Gems From the Treasury: January 14-18, 2013

Glory to Jesus Christ!  This week's quotes on Gems From the Treasury came from Book III of St. Clement of Alexandria's Stromateis (Miscellanies).

1/14/13: "We are not to live amorally. We are, so far as possible, to purify ourselves from passions and lusts, and take care of our soul."--III.42 (5)
1/15/13: "It is impossible for those who are still under the direction of their passions to receive true knowledge of God."--III.43 (1)
1/16/13: "Ignorance of God is displayed by one's living."--III.43 (1)
1/17/13: "The tree is known by its fruits, not by its flowers...True knowledge is discerned from the fruits of behavior, not from the flower of theory."--III.44 (2)
1/18/13: "Better to be healthy than to be ill and talk about health. Better for there to be light than to be chattering about light."--III.57 (4)

Next week's quotes are from the Enzira Sebhat, or Harp of Glory, described as "An Alphabetical Hymn of Praise for the Ever-Blessed Virgin Mary from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church."  In some senses, it seems to be an Ethiopian equivalent to the Byzantine Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos, although the structure is very different.

St. Clement of Alexandria, pray for us!


Nota Bene: All the quotes from St. Clement of Alexandria are from the translation of Books I-III of the Stromateis by John Ferguson for the Fathers of the Church series published by the Catholic University of America.

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