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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 1, 2019 17:23:34 GMT
Augustine Day by Day Minute Meditations for Every Day Taken from the Writings of Saint Augustine Compiled and Edited by John E. Rotelle, O.S.A.
APRIL 1 The Crucifixion Is Always Lived
The crucifixion is something that must continue throughout our life, not for forty days only, although Moses, Elijah, and Christ fasted for forty days. We are meant to learn from them not to cling to this present world or imitate its ways, but to nail our unregenerate selves to the cross. - Sermon 205, 1
Prayer. Lord, we give Thee thanks for Thy mercy. Thou wanted to die so that someone should rise from the dead. And someone, not anyone, but truth rose from the dead. - Commentary on Psalm 147, 17
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 2, 2019 16:55:51 GMT
APRIL 2 The Importance of Intention
How great a good was conferred on humankind by the handing over of Christ! God had in His thoughts our salvation by which we are redeemed; Judas had in his thoughts the price for which he sold the Lord. The Son Himself had in His thoughts the price He gave for us, while Judas had in his the price he received to sell Him. The diverse intention, therefore, makes the things done diverse. - Sermon on 1 John 7, 8
Prayer. Because of our sins we are in darkness; but Thou, my God, will illuminate my darkness.
- Commentary on Psalm 17, 29
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 3, 2019 16:08:56 GMT
APRIL 3 Head and Members Pray
God could give no greater gift to us than to make His Word, through Whom He created all things, our Head and to join us to Him as His members.
Thus, when we speak to God in prayer we do not separate the Son from Him, and when the body of the Son prays it does not separate its Head from itself. - Commentary on Psalm 85, 1
Prayer. May He perfect His gifts in us, since He did not hesitate to take our faults on Himself. And may He make us children of God, since He chose to become the child of human beings for us. - Sermon 184, 3
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 4, 2019 15:08:52 GMT
APRIL 4 The Human Cry of Jesus
Christ intended to teach us what we should spurn in this life and what we should hope for in the next. Thus at the very height of His passion, when His enemies thought they had won such a mighty victory, He gave voice to our human weakness that was being crucified together with our former selves to set our sinful bodies free. And His cry was: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" - Letter 140, 15
Prayer. Let my heart praise Thee and my tongue say: "Lord, who is like Thee?" then may Thou tell my soul: "I am your salvation." - Confessions 9, 1
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 5, 2019 16:46:12 GMT
APRIL 5 God First Loved Us
Fulfill the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding in mercy, so just in all His ways? Could anyone deny love to Him Who first loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to love the God Who so loved us, as to send His only Son not only to live among human beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands. - Cathechetical Instructions 39
Prayer. Thou, the Omnipotent and Good, care for each of us as if each was Thy sole care, and for all as for one alone! -Confessions 3, 11
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 6, 2019 18:16:40 GMT
APRIL 6
Without Christ We Can Do Nothing
Our Lord had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. But we cannot choose how long we shall live, and death comes to us even against our will. Christ, by dying, has already overcome death. Our freedom from death comes only through His death. To save us Christ had no need of us. Yet without Him we can do nothing. He gave Himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from Him we cannot live. - Sermon on John 84, 2
Prayer. Lord, Thou hast saved my soul from the constraint of fear, so that it may serve Thee in the freedom of love.
- Commentary on Psalm 30 (1), 8
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 7, 2019 17:37:52 GMT
APRIL 7 Our Human Weakness Overcome in Christ
As evening drew near, the Lord yielded up His soul upon the cross in the certainty of receiving it back again. It was not wrested from Him against His will.
But we too were represented there. Christ had to hang upon the cross except the body He had received from us. And in doing so He nailed our human weakness to the cross. - Commmentray on Psalm 140, 5
Prayer. Rise up, Lord, help us, and redeem us because of Thy Name. Redeem me out of Thy kindness and not for any merit of mine. - Commentary on Psalm 43, 26
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 8, 2019 16:19:12 GMT
APRIL 8 God Makes Me Good
Before any good merits of mine, the mercy of God came to me. Even though He had found no good in me, He Himself made me good. It is God Who justifies those who turn to Him and admonishes those who are still far away that they be converted. - Commentary on Psalm 58 (2), 2
Prayer. Lord, our Mediator, God above us, human for our sake, I acknowledge Thy mercy. In Thy love for us Thou chose to be greatly troubled. Now Thou can much console the members of Thy body who by their weakness are compelled to be troubled and to keep them from perishing in despair.
- Sermon on John 52, 2
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 9, 2019 14:43:27 GMT
APRIL 9 Made Anew
See me in these "Confessions," that you may not praise me beyond what I am. Believe what is said of me in these, not by others but by myself. Contemplate me in these, and see what I have been, in myself and by myself. For God has made us and not we ourselves. Indeed, we had destroyed ourselves, but He Who created us has made us anew. - Letter 231, 6
Prayer. Father make me seek Thee, and save me from error. As I seek Thee, let nothing else come in my way in place of Thee.
- Soliloquies 1, 6
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 10, 2019 15:10:08 GMT
APRIL 10 Bearing One Another's Burdens
Now this is the law of Christ, that we carry one another's burdens mutually. When we love Christ, it is easy to put up with the weakness of others, even when we do not yet love them for their good qualities. - Eighty-three Diverse Questions 71, 7
Prayer. O Lord, we are Thy little flock. Keep possession of us. Spread forth Thy wings and let us take shelter under them. -Confessions 10, 36
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 12, 2019 2:19:13 GMT
APRIL 11 Bearing Our Cross
Let them deny themselves, that is, not put their trust in themselves. Let them take up their cross, that is, put up with all the affronts of the world for the love of Christ. Persist, persevere, endure, bear up under the delay. In this way you will bear your cross. -Sermon 96, 9
Prayer. Christ, Son of God, if Thou hast not wished to suffer, Thou would not have suffered. Show us the fruit of Thy passion.
- Commentary on Psalm 21 (2), 23
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 12, 2019 23:42:26 GMT
APRIL 12The Lesson of Nature
Really, is there any more marvellous sight, any occasion when human reason is nearer to some sort of converse with the nature of things, than the sowing of seeds, the planting of cuttings, the transplanting of shrubs, and the grafting of slips? It is as though you could question the vital force in each root and bud on what it can do, and what it cannot do, and why. - The Literal Meaning of Genesis 8, 8 Prayer. I call upon Thee, God, the fountain of blessings, in Whom and by Whom and through Whom all things are blessed that are blessed, in Thy gracious way. Come to us.
- Soliloquies 1, 2
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 14, 2019 3:41:40 GMT
APRIL 13Move On
My brothers and sisters, let us take no delights in past pleasures, and avoid being captivated by things of the present. Let us not act like a stubborn snake that stops up its ears with its tail. Let nothing of the past prevent us from listening, and let no present things hinder us from giving thought to the future. Move on to what lies ahead. - Commentary on Psalm 66, 10 Prayer. Lord, I went astray, and then I remember Thee. I heard Thy voice behind me calling me to return. Now I return with excitement and desire to Thy fountain.- Confessions 12,10
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 15, 2019 3:58:19 GMT
APRIL 14Cross and Resurrection
Jesus’ cross is an example of painful toil. In the cross He showed us how we are to bear suffering. In His resurrection He showed us what we are to hope for. - On the Creed 3, 9Prayer. Thou come, O Christ, humble in appearance. Thou were scorned, whipped, crucified and killed. Yet on the third day Thou rose again, and on the fortieth day Thou ascended into heaven, where Thou sittest at the right hand of the Father and where no human being sees Thee.
- Commentary on the Psalm 53, 4
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 16, 2019 3:56:07 GMT
APRIL 15 Christ Died That You May Live
For you Christ allowed Himself to be crucified, to teach you humility. He was alive, and you were dead, He died that you might live. God vanquished death so that death might not overcome human beings. - Sermon on John 2,4; 14, 13
Prayer. Death, where is your strife? Death, where is your sting? Lord, Thou were struck, wounded, and cast down; but Thou were wounded for me, Thou Who made me. Death, O Death, He Who made me was wounded for me, and by His Own death He conquered you. - Sermon 128, 10
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