Author Archives: admin

November 1 – ALL SAINTS
“The saints are those who are moved by God’s grace to do whatever good they do. Some are married and have intercourse with their spouse sometimes for the sake of having a child and sometimes just for the pleasure of it. They get angry and desire revenge when they are injured but are ready to forgive when they are asked. They are very attached to their property but will freely give at least a modest amount to the poor. They will not steal from you but are quick to take you to court if you try to steal from them. They are realistic enough to know that God should get the main credit for the good they do. They are humble enough to admit that they are the source of their own evil acts. In this life God loves them for their good acts and gives forgiveness for their evil, and in the next life they will join the ranks of those who will reign with Christ forever.”
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians, 3.5.14

October 31 – SAINT LUCILLA
“Certainly, God has given you much, but you have not yet received the robe of immortality. Why request no more as though you were filled to satisfaction? If God is good to you because He has given you these things, how much more blessed will you be when He gives Himself to you! Request the gift of God Himself!”
Commentary on Psalm 144, 2

October 30 – SAINT ALPHONSUS RODRIGUEZ
“O God, what do I love when I love you? It is not bodily beauty nor graceful movements nor brilliant light. Nor is it the sweet melodies of songs. It is not the smell of flowers or ointments or fine spices nor is it the taste of honey on bread. When I love you, I don’t love something that can be hugged in fleshly embrace. It is not these things that I love when I love you, my God. Yet when I love you I do love something like a light or a pleasant smell or a warm embrace that penetrates deep inside me. When I love you a light shines in my soul and there is an eternal melody and a fragrance that never dissipates and a taste that never loses its savor. And, in some way I am embraced by a hug that I never tire of. This is what it is like to love you, my God.”
Confessions, 10.6.8

October 29 -SAINT GERMANO
“How mixed up I get, Jesus! And how sad my poor soul becomes when it is trying to rest in peace and you seem not to be present in the room! In its solitary space it turns this way and that on its chosen bed, first on its back, then on its side, then on its stomach, only to find more discomfort. Only you, Lord, bring peace. And I know you are always right here, ready to free me from my stupidity and get me going in the right direction. You build up my courage by whispering to me, ‘Go ahead and run, skipping into your future. I shall hold you in my arms until you win the prize and then go on holding you forever and ever.”
Confessions, 6.16

October 28 – SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE
“We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labors, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching. We make progress ourselves, you see, by loving them, not by celebrating these things just for worldly pleasure and enjoyment. After all, what are the martyrs looking for from us? They must have very little, if they are still looking for human praises, they haven’t yet overcome. But if they have overcome, they are not looking for anything from us for their own sakes; but they are looking for it for our sakes. So, let our way be directed toward the Lord. It was a narrow way, a thorny way, a rough way; but with the passage of so many and such wonderful feet it has become smooth. The Lord himself went along it first, the apostles went along it fearlessly; after them the martyrs, boys, women, girls. But who was in them? The one who said, ‘Without me you can do nothing.’”
Sermon 295, 8

October 27 -SAINT EVARISTO

“Humans go distances to admire the soaring mountains, the giant raging
waves of the sea, the broad expanse of the silently flowing rivers, the
seemingly infinite expanse of the ocean. They wander at the limitless paths
of the stars but they ignore themselves. The feel no wonder at themselves.
The fact, for example that I could not have spoken of the wonders above,
unless I could see them in my memory with all of its endless expanse.”

Confessions, 10.8.15

October 26 – SAINTS LUCIANO AND MARCIANO
“Just think of the world in which we live! Think of the thousands of beautiful things for seeing and the thousands of objects just right for making things. There are the soft shadows of forests at noon, the shade and smells of spring flowers, the different songs and exotic dresses of the birds. How amazing the animals who are around us, the smallest (the ant) even more amazing than the huge bulk of the whale! How grateful should we be for the gentle animals and silent plants that give themselves so that we might have wool and cotton for our clothes.”
City of God, 22.24

October 25 -SAINT JOHN STONE, AUGUSTINIAN MARTYR
“The glory of the martyrs in the celebration of their feasts is something people can observe, but what cannot be seen is how great it is with God. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. How immensely precious, and what’s more in the sight of the Lord! Because when they were being slaughtered in the sight of men, they were worthless. How could the blood of the martyrs have been shed so freely, if it hadn’t been worthless to those who were shedding it? Those who were killing the martyrs didn’t know it was going to seed itself. From those few, you see, falling into the earth this crop has sprung.”
Sermon 335E, 2

October 24 – SAINT ANTHONY MARY CLARET
“I see that when you praise love you shout out. But just as it pleases you when you praise love may it so please you that you preserve it in your heart. Love is praised by you; it pleases you. Well, have it, possess it! There is no need for you to consider buying it. It stands available at no cost. Take hold of it, embrace it. Nothing is sweeter than love. If it is delicious to talk about, what is it like when it is possessed?
Commentary on the Epistle of John, 7.10.2

October 23 -SAINT WILLIAM THE HERMIT AND BLESSED JOHN THE GOOD
“What does ‘walking’ mean? It means to ‘keep on going.’ So, keep on moving my friends. Examine yourself without self-deception, without flattery. There is no one inside you before whom you need to be ashamed, no one that you need to impress. Of course, God is there but he is pleased with your humility. You must be dissatisfied with the way you are now if you ever want to get to where you are not yet. When you are self-satisfied, you get stuck where you are. If you say to yourself, ‘That’s enough; I need not go farther,’ it is then that you die. Keep on walking, don’t stop on the road, don’t turn around and go back. Especially don’t wander off the road by turning away from Christ. A lame man limping along the road goes farther towards God than a sprinter running off the road.”
Sermon 169, 18