White Smoke
I see white smoke at the Vatican…
…Habemus Papam!
Seeking the Lord
A hermit was asked how a watchful monk could prevent himself from being shocked if he saw others returning to the world.
He replied, “A monk should remember hounds when they are hunting a hare. One of them glimpses the hare and gives chase, the others merely see a hound running, and run some way with him, when they get tired and go back to their tracks. Only the leading house keeps up the chase until he catches the hare. He is not deterred by the others who give up, he thinks nothing of cliffs or thickets or brambles, he is often pricked and scratched by thorns, but he keeps on until he catches the hare. So the man who runs after the Lord Jesus aims unceasingly at the cross, and leaps over every obstacle in his way until he comes to the Crucified.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Stability
A hermit said, “A tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted. So it is with the monk”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Conclave Starts Tomorrow!
Another quick desert interruption….because the conclave for the election of the next Pope begins tomorrow!
It’s still not too late for you to Adopt a Cardinal to pray for during the election. Here’s mine, Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez from the Dominican Republic:
Measuring yourself against others
A hermit said to a brother, “Do not measure yourself against your brother, saying that you are more serious or more chaste or more understanding than he is. But be obedient to the grace of God, in the spirit of poverty, and in love unfeigned. The efforts of a man swollen with vanity are futile. It is written, “Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”; “let your speech be seasoned with salt” and so you will be dependent upon Christ.”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
I no longer fear God
Anthony said, “Now I no longer fear God, I love him, for love casts out fear.”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
What is humility?
A hermit was asked, “What is humility?” He said, “It is if you forgive a brother who has wronged you before he is sorry.”
-De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V