Feast of Saint Andrew

"Rejoice, O Isaiah, and receive the Word of God.
Prophesy to Mary the Maiden.
She is the Burning Bush unconsumed by the fire of divinity." 
Adorn yourself, O Bethlehem.
Enter, O Magi, and see salvation swaddled in a crib.
Behold the star shining above the cave;
It announces the life-giving Lord who saves the human race.

Tell us, O Joseph, how you led the Virgin
Into the Bethlehem cave.
'After searching the scriptures and hearing the angel', he says,
'I am certain that Mary will wondrously give birth to God
Whom the wise men from the East will worship,
Offering to him their precious gifts'.

[Hymns from Vespers for the Feast of Saint Andrew]

Heavenward

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

--Oliver Wendell Holmes

First Sunday in Advent

 See! The ruler of the earth shall come,
the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile.
The Lord will come soon, will not delay.
The Lord will make the darkest places bright.
--from a monastic liturgy

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

"I did not know where I was.  I experienced an almost total change...I tried to find myself and could not...The greatest joy burst from the depths of my soul; I could not speak...I could not account for the faith and awareness that I had acquired.  All that I could say is that in the moment of this phenomenon, the band fell from my eyes; and not one band, but a whole collection of them, and they disappeared rapidly, one after the other, as snow, mud and ice disappear under the influence of the burning sun."
--Alphonse Ratisbonne upon his miraculous conversion.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

November

Not yesterday I learned to know
    The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
    And they are better for her praise.
--from My November Guest by Robert Frost 

Thanks

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

--G.K. Chesterton

(I am grateful for each and every one of you, dear readers. May this Thanksgiving Day be a happy and peaceful one for you all, and may Almighty God richly bless you and your dear ones.) 

The road

That is the road we all have to take--over the Bridge of Sighs into eternity.
--Soren Kierkegaard

Never cease loving

“Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle.”

--Soren Kierkegaard

Feast of Saint Cecilia

For music, I must think, was given

To be of higher life a token,

The language by the angels spoken,

The native tongue of heaven!

--Christopher Pearse Cranch in "The Music of Nature" 

 

Saint Cecilia, pray for us. 

Forgiveness

One forgives to the degree that one loves.

--Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Dream

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

--C. S. Lewis

Speak to me of love

Speak to me of love, said St Francis to the almond tree, and the tree blossomed.
--Nicholas Kazantzakis

One red leaf

The one red leaf, the last of its clan,

That dances as often as dance it can, 

Hanging so light, and hanging so high, 

On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.

--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.
--Melodie Beattie

Victory

They always win who side with God.
--Rev. Frederick Faber

The happiness of life

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions-the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heart-felt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling.”

--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Love

Love was meant to be also a sign, a symbol, a messenger, a telltale of the Divine. Love is a messenger from God saying that every human affection and and every ecstasy of love are sparks from the great flame of love that is God.
--Bishop Fulton Sheen

The glory of friendship

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Risk

To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
--Author Unknown

Forgiveness

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. 

--William Blake

Dear friend

--But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.
--William Shakespeare

Thank You

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Dinner of Herbs

"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

--Proverbs

Joy

"Joy is prayer.  Joy is strength.  Joy is love.  Joy is a net of love
by which you can catch souls.  She gives most who gives with joy."
--Mother Teresa 

Somewhere

“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.”

--Ivan Panin

Heart to heart

“A heart well worth winning, and well won. A heart that, once won, goes through fire and water for the winner, and never changes, and is never daunted.”

--Charles Dickens

A grateful heart

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
--George Herbert

Jewels

"On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels . . .”

--Charles Dickens

The sweetness of friendship

“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

--Kahlil Gibran

Heavenward

“Heaven-born, the soul a heavenward course must hold; beyond the world she soars; the wise man, I affirm, can find no rest in that which perishes, nor will he lend his heart to ought that doth on time depend.”

--Michelangelo 

 

For the Holy Souls:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Feast of All Saints

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God: blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God: blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
--from the Mass for the Feast of All Saints (Saint Matthew 5. 8-10)