or Circumstances, Are Brought Into Closer Connection With You.

O That Men Would Know Themselves To Be Men; And That He That Glorieth Would Glory In The Lord.

War Should We Waged Without Love Of Violence, Cruelty, Or Enmity.

Lord, Thou Madest Us For Thyself, And We Can Find No Rest Till We Find Rest In Thee.

We Do Not Sin When We Adore Christ In The Eucharist; We Do Sin When We Do Not Adore Christ In The Eucharist.

He Who Thinks He Lives Without Sin Puts Aside Not Sin, But Pardon.

Ninety Percent Of The Time Things Turn Out Worse Than You Thought They Would. The Other Ten Percent Of The Time You Had No Right To Expect That Much.

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

He Loves Thee Too Little, Who Loves Anything Together With Thee, Which He Loves Not For Thy Sake.

Do What You Can And Pray For What You Cannot Yet Do.

Wicked Sons Do Not Have The Holy Ghost In The Same Way As Do Beloved Sons, And Yet They Do Have Baptism. So, Too, Heretics Do Not Have The Church As Catholics Have, Even Though They Have Baptism.

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

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

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

It Is Not Earthly Riches Which Make Us Or Our Sons Happy; For They Must Either Be Lost By Us In Our Lifetime, Or Be Possessed When We Are Dead, By Whom We Know Not, Or Perhaps By Whom We Would Not.

Love Begins With A Smile, Grows With A Kiss, And Ends With A Teardrop.

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.

Do You Desire Security? Here You Have It. The Lord Says To You, "i Will Never Abandon You, I Will Always Be With You." If A Good Man Made You Such A Promise, You Would Trust Him. God Makes It, And Do You Doubt? Do You Seek A Support More Sure Than The Word Of God, Which Is Infallible? Surely, He Has Made The Promise, He Has Written It, He Has Pledged His Word For It, It Is Most Certain.

Unjust Laws Aren't Laws At All.

In Doing What We Ought We Deserve No Praise, Because It Is Our Duty.

God Is Always Trying To Give Good Things To Us, But Our Hands Are Too Full To Receive Them.

Heaven Forbid That We Should Believe In Such A Way As Not To Accept Or Seek Reasons, Since We Could Not Even Believe If We Did Not Possess Rational Souls.

My Love For You, Lord, Is Not An Uncertain Feeling, But A Matter Of Concious Certainty. With Your Word You Pierced My Heart, And I Loved You. But Heaven And Earth And Everything In Them On All Sides Tell Me To Love You.

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

If A Parricide Is More Wicked Than Anyone Who Commits Homicide-because He Kills Not Merely A Man But A Near Relative-without Doubt Worse Still Is He Who Kills Himself, Because There Is None Nearer To A Man Than Himself.

For What Is Faith Unless It Is To Believe What You Do Not See?

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

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

Our Whole Business In This Life Is To Restore To Health The Eye Of The Heart Whereby God May Be Seen.

Why Is It That Man Desires To Be Made Sad, Beholding Doleful And Tragical Things, Which Yet Himself Would By No Means Suffer?

Whoever, Therefore, Thinks That He Understands The Divine Scriptures Or Any Part Of Them So That It Does Not Build On The Double Love Of God And Of Our Neighbor Does Not Understand It At All. Thus A Man Supported By Faith, Hope, And Charity, With An Unshaken Hold Upon Them Does Not Need The Scriptures. . . And Many Live By These Three Things In Solitude Without Books.

And He Departed From Our Sight That We Might Return To Our Hearts And Find Him There. For He Left Us, And Behold, He Is Here.

Da Mihi Castitatem Et Continentiam, Sed Noli Modo (give Me Chastity And Continence, But Not Just Yet)!

God Is Not What You Imagine Or What You Think You Understand. If You Understand You Have Failed.

You Never Go Away From Us, Yet We Have Difficulty In Returning To You. Come, Lord, Stir Us Up And Call Us Back. Kindle And Seize Us. Be Our Fire And Our Sweetness. Let Us Love. Let Us Run.

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

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

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

Whoever Possesses God Is Happy.

The Holy Scriptures Are Our Letters From Home.

You Cannot Attain To Charity Except Through Humility.

Sin Is To A Nature What Blindness Is To An Eye. The Blindness Of An Evil Or Defect Which Is A Witness To The Fact That The Eye Was Created To See The Light And, Hence, The Very Lack Of Sight Is The Proof That The Eye Was Meant... To Be The One Particularly Capable Of Seeing The Light. Were It Not For This Capacity, There Would Be No Reason To Think Of Blindness As A Misforture.

The Flesh Does Not By Its Own Virtue Purify, But Is Purified By Virtue Of The Word By Which It Was Assumed, When 'the Word Became Flesh And Dwelt Among Us' (jn. 1:14).

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.

Give Me Chastity And Continence, But Not Yet.

Bad Company Is Like A Nail Driven Into A Post, Which, After The First And Second Blow, May Be Drawn Out With Little Difficulty; But Being Once Driven Up To The Head, The Pincers Cannot Take Hold To Draw It Out, But Which Can Only Be Done By The Destruction Of The Wood.

Your First Task Is To Be Dissatisfied With Yourself, Fight Sin, And Transform Yourself Into Something Better. Your Second Task Is To Put Up With The Trials And Temptations Of This World That Will Be Brought On By The Change In Your Life And To Persevere To The Very End In The Midst Of These Things.

I Became Evil For No Reason. I Had No Motive For My Wickedness Except Wickedness Itself. It Was Foul, And I Loved It. I Loved The Self-destruction, I Loved My Fall, Not The Object For Which I Had Fallen But My Fall Itself. My Depraved Soul Leaped Down From Your Firmament To Ruin. I Was Seeking Not To Gain Anything By Shameful Means, But Shame For Its Own Sake.

Love And Do What You Want. If You Stop Talking, You Will Stop Talking With Love; If You Shout, You Will Shout With Love; If You Correct, You Will Correct With Love.

Habit, If Not Resisted, Soon Becomes Necessity.

One Generation And Another Generation; The Generation By Which We Are Made The Faithful, And Are Born Again By Baptism; The Generation By Which We Shall Rise Again From The Dead, And Shall Live With The Angels For Ever.

For A Sentence Is Not Complete Unless Each Word, Once Its Syllables Have Been Pronounced, Gives Way To Make Room For The Next...they Are Set Up On The Course Of Their Existence, And The Faster They Climb Towards Its Zenith, The More They Hasten Towards The Point Where They Exist No More.

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

Inspirational Life

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.

Wonderful Is The Depth Of Thy Words, Whose Surface Is Before Us, Gently Leading On The Little Ones: And Yet A Wonderful Deepness, O My God, A Wonderful Deepness. It Is Awe To Look Into It; Even An Awfulness Of Honour, And A Trembling Of Love.

Do You Know Who The Upright Of Heart Are? They Are Those Who Wish What God Wishes. Therefore, Do Not Try To Twist God's Will To You Own But Correct Your Will To That Of God. The Will Of God Is A Rule Of Conduct. By It You Have The Means Of Being Converted And Of Correcting Your Evil Ways.

There Is No Possible Source Of Evil Except Good.

If You Should Ask Me What Are The Ways Of God, I Would Tell You That The First Is Humility, The Second Is Humility, And The Third Is Humility. Not That There Are No Other Precepts To Give, But If Humility Does Not Preceed All That We Do, Our Efforts Are Fruitless.

Divine Scripture Is Wont To Frame, As It Were, Allurements For Children From The Things Which Are Found In The Creature; Whereby, According To Their Measure, And As It Were By Steps, The Affections Of The Weak May Be Moved To Seek Those Things That Are Above, And To Leave Those Things That Are Below. But The Same Scripture Rarely Employs Those Things Which Are Spoken Properly Of God, And Are Not Found In Any Creature; As, For Instance, That Which Was Said To Moses, I Am That I Am; And, I Am Has Sent Me To You."

Thy Word Remaineth For Ever, Which Word Now Appeareth Unto Us In The Riddle Of The Clouds, And Through The Mirror Of The Heavens, Not As It Is: Because That Even We, Though The Well Beloved Of Thy Son, Yet It Hath Not Yet Appeared What We Shall Be. He Looked Through The Lattice Of Our Flesh And He Spake Us Fair, Yea, He Set Us On Fire, And We Hasten On His Scent. But When He Shall Appear, Then Shall We Be Like Him, For We Shall See Him As He Is: As He Is, Lord, Will Our Sight Be, Though The Time Be Not Yet.

Sin Is Believing The Lie That You Are Self-created, Self-dependent And Self-sustained.

The Best Minds Are Not In Government. If Any Were, Business Would Steal Them Away. -ronald Reagan In The Absence Of Justice, What Is Sovereignty But Organized Robbery?

Human Law Cannot Punish Or Forbid All Evil, Since While Doing Away With Evils It Would Do Away With Many Good Things, Which Would Hinder The Advance Of The Common Good.

Hell Was Made For The Inquisitive.

Grant What Thou Commandest, And Command What Thou Wilt.

For So It Is, O Lord My God, I Measure It! But What It Is I Measure, I Do Not Know.

There Is Another Form Of Temptation, Even More Fraught With Danger. This Is The Disease Of Curiosity. It Is This Which Drives Us To Try And Discover The Secrets Of Nature, Those Secrets Which Are Beyond Our Understanding, Which Can Avail Us Nothing And Which Man Should Not Wish To Learn.

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 Entire Most Beautiful Order Of Things That Are Very Good, When Their Measures Have Been Accomplished, Is To Pass Away.

You Called And Shouted And Burst My Deafness. You Flashed, Shone, And Scattered My Blindness. You Breathed Odors, And I Drew In Breath And Panted For You. I Tasted, And I Hunger And Thirst. You Touched Me, And I Burned For Your Peace.

Hunger And Thirst

God Provides The Wind, Man Must Raise The Sail.

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.

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

It Is Human To Err, But It Is Devilish To Remain Willfully In Error.

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.

Nobody Should Ever Doubt That In The Washing Of Rebirth (titus 3:5) Absolutely All Sins, From The Least To The Greatest, Are Altogether Forgiven.

When, Therefore, Man Lives According To Man, Not According To God, He Is Like The Devil.

The Weakness Of Little Children's Limbs Is Innocent, Not Their Souls.

We Come To God By Love And Not By Navigation.

...but We Enjoyed Playing Games And Were Punished For Them By Men Who Played Games Themselves. However, Grown-up Games Are Known As 'business' And Even Though Boys' Games Are Much The Same, They Are Punished For Them By Their Elders. No One Pities Either The Boys Or The Men, Though Surely We Deserve Pity, For I Cannot Believe That A Good Judge Would Approve Of The Beatings I Received As A Boy On The Ground That My Games Delayed My Progress In Studying Subjects Which Would Enable Me To Play A Less Creditable Game Later In Life.

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

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.

"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.

I Have Learnt To Love You Late, Beauty At Once So Ancient And So New!

Modo, Et Modo, Non Habebent Modum. By-and-by Has No End.

Should You Ask Me What Is The First Thing In Religion, I Should Reply That The First, Second, And Third Thing Therein Is Humility.

God Without Us Will Not As We Without God Cannot.

Between Urine And Filth We Are Born.

It Is Not The Being Seen Of Men That Is Wrong, But Doing These Things For The Purpose Of Being Seen Of Men. The Problem With The Hypocrite Is His Motivation.

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.

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

He That Loveth Little Prayeth Little, He That Loveth Much Prayeth Much.

Who Else Is It Who Calls Us Back From The Death Of Error, Except The Life That Does Not Know Death, And The Wisdom Which, Needing No Light, Enlightens Minds Which Are In Darkness, That Wisdom By Which The Whole World, Even To The Leaves Of Trees Drifting In The Wind, Is Governed?

God Bestows More Consideration On The Purity Of The Intention With Which Our Actions Are Performed Than On The Actions Themselves.

Purity And Love

Poltinus The Platonist Proves By Means Of The Blossoms And Leaves That From The Supreme God, Whose Beauty Is Invisible And Ineffable, Providence Reaches Down To The Things Of Earth Here Below. He Points Out That These Frail And Mortal Objects Could Not Be Endowed With A Beauty So Immaculate And So Exquisitely Wrought, Did They Not Issue From The Divinity Which Endlessly Prevades With Its Invisible And Unchanging Beauty All Things.

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