Classic Texts

[Myles Domini]

In mentioning that it was a good idea to highlight classic texts L_D gave me the idea to begin posting extracts from timeless works by Catholic authors. If this proves agreeable to the Phamily I shall continue doing so, if not I'll stop clogging up the board. Anyways lets begin...

[quote]As, then, if a man should wish to see God, Who is invisible by nature and not seen at all, he may know and apprehend Him from His works: so let him who fails to see Christ with his understanding, at least apprehend Him by the works of His body, and test whether they be human works or God's works. And if they be human, let him scoff; but if they are not human, but of God, let him recognise it, and not laugh at what is no matter for scoffing; but rather let him marvel that by so ordinary a means things divine have been manifested to us, and that by death immortality has reached to all, and that by the Word becoming man, the universal Providence has been known, and its Giver and Artificer the very Word of God. For He was made man that we might be made God; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality. For while He Himself was in no way injured, being impossible and incorruptible and very Word and God, men who were suffering, and for whose sakes He endured all this, He maintained and preserved in His own impassibility. And, in a word, the achievements of the Saviour, resulting from His becoming man, are of such kind and number, that if one should wish to enumerate them, he may be compared to men who gaze at the expanse of the sea and wish to count its waves. For as one cannot take in the whole of the waves with his eyes, for those which are coming on baffle the sense of him that attempts it; so for him that would take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, it is impossible to take in the whole, even by reckoning them up, as those which go beyond his thought are more than those he thinks he has taken in. Better is it, then, not to aim at speaking of the whole, where one cannot do justice even to a part, but, after mentioning one more, to leave the whole for you to marvel at. For all alike are marvellous, and wherever a man turns his glance, he may behold on that side the divinity of the Word, and be struck with exceeding great awe.[b]--St Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54[/b][/quote]

[Laudate_Dominum]

Yes! Awesome!


From Saint Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Romans on the eve of his martyrdom in the arena.

[quote]I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless you hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles; I am but a condemned man: they were free, while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.[/quote]

[Myles Domini]

The testimony of martyrs never ceases to blow me away. St Ignatius' apprehension of his incorporation into Christ is so manifest that you almost taste it as if indeed he has become the bread of Christ. Truly, the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church! Keep contributing L_D your knowledge of texts is vastly superior to mine after all and everyone else too. C'mon Phamily this is Transmundane Lane: SURSUM CORDA!

[cmotherofpirl]

Are they pinned?

[Starets]

maybe if you made it a single thread instead of separate threads for each excerpt?

[Myles Domini]

[quote]But when, visited and visited again, first by admonition, then by correction, they still refused to be converted, the Fountain of Mercy could restrain Himself no longer, but, descending from the Bosom of the Father, took our true humanity, took our sinful likeness, and began all sweetly to admonish them that they should do salutary penance for their sins, and should know Him to be the very Son of God. For He had come for their salvation, and they must not lose hope, but must believe most firmly that pardon was now theirs for all their sins, if only they forsook them and did penance. For there is no sin so grievous that it cannot be washed out by penance, and so washed out as that the devil himself can no more henceforth call it to remembrance. Then, therefore, sinners beholding the so great sweetness of their Creator, began of their own accord to run in eager crowds to the Fountain of Mercy, and to wash away their sins in Him. Nay more; He on His part proceeded, Fountain of Mercy, to live with sinners, proceeded to throw open to them the sacred doors of that sacramental confession by means of which every burden of sin is lightened and removed, for in true confession every stain is cleansed and washed away[b].--St Anselm, 'Sixth Meditation', Book of Meditations and Prayers.[/b][/quote]

[Laudate_Dominum]

Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, fragment from a discourse on the Holy Trinity.

[quote]How, indeed, could it be possible for man, who is limited on six sides—by east, west, south, north, deep, and sky—understand a matter which is above the skies, which is beneath the deeps, which stretches beyond the north and south, and which is present in every place, and fills all vacuity? But if, indeed, we are able to scrutinize spiritual substance, its excellence truly would be undone. Let us consider what is done in our body; and, furthermore, let us see whether it is in our power to ascertain in what manner thoughts are born of the heart, and words of the tongue, and the like. Now, if we can by no means apprehend things that are done in ourselves, how could it ever be that we should understand the mystery of the uncreated Creator, which goes beyond every mind? Assuredly, if this mystery were one that could be penetrated by man, the inspired John would by no means have affirmed this: "No man has seen God at any time." (John 1:18) He then, whom no man has seen at any time,—whom can we reckon Him to resemble, so that thereby we should understand His generation? And we, indeed, without ambiguity apprehend that our soul dwells in us in union with the body; but still, who has ever seen his own soul? who has been able to discern its conjunction with his body? This one thing is all we know certainly, that there is a soul within us conjoined with the body. Thus, then, we reason and believe that the Word is begotten by the Father, albeit we neither possess nor know the clear rationale of the fact. The Word Himself is before every creature—eternal froth the Eternal, like spring from spring, and light from light. The vocable Word, indeed, belongs to those three genera of words which are named in Scripture, and which are not substantial,—namely, the word conceived, the word uttered, and the word articulated. The word conceived, certainly, is not substantial. The word uttered, again, is that voice which the prophets hear from God, or the prophetic speech itself; and even this is not substantial. And, lastly, the word articulated is the speech of man formed forth in air (aere efformatus), composed of terms, which also is not substantial. But the Word of God is substantial, endowed with an exalted and enduring nature, and is eternal with Himself, and is inseparable from Him, and can never fall away, but shall remain in an everlasting union. This Word created heaven and earth, and in Him were all things made. He is the arm and the power of God, never to be separated from the Father, in virtue of an indivisible nature, and, together with the Father, He is without beginning. This Word took our substance of the Virgin Mary; and in so far as He is spiritual indeed, He is indivisibly equal with the Father; but in so far as He is corporeal, He is in like manner inseparably equal with us. And, again, in so far as He is spiritual, He supplies in the same equality (aequiparat) the Holy Spirit, inseparably and without limit. Neither were there two natures, but only one nature of the Holy Trinity before the incarnation of the Word, the Son; and the nature of the Trinity remained one also after the incarnation of the Son. But if any one, moreover, believes that any increment has been given to the Trinity by reason of the assumption of humanity by the Word, he is an alien from us, and from the ministry of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is the perfect, holy, Apostolic faith of the holy God. Praise to the Holy Trinity for ever through the ages of the ages. Amen.[/quote]

[Era Might]

St. Basil of Caesarea, Letter 46:

[quote]We can escape now. While we can, let us lift ourselves from the fall: let us never despair of ourselves, if only we depart from evil. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. "O come, let us worship and fall down; let us weep before Him." The Word Who invited us to repentance calls aloud, "Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is, then, a way of salvation, if we will. "Death in his might has swallowed up, but again the Lord has wiped away tears from off all faces" of them that repent. The Lord is faithful in all His words. He does not lie when He says, "Though your sins be scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool." The great Physician of souls, Who is the ready liberator, not of you alone, but of all who are enslaved by sin, is ready to heal your sickness. From Him come the words, it was His sweet and saving lips that said, "They that be whole need not a physician but they that are sick. ...I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." What excuse have you, what excuse has any one, when He speaks thus? The Lord wishes to cleanse you from the trouble of your sickness and to show you light after darkness. The good Shepherd, Who left them that had not wandered away, is seeking after you. If you give yourself to Him He will not hold back. He, in His love, will not disdain even to carry you on His own shoulders, rejoicing that He has found His sheep which was lost. The Father stands and awaits your return from your wandering. Only come back, and while you are yet afar off, He will run and fall upon your neck, and, now that you are cleansed by repentance, will enwrap you in embraces of love. He will clothe with the chief robe the soul that has put off the old man with all his works; He will put a ring on hands that have washed off the blood of death, and will put shoes on feet that have turned from the evil way to the path of the Gospel of peace. He will announce the day of joy and gladness to them that are His own, both angels and men, and will celebrate your salvation far and wide. For "verily I say unto you," says He, "there is joy in heaven before God over one sinner that repents." If any of those who think they stand find fault because of your quick reception, the good Father will Himself make answer for you in the words, "It was meet that we should make merry and be glad for this" my daughter "was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found."[/quote]

[misereremi]

St. John Chrysostom, from homily concerning Lowliness of mind

[quote]For do not tell me that this or that man is a runaway slave, or a robber or thief, or laden with countless faults, or that he is a mendicant and abject, or of low value and worthy of no account; but consider that for his sake the Christ died; and this sufficeth thee for a ground for all solicitude. Consider what sort of person he must be, whom Christ valued at so high a price as not to have spared even his own blood. For neither, if a king had chosen to sacrifice himself on any one’s behalf, should we have sought out another demonstration of his being some one great and of deep interest to the King—I fancy not—for his death would suffice to show the love of him who had died towards him. But as it is not man, not angel, not archangel; but the Lord of the heavens himself, the only-begotten Son of God himself having clothed himself with flesh, freely gave himself on our behalf. Shall we not do everything, and take every trouble, so that the men who have been thus valued may enjoy every solicitude at our hands?[/quote]

PS love this thread, Myles & pham

[Myles Domini]

[quote]Let us not imagine, then, as some misguided teachers do, that Mary being simply a creature would be a hindrance to union with the Creator. Far from it, for it is no longer Mary who lives but Jesus Christ himself, God alone, who lives in her. Her transformation into God far surpasses that experienced by St Paul and other saints, more than heaven surpasses the earth. Mary was created only for God, and it is unthinkable that she should reserve even one soul for herself. On the contrary she leads every soul to God and to union with him. Mary is the wonderful echo of God. The more a person joins himself to her, the more effectively she unites him to God. When we say "Mary", she re-echoes "God". When, like St Elizabeth, we call her blessed, she gives the honour to God. If those misguided ones who were so sadly led astray by the devil, even in their prayer-life, had known how to discover Mary, and Jesus through her, and God through Jesus, they would not have had such terrible falls. The saints tell us that when we have once found Mary, and through Mary Jesus, and through Jesus God the Father, then we have discovered every good. When we say "every good", we except nothing. "Every good" includes every grace, continuous friendship with God, every protection against the enemies of God, possession of truth to counter every falsehood, endless benefits and unfailing headway against the hazards we meet on the way to salvation, and finally every consolation and joy amid the bitter afflictions of life[b]--St Louis de Montfort, the Secret of Mary 21[/b][/quote]

PS) Yes Misereremi I love it too and I thank you, Era and L_D for your contributions and encourage the whole phamily to add to the Phatmass florilegium.

[Laudate_Dominum]

Two famous excerpts from the [i]Confessions[/i].

[quote]Great are You, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and of Your wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of Your creation, desires to praise You, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou "resistest the proud,"—yet man, this part of Your creation, desires to praise You. Thou movest us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You. Lord, teach me to know and understand which of these should be first, to call on You, or to praise You; and likewise to know You, or to call upon You. But who is there that calls upon You without knowing You? For he that knows You not may call upon You as other than You are. Or perhaps we call on You that we may know You. "But how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14) And those who seek the Lord shall praise Him. For those who seek shall find Him, (Matthew 7:7) and those who find Him shall praise Him. Let me seek You, Lord, in calling on You, and call on You in believing in You; for You have been preached unto us. O Lord, my faith calls on You,—that faith which You have imparted to me, which You have breathed into me through the incarnation of Your Son, through the ministry of Your preacher.
[b]Saint Augustine, [i]Confessions[/i], I, 1[/b][/quote]

[quote]How late I came to love you, O Beauty so ancient and so new, how late I came to love you! You were within me, yet I had gone outside to seek you. Unlovely myself, I rushed toward all those lovely things you had made. And always you were with me, I was not with you. All these beauties kept me far from you — although they would not have existed at all unless they had their being in you. You called, you cried, you shattered my deafness. You sparkled, you blazed, you drove away my blindness. You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath and I pant for you. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace.
[b]Saint Augustine, [i]Confessions[/i], X, 27[/b][/quote]

[Myles Domini]

[quote]O little key! I envy thee,

For thou canst ope, at any hour,

The Eucharistic prison-house,

Where dwells the God of Love and Power.

And yet — Oh, tender mystery! —

One effort of my faith alone

Unlocks the tabernacle door,

And hides me there with Christ my Own.

O lampwithin the holy place,

Whose mystic lights forever shine!

I fain would burn with fires of love

As bright, before my God and thine.

Yet, miracle of wondrous bliss!

Such flames are mine; and, day by day,

I can win souls to Jesus Christ,

To burn with His pure love for aye.

O consecrated altar-stone!

I envy thee with every morn.

As once in Bethlehem’s blessed shed,

The Eternal Word on thee is born.

Yet, gentle Saviour! hear my plea;

Enter my heart, O Lord divine!

‘Tis no cold stone I offer Thee,

Who dost desire this heart of mine!

O corporalthat angels guard!

What envy of thee fills my breast!

On thee, as in His swaddling bands,

I see my only Treasure rest.

Ah Virgin Mother! change my heart

Into a corporal pure and fair,

Whereon the snow-white Host may rest,

And thy meek Lamb find shelter there.

O holy paten!Jesus makes

Of Thee His sacramental throne.

Ah! if He would abase Himself,

To dwell awhile with me alone!

Jesus fulfils my longing hope,

Nor must I wait until I die; —

He comes to me! He lives in me!

His ostensoriumam I!

The chalice, too, I fain would be,

Where I adore the Blood divine!

Yet, at the holy sacrifice,

That Precious Blood each day is mine.

More dear to Jesus is my soul,

Than chalices of gold could be;

His altar is a Calvary new,

Whereon His Blood still flows for me.

Only one little bunch of grapes

That gladly disappears for Thee,

O Jesus, holy, heavenly Vine!

Thou knowest I rejoice to be.

Beneath the pressure of the cross,

I prove my love for Thee alway;

And ask no other joy than this, —

To immolate myself each day!

Among the grains of purest wheat,

O happy lot! he chooses me.

We lose our life for Him, the Christ, ­—

What rapturous height of ecstasy!

Thy spouse am I, Thy chosen one.

My Well-Beloved! come, dwell in me.

Thy beauty wins my heart. Oh, come!

Deign to transform me into Thee!

[b]--St Therese of Liseux, Poems of St Therese, 'My Wishes before the Tabernacle'[/b][/quote]

[Myles Domini]

[quote]’What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me?’ (Ps. 116.12). Reason and natural justice alike move me to give up myself wholly to loving Him to whom I owe all that I have and am. But faith shows me that I should love Him far more than I love myself, as I come to realize that He hath given me not my own life only, but even Himself. Yet, before the time of full revelation had come, before the Word was made flesh, died on the Cross, came forth from the grave, and returned to His Father; before God had shown us how much He loved us by all this plenitude of grace, the commandment had been uttered, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might’ (Deut. 6.5), that is, with all thy being, all thy knowledge, all thy powers. And it was not unjust for God to claim this from His own work and gifts. Why should not the creature love his Creator, who gave him the power to love? Why should he not love Him with all his being, since it is by His gift alone that he can do anything that is good? It was God’s creative grace that out of nothingness raised us to the dignity of manhood; and from this appears our duty to love Him, and the justice of His claim to that love. But how infinitely is the benefit increased when we bethink ourselves of His fulfillment of the promise, ‘thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast: how excellent is Thy mercy, O Lord! ’ (Ps. 36.6f.). For we, who ‘turned our glory into the similitude of a calf that eateth hay’ (Ps. 106.20), by our evil deeds debased ourselves so that we might be compared unto the beasts that perish. I owe all that I am to Him who made me: but how can I pay my debt to Him who redeemed me, and in such wondrous wise? Creation was not so vast a work as redemption; for it is written of man and of all things that were made, ‘He spake the word, and they were made’ (Ps. 148.5). But to redeem that creation which sprang into being at His word, how much He spake, what wonders He wrought, what hardships He endured, what shames He suffered! Therefore what reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits which He hath done unto me? In the first creation He gave me myself; but in His new creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self that I had lost. Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself. But what have I to offer Him for the gift of Himself? Could I multiply myself a thousand-fold and then give Him all, what would that be in comparison with God?--[b]St Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God V[/b][/quote]

[Myles Domini]

[quote]"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalm ii. 11.

WHY did Christ show Himself to so few witnesses after He rose from the dead? Because He was a King, a King exalted upon God's "Holy hill of Zion;" as the Psalm says which contains the text. Kings do not court the multitude, or show themselves as a spectacle at the will of others. They are the rulers of their people, and have their state as such, and are reverently waited on by their great men: and when they show themselves, they do so out of their condescension. They act by means of their servants, and must be sought by those who would gain favours from them.

Christ, in like manner, when exalted as the Only-begotten Son of God, did not mix with the Jewish people, as in the days of His humiliation. He rose from the grave in secret, and taught in secret for forty days, because "the government was upon His shoulder." He was no longer a servant washing His disciples' feet, and dependent on the wayward will of the multitude. He was the acknowledged Heir of all things. His throne was established by a Divine decree; and those who desired His salvation, were bound to seek His face. Yet not even by those who sought was He at once found. He did not permit the world to approach Him rashly, or curiously to gaze on Him. Those only did He call beside Him who had been His friends, who loved Him. Those only He bade "ascend the hill of the Lord," who had "clean hands and a pure heart, who had not worshipped vanity nor sworn deceitfully." These drew near, and "saw the Lord God of Israel," and so were fitted to bear the news of Him to the people at large. He remained "in His holy temple;" they from Him proclaimed the tidings of His resurrection, and of His mercy, His free pardon offered to all men, and the promises of grace and glory which His death had procured for all who believe.

Thus are we taught to serve our risen Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Let us pursue the subject thus opened upon us.—Christ's second sojourn on earth (after His resurrection) was in secret. The time had been when He "preached openly in the synagogues," and in the public ways; and openly wrought miracles such as man never did. Was there to be no end of His labours in our behalf? His death "finished" them; afterwards He taught His followers only. Who shall complain of His withdrawing Himself at last from the world, when it was of His own spontaneous loving-kindness that He ever showed Himself at all?


[b]--Venerable Cardinal Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons 1- 23[/b][/quote]

[Myles Domini]

[quote]Acting according to this pattern, one not only becomes holy but also
enjoys perpetual serenity in this life. Alphonsus the Great, King of
Aragon, being asked one day whom he considered the happiest person in
the world, answered: "He who abandons himself to the will of God and
accepts all things, prosperous and adverse, as coming from his
hands.'' "To those that love God, all things work together unto
good." Those who love God are always happy, because their whole
happiness is to fulfill, even in adversity, the will of God.
Afflictions do not mar their serenity, because by accepting
misfortune, they know they give pleasure to their beloved Lord:

"Whatever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad."
Indeed, what can be more satisfactory to a person than to experience
the fulfillment of all his desires? This is the happy lot of the man
who wills only what God wills, because everything that happens, save
sin, happens through the will of God.

There is a story to this effect in the "Lives of the Fathers" about a
farmer whose crops were more plentiful than those of his neighbors.
On being asked how this happened with such unvarying regularity, he
said he was not surprised because he always had the kind of weather
he wanted. He was asked to explain. He said: "It is so because I want
whatever kind of weather God wants, and because I do, he gives me the
harvests I want.'' If souls resigned to God's will are humiliated,
says Salvian, they want to be humiliated; if they are poor, they want
to be poor; in short, whatever happens is acceptable to them, hence
they are truly at peace in this life. In cold and heat, in rain and
wind, the soul united to God says: "I want it to be warm, to be cold,
windy, to rain, because God wills it."

This is the beautiful freedom of the sons of God, and it is worth
vastly more than all the rank and distinction of blood and birth,
more than all the kingdoms in the world. This is the abiding peace
which, in the experience of the saints, "surpasseth all
understanding.'' It surpasses all pleasures rising from gratification
of the senses, from social gatherings, banquets and other worldly
amusements; vain and deceiving as they are, they captivate the senses
for the time being, but bring no lasting contentment; rather they
afflict man in the depth of his soul where alone true peace can
reside.
[b]--St Alphonsus Ligouri, Uniformity with God's Will 3[/b][/quote]