Category Archives: today

November 7 – BLESSED GRATIA OF KOTOR, O.S.A.
“If a man in poor circumstances becomes a monk, he should not think that he is doing the same work as he did before, if in fact he has made the passage from a love of increasing his private possessions by even a little to the charity of the common life, in which he no longer looks to his own interests but to those of Jesus Christ. He has passed into the fellowship of those who have one soul and one heart intent on God, among whom no one calls anything his own but everything is held in common.”
On the Work of Monks

November 6 – AUGUSTINIAN HOLY SOULS
“It is inevitable that we should be sad when those we love desert us by dying. Although we know they are not leaving us forever, but that we who remain will follow them who have gone a little in advance of us; nevertheless, when that death our nature shrinks from seizes one we love, it strikes us in the very love we bear. That is why the Apostle did not tell us that we should not be saddened, but that we should not be saddened in the same way as those who have no hope. In the death of those who are close to us we experience both sadness at the necessity of losing them and hope of getting them back. By the former we are distressed, by the latter consoled.”
Sermon 172, 1-3

November 5 – BLESSED MARIANO DE LA MATA, O.S.A.
“My advice is, ‘Give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.’ You won’t be left without any treasure, but what you hold on to so anxiously on earth, you will keep in heaven with nothing to worry about at all. So, transfer it. I’m giving you advice on how to keep it, not on how to lose it. ‘You will have, he says, treasure in heaven; and, come follow me,’ and I will lead you to your treasure; it’s not a question of making a loss, but of making a profit.”
Sermon 389, 4

November 4 – SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO
“We bishops are your servants – your servants, but also your fellow servants. We are your servants, but all of us have one Lord. We are your servants, but for Jesus’ sake, as the Apostle says, ‘We are your servants for Jesus’ sake’ (2 Cor 4:5). Through him we are servants, and through him we are also free; it is he who tells those who believe in him, ‘If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free’ (Jn 8:36). Shall I hesitate, then, to be a servant through him, since unless I become free through him I should remain lost in slavery? We have been placed at the head and we are servants. We are in command, but only if we are useful.”
Sermon 340A

November 3 – SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES

“Among the great and salutary instructions, the divine and lofty precepts
which our Lord gave his disciples, people think this one is very hard, in
which he ordered them to love their enemies. It’s a hard precept, but a
grand reward. Anyway, notice what he said when he was giving this
admonition: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for
those who persecute you. You have heard what the work is; wait for the
reward and see what he will add: that you may be, he says, children of your
father who is in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the good and the bad,
and sends rain upon the just and the unjust. We see this happening, we
can’t deny it. … Benefits from the sky, benefits from the earth; the
springs bubble up, the fields are fertile, the trees are laden with fruit.
The good enjoy these things, the bad enjoy them too; the grateful enjoy
them, the ungrateful enjoy them. If he bestows such blessings on good and
bad alike, do you suppose he keeps nothing special for the good? He gives
to good and bad alike what he gave to the men who stoned Stephen, but it is
what he gave Stephen that he keeps for the good.”

Sermon 317, 1

November 2 – ALL SOULS
“Jesus came to save us. He died but at the same time he conquered death. He put an end to what we fear so much. He took it on and conquered it. So be of good heart, my friends. What has already taken place in Jesus will also take place in us. Listen to those who have triumphed and now live where death is no more. Hear Paul saying, ‘When what is mortal has been clothed with what is immortal and when that which will die has been clothed with what cannot die, then the Scripture will come true: Death is destroyed, victory is complete! Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?’”
Sermon 233, 3-4

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