Undusted Texts

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 H...

Christ is baptized!  This week's quotes on Gems From the Treasury come from the Proslogion ( Proslogium ) of St. Anselm of Canterbury. 1/7/13: "I will long after Thee in seeking Thee, I will find Thee by loving Thee, I will love Thee in finding Thee."-- Proslogion I 1/8/13: "[My soul] is both darkened in itself, and dazzled by Thee...it is both obscured by its own insignificance, and overwhelmed by Thy infinity."-- Proslogion IV 1/9/13: "If there are many great delights in delectable things, what and how great is the delight in Him Who has made these delectable things."-- Proslogion XXIV 1/10/13: "Love the one good in which are all goods, and it sufficeth....There, there is whatever ye love, whatever ye desire."-- Proslogion XXV 1/11/13: "I pray, O God, to know thee, to love thee, that I may rejoice in thee...may I at least advance...until that joy shall come to the full."-- Proslogion XXVI Next week's quotes a...

Christ is baptized! This week's quotes on Gems From the Treasury come from different Byzantine liturgical hymns during this Nativity season. 12/31/12: "Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shed the light of knowledge upon the world....O Lord, glory to You!"--Troparion of the Nativity (December 25) 1/1/13: "You fulfilled the Law by accepting to be circumcised in the flesh...Glory to Your goodness, O Word!...Glory to Your ineffable condescension!"--Troparion of the Circumcision (January 1) 1/2/13: "The Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent in Essence...For to us is born a New Child, who is God from all eternity."--Kontakion of the Nativity (December 25) 1/3/13: "[David, Joseph, and James] offer their hymns of praise, for the crown of glory of their relationship with Christ fills them with joy."--Kontakion of the Sunday after the Nativity (December 26-31) 1/4/13: "Make ready, Zebulon, and prepare Nephtali!  And you, Jordan River, st...

This past week of Gems From the Treasury on my Twitter featured quotes from St. Ephraim (Ephrem) the Syrian, a Doctor of the Church. 12/24/12: "Divinity flew down to rescue and lift up humanity."-- Hymns on Virginity 48.17 12/25/12: "Blessed is the birth on which a generation thundered with hallelujahs of praise."-- Hymns on the Nativity 21.3 12/26/12: "Blessed is He Who made our body a Tabernacle for His hiddenness.  Blessed is He Who with our tongue interpreted His secrets."-- Hymns on the Nativity 3.7 12/27/12: "Blessed be the Babe Who made His mother the lyre of His melodies."-- Hymns on the Nativity 15.4 12/28/12: "Blessed is the Unlimited Who was limited."-- Hymns on the Nativity 23.2 Next week's series of Gems From the Treasury, to continue the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, will contain quotes from various Byzantine liturgical hymns from throughout this season of the Nativity. St. Ephra...

I am a compulsive collector of quotes, most notably those of saints and other Christian spiritual writers.  My collection is large and growing, and I do not want to keep them to myself.  Therefore I have decided to start a new project using my little-used Twitter account.  Each weekday I will tweet a quote from my collection, and I will place the quotes along with their bibliographical information in posts here.  Each week will have some sort of theme, beginning with a week of St. Ephraim the Syrian, Doctor of the Church, with quotes from his Hymns on the Nativity (except for the Eve of the Nativity).  I hope this project inspires readers with its quotes from throughout the Catholic (and probably also Orthodox) tradition.  May St. Josemaría Escrivá, who understood the power of short quotes, as seen in his writings, pray for me throughout this endeavor.  If you wish to be inspired by this project, you can follow my Twitter account with the link to the...

 "Induebar cilicio, humiliabam in ieiunio animam meam, et oratio mea ad sinum meum revertetur." "I wore sackcloth, I afflicted myself with fasting.  I prayed with head bowed on my bosom."--Ps 35:13. No Christian life is without suffering, for Christ suffered.  Even the most joyful Christian recognizes the necessity of suffering, whether voluntary or no.  The Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, was no different in this regard.  Yet so many portray him as solely a lover of God's creation (which he most assuredly was).  How many know of his tears, his tears so plentiful that they ran furrows in his cheeks, that they took away his sight?  Who knows of his public self-deprecation when he took a spoonful of meat broth while fasting?  Who knows of his flight into a thorn bush to conquer the passions of the flesh? St. Francis was not just a man of joy who loved God's creation, but he was a man who suffered for the Lord, who mortified hi...

Happy feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra!  Though usually known only for his work of charity in giving dowry money to a peasant so his daughters could be married (and from that gift-giving the figure of Santa Claus eventually appeared), St. Nicholas was also a holy bishop and a slapper of heretics (famously slapping Arius at the First Council of Nicea), and he is also the patron of the Ruthenian Catholic Church.  To celebrate his feast day, above is the 8th movement from the cantata Saint Nicolas by Benjamin Britten , a 20th-century Anglican composer.  If the music interests you, the entire cantata can be found at the website of the St. Nicholas Center , with full text available here. I pray that your Nativity Fast or Advent is proceeding prayerfully, and once again, happy feast of St. Nicholas! St. Nicholas of Myra, pray for us!