Desert Fathers: Birth of Chastity
A hermit said, “Chastity is born of tranquility, and silence, and inner prayer”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Desert Fathers: Nails and humility
Today’s quotation comes from a Desert Mother, Syncletica:
“Just as one cannot build a ship unless one has some nails, so it is impossible to be saved without humility”
– Syncletica of Alexandria
Desert Fathers: Robbery Accomplice
When Macarius was living in Egypt, one day he came across a man who had brought a donkey to his cell and was stealing his possessions. As though he was a passer-by who did not live there, he went up to the thief and helped him to load the beast, and sent him peaceably on his way, saying to himself, “We brought nothing into this world but the Lord gave, as he willed, so it is done: blessed be the Lord in all things”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Desert Fathers: Time To Quarrel
Two hermits lived together for many years without a quarrel.
One said to the other, “Let’s have a quarrel with each other, as is the way of men.” The other answered, “I don’t know how a quarrel happens.” The first said, “Look here, I put a brick between us, and I say, ‘That’s mine’. Then you say, ‘No, it’s mine’. That is how you begin a quarrel.”
So they put a brick between them, and one of them said, “That’s mine.” The other said, “No; it’s mine” He answered, “Yes, it’s yours. Take it away.” They were unable to argue with each other.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V, 17:22
The Human Heart
Today is Valentine’s Day, a day on which we celebrate the life of a 3rd Century Roman Saint, as well as trying to stave off the tremendous societal pressure to be romantic and lovey dovey 😉
“The human heart is not shaped like a valentine heart, perfect and regular in contour; it is slightly irregular in shape as if a small piece of it were missing out of its side. That missing part may very well symbolize a piece that a spear tore out of the Universal Heart of Humanity on the Cross, but it probably symbolizes something more.
It may very well mean that when God created each human heart, He kept a small sample of it in heaven, and sent the rest of it into the world of time, where it would each day learn the lesson that it could never be really happy, that it could never be really wholly in love, that it could never be really whole-hearted until it rested with the Risen Christ in an eternal Easter…” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen
(Thanks to Alexandra for this one)
Going Into the desert…
Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the beginning of Lent in the Church’s liturgical year, a time of prayer, fasting and alms giving. In the Blogosphere, you’ll also hear a lot of talk about the 1-1-1 Plan.
I’ve decided to take a bit of a break from publishing anything of my own for the next forty days (with just a few exceptions). Instead of regular blog entries, I have scheduled my favourite quotations from one of the most recent books I’ve finished, Sayings of the Desert Fathers.
TOT: Communicating the Gospel
On 4th February at Cafe Coyote in Old Town, Dr. Christine Wood gave the following Theology On Tap talk:
God has Spoken, he has truly broken the great SILENCE:
Communicating the Gospel to Others!
Dr. Wood is originally from Sydney Australia, but teaches at John Paul The Great Catholic University here in America’s favourite city, San Diego in California.
(I wonder if she gets confused for being English as often as I get confused for being an Australian…hmmm…maybe I’ll ask her that next time during the Q&A session….)
Here in San Diego Diocese we make the audio of our Theology on Tap sessions freely available and you may download Dr. Wood’s talk from the links below:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
(Oh, and well done to Kevin for getting a mention for the JP2 Group during the Q&A!)