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October 21
“Let us listen to the voice of the Lord encouraging us from on high and comforting us. He has taken notice of our desire and has willingly accepted our plea that we have sent through Jesus. While we are still plodding along on our pilgrimage, he has deferred giving us what he promised. He urges us to ‘Hold out for the Lord!’ You will not be holding out for one who will be unable to find anything to give you. By holding out for the Lord you will come to possess him. The one for whom you are holding out will be yours forever. Long for something else, if you can find something greater or better or more lovely.”
Commentary on Psalm 26/2, 23

October 20 -SAINT MAGDALENE OF NAGASAKI, AUGUSTINIAN MARTYR
“You’re a Christian, you carry on your forehead the cross of Christ. The mark stamped on you teaches you what you should profess. When he was hanging on the cross – the cross you carry on your forehead … he was looking round at the people raving against him, putting up with their insults, praying for his enemies. Even while he was being killed, the doctor was curing the sick with his blood. He said, you see, ‘Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing (Lk 23:34). Nor were these words futile or without effect. And of those people, thousands later on believed in the one they had slain, so that they learned how to suffer for him who had suffered both for them and at their hands.”
Sermon 302

October 19 -SAINT JOHN DE BREBEUF AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
“People change both for better and for worse. We are alternately encouraged and saddened by seeing the changes in people every day. We are cheered by people who live good lives and saddened when people wander away. That’s why the Lord did not promise salvation to those who begin well but rather says, ‘Whoever perseveres to the end is the one who will be save’ (Mt. 10:22).”
Sermon 51,1

October 18 -SAINT LUKE, EVANGELIST
“Job was tempted in many ways but stayed steadfast in his patience. At first, he lost all his possessions. Then he was afflicted by the death of his sons. Next his body was attacked with pain from head to foot. He got little help from those closest to him. His wife spent her time cursing God and encouraging him to do the same, but he would not. The paradox is that Adam in paradise consented to temptation while Job on his dung heap held firm. To add insult to injury, friends came suggesting that his woes were because of some great sin. Job suffered in his flesh, and in his heart, he endured the pain of the accusations of his wife and friends. But, he did not give in. He scolded his foolish wife, taught his friends wisdom, and preserved his patience.”
On Patience, 11-12

October 17 – SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP AND MARTYR
“By patience we are supported when, amid the troubles of this world, our happiness is postponed. It was with such patience that Kind David endured the attacks of his son Absalom. Although he could easily have destroyed Absalom, David forbade those who were grieved and upset by such treason to take vengeance on his wayward son. He accepted the moment as a time for humility and bowed to the will of God and drank the bitter wine of his son’s disloyalty with the greatest patience.”
On Patience, 9.8

October 16
“Take care that your habits are not corrupted, your hope undermined, your patience discouraged and you yourselves turned aside into crooked ways. On the contrary, by being meek and mild you keep to the straight ways which the Lord teaches you. The truth is, without patience amid the troubles and trials of this life, hope in the future cannot be kept alive. You cannot maintain unflagging patience unless you are meek and mild, never resisting God’s will. Indeed, by being meek and mild you will not only love his consolations, you will also bear up under his discipline. Continuing to hope for what you cannot yet experience, you will wait for it patiently.”
Sermon 157, 2

October 15
“Highway robbers spend sleepless nights lying in wait for travelers. Their endurance is to be marveled at, but their apparent ‘patience’ should be condemned. Patience flows from wisdom, not passion. Patience is the product of a good conscience. It does not result in robbing the innocent. Whenever, then, you see someone enduring suffering, do not immediately praise that person’s patience. Patience must come from a good cause. Not all those who suffer have the virtue of patience. Only those who suffer for the right reason are crowned with patience’s reward.”
            On Patience, 5-6

October 14
“The virtue of patience endures trouble for good reasons but it becomes a vice when it descends into stubbornness. Stubbornness imitates patience; indeed, it is its close neighbor. Just as a person who cannot be forced to do evil is better than one who weakens under the pressure, so too a person who stubbornly cannot be turned away from evil is worse than one who can. Stubbornness prevents a person from ceasing his or her evil or foolish course of action even by the threat of the direst consequences. What shall we say of such a person who refuses to yield to pressure? Rather than describing such a one as having great patience we should recognize that he or she is just a hard-headed stubborn person.”
            Sermon 283, 7

October 13
“It may happen that some catastrophe strikes suddenly. Our hearts throb as the earth quakes and thunder rolls round the sky. Or we are frightened by a terrifying attack or the threat of robbers lying in wait. There is terror all around and panic strikes home. Above and beyond these dreadful events, we suffer what is going on inside us and what is done to us by those with whom we live. We suffer our own bad qualities and we are obliged to suffer those of other people. No wonder that the psalmist cries out, ‘O Lord, cleanse me from my secret sins and spare me from the faults of others.’”
            Commentary on Psalm 37, 15-16