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Knowing without loving
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Rich
Jul 23, 2023, 5:44:03 AM7/23/23
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Knowing without loving
"Those words show clearly that the demons had much knowledge, but
entirely lacked love. They dreaded receiving their punishment from
him. They did not love the righteousness that was in him. He made
himself known to them to the extent he willed; and he willed to be
made known to the extent that was fitting. But he was not made known
to them as he is known to the holy angels, who enjoy participation in
his eternity, in that he is the Word of God. To the demons he is known
as he had to be made known, by striking terror into them, for his
purpose was to free from their tyrannical power all who were
predestined for his kingdom and glory, which is eternally true and
truly eternal. Therefore, he did not make himself known to the demons
as the life eternal, and the unchangeable light which illuminates his
true worshipers, whose hearts are purified by faith in him so that
they see that light. He was known to the demons through certain
temporal effects of his power, the signs of his hidden presence, which
could be more evident to their senses, even those of malignant
spirits, than to the weak perception of human beings.
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from CITY OF GOD 9.21)
<<>><<>><<>>
23 July – St Phocas the Gardener
Memorial
23 July
14 July (translation of relics)
5 March on some calendars when listed as Phocas of Antioch
22 September on some calendars
(Died c 303)
Layman Martyr, Apostle of the poor and needy. Died by beheading c 303 in Sinope, Pontus (in modern Turkey). Also known as – Phocas of Hovenier, Phocas of Sinop, Focas, Fokas. Patronages – against insect bites, against poisoning, against snake bites, agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers, field hands, boatmen, mariners, sailors, watermen, gardeners, husbandmen, market-gardeners.
Christian gardener who lived at Sinope, in Paphiagonia, on the Black Sea and was put to death during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian. Phocas is sometimes confused with Phocas of Antioch, although there is no doubt about the historical act of his martyrdom. According to tradition, he gave welcome to the Roman soldiers sent to find and execute him and, as they did not know who he was, he agreed to take them to the Phocas whom they sought. After giving them a meal and allowing them to sleep in his house, he went out and dug his own grave, using the rest of the night to prepare his soul. In the morning, he led them to his prepared grave and informed them of his identity. When they were aghast and hesitated to slay him, he encouraged them to complete their task and behead him. He is especially venerated in the East and was long considered a Patron Saint for gardeners and farmers.
Phocas dwelt near the gate of Sinope, a city of Pontus and lived by cultivating a garden, which yielded him a handsome subsistence and wherewith, plentifully to relieve the indigent and hungry. In his humble profession, he imitated the virtue of the most holy anchorites and seemed, in part restored, to the happy condition of our first parents in Eden. To prune the garden without labour and toil was their sweet employment and pleasure. Since their sin, the earth yields not its fruit but by the sweat of our brow.
But still, no labour is more useful or necessary, or more natural to man and better adapted to maintain in him, vigour of mind and health of body, than that of tillage. Nor does any other part of the universe, rival the innocent charms which a garden presents to all our senses, by the fragrancy of its flowers, by the riches of its produce and the sweetness and variety of its fruits; by the melodious concert of its musicians, by the worlds of wonders which every stem, leaf and fibre exhibit to the contemplation of the inquisitive philosopher and by that beauty and variegated lustre of colours which clothe the numberless tribes of its smallest inhabitants and adorn its shining landscapes, vying with the brightest splendour of the heavens. And in a single lily, surpassing the dazzling lustre, with which Solomon was surrounded on his throne in the midst of all his glory.
And what a field for contemplation does a garden offer to our view in every part, raising our souls to God in raptures of love and praise, stimulating us to fervour, by the fruitfulness with which it repays our labour and multiplies the seed it receives and exciting us to tears of compunction for our insensibility to God, by the barrenness with which it is changed into a frightful desert, unless subdued by assiduous toil!
Our Saint joining prayer with his labour, found in his garden itself, an instructive book and an inexhausted fund of holy meditation. His house was open to all strangers and travellers who had no lodging in the place and after having, for many years most liberally bestowed the fruit of his labour on the poor, he was found worthy also, to give his life for Christ.
Although his profession was obscure and thought lowly by the world, he was well known over the whole country, by the reputation of his charity and virtue.
https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/23/
The Royal Road of the Cross
“We all have our own cross.
When we reject it, we fashion one for ourselves by our defects and sins, which leave us discontented and restless and draws God’s punishment upon us.
It is useless to flee from the Cross, for it follows us everywhere.
If we refuse to accept the cross which God has given us, we take upon ourselves, one which is heavier than the first.
Worldlings can bask for a moment in their pleasures but it soon passes and is replaced by bitterness and sorrow.
Their suffering is deeper than that of a good Christian, who places his trust in God.
There is only one way of making our cross easier to bear and that is to embrace it as Jesus did.
We should love the Cross because it is suffering which shows us how to become like Jesus, to make reparation for our sins and to co-operate by our own passion with the Passion of Christ (Cf Col 1:24).”
by Antonio Cardinal Bacci
“Humility and charity
are the two master chords –
one, the lowest;
the other, the highest;
all the others are dependent on them.
Therefore, it is necessary, above all.
to maintain ourselves in these two virtues,
for observe well,
that the preservation of the whole edifice
depends on the foundation and the roof!”
--St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Quote:
Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely
resume our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ...
Devout conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to
spiritual progress, most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit
find their ground of fellowship in God.
--Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ
<><><><>
O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire you with a whole heart,
so that desiring you we may seek you with a whole heart,
so that desiring you we may seek and find you;
and so finding you, may love you; and loving you,
may hate those sins which separate us from you,
for the sake of Jesus Christ.
--St. Anselm (1033-1109)
"Those words show clearly that the demons had much knowledge, but
entirely lacked love. They dreaded receiving their punishment from
him. They did not love the righteousness that was in him. He made
himself known to them to the extent he willed; and he willed to be
made known to the extent that was fitting. But he was not made known
to them as he is known to the holy angels, who enjoy participation in
his eternity, in that he is the Word of God. To the demons he is known
as he had to be made known, by striking terror into them, for his
purpose was to free from their tyrannical power all who were
predestined for his kingdom and glory, which is eternally true and
truly eternal. Therefore, he did not make himself known to the demons
as the life eternal, and the unchangeable light which illuminates his
true worshipers, whose hearts are purified by faith in him so that
they see that light. He was known to the demons through certain
temporal effects of his power, the signs of his hidden presence, which
could be more evident to their senses, even those of malignant
spirits, than to the weak perception of human beings.
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from CITY OF GOD 9.21)
<<>><<>><<>>
23 July – St Phocas the Gardener
Memorial
23 July
14 July (translation of relics)
5 March on some calendars when listed as Phocas of Antioch
22 September on some calendars
(Died c 303)
Layman Martyr, Apostle of the poor and needy. Died by beheading c 303 in Sinope, Pontus (in modern Turkey). Also known as – Phocas of Hovenier, Phocas of Sinop, Focas, Fokas. Patronages – against insect bites, against poisoning, against snake bites, agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers, field hands, boatmen, mariners, sailors, watermen, gardeners, husbandmen, market-gardeners.
Christian gardener who lived at Sinope, in Paphiagonia, on the Black Sea and was put to death during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian. Phocas is sometimes confused with Phocas of Antioch, although there is no doubt about the historical act of his martyrdom. According to tradition, he gave welcome to the Roman soldiers sent to find and execute him and, as they did not know who he was, he agreed to take them to the Phocas whom they sought. After giving them a meal and allowing them to sleep in his house, he went out and dug his own grave, using the rest of the night to prepare his soul. In the morning, he led them to his prepared grave and informed them of his identity. When they were aghast and hesitated to slay him, he encouraged them to complete their task and behead him. He is especially venerated in the East and was long considered a Patron Saint for gardeners and farmers.
Phocas dwelt near the gate of Sinope, a city of Pontus and lived by cultivating a garden, which yielded him a handsome subsistence and wherewith, plentifully to relieve the indigent and hungry. In his humble profession, he imitated the virtue of the most holy anchorites and seemed, in part restored, to the happy condition of our first parents in Eden. To prune the garden without labour and toil was their sweet employment and pleasure. Since their sin, the earth yields not its fruit but by the sweat of our brow.
But still, no labour is more useful or necessary, or more natural to man and better adapted to maintain in him, vigour of mind and health of body, than that of tillage. Nor does any other part of the universe, rival the innocent charms which a garden presents to all our senses, by the fragrancy of its flowers, by the riches of its produce and the sweetness and variety of its fruits; by the melodious concert of its musicians, by the worlds of wonders which every stem, leaf and fibre exhibit to the contemplation of the inquisitive philosopher and by that beauty and variegated lustre of colours which clothe the numberless tribes of its smallest inhabitants and adorn its shining landscapes, vying with the brightest splendour of the heavens. And in a single lily, surpassing the dazzling lustre, with which Solomon was surrounded on his throne in the midst of all his glory.
And what a field for contemplation does a garden offer to our view in every part, raising our souls to God in raptures of love and praise, stimulating us to fervour, by the fruitfulness with which it repays our labour and multiplies the seed it receives and exciting us to tears of compunction for our insensibility to God, by the barrenness with which it is changed into a frightful desert, unless subdued by assiduous toil!
Our Saint joining prayer with his labour, found in his garden itself, an instructive book and an inexhausted fund of holy meditation. His house was open to all strangers and travellers who had no lodging in the place and after having, for many years most liberally bestowed the fruit of his labour on the poor, he was found worthy also, to give his life for Christ.
Although his profession was obscure and thought lowly by the world, he was well known over the whole country, by the reputation of his charity and virtue.
https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/23/
The Royal Road of the Cross
“We all have our own cross.
When we reject it, we fashion one for ourselves by our defects and sins, which leave us discontented and restless and draws God’s punishment upon us.
It is useless to flee from the Cross, for it follows us everywhere.
If we refuse to accept the cross which God has given us, we take upon ourselves, one which is heavier than the first.
Worldlings can bask for a moment in their pleasures but it soon passes and is replaced by bitterness and sorrow.
Their suffering is deeper than that of a good Christian, who places his trust in God.
There is only one way of making our cross easier to bear and that is to embrace it as Jesus did.
We should love the Cross because it is suffering which shows us how to become like Jesus, to make reparation for our sins and to co-operate by our own passion with the Passion of Christ (Cf Col 1:24).”
by Antonio Cardinal Bacci
“Humility and charity
are the two master chords –
one, the lowest;
the other, the highest;
all the others are dependent on them.
Therefore, it is necessary, above all.
to maintain ourselves in these two virtues,
for observe well,
that the preservation of the whole edifice
depends on the foundation and the roof!”
--St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Quote:
Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely
resume our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ...
Devout conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to
spiritual progress, most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit
find their ground of fellowship in God.
--Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ
<><><><>
O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire you with a whole heart,
so that desiring you we may seek you with a whole heart,
so that desiring you we may seek and find you;
and so finding you, may love you; and loving you,
may hate those sins which separate us from you,
for the sake of Jesus Christ.
--St. Anselm (1033-1109)
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