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The Good Christian Should Beware The Mathematician And All Those Who Make Empty Prophecies. The Danger Already Exists That The Mathematicians Have Made A Covenant With The Devil To Darken The Spirit And To Confine Man In The Bonds Of Hell.

-Saint Augustine

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The Good Christian Should

Saint Augustine

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The Good Christian Should Beware The Mathematician And All Those Who Make Empty Prophecies. The Danger Already Exists That The Mathematicians Have Made A Covenant With The Devil To Darken The Spirit And To Confine Man In The Bonds Of Hell.

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Love Is The Beauty Of The Soul.

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.

To Abstain From Sin When One Can No Longer Sin Is To Be Forsaken By Sin, Not To Forsake It.

I Had A Clear Idea About What Time Is Till I Was Asked To Explain It And Ceased To Understand It Altogether As Soon As I Began Explaining It.

Since Love Grows Within You, So Beauty Grows. For Love Is The Beauty Of The Soul.

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.

Beware Of Bad Catholics.

Patience Is The Companion Of Wisdom.

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.

Whole Prayer Is Nothing But Love.

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.

There Never Can Have Been, And Never Can Be, And There Never Shall Be Any Sin Without Pride.

The Honors Of This World, What Are They But Puff, And Emptiness, And Peril Of Falling?

Falling In Love

I Have Read In Plato And Cicero Sayings That Are Wise And Very Beautiful; But I Have Never Read In Either Of Them: Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor And Are Heavy Laden.

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

By And By Never Comes.

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

What Is Time? If I Am Not Asked, I Know; If I Am Asked, I Don't.

O Master, Make Me Chaste, But Not Yet!

The Mind Commands The Body, And It Obeys Forthwith; The Mind Commands Itself, And Is Resisted. The Mind Commands The Hand To Be Moved, And Such Readiness Is There That The Command Is Scarce To Be Distinguished From The Obedience. Yet The Mind Is Mind, And The Hand Is Body. The Mind Commands The Mind To Will, And Yet, Though It Be Itself, It Obeyeth Not. Whence This Monstrous Thing? And Why Is It?

The Good Christian Should Beware The Mathematician And All Those Who Make Empty Prophecies. The Danger Already Exists That The Mathematicians Have Made A Covenant With The Devil To Darken The Spirit And To Confine Man In The Bonds Of Hell.

So You See How Endlessly Futile And Fruitless It Would Be If We Wanted To Refute Their Objections Every Time They Obstinately Resolved Not To Think Through What They Say But Merely To Speak, Just So Long As They Contradict Our Arguments In Any Way They Can.

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

Let No One Flatter Himself; Of Himself He Is Satan. Let Man Take Sin, Which Is His Own, And Leave Righteousness With God.

The Spiritual Virtue Of A Sacrament Is Like Light; Although It Passes Among The Impure, It Is Not Polluted.

This World's A Bubble.

Purity Of Soul Cannot Be Lost Without Consent.

I Do Not Comprehend All That I Am. Is The Mind, Therefore, Too Limited To Possess Itself?

That There Should Be Some Fire Even After This Life Is Not Incredible, And It Can Be Inquired Into And Either Be Discovered Or Left Hidden Whether Some Of The Faithful May Be Saved, Some More Slowly And Some More Quickly In The Greater Or Lesser Degree In Which They Loved The Good Things That Perish, Through A Certain Purgatorial Fire.

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.

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."

Is Any Man Skillful Enough To Have Fashioned Himself?

We Judge All Things According To The Divine Truth.

Temperance Is A Disposition That Restrains Our Desires For Things Which It Is Base To Desire.

If We Tread Our Vices Under Our Feet, We Make Of Them A Ladder By Which To Rise To Higher Things.

Six Is A Number Perfect In Itself, And Not Because God Created The World In Six Days; Rather The Contrary Is True. God Created The World In Six Days Because This Number Is Perfect, And It Would Remain Perfect, Even If The Work Of The Six Days Did Not Exist.

A Christian Is: A Mind Through Which Christ Thinks, A Heart Through Which Christ Loves, A Voice Through Which Christ Speaks, And A Hand Through Which Christ Helps.

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending.

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.

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.

Blessed Is He Who Devotes His Life To Great And Noble Ends, And Who Forms His Well-considered Plans With Deliberate Wisdom.

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

It Is Not That We Keep His Commandments First And That Then He Loves But That He Loves Us And Then We Keep His Commandments. This Is That Grace Which Is Revealed To The Humble But Hidden From The Proud.

I Was Looking For Something To Love, For I Was In Love With Loving, And I Hated Security And A Smooth Way, Free From Snares.

Christ Was Born Of A Woman Without The Man.

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.

He Who Created Us Without Our Help Will Not Save Us Without Our Consent.

No One Indeed Believes Anything Unless He Has First Thought That It It To Be Believed.

The Good Man, Though A Slave, Is Free; The Wicked, Though He Reigns, Is A Slave.

Lord, Who Art Always The Same, Give That I Know Myself, Give That I Know Thee.

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.

Once For All, Then, A Short Precept Is Given Thee: Love, And Do What Thou Wilt: Whether Thou Hold Thy Peace, Through Love Hold Thy Peace; Whether Thou Cry Out, Through Love Cry Out; Whether Thou Correct, Through Love Correct; Whether Thou Spare, Through Love Do Thou Spare: Let The Root Of Love Be Within, Of This Root Can Nothing Spring But What Is Good.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Free Curiosity Has Greater Power To Stimulate Learning Than Rigorous Coercion. Nevertheless, The Free Ranging Flux Of Curiosity Is Channeled By Discipline Under Your Law.

The Head And The Body Are Christ Wholly And Entirely. The Head Is The Only Begotten Son Of God, The Body Is His Church; The Bridegroom And The Bride, Two In One Flesh. All Who Dissent From The Scriptures Concerning Christ, Although They May Be Found In All Places In Which The Church Is Found, Are Not In The Church; And Again All Those Who Agree With The Scriptures Concerning The Head, And Do Not Communicate In The Unity Of The Church, Are Not In The Church.

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

Not To Give To Those In Need What Is To You Superfluous Is Akin To Fraud.

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

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

A Christian Should Be An Alleluia From Head To Foot

The Purpose Of All Wars, Is Peace.

Often The Contempt Of Vainglory Becomes A Source Of Even More Vainglory, For It Is Not Being Scorned When The Contempt Is Something One Is Proud Of.

Forgiveness Is The Remission Of Sins. For It Is By This That What Has Been Lost, And Was Found, Is Saved From Being Lost Again.

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

Men Go Forth To Marvel At The Height Of Mountains, And The Huge Waves Of The Sea, The Broad Flow Of The Rivers, The Vastness Of The Ocean, The Orbits Of The Stars, And Yet They Neglect To Marvel At Themselves. Variant: Men Go Abroad To Admire The Heights Of Mountains, The Mighty Billows Of The Sea, The Broad Tides Of Rivers, The Compass Of The Ocean, And The Circuits Of The Stars, And Pass Themselves By.

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

What I Needed Most Was To Love And To Be Loved, Eager To Be Caught. Happily I Wrapped Those Painful Bonds Around Me; And Sure Enough, I Would Be Lashed With The Red-hot Pokers Or Jealousy, By Suspicions And Fear, By Burst Of Anger And Quarrels.

He Who Made Thee Is Made In Thee. He Is Made In Thee Through Whom You Were Made.... Give Milk, O Mother, To Him Who Is Our Food; Give Milk To The Bread That Comes Down From Heaven.

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.

Love And Say It With Your Life.

Now, May Our God Be Our Hope. He Who Made All Things Is Better Than All Things. He Who Made All Beautiful Things Is More Beautiful Than All Of Them. He Who Made All Mighty Things Is More Mighty Than All Of Them. He Who Made All Great Things Is Greater Than All Of Them. Learn To Love The Creator In His Creature, And The Maker In What He Has Made.

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.

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.

This Is The Very Perfection Of A Man, To Find Out His Own Imperfections.

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.

This Awful Catastrophe Is Not The End But The Beginning. History Does Not End So. It Is The Way Its Chapters Open.

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?

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.

Late Have I Loved Thee, O Lord; And Behold, Thou Wast Within And I Without, And There I Sought Thee. Thou Was With Me When I Was Not With Thee. Thou Didst Call, And Cry, And Burst My Deafness. Thou Didst Gleam, And Glow, And Dispell My Blindness. Thou Didst Touch Me, And I Burned For Thy Peace. For Thyself Thou Hast Made Us, And Restless Our Hearts Until In Thee They Find Their Ease. Late Have I Loved Thee, Thou Beauty Ever Old And Ever New. Thou Hast Burst My Bonds Asunder; Unto Thee Will I Offer Up An Offering Of Praise.

My Mind Withdrew Its Thoughts From Experience, Extracting Itself From The Contradictory Throng Of Sensuous Images, That It Might Find Out What That Light Was Wherein It Was Bathed... And Thus, With The Flash Of One Hurried Glance, It Attained To The Vision Of That Which Is.

Why Then Be Perverted And Follow Thy Flesh? Be It Converted And Follow Thee.

Repentant Tears Wash Out The Stain Of Guilt.

We Are Certainly In A Common Class With The Beasts; Every Action Of Animal Life Is Concerned With Seeking Bodily Pleasure And Avoiding Pain.

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

Except He Be Willing, Man Cannot Believe.

Whoever, Then, Thinks That He Understands The Holy Scriptures, Or Any Part Of Them, But Puts Such An Interpretation Upon Them As Does Not Tend To Build Up This Twofold Love Of God And Our Neighbor, Does Not Yet Understand Them As He Ought.

His Knowledge Is Not Like Ours, Which Has Three Tenses; Present, Past, And Future. God's Knowledge Has No Change Or Variation.

Teach Correctly... Find Delight In Contemplation.

The Sufficiency Of My Merit Is To Know That My Merit Is Not Sufficient.

A Thing Is Not Necessarily True Because Badly Uttered, Nor False Because Spoken Magnificently.

Desire Only God, And Your Heart Will Be Satisfied.

We Must Be On Our Guard Against Giving Interpretations Which Are Hazardous Or Opposed To Science, And So Exposing The Word Of God To The Ridicule Of Unbelievers.

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

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.

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.

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

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

A Young Man Had Become Possessed By A Devil. The Thing Within Him Burst Into Loud Lamentation And Departed From The Man. At Once The Youth's Eye Fell Out On His Cheek, And The Whole Of The Pupil Which Had Been Black Became White.

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.

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

If You Lose Your Soul, There Is A Danger Of Its Being Destroyed. Therefore, You May Not Love It, Since You Do Not Want It To Be Destroyed. But In Not Wanting It To Be Destroyed, You Love It.

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.

The One Who Sings, Prays Twice.

Because A Thing Is Eloquently Expressed It Should Not Be Taken To Be As Necessarily True; Nor Because It Is Uttered With Stammering Lips Should It Be Supposed False.

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

Whoever Seems To Himself To Have Understood The Scriptures In Such A Way That He Does Not Build Up That Double Love Of God And Neighbor Has Not Yet Understood.

Quid Est Ergo Tempus? Si Nemo Ex Me Quaerat, Scio; Si Quaerenti Explicare Velim, Nescio. What, Then, Is Time? I Know Well Enough What It Is, Provided That Nobodyasksme; But If Iamasked What It Is And Try To Explain, I Am Baffled.

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.

Ex Malo Bounum (good Out Of Evil).

The Good Man, Though A Slave, Is Free; The Wicked, Though He Reigns, Is A Slave, And Not The Slave Of A Single Man, But- What Is Worse - The Slave Of As Many Masters As He Has Vices.

You Are My Lord, Because You Have No Need Of My Goodness.

I Did Not Find You Outside, O Lord, Because I Made The Mistake Of Seeking Outside You Who Were Within

This Entire Most Beautiful Order Of Good Things Is Going To Pass Away After Its Measure Has Been Exhausted; For Both Morning And Evening Were Made In Them.

O Lord, Help Me To Be Pure, But Not Yet.

Free Curiosity Is Of More Value In Learning Than Harsh Discipline.

Such Is The Strength Of The Burden Of Habit. Here I Have The Power To Be But Do Not Wish It. There I Wish To Be But Lacks The Power. On Both Grounds, I'm In Misery.

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

When All Is Said And Done, Is There Any More Wonderful Sight, Any Moment When Man's Reason Is Nearer To Some Sort Of Contact With The Nature Of The World Than The Sowing Of Seeds, The Planting Of Cuttings, The Transplanting Of Shrubs Or The Grafting Of Slips?

The Law Is Not In Fault, But Our Evil And Wicked Nature; Even As A Heap Of Lime Is Still And Quiet Until Water Is Poured On It, But Then It Begins To Smoke And Burn, Not From The Fault Of The Water, But From The Nature Of The Lime, Which Will Not Endure It.

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

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

Who Can Map Out The Various Forces At Play In One Soul? Man Is A Great Depth, O Lord. The Hairs Of His Head Are Easier By Far To Count Than His Feeling, The Movements Of His Heart.

What Difference, If You Are Mistaken? For If I Am Mistaken, I Am. For He Who Is Not, Assuredly Cannot Be Mistaken; And Therefore I Am, If I Am Mistaken. Therefore Because I Am If I Am Mistaken, How Am I Mistaken That I Am, When It Is Sure That I Am, If I Am Mistaken.

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.

What Is Held By The Whole Church, And That Not As Instituted By Councils, But As A Matter Of Invariable Custom, Is Rightly Held To Have Been Handed Down By Authority.

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

Never Judge A Philosophy By Its Abuse.

Jesus Took His Flesh From The Flesh Of Mary

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

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

Where Your Pleasure Is, There Is Your Treasure: Where Your Treasure, There Your Heart; Where Your Heart, There Your Happiness

And Yet I Do Love A Kind Of Light, Melody, Fragrance, Food, Embracement When I Love My God; For He Is The Light, The Melody, The Fragrance, The Food, The Embracement Of My Inner Self - There Where Is A Brillance That Space Cannot Contain, A Sound That Time Cannot Carry Away, A Perfume That No Breeze Disperses, A Taste Undimisnished By Eating, A Clinging Together That No Saiety Will Sunder. This Is What I Love When I Love My God.

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).

Thus The Good Christian Should Beware Of Mathematicians And All Those Who Make False Prophecies, However Much They May In Fact Speak The Truth; Lest, Being In League With The Devil, They May Deceive Errant Souls Into Making Common Cause.

We Take For Granted The Slow Miracle Whereby Water In The Irrigation Of A Vineyard Becomes Wine. It Is Only When Christ Turns Water Into Wine, In A Quick Motion, As It Were, That We Stand Amazed.

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

What You See Is The Bread And The Chalice; That Is What Your Own Eyes Report To You. But What Your Faith Obliges You To Accept Is That The Bread Is The Body Of Christ And The Chalice Is The Blood Of Christ. This Has Been Said Very Briefly, Which May Perhaps Be Sufficient For Faith; Yet Faith Does Not Desire Instruction

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.

Because God Has Made Us For Himself, Our Hearts Are Restless Until They Rest In Him.

If God Seems Slow In Responding, It Is Because He Is Preparing A Better Gift. He Will Not Deny Us. God Withholds What You Are Not Yet Ready For. He Wants You To Have A Lively Desire For His Greatest Gifts. All Of Which Is To Say, Pray Always And Do Not Lose Heart.

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.

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

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

Of This I Am Certain, That No One Has Ever Died Who Was Not Destined To Die Some Time. Now The End Of Life Puts The Longest Life On A Par With The Shortest... And Of What Consequence Is It What Kind Of Death Puts An End To Life, Since He Who Has Died Once Is Not Forced To Go Through The Same Ordeal A Second Time? 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.

We Come To God By Love And Not By Navigation.

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.

The Human Race Is Inquisitive About Other People's Lives, But Negligent To Correct Their Own.

Poetry Is The Devil's Wine.

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.

Far Be It From Us To Doubt That All Number Is Known To Him 'whose Understanding Is Infinite' (ps. 147:5). The Infinity Of Number, Though There Be No Numbering Of Infinite Numbers, Is Yet Not Incomprehensible By Him Whose Understanding Is Infinite. And Thus, If Everything Which Is Comprehended Is Defined Or Made Finite By The Comprehension Of Him Who Knows It, Then All Infinity Is In Some Ineffable Way Made Finite To God, For It Is Comprehensible By His Knowledge.

What Am I Then, My God? What Is My Nature? A Life Varied, Multifaceted And Truly Immense.

The Desire Is Thy Prayers; And If Thy Desire Is Without Ceasing, Thy Prayer Will Also Be Without Ceasing. The Continuance Of Your Longing Is The Continuance Of Your Prayer.

We Speak, But It Is God Who Teaches.

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

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.

The Devil Often Transforms Himself Into An Angel To Tempt Men, Some For Their Instruction, Some For Their Ruin.

In The Catholic Church, There Are Many Other Things Which Most Justly Keep Me In Her Bosom. The Consent Of Peoples And Nations Keeps Me In The Church; So Does Her Authority, Inaugurated By Miracles, Nourished By Hope, Enlarged By Love, Established By Age. The Succession Of Priests Keeps Me, Beginning From The Very Seat Of The Apostle Peter, To Whom The Lord, After His Resurrection, Gave It In Charge To Feed His Sheep (jn 21:15-19), Down To The Present Episcopate.

Charity Is The Root Of All Good Works.

People Travel To Marvel At The Mountains, Seas, Rivers And Stars And They Pass Right By Themselves Without Astonishment.

If You Comprehend, It Is Not God.

Love, And Do What You Will. If You Are Silent, Be Silent For Love; Or If You Cry Out, Cry Out For Love. If You Chastise, Chastise For Love; If You Spare, Spare For Love.

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

Christian Inspirational

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

Tolle, Lege: Take Up And Read.

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.

...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.

Man's Maker Was Made Man That He, Ruler Of The Stars, Might Nurse At His Mother's Breast; That The Bread Might Hunger, The Fountain Thirst, The Light Sleep, The Way Be Tired On Its Journey; That Truth Might Be Accused Of False Witnesses, The Teacher Be Beaten With Whips, The Foundation Be Suspended On Wood; That Strength Might Grow Weak; That The Healer Might Be Wounded; That Life Might Die.

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.

If You Believe What You Like In The Gospels, And Reject What You Don't Like, It Is Not The Gospel You Believe, But Yourself.

A Free Curiosity Is More Effective In Learning Than A Rigid Discipline.

I Acknowledge Thee, Lord Of Heaven And Earth, And Praise Thee For My First Rudiments Of Being, And My Infancy, Whereof I Remember Nothing; For Thou Hast Appointed That Man Should From Others Guess Much As To Himself; And Believe Much On The Strength Of Weak Females.

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

Humility Is The Foundation Of All The Other Virtues Hence, In The Soul In Which This Virtue Does Not Exist There Cannot Be Any Other Virtue Except In Mere Appearance.

Father, I Am Seeking: I Am Hesitant And Uncertain, But Will You, O God, Watch Over Each Step Of Mine And Guide Me.

It Is Love That Asks, That Seeks, That Knocks, That Finds, And That Is Faithful To What It Finds.

Poetry Is Devil's Wine.

When People Truly Open Their Minds, And Contemplate The Way In Which The Universe Is Ordered And Governed, They Are Amazed-overwhelmed By A Sense Of The Miraculous. When People Contemplate With Open Minds The Germination Of A Single Seed, They Are Equally Overwhelmed-yet Numerous Babies Are Born Every Day, And No-one Marvels. If Only People Opened Their Minds, They Would See That The Birth Of A Baby, In Which A New Life Is Created, Is A Greater Miracle Than Restoring Life.

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

Love And Do As You Will.

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.

Ignorance Itself Is Without A Doubt A Sin For Those Who Do Not Wish To Understand; For Those Who, However, Cannot Understand, It Is The Punishment Of Sin.

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.

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.

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.

A Brotherly Person Rejoices On My Account When He Approves Me, But When He Disapproves, He Is Loving Me. To Such People I Will Reveal Myself. They Will Take Heart From My Good Traits, And Sigh With Sadness At My Bad Ones. My Good Points Are Instilled By You And Are Your Gifts. My Bad Points Are My Faults And Your Judgements On Them. Let Them Take Heart From The One And Regret The Other. Let Both Praise And Tears Ascend In Your Sight From Brotherly Hearts, Your Censers. ...but You Lord...make Perfect My Imperfections.

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.

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.

For Great Are You, Lord, And You Look Kindly On What Is Humble, But The Lofty-minded You Regard From Afar. Only To Those Whose Hearts Are Crushed Do You Draw Close. You Will Not Let Yourself Be Found By The Proud, Nor Even By Those Who In Their Inquisitive Skill Count Stars Or Grains Of Sand, Or Measure The Expanses Of Heaven, Or Trace The Paths Of The Planets.

You Cannot Attain To Charity Except Through Humility.

Every Visible Thing In This World Is Put In The Charge Of An Angel.

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.

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

Between Urine And Filth We Are Born.

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?

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