|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 17, 2019 17:51:50 GMT
NOVEMBER 16 Dig Deep
Look, if you do not want to fear, probe your inmost self. Examine it with care. Does not a poisoned vein of the wasting love of the world still pulse there? Are you not moved by some physical desires or caught in some law of the senses? Are you never elated with empty boasting? Only when you have sifted everything in the deepest recesses of you inner being can you dare to announce that you are pure and crystal clear. - Sermon 348, 2
Prayer. Behold my heart, O Lord, my God. Look deep inside it and cleanse it of all disordered affection by directing my eyes to Thee and lifting my feet out of the snare. - Confessions 4, 6
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 17, 2019 17:55:25 GMT
NOVEMBER 17 Friendship Is Godlike
Particularly when I am worn out by the upsets of the world, I cast myself without reservation on the love of those who are especially close to me. I know that I can safely entrust my thoughts and considerations to those who are aflame with Christian love and have become faithful friends to me. For I am entrusting them not to another human, but to God in Whom they dwell and by Whom they are who they are. - Letter 73, 3
Prayer. Lord, with Thy help we have done what Thou commanded. Reward us as Thou promised. - Sermon 31, 6
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 19, 2019 4:18:57 GMT
NOVEMBER 18 A Rule of Life
Hold dear to the example of those who persevere and imitate it; weep for those who fall, lest you grow proud. Do not proclaim your righteousness but submit yourself to God Who frees you from blame. Pardon the sins of others and pray for your own. Avoid future falls by vigilance and blot out past falls by confession.
- Holy Virginity 53, 53
Prayer. Come, Lord, get to work on us. Call us back, kindle us, and clasp us to Thy heart. Be fragrant to us all, and attract us by Thy loveliness. Let us love Thee and run to Thee. - Confessions 8, 4
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 20, 2019 4:19:51 GMT
NOVEMBER 19 The City of God Sighs for Heaven
Know that the origin of the city of God goes back to Abel, as that of the evil one goes back to Cain. It is, therefore, an ancient city, this city of God: always enduring its existence on earth and always sighing for heaven. Its name is also Jerusalem and Zion. - Commentary on Psalm 142, 2
Prayer. Lord, hear me and have mercy. Lord my God, Thou are the light of the blind and the strength of the weak, as well as the light of the sighted and the strength of the powerful. Attend to my soul, and hear the one crying from the depths.
- Confessions 11, 2
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 22, 2019 4:26:15 GMT
NOVEMBER 20 Captivity and Liberation
We must also know first our captivity, then our liberation: we must know Babylon and Jerusalem. These were two cities were recorded in the Bible. They were founded to symbolize those two "cities" that began in the far past and will continue to the end of time.
- Commentary on Psalm 64, 1-2
Prayer. Lord, while I move and bear this body, I pray that I may be pure, generous, just, and prudent. May I be a perfect lover and knower of Thy Wisdom. Finally, may I be worthy of Thy Dwelling Place and live in Thy most blessed Kingdom. - Soliloquies 1, 1
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 22, 2019 4:29:31 GMT
NOVEMBER 21 Father and Judge
Really, what profit is there in temporal good health and in the ties of blood if we willingly spurn the eternal inheritance of Christ? And this opinion is not mine. It comes from the words of Almighty God Himself: whoever rejects Him in this world as Father will find Him in the next as Judge! - Letter 52, 4
Prayer. O Lord, our God, let our mouths not speak of vanities. Make us happy in Thee, for we will not lose Thee if we have clung to Thee, nor shall we go lost. Make us happy in Thee. - Sermon 113, 6
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 22, 2019 19:10:30 GMT
NOVEMBER 22 Pine for the Homeland
Now let us hear, brothers and sisters, let us hear and sing. Let us pine for the city where we are citizens. By pining , we are already there. We have already cast our hope, like an anchor, on that coast. I sing of somewhere else, not of here; for I sing with my heart, not my flesh. The citizens of Babylon hear the sound of the flesh; the founder of Jerusalem hears the tune of the heart. - Commentary on Psalm 64, 3
Prayer. Lord,let us make our home again in Thee and thus avoid being lost. Long ago we left it - for what is our home but Thy Eternity, which does not disappear because we have deserted it! - Confessions 4, 16
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 24, 2019 17:56:36 GMT
NOVEMBER 23 Christ Instructs Us in Silence
Enter into your heart, as the Prophet Isaiah says. And, if you have faith, you will find Christ there. There He speaks to you. I, the preacher, must raise my voice when I speak to you. But Christ instructs you more effectively in silence.
- Sermon 102, 2
Prayer. O God, do not be silent to me, but speak the truth in my heart, for it is only truth Thou speak. Let me enter into the secret chamber of my heart and sing to Thee songs of love, which are largely sights: my attempts to express what cannot be expressed. - Confessions 12, 16
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 24, 2019 18:02:19 GMT
NOVEMBER 24 A Physician Who Does Not Charge
God sent the human race a physician, a savior, One Who healed without charging a fee. Christ also came to reward those who would be healed by Him. Christ heals the sick, and He makes a gift to those whom He heals. And the gift that He makes is Himself! - Sermon 156, 2
Prayer. Lord, Thou are our Physician, healing the ills of all. Thou reduce the swelling of pride, renew wasted life, and excise what is superfluous. Thou preserve what is necessary, restore what is lost, and cure what has been corrupted.
- Christian Combat 11, 12
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 26, 2019 17:09:00 GMT
NOVEMBER 25 Our Judge
Be assured that the One Who is now our defending lawyer will then be our judge. Can it be that we have Him as our defender and yet fear Him as our judge? No! By the fact that, fully confident, we sent Him ahead to defend us, let us preserve our hope in Him when He comes to judge. - Sermon 213, 5
Prayer. It is Thee I desire, O Justice and Innocence, beautiful and comely in full light, satisfying but never tiring. Great peace is with Thee, as is untroubled life. - Confessions 2, 10
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 26, 2019 17:12:50 GMT
NOVEMBER 26 Love Eternal Life
Let us love eternal life. Let us learn how much we ought to strive for eternal life from the way in which those who love the present life labor so much to preserve it.
So much labor, so much striving, so much expense, so much importance, so much attention, and so much care are expended that someone may live a bit longer. What then ought to be done so that such a one may live forever! - Sermon 127, 2
Prayer. Lord, I will not quit until Thou gather all the fragments of myself from my present scatteredness and deformity, and unite them and cement them for eternity into the peace of our dear homeland, my God, my Mercy. - Confessions 12, 16
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 27, 2019 16:23:01 GMT
NOVEMBER 27 The Eternal Jerusalem "on High"
Clearly, the Jerusalem "on high" is also eternal, but the one that existed on earth was only a shadow of the other. The earthly one lasted during the time when the Messiah was announced; the other one enjoys the eternity of our restoration. During this life, we are exiles from this Jerusalem on high. - Commentary on Psalm 125, 1
Prayer. Lord, let me journey on my way remembering Jerusalem and raising my heart to her: Jerusalem my Home, Jerusalem my Mother. In that city, the first fruits of my spirit already dwell, and from this I draw assurance of future safety. - Confessions 12, 16
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 29, 2019 3:35:22 GMT
NOVEMBER 28 Time of Mercy
Now is the time of mercy, for us to correct ourselves. The time of judgment has not yet come. There is no need to despair. Because of our human, pardonable, and more trivial sins, God has established in the Church set times for requesting mercy. We have a daily medicine in our saying "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," so that we may share in the Body and Blood of Christ. - Sermon 17, 5
Prayer. O Lord, give us Thy Christ; let us know and see Him - and rejoice. - Commentary on Psalm 84, 9
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Nov 30, 2019 4:19:03 GMT
NOVEMBER 29 Live for the Lord's Coming
My brothers and sisters, believe firmly what you believe - that Christ will return. What does it matter when? Prepare yourself for His coming. Live as though He were coming today, and you will not fear His coming. - Sermon 265, 3-4
Prayer. Enter not into judgement of me, O Lord, my God! I may imagine myself to be ever so just, but when Thou bring forth Thy treasury and apply it to me, I am found to be evil. Enter not into judgement of Thy servant! I am in need of mercy, for I am a fugitive returning and seeking peace. But I am not worthy to be called Thy child.
- Commentary on Psalm 142, 6
|
|
|
Post by Elizabeth on Dec 2, 2019 1:10:17 GMT
NOVEMBER 30 Christ Makes Us Beautiful
Our every breath yearns for Christ. He alone is the Desired One, the most beautiful of all. Christ loved us in our unloveliness, in order to make us beautiful like Himself. - Sermon on John 10, 13
Prayer. Lord, I want to see Thy face. I will persevere in this search, since I am not seeking to see something base but rather Thy Face, my Lord. May I thus love Thee freely, since I have found nothing more precious than Thee.
- Commentary on Psalm 26 (1), 8
|
|