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Post by Elizabeth on Aug 31, 2019 18:41:29 GMT
SEPTEMBER 1 Christ Our Way
Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." He meant: It is by Me that you come; it is to Me that you come; and it is in Me that you remain. How do you wish to go? I am the Way. Where do you wish to go? I am the Truth. Where do you wish to remain? I am the Life. Christ as God is the homeland where we are going. Christ as Man is the Way we must travel. - Christian Doctrine 1, 34
Prayer. O Lord, my God, Thou alone do I love; Thou alone do I follow; Thou alone do I seek. Thou alone am I prepared to serve. - Soliloquies 1, 15
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Post by Elizabeth on Aug 31, 2019 18:45:01 GMT
SEPTEMBER 2 The Testimony of Creation
When I asked the earth, it responded: "I am not God." When I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, they said: "Nor are we the God you seek." I said: "Speak to me of my God." Loudly, they exclaimed: "It is He Who made us." The heavens, the earth, and everything that is in them, all these things tell me to love Thee. - Confessions 10, 6
Prayer. It was Thee, O Lord, Who created the heavens and earth. They are beautiful because Thou are beautiful. They are good because Thou are good. They have come to be because Thou are. - Confessions 11, 4
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 3, 2019 15:09:56 GMT
SEPTEMBER 3 The Lord Is Within
Thou, Lord, were within me, while I was outside. It was there that I sought Thee. I rushed headlong upon these things of beauty that Thou had made. Thou were with me, but I was not with Thee. They kept me far from Thee, those fair things which, if they were not in Thee, would not exist at all! - Confessions 10, 27
Prayer. Let me know Thee, my Father, let me know Thee as I too am known. Enter my soul, Thou Who are its strength, and make it what Thou want, so that Thou may have possess it without stain or wrinkle. - Confessions 10, 1
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 5, 2019 3:16:37 GMT
SEPTEMBER 4 Love of Neighbor
Persons who love God cannot despise Him when He commands us to love our neighbor. And do those who in spiritual holiness love their neighbor love anything but God in that neighbor? Let us, then love one another, so that, we may attract one another to love God in ourselves by means of love. In this way we may be closely united and be the Body of such a Head! - Sermon on John 65, 2
Prayer. Increase my faith, Lord, increase my hope, and increase my love! How wonderful and unmatched is Thy goodness! - Soliloquies 1, 1
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 6, 2019 2:03:20 GMT
SEPTEMBER 5 The Lord Builds the House
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain, declares the Psalmist. Who are those who labor to build it? All those who in the Church preach the word of God, the ministers of God's Sacraments. But "unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." We speak from without; He builds from within. It is He Who builds, counsels, inspires fear, opens your minds and directs them to the faith. - Commentary on Psalm 126, 1
Prayer. Lord, I have asked for only one thing from Thee, to live in Thy house all the days of my life, to gaze upon Thy delight.
- Commentary on Psalm 26 (2), 17
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 7, 2019 3:36:37 GMT
SEPTEMBER 6 O Beauty, So Ancient and So New
Too late have I loved Thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, too late have I loved Thee. Thou have called to me, and have cried out, and have shattered my deafness. Thou have blazed forth with light and have put my blindness to flight! Thou have sent forth fragrance, and I have drawn in my breath, and I pant after Thee. I have tasted Thee, and I hunger and thirst after Thee. Thou have touched me, and I have burned for Thy peace. - Confessions 10, 27
Prayer. My faith, O Lord, which Thou gave me through the humanity of Thy Son, calls upon Thee.
- Confessions 1, 1
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 8, 2019 2:12:32 GMT
SEPTEMBER 7 Admiration for the Dedicated
How can we help but admire and commend those who disregard and set aside the pleasures of this world and live together in a truly chaste and holy society! They pass their time in prayers, reading, and discussions, without any swelling of pride, or noise of contention, or sullenness of envy. Quiet, modest, and peaceful, their life is one of perfect harmony and devotion to God.
- The Morals of the Catholic Church 31, 67
Prayer. Give me Thyself, O my God. Surrender Thyself to me, for I love Thee. And if that is not enough, let me love Thee more ardently. - Confessions 13, 8
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 8, 2019 17:24:33 GMT
SEPTEMBER 8 Mary and the Church
Mary is holy; She is blessed. Yet the Church is better than the Virgin Mary. Why? Because Mary is a part of the Church, a holy member, an excellent member, of the Body. If Mary is a part of the whole Body, it is clear that the Body is greater than its mother. - Sermon 72A, 7
Prayer. Let our beautiful God, the Word with God, come to us that we may gaze upon Him with the eyes of our minds. He was beautiful in the womb of the Virgin where, in taking on our humanity, He nonetheless did not lose His divinity.
- Commentary on Psalm 44, 3
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 10, 2019 1:29:49 GMT
SEPTEMBER 9 Christ Is Needy in His Followers
Accordingly, when Christian receives Christian, the members serve one another; and the Head rejoices and considers given to Himself what was bestowed on His member. On our journey, we must live where Christ is in need. He is needy in His followers, for He Himself has no needs. - Sermon 236, 3
Prayer. Lord, Thou perfected my love so that I might surmount the dark entanglements of this world. Direct my desire toward the heavenly home so that I may be enriched with every good thing. - Commentary on Psalm 17, 34
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 10, 2019 14:53:27 GMT
SEPTEMBER 10 The One Vow All Must Make
Do not make vows and then neglect to keep them. What vow are we all expected to make without distinction? The vow of believing in Christ, hoping in eternal life from Him and living a good life in keeping with the ordinary norms of good conduct. As for any other vows, let each of us make any we wish. But let us also take care to observe the ones we have made!
- Commentary on Psalm 75, 16
Prayer. Lord, all that I am I am with Thy mercy. - Sermon 16A, 6
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 12, 2019 2:51:50 GMT
SEPTEMBER 11 The Way of Correction
Be assured that abuses are not done away with by harsh or severe or autocratic measures, but by teaching rather than by commanding, by persuasion rather than by threats. This is the way to deal with the people in general, reserving severity for the sins of the few. If we make threats, let it be done sorrowfully, in the words of Scripture, and in terms of the world to come. In this way, it is not we who are feared because of our power, but God because of our words. - Letter 22, 5
Prayer. Thanks and praise to Thee, my God, Who sound in my ears and illuminate my heart. Keep me away from every temptation. - Confessions 10, 31
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 12, 2019 18:10:16 GMT
SEPTEMBER 12 Love the Creator in the Creature
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. - Commentary on Psalm 39, 9
Prayer. O Lord, my God, Thou alone do I love; Thou alone do I follow; Thou alone do I seek. Thou alone am I prepared to serve, for Thou alone justly rule, and under Thy authority I long to be. - Soliloquies 1, 1
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 14, 2019 2:12:04 GMT
SEPTEMBER 13 Charity Constitutes Your Roots
Watch the tree. First it seeks the depths in order to grow high. It drives roots into the depths so that it can raise its top toward the sky. Does it have any other foundation than lowness? In the light of this, do you wish to attain to the heights without charity? Without roots do you seek the upper airs?
- Sermon 117, 17
Prayer. Alas for me, O Lord, how high Thou are in the heights, and how deep in the depths! Nowhere do Thou withdraw, yet we scarcely return to Thee! - Confessions 8, 3
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 15, 2019 3:50:17 GMT
SEPTEMBER 14 Mystery of the Wooden Cross
Know this: just as the wood of the ark saved the just from drowning, so too, by the mystery of His wooden Cross, does Christ, the Church's God and King, save us from drowning in the sea of this world. In the symbol of a thing made of wood He gave human beings a foreshadowing of both the judgement to come and the salvation of the just. - Catechetical Instructions 31
Prayer. Lord, Thou help those who turn to Thee. Redeem us so that we may come to Thee. - Commentary on Psalm 17, 15
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Post by Elizabeth on Sept 15, 2019 19:27:07 GMT
SEPTEMBER 15 Pride - Beginning of an Evil Will
People would not have performed an evil work unless an evil will had preceded it. Now what else than pride could be the beginning of an evil will? What is pride but the desire of a height out of proportion to our state? It is a height out of proportion to our state to leave God to Whom the soul should cling as its basis and to become in some way our own basis. This is what happen when the soul is too pleased with itself. - City of God 14, 4
Prayer. What shall I ask of Thee, kind Jesus? Through Thee all things were made, Son of God, yet Thou are made among all things, Son of Man. Why should we come and learn from Thee? "Because I am meek and humble of Heart."
- Holy Virginity 35
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