Saint Cyprian of Carthage on the Lord's Prayer

Patristic commentaries on the Lord's Prayer were some of my favorite readings during my patrology course last year. St. Cyprian, who is commemorated today with fellow martyr Pope St. Cornelius, was not the first to compose such a commentary but his has been one of the most influential. Here are some selections from the work:

Before all things, the Teacher of peace and the Master of unity would not have prayer made singly and individually, as for one who prays to pray for himself alone. For we do not say “My Father, which art in heaven,” nor “Give me this day my daily bread;” nor does each ask that only his own debt should be forgiven; nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation and delivered from evil. Our prayer is public and common, and when we pray, we pray not for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people are one. The God of peace and the Teacher of concord, who taught unity, willed that one should thus pray for all, even as He Himself bore us all in one.

But what matters of great import are contained in the Lord’s prayer! How many and how great, briefly collected in the words, but spiritually abundant in virtue so that there is absolutely nothing passed over that is not encompassed in these prayers and petitions, as in a compendium of heavenly doctrine. “Pray ye thus,” He says: "Our Father, which art in heaven.” The new man, born again and restored to God by His grace, says “Father,” in the first place because he has now begun to be a son. But how great is the Lord’s indulgence and goodness towards us, seeing that He has wished us to pray in such a way as to call God Father, and to call ourselves sons of God, even as Christ is the Son of God,—a name which none of us would dare to venture on in prayer, unless He Himself had allowed us thus to pray! We ought then, beloved brethren, to remember and to know, that when we call God Father, we ought to act as God’s children; so that in the measure in which we find pleasure in considering God as a Father, He might also be able to find pleasure in us.

After this we say, “Hallowed be Thy name;” not that we wish God may be hallowed by our prayers, but that we beg that His name may be hallowed in us. Because He says, “Be ye holy, even as I am holy,” we ask and entreat, that we who were sanctified in baptism may continue as that which we have begun to be. And this we daily pray for; for we have need of daily sanctification, that we who daily fall away may wash out our sins by continual sanctification.

There follows in the prayer, "Thy kingdom come." We ask that the kingdom of God may be set forth to us, even as we also ask that His name may be sanctified in us. For when does God not reign, or when does that which always has been and never ceases to be begin with Him? We pray that our kingdom may come, which was acquired by the blood and passion of Christ; that we who first are His subjects in the world, may hereafter reign with Christ when He reigns, as He Himself promises and says, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”

We add, also, and say, “Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth;” not that God should do what He wills, but that we may be able to do what God wills. For who resists God, that He may not do what He wills? But since we are hindered by the devil from obeying with our thought and deed God’s will, we pray and ask that God’s will may be done in us; and that it may be done in us we have need of God’s good will, that is, of His help and protection, since no one is strong in his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God.

As the prayer goes forward, we ask and say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And this may be understood both spiritually and literally, because either way of understanding it is rich in divine usefulness to our salvation.  For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread does not belong to all men, but it is ours. And just as we say, “Our Father,” because He is the Father of those who believe, so also we call it “our bread,” because Christ is the bread of those who are in union with His body. And therefore we ask that our bread—that is, Christ—may be given to us daily, that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.

After this we also entreat for our sins, saying, “And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” The Lord calls sins debts, as He says in His Gospel, “I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desired me.” Lest any one should flatter himself that he is innocent, and by exalting himself should more deeply perish, he is taught that he sins daily by being bidden to entreat daily for his sins. Thus, John also in his epistle warns us, and says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” He who taught us to pray for our debts and sins, has promised that His fatherly mercy and pardon shall follow. He has here clearly added the law and bound us by a certain condition, that we should ask that our debts be forgiven us in such a manner as we ourselves forgive our debtors, knowing that that which we seek for our sins cannot be obtained unless we ourselves have acted in a similar way in respect of our debtors. Therefore also He says in another place, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” And the servant who, after having had all his debt forgiven him by his master, would not forgive his fellow-servant, is cast back into prison; because he would not forgive his fellow-servant, he lost the indulgence that had been shown to himself by his lord. “When ye stand praying,” He says, “forgive if ye have aught against any, that your Father which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you your trespasses.”

Moreover, the Lord of necessity admonishes us to say in prayer, “And suffer us not to be led into temptation.” In which words it is shown that the adversary can do nothing against us except what God shall have previously permitted; so that all our fear, and devotion, and obedience may be turned towards God, since in our temptations nothing is permitted to evil unless power is given from Him.

After all these things, in the conclusion of the prayer comes a brief clause which briefly and comprehensively sums up all our petitions and our prayers. For we conclude by saying, “But deliver us from evil,” encompassing all adverse things which the enemy attempts against us in this world, from which there may be a faithful and sure protection if God deliver us. For when we say, "Deliver us from evil," there remains nothing further which ought to be asked. When we have once asked for God’s protection against evil, and have obtained it, then against everything which the devil and the world work against us we stand secure and safe. For what fear is there in this life, to the man whose guardian in this life is God?

What wonder is it, beloved brethren, if such is the prayer which God taught, seeing that He condensed in His teaching all our prayer in one saving sentence? For when the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came unto all, and gathering alike the learned and unlearned, published to every sex and every age the precepts of salvation, He made a large compendium of His precepts, that the memory of the scholars might not be burdened in the celestial learning, but might quickly learn what was necessary to a simple faith.

Cyprian of Carthage (d.258): On the Lord's Prayer (Excerpts)

Saint Joseph, the Just Man

I was assigned to write a post for the Oblate seminarians' blog this week, so I took the opportunity to explain a little of what the Solemnity of St. Joseph means to us.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church. It is an important day for Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and not just because of zeppole and cannoli; St. Joseph is the patron of our Congregation.

In the late 19th century, there was an entire decade when the Oblates had no new vocations. After struggling through tumultuous times during the foundation and early years of the Congregation, the relative political stability following the unification of Italy in 1870 brought little peace. The Church was under attack from the modernist movement that caused many to question the relevance of faith and morals and even reject them outright, and Pope Pius IX responded by naming St. Joseph, the protector of the Holy Family, Patron of the Universal Church in 1870. At the same time, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary also named St. Joseph patron and began asking his intercession for vocations. There was much doubt; after enduring 40 years of struggle and abuse at the hands of political authorities and socially influential figures, was the Oblate mission over? Was God doing something new at a time when it seemed the charism was needed more than ever? Well, St. Joseph came through and the rest is history.

As our Patron, St. Joseph is an important intercessor, but also a model of virtue. He is a man of obedience: he listened to what was spoken to him by God and acted accordingly (Matthew 1:24, 2:14, 2:21). In this St. Joseph is a model especially for us men in formation, when it is crucial to learn to listen to the voice of God in different ways- through spiritual movements, the discernment of superiors, the circumstances of community life- and to freely embrace his will.

I have personally experienced the important role of St. Joseph’s humble obedience in our Congregation’s works of accompaniment in spiritual direction and retreat ministry, both important for many people who are discerning the will of God in their lives. This ministry requires much preparation in spiritual and intellectual formation, which can seem like an endless uphill climb. But St. Joseph was a man of obedience before action. He is the Just Man because he sacrificed to God what was his due- the mind and heart that God has given to men for the custody of others. It is good for me to be reminded that before anything I study, practice, or preach, the only good I can really do for others is what God asks of me in ordinary daily life.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa on Forgiveness

The forgiveness of debts is a unique and special prerogative of God.

It was said: “No one can forgive sins but God alone” (Mk 2:7).

A person obtains confidence in prayer by willingly imitating every conceivable attribute of God who is both kind and gentle, the source of all blessings and the dispenser of mercies to all.

It is not becoming that an evil person should enjoy intimacy with a good person, nor that a person who wallows in impure thoughts should have communion with one who is pure and undefiled.

In like manner, hardness of heart separates the supplicant from the love of God.

Whoever holds someone else in bitter bondage because of outstanding debts has by his own conduct excluded himself from divine love.

What communion can there be between love and cruelty, kindness and harshness, or any attribute and its opposite that is evil? Mutual opposition keeps them separated. For whoever is possessed by any particular attribute is necessarily estranged from its opposite.

Just as one who dies no longer lives, and the one who lives is estranged from death, so also he who approaches the love of God must necessarily be removed from every disposition of callousness.

Whoever is free of all those dispositions understood as being evil, he becomes in some way god by reason of his condition having achieved in himself what reason understands to be attributes of God.

Do you see to what greatness the Lord exalts those who hear Him through the words of the prayer? He transforms human nature in some way to be closer to the divine. He decrees that those who approach God should become gods.

Why do you come to God, He says, in a slavish manner, trembling in fear and plagued by your own conscience? Why do you exclude yourself from the confidence which coexists with the freedom of the soul from the beginning and which is intrinsic to the essence of your nature?

Why do you use flattery with Him who cannot be flattered? Why do you direct fawning and flattering words to the One who looks at deeds?

Every blessing that comes from God is permissible to you. You can possess it with a free spirit. Be your own judge. Cast the saving vote for yourself. Do you ask God to forgive your debts? Forgive the debts of others and God will cast his favorable ballot.

You yourself are the lord of judgment concerning your neighbor. This judgment, whatever it maybe, will bring an equal decision upon you. For whatever you decide to do, will be ratified by the divine judgment in your case, too.

Gregory of Nyssa (c 335 – c 394): Fifth homily on the Lord’s prayer.

Bishop Robert Baron on Punishment and Gift

I occasionally catch up on Bishop Robert Baron's Word on Fire videos, my nearest attempt to keeping up with popular culture. His commentaries generally start with a current event and connect it with other current events, philosophical thinkers, ecclesial teaching, etc., so I generally find them interesting.

This particular video was fascinating to me. It explores the connection of American comedian Stephen Colbert to J.R.R. Tolkien and John Henry Cardinal Newman.

The historical connection of providence is interesting, but in particular the Tolkien quote that prompted his reflection struck me.

 "Are not all of God's punishments also gifts?"

I noticed this partly because of my own experience and partly because of my Old Testament Narratives course, in which a major focus is the Babylonian Exile and post-exilic period in which the Jewish people had to reexamine their past and relationship to God in light of a traumatic experience.

From the very beginning of human experience when man sinned, God gave punishments not for despair but for hope. Work could be man's burden but also a source of his dignity; childbearing would be painful but also how God himself would enter the world in the most intimate way; the relationships of men and women would be plagued by misunderstanding and strife, but a constant reminder that their search for fulfillment is ultimately a search for God and not each other.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart.         Jeremiah 29:11-13

God has allowed trials and suffering in my life. Often I do not want to reflect on it and speak to God about my experience; often I just want to cry out for relief from pain. 

And how do I see my suffering? Is it a poison or a medicine? 

Jesus entered into the world of suffering and pain not as a teacher but as a priest and victim to make us an offering to God (cf. Friday vespers responsory). He sanctified suffering beyond what God decreed in the Protoevangelium (Genesis 3:15) so that it is no longer simply a spur to rouse us from complacency and reveal our need for God but actually a way to encounter him in our brokenness. 

Nowhere is this more explicit than the message of Divine Mercy. 

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5:32).

The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 723).

My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The icon of this Mercy is Blood and Water flowing from the pierced side of Christ, the grace he pours out in Sacraments to fill suffering sinners beginning at the points of greatest brokenness and pain in our life. 

This means opening the wounds, allowing the dead tissue to be removed and the salve to be applied, which is scary! It demands deep trust, but there is only One who heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). 

Saint Francis de Sales: Act of Abandonment

To celebrate Saint Francis de Sales, a master of the spiritual life whose work I have come to appreciate more fully over the past couple of years, I would like to share his Act of Abandonment.

I love this prayer and return to it frequently because it not only addresses carrying the cross given to us, but embracing it and venerating it, approaching it with reverence because it has been given to us for our salvation. When I struggle with spiritual desolation and feel the weight, it is not 'being tough' and soldiering on that carries me through, but recalling that I am following Jesus in his great outpouring of love.


O my God, I thank you and I praise you 
for accomplishing your holy and all-lovable will 
without any regard for mine. 
With my whole heart, 
in spite of my heart, 
do I receive this cross I feared so much! 

It is the cross of Your choice, 
the cross of Your love. 
I venerate it; 
nor for anything in the world 
would I wish that it had not come, 
since You willed it. 

I keep it with gratitude and with joy, 
as I do everything that comes from Your hand; 
and I shall strive to carry it without letting it drag, 
with all the respect 
and all the affection which Your works deserve. 

Amen.

Hugh of Dorche: Repentance and the Purgative Way

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

Mark 1:3-4

Carthusian emblem: the Cross stands while the world is turned

Although this purgative way seems puerile to some, especially in regard to the subsequent two ways, nevertheless unless the mind passes through this way, being careful and attentive in its approach to engaging in divine matters, it will never in the present life be able to ascend, in practice, unto a knowledge of divine matters or of God; nor will it be able to ascend unto the fervor of unitive love, nor will it be able to be separated from those lower objects that consume those who possess them.

Therefore, the soul ought to humble itself in such a way that, first, it recalls its sins in some private and very hidden place  (especially in the secret silence of the night).

Let the soul recall its greater sins succinctly, lest the devil expose it to delighting in that thing for which it was supposed to obtain medicine.

Raising its face toward Heaven, let it, as best it can, enumerate before God (as if speaking to Him) its greater sins (up to ten or twelve); and, in enumerating, let the soul sigh, exalting God in every respect and disparaging itself in every respect, and saying as best it can:

“Lord Jesus Christ,” (or phrasing it in whatever manner it prefers) “I am the most worthless, most miserable sinner, more wretched and more abominable than all others. I have offended against Your majesty and mercy by means of so many and so grave wrongdoings that I am unable to count them – even as the sands of the seashore, because of their multitude, cannot be counted.”

And let the soul sigh and groan as effectively as it can. For just as a file brings it about, in the case of a piece of iron, that with each single rubbing some rust is removed, so each sigh and groan removes some of the rust of sin – the rust which remains even after the outpouring of grace.

And in this way the soul, purifying itself more and more, is elevated more and more by divine assistance – elevated unto perceiving things that reason does not investigate and that intellect does not behold.

Hugh of Balma (13th-14th Century): Mystical Theology, Via Purgativa, 3

Interior Desert

Desert spirituality has been very important in my spiritual life, and it is something that has been coming up consistently over the past two weeks. And what does this look like?

I wish!

The desert is a place of solitude, which makes it a place of encounter with 1) self, 2) God, and 3) evil.

It is a place that has loomed large in the spiritualities of monasticism and especially the Christian East, but there are many levels of interpretation and understanding the desert.

Fuge, tace, quiesce (be alone, be silent, be still)

In the Bible, the desert is a place where Israel is courted and betrothed to God, but also a place of temptations and trials. It becomes a battleground of the eschatological battle of Christ against the powers of the world. Defeating Satan means weakening him by spreading the kingdom of God and supporting other Christians through prayer. In the desert, the means to fight are acquired: mortification and penance used systematically for the practice of virtue keep the individual focused on the "narrow gate" of the Gospel, the asceticism (askesis, "exercise") essential for seeking union with God. By fasting and penance, it is also shown that man "shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4, Deut 8:3; cf. Vita Consecrata 7b).

The desert is a place to flee to "live alone for God alone," a place of radical detachment, an exhortation to the Church and contemporaries never to lose sight of the supreme vocation: to be always with the Lord (cf. Vita Consecrata 7b). The first encounter is with self: the discovery of how far one is from God and the difficulty of return. It thus becomes a place of spiritual combat, struggle against the passions and the devil that oppose union with God, against the evil in the world that begins in the individual heart. True knowledge of the human heart is attained in the desert. Its weaknesses and foibles are revealed and it is strengthened for spiritual battles. Herein lies the importance of controlling "thoughts" (custodia sensuum), understanding virtue and vice, and honing weapons: continuous prayer, nourishment by Scripture, humility, and mortification.

The importance of purifying the heart and the senses from passions (apatheia, "equanimity") is paramount: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8).

In addition to this negative interpretation, there is also a positive one. The desert is a place of God's providence, where Elijah was nourished (1 Kings 19:7) and a place prepared for God's people (Exodus, cf. Rev 12:6). In Thomas Merton's book Thoughts in Solitude, he described the desert as a place dear to God precisely because it is useless to man, where there is nothing attractive and nothing to be exploited; it was made to be nothing but itself, the perfect place for man who seeks to be nothing but himself.

This was my primary experience of "interior desert" over the past week. It is a place of profound silence and imperturbable solitude, a place of refreshment where food and water are forsaken for nourishment on God alone. It has been a place of rest with God, but also pilgrimage: no one who takes a long look at himself in the presence of God can be satisfied. The pilgrimage that begins and ends in the world must at some point pass through the dry wasteland where there is nothing to depend on but God and no one to blame but the self, and thus there is purgation. But beyond every desert is a promised land, beyond the teaching is the goal of the lesson, and beyond the pilgrimage is rest. 

The Counsels in Daily Life

This week, the evangelical counsels have been prominent in both our novitiate conferences and in the Gospel readings. The Wednesday Gospel, for example, is one in which the counsels really stood out to me even though they are hidden in the parable: the servants received an extravagant gift (one talent was about fifteen years' wages) that is unmerited (chastity), given to them in trust for another (poverty) to use according to the master's will (obedience).

In meditating on this, what came up was living these counsels in daily life. Not having taken public vows can seem to make living the counsels a lofty goal in the future; as a novice I am obliged to live the counsels now in a 'hidden' way, but my daily life (custody of the senses, material dependence on others, fulfilling my obligations and obeying superiors willingly) is that of religious life, of living the counsels in the ordinary actions of everyday life.

I also reflected on responsibility, that those faithful in small matters are to be entrusted with greater matters. In the human mind, responsibility is something to be earned, something given after trustworthiness has been proven. But what I had from this Gospel was a sense of divine pedagogy: we do not prove ourselves to God in order to earn gifts but rather he trains us for greater responsibilities through lesser ones. It is for our own sake, for our own growth that some things are withheld and others allowed, that growing pains occur before new doors are opened and we are given our food in the proper season.

The Lanterian Charism: Personal Charism

I have previously written some brief and deficient descriptions of the Lanterian charism of the OMV (here and here) and it is something I am continuing to elaborate as I progress in my formation this year.

Last week we had nine men in discernment visit the seminary and, although it was a busy week, it gave me excellent opportunities to reflect on my own discernment when I was at that stage and make a then/now comparison. I was also deeply involved in several discernment visits last year, but I have a very different perspective now in novitiate from studying the charism of the founder and the congregation closely.

The charism of the founder, an idea put forth and elaborated in Vatican Council II conciliar and post-conciliar documents, is something we have begun to unpack slowly over the past month.

The essence of the Council's teaching is that the founder of each religious institute experienced a movement of the Spirit, a unique inspiration that educed a charism to serve the needs of the Church in a particular way according to the needs of their specific place and time. It is out of this personal charism of the founder that the charism of the institute springs, which is important because it explains why the Council's addresses to religious urged them to return to the "original inspiration and charism" of their founders in order to reform and renew their institutes; the charism of an institute is not precisely the same thing as the charism of a founder; some change over time and acquire new features, such as Jesuits spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and Marians of the Immaculate Conception adopting the Divine Mercy apostolate, but in some instances religious had strayed far from the original purpose of their foundation.

In practical application, many religious took this invitation and used it as an occasion to reform their institute in conformity with their vision rather than their founder's, but it was meant to be an occasion to return to the heart of the way of life and apostolic works proper to each institute according to the founder's charism. In almost all instances, it led to heated debate if not outright strife over how the rule/constitutions should be interpreted and what life for each institute should look like in the 20th century.

The OMV are not an exception to this. There was not much debate in the 1960s; the congregation was vastly more stable and assured of its identity and orthodoxy than the majority of religious institutes, which is precisely why the tiny Italian community began attracting large numbers of American seminarians at a time when Archbishop Fulton Sheen said he could not recommend a single seminary in the United States to any young men discerning the priesthood. It was some of these Americans who read the writings of the founder and discovered that the Ignatian aspect of the congregation's charism was not being practiced the way he had intended. This began a slow process of renewal and rejuvenation that has been progressing slowly but steadily, and not without resistance and disagreement.

Anyway, that is all background information to what affects me most directly.

We have also been learning about the personal charism of individual religious; these are the means by which each individual is constituted in relation to a founder and a community. A religious vocation is recognized by a community when an individual expresses the same movement of the Spirit experienced by the founder, or rather a similar movement or an echo of the founder's call. This immediately grabbed my attention because it expresses and formulates my experience in a way that I have not previously framed it.

When I was learning about the Oblates and reading Venerable Bruno's writings, I could not express my experience that clearly, and yet I felt a strong attraction to the founder's spirituality; I sensed that these were passions and desires that I shared, and that I wanted to participate in his mission. I felt that his Spiritual Directory was a way of life I had already felt drawn toward and that his passion for the Spiritual Exercises and media apostolate was exciting to me also.

Learning about this was timed perfectly with the discernment visit, giving me an occasion to reflect on my experience and what made me feel so strongly about my OMV vocation. Four years ago, my identification with the founder's charism seemed to be one reason among many that gave me enough certainty to leave everything and move to Boston, but looking back I now appreciate its importance more fully and understand the interior movements that preceded and followed my first encounter with the founder's charism and those that have continued since.

Spiritual Thought: Sympathy/Antipathy

In my colloquies after meditation, there is often a thought that stays with me. Sometimes it is a clear message that came in prayer, sometimes it is a summary of what I experienced; a "spiritual thought" to take and carry through the day. Sometimes they seem transitory, but sometimes they recur and surface repeatedly during a period of days, weeks, or months.

One such thought concerns sympathy and antipathy in relationships. Here I do not mean sympathy in the sense of feeling sorry for someone but rather in the word's primitive sense of "feeling with" them, being "in synch" or "on the same wavelength," and antipathy as the opposite of this.

Every person has this experience: there are people we sense a connection with or identify with  strongly; wet find them easy to get along with and that they understand our thoughts and experiences with minimal explanation. There are other people who we do not feel this connection with; sometimes it seems they do not understand us with any amount of explanation and attempts to relate to them can be exasperating. We encounter both types in all situations of life: school, work, church, and even family.

I was struggling with this realization a couple of weeks ago and how it is manifested in religious community: the temptation to develop particular friendships or "cliques." I considered this and how it can be presented as a false charity: a convenient way to keep everyone happy by avoiding conflicts and uncomfortable situations, but leading to the far more sinister prospect of a fractured and dysfunctional community. (This is something Pope Francis has addressed several times, even very recently, and strongly cautioned against).

I took this to prayer and had a strong confirmation:
"I have given you the sympathetic for your edification, but the antipathetic for your perfection."

This gave me new terms for my reflection, and I further considered how both types of relationship are necessary: I have those sympathetic to me with whom I can relate more easily when I am tired and frustrated because I need the comfort of feeling understood and being encouraged; I have those antipathetic to me who stretch me and make me work hard to develop deep relationships. It is through the latter, not the former, that I am invited to grow in the perfection of charity.

Spiritual Thought: "Skandala"

After my daily meditation, there is often a thought that stays with me. Sometimes it is a clear message that came in prayer, sometimes it is a summary of what I experienced; a "spiritual thought" to take and carry through the day. Sometimes these are themes that surface repeatedly during a period of days, weeks, or months.

One of those recurring has been about skandala (obstacles) in the spiritual life. "My sins and faults are obstacles for me; they are not obstacles for God."

This is something worthwhile for meditation in moments of discouragement and failure; simply calling this to mind can allow me to access God's mercy and be reminded that humanity is an instrument not an obstacle for God.

Consider that temptations, faults, and sins are allowed by God as occasions of humility to remind me of my constant need for him and allow me to grow in my desire for him. This becomes an opportunity to enter into deeper prayer and be reminded that God is infinitely greater than my sins and limitations.

Saint Aphrahat the Persian on Love

This week I discovered the writings of a rather obscure saint- Saint Aphrahat the Persian.
His sermon really grabbed my attention because charity was a big theme in my prayer last week and the line If [Jesus] commanded us to love our enemies and to pray for those who hate us, what shall be our excuse to Him in the day of judgment, who have hated our brothers and our own members? stayed with me after reading.

I had the opportunity to work at a soup kitchen with the other novices on Saturday morning and while peeling turnips I was thinking about love of neighbor, specifically the remote versus the proximate neighbor. I noted that while it is easier to serve others in charity in the place, time, and manner of my choosing, this exercise is foundational for learning to do so in other contexts as well and that it trains the heart to respond in charity when it is not convenient.

Saint Ephrem, Saint Isaac the Syrian, Saint Aphrahat

Love is more excellent than anything else, and by it the righteous ones of the old times were perfected.

Scripture shows concerning Moses that he gave himself in behalf of the sons of his people, and he wished that he might be blotted out of the book of life if only the people might not be blotted out.

And also when they rose up against him to stone him, he offered up prayer before God in their behalf that they might be saved.

And David also showed an example of love when he was persecuted by Saul, and a trap was continually set for his life so that they might kill him.

David by love was generously performing acts of mercies in behalf of Saul his enemy, who was seeking his life.

Saul was twice delivered into the hands of David, and he did not kill him and repaid good in place of evil. Because of this good did not depart from his house, and he who forsook him was forsaken.

And Saul who repaid evil in place of good, evil did not depart from his house, and He called to God and He did not answer him, and he fell by the sword of the Philistines, and David wept over him bitterly.

And David fulfilled beforehand the precept of our Saviour, who said: “Love your enemies,” and “forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you.” Thus David loved and was loved, and forgave and it was forgiven unto him.

And Elisha also showed love in respect to this, when his enemies came against him to take him so that they might do evil to him, and he, doing good to them, set forth bread and water before them and sent them away from him in peace.

Elisha fulfilled the word which is written: “If thine enemy is hungry feed him, and if he thirsts give him to drink.”

And also Jeremiah the prophet in behalf of those who made him a captive in a pit and were continually putting him to torture, but he also prayed ardently for them before God.

By this example of those who went before our Saviour taught us that we should love our enemies and pray for those who hate us.

And if He commanded us to love our enemies and to pray for those who hate us, what shall be our excuse to Him in the day of judgment, who have hated our brothers and our own members?

Because we are of the Body of Christ and members of His members. For he who hates one of the members of Christ will be separated from the whole body, and he who hates his brother will be separated from the sons of God.

Aphrahat the Persian (c.270-c.345): Demonstrations, 2 – On Love (17; 18).

The Wisdom of the Saints

A year ago I stole an idea from Fr. John Cameron and the Magnificat daily prayer companion to take the Litany of the Saints and collect favorite sayings of each individual. Since then, my collection has grown steadily and proved to be a repository of holy counsel worth returning to frequently.

For the Solemnity of All Saints and the month of November, I decided to share some selections that I will be reflecting on over the next few weeks. It can be prayed like the Litany in its entirety, but I usually prefer to select one or a few quotes to reflect on and appropriate more deeply.


Holy Mary, Mother of God: “Do whatever he tells you."

Saint Gabriel: “With God nothing is impossible."

Saint Michael: “Who is like God?”

Saint Raphael: "It is good to praise God and to exalt his name, worthily declaring the works of God."

Saint John the Baptist: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance."

Saint Joseph: [pause in reverent silence]

Saint Peter: "Rejoice inasmuch as you participate in Christ's sufferings, so you may rejoice when his glory is revealed.”

Saint Paul: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Saint James: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."

(+ 99) Saint Clement of Rome: “You have searched the scriptures, which are true, which were given through the Holy Spirit; and you know that nothing unrighteous or counterfeit is written in them.”

(+107) Saint Ignatius of Antioch: "I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire." 

(+165) Saint Justin Martyr: “The greatest grace God can give someone is to send him a trial he cannot bear with his own powers – and then sustain him with his grace so he may endure to the end and be saved.”

(+ 180) Saint Cecilia: “To die for Christ is not to sacrifice one’s youth but to renew it. Jesus Christ returns a hundredfold all offered him, and adds to it eternal life.”

(+ 202) Saint Irenaeus of Lyons: “The Glory of God is man fully alive.”

(+ 216) Saint Clement of Alexandria: “’Eat my flesh, and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children." 

(+ 298) Saint Athanasius: “Devils take great delight in fullness, and drunkeness, and bodily comfort. Fasting possesses great power and it works glorious things. To fast is to banquet with angels.”

(+ 304) Saint Agnes of Rome: “Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”

(+ 304) Saint Lucy of Syracuse: “No one's body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind."

(+ 356) Saint Anthony the Great: "Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach. Some have afflicted their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God."

(+ 368) St. Hilary of Poitiers: “There is no space where God is not; space does not exist apart from Him. He is in heaven, in hell, beyond the seas; dwelling in all things and enveloping all. Thus He embraces, and is embraced by, the universe, confined to no part of it but pervading all.”

(+ 373) Saint Ephrem the Syrian: “O Jesus, in that hour when darkness like a cloak shall be spread over all things, may your grace shine on us in place of the earthly sun.”

(+ 379) Saint Basil the Great: “Silence is the beginning of purifying the soul.”

(+ 386) Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: “This synthesis of faith was not made to accord with human opinions, but rather what was of the greatest importance was gathered from all the Scriptures, to present the one teaching of the faith in its entirety.”

(+ 390) Saint Gregory Nazianzen: "Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could." 

(+ 395) Saint Gregory of Nyssa: "Whatever name we may adopt to signify the perfume of divinity, it is not the perfume itself which we signify by our expressions; rather, we reveal just the slightest trace of the divine odor by means of our theological terms."

(+ 397) Saint Ambrose: “Every soul who has believed both conceives and generates the Word of God and recognizes his works. Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord.”

(+ 407) Saint John Chrysostom: “Jesus Christ gave you all; he left nothing for himself.”

(+ 420) Saint Jerome: “May your actions never be unworthy of your words, may it not happen that, when you preach in church, someone might say to himself: ‘Why does he therefore not act like this?’ How could a teacher, on a full stomach, discuss fasting; even a thief can blame avarice; but in the priest of Christ the mind and words must harmonize.”

(+ 430) Saint Augustine: “We have been promised something we do not yet possess. It is good for us to persevere in longing until we receive what was promised, and yearning is over.”

(+ 444) Saint Cyril of Alexandria: “If you feel scorched by the fever of impurity, go to the banquet of the Angels; and the spotless Flesh of Christ will make you pure and chaste.”

(+ 445) Saint Arsenius the Great: “I have often been sorry for having spoken, but never for holding my tongue.”

(+ 450) Saint Peter Chrysologus: “Peace is the plenitude that fulfills our desires. As Christ left the world, he wished to leave the gift he wanted to find when he returned.”

(+ 461) Saint Leo the Great: “Let us be raised to the one who made the dust of our lowliness into the body of his glory.”

(+ c. 493) Saint Patrick: “I arise today through the strength of Christ with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his Resurrection with his Ascension.”

(+ 523) Saint Brigid of Kildare: "I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity."

(+ 547) Saint Benedict: “It is only we who brood over our sins. God does not brood over them, God dumps them at the bottom of the sea.”

(+ 604) Saint Gregory the Great: “We have been truly set free from subjection to sin because we are united to him who is truly free.”

(+ 615) Saint Columban: “The more the soul loves, the more it desires to love, and the greater its suffering, the greater its healing.”

(+ 636) Saint Isidore of Seville: “Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession there is a chance for mercy. “

(+649) Saint John Climacus: “Even though one is well advanced in virtue, should he stop mortifying himself, he soon would lose his modesty and virtue - just as fertile soul quickly becomes dry and arid and produces nothing but thorns and thistles if it is not cultivated.”

(+ 662) Saint Maximus the Confessor: “God made us so that we might become partakers of the divine nature and sharers in eternity, and so that we might come to be like him through deification by grace.”

(+ 700) Saint Isaac the Syrian: “This life has been given to you for repentance; do not waste it in vain pursuits.”

(+ 1101) Saint Bruno of Cologne: "No act is charitable if it is not just." 

(+ 1109) Saint Anselm: “God who made all things made himself of Mary, and thus he refashioned everything he had made.”

(+ 1153) Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: “We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable." 

(+ 1179) Saint Hildegard of Bingen: “God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else.”

(+ 1221) Saint Dominic: “I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you more effectively than during my life.”

(+ 1226) Saint Francis of Assisi: “May I feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, are inflamed.”

(+ 1231) Saint Anthony of Padua: “Consider every day that you are then for the first time beginning; and always act with the same fervor as on the first day you began.”

(+ 1250) Saint Albert the Great: “He who enters into the secret place of his own soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.”

(+ 1253) Saint Clare: “Live and hope in the Lord, and let your service be according to reason.”

(+ 1274) Saint Thomas Aquinas: “The life of man consists in the love that principally sustains him and in which he finds his greatest satisfaction.”

(+ 1302) Saint Gertrude the Great: “Once again I give you thanks for your merciful love, kindest Lord, for having found another way of rousing me from my inertia.”

(+ 1274) Saint Bonaventure: “God created all things not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and communicate it.”

(+ 1380) Saint Catherine of Siena: “When we love something we don’t care what sort of abuse or injury or pain we might have to go through to get it; we are concerned only with satisfying our desire for the thing we love.”

(+ 1419) Saint Vincent Ferrer: “In time of temptation continue the good you have begun before temptation.”

(+ 1444) Saint Bernardine of Siena: “If we but recollect the name of Jesus, it is to fight with confidence—for this name subjects all the fury of our enemies to us.”

(+ 1510) Saint Catherine of Genoa: “God lets the soul share his goodness so that it becomes one with him. The nearer the soul comes to him, the more it partakes of what is his.”

(+ 1535) Saint Thomas More: "Tribulation is a gift from God - one that he especially gives His special friends." 

(+ 1540) Saint Angela Merici: “Strengthen, O Lord, my senses and my affections, that they may not stray into betrayal of trust.”

(+ 1552) Saint Francis Xavier: “God our Lord knows the intentions which he in his mercy has wished to place in us, and the great hope and confidence which he in his goodness has wished that we should have in him.”

(+ 1556) Saint Ignatius of Loyola: “As long as obedience is flourishing, all the other virtues will be seen to flourish and bear fruit.”

(+ 1562) Saint Peter of Alcantara: “Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.”

(+ 1582) Saint Teresa of Jesus: "From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!" 

(+ 1584) Saint Charles Borromeo: “The candle that gives light to others must itself be consumed. Thus we also have to act. We ourselves are consumed to give a good example to others.”

(+ 1591) Saint John of the Cross: “In giving us His Son, His only Word, He spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word -- and He has no more to say...because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son.”

(+ 1591) Saint Aloysius Gonzaga: “As God is above all created things, honors, possessions, so should our internal esteem of his Divine Majesty surpass our esteem or idea of anything whatever.”

(+ 1595) Saint Philip Neri: "A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one."

(+ 1595) Saint Robert Southwell: “Jesus, possess my mind with your presence and ravish it with your love, that my delight may be to be embraced in the arms of your protection.”

(+ 1607) Saint Mary Magdalene di Pazzi: “A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.”

(+1617) Saint Rose of Lima: "Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven." 

(+ 1621) Saint Robert Bellarmine: "Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved." 

(+ 1622) Saint Francis de Sales: “The more one mortifies his natural inclinations, the more he renders himself capable of receiving divine inspirations and of progressing in virtue.”

(+ 1646) Saint Isaac Jogues: “My hope is in God, who needs not us to accomplish his designs. We must endeavor to be faithful to him.”

(+ 1654) Saint Peter Claver: “Man’s salvation and perfection consists in doing the will of God, which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of his life.”

(+ 1660) Saint Vincent de Paul: “He who gives little import to exterior mortifications, claiming that interior mortifications are more perfect, clearly shows that he is not mortified at all, exteriorly nor interiorly.”

(+ 1682) Saint Claude de la Columbiere: “My Jesus, let me live in your heart and pour all my bitterness into it, where it will be utterly consumed.”

(+ 1690) Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque: “All my pleasure in this land of exile is that of having every kind of suffering found on the cross, deprived of every other consolation except that of the Sacred Heart.”

(+ 1716) Saint Louis de Montfort: “He who fights even the smallest distractions faithfully, when he says even the smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things.”

(+ 1719) Saint Jean Baptiste de La Salle: “Never speak to anyone except with kindness.”

(+ 1775) Saint Paul of the Cross: “It is an excellent and holy practice to call to mind and meditate on our Lord's Passion, since it is by this path that we shall arrive at union with God. In this, the holiest of all schools, true wisdom is learned, for it was there that all the saints became wise.”

(+ 1787) Saint Alphonsus di Liguori: “We must love God in the way that pleases him, and not just in a way that suits ourselves. God wishes people to empty themselves of everything and to be filled with his divine love.”

(+ 1820) Saint Clement Hofbauer: “Something can be done everywhere for the glory of God.”

(+ 1821) Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: “O Jesus, sure joy of my soul, give me but a true love of you. Let me seek you as my only good.”

(+ 1859) Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney: "We will either accuse ourselves or excuse ourselves." 

(+ 1860) Saint John Neumann: “Though God hates sin more than any other thing, he loves us poor miserable sinners. He ardently desires the welfare of our souls as if his own happiness depended on it.”

(+ 1868) Saint Peter Julian Eymard: “Abide in the home of the divine and fatherly goodness of God like his child who knows nothing, does nothing, makes a mess of everything, but nevertheless lives in his goodness.”

(+ 1870) Saint Anthony Marie Claret: “Our Lord has created persons for all states in life, and in all of them we see people who achieved sanctity by fulfilling their obligations well.”

(+ 1876) Saint Catherine Labouré: “I knew nothing; I was nothing. For this reason God chose me.”

(+ 1889) Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i: “In the face of the too real dangers that surround me I repeat: ‘Lord, I have placed all my hope in you. I will never be confounded.”

(+ 1897) Saint Therese of Lisieux: “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” 

(+ 1898) Saint Charbel Makhloof: “Just as one person's sins affect all, so a person's holiness becomes like a light for others.” 

(+ 1914) Saint Pius X: "Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven."

(+ 1917) Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini: “Stretch every fiber of my being, dear Lord, that I may more easily fly towards you. May your Spirit, which once breathed over the chaos of the earth, give life to all the powers of my soul.”

(+ 1920) Saint Teresa of the Andes: “True friendship consists in mutually perfecting one another and drawing closer to God.”

(+ 1928) Saint Toribio Romo: "Christ said, 'I am the Truth'; he did not say 'I am the custom.'" 

(+ 1938) Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

(+ 1941) Saint Maximilian Kolbe: “Shall the urge for complete and total happiness, inherent to human nature, be the only need to remain unfulfilled and unsatisfied? No, even this longing can be fulfilled by the infinite and eternal God.”

(+ 1942) Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross: “Holy realism has a certain affinity with the realism of the child who receives and responds to the impressions with unimpaired vigor and vitality, and with uninhibited simplicity.”

(+ 1968) Saint Pius of Pietrelcina: "Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes."  

(+ 2005) St. John Paul II: "Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ." 

The Consummation of Love

Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

                                                                                                                                                   Luke 12:35-38, RSVCE

I was given a very interesting meditation on this Gospel from Tuesday mass this week. When reflecting on it, what seems most immediately obvious is an exhortation to servants to be responsible and be prepared for the master's return. But consider the master, who is Jesus, is returning from his wedding feast, his marriage to the Church; his marriage is an act of sacrifice, a sacrifice that continues after the feast.

There are numerous places in the Gospel that lend themselves to considerations of love and others to sacrifice, but I am finding that they are often connected in subtle ways like the above example. Considering what love looks like in my life and how God is calling me to grow took me back to a conversation earlier in the year when I was speaking to friends about love and sacrifice, and sacrifice rather than pleasure as the consummation of love. It struck me again deeply how these are inseparable. 

It is possible to have pleasure without love; it is not possible to sacrifice without love.