It is no hard matter to adhere to God while you are in the enjoyment of His comforts and consolations; but if you would prove your fidelity to Him, you must be willing to follow Him through the paths of dryness and desertion. The truth of a friend is not known while he is receiving favours and benefits from us; but if he remain faithful to us when we treat him with coldness and neglect, it will be a proof of the sincerity of his attachment.
You May Also Like / View all maxioms
When the will abandons what is above itself and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil -- not because read more
When the will abandons what is above itself and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil -- not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Therefore it is not an inferior thing which has made the will evil, but it is itself which has become so by wickedly and inordinately desiring an inferior thing.
The Augustinian doctrine of the damnation of unbaptized infants
and the Calvinistic doctrine of reprobation . . . surpass read more
The Augustinian doctrine of the damnation of unbaptized infants
and the Calvinistic doctrine of reprobation . . . surpass in
atrocity any tenets that have ever been admitted into any pagan
creed.
Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564 Therefore Adam could have stood if he wished, seeing that read more
Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564 Therefore Adam could have stood if he wished, seeing that he fell solely by his own will. But it was because his will was capable of being bent to one side or the other, and was not given the constancy to persevere, that he fell so easily. Yet his choice of good and evil was free.
Feast of Michael & All Angels None but the Lord himself can afford us any help from the awful read more
Feast of Michael & All Angels None but the Lord himself can afford us any help from the awful workings of unbelief, doubtings, carnal fears, murmurings. Thank God one day we will be done forever with "unbelief.".
Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380 No indulgence of passion destroys the spiritual nature so much as read more
Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic, Teacher, 1380 No indulgence of passion destroys the spiritual nature so much as respectable selfishness.
Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is a certain kind of so-called conversion which separates read more
Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is a certain kind of so-called conversion which separates a man from his fellow men. It may fill him with a self-righteousness which rejoices in its own superiority to those who have had no like experience. It may move a man to a Pharisaic self-isolation. There have in fact been not a few so-called conversions as a result of which a man has left the Church to belong to some smaller and holier body. The plain truth is that such a one should very seriously examine himself, if he finds what he regards as his Christian experience separating him from his fellow-men, or his fellow-Christians.
When you face the perils of weariness, carelessness, and confusion, don't pray for an easier life. Pray instead to be read more
When you face the perils of weariness, carelessness, and confusion, don't pray for an easier life. Pray instead to be a stronger man or woman of God.
Every day the church here (in Antioch] feeds 3000 people. Besides this, the church daily helps provide food and clothes read more
Every day the church here (in Antioch] feeds 3000 people. Besides this, the church daily helps provide food and clothes for prisoners, the hospitalized, pilgrims, cripples, churchmen, and others. If only ten [other groups of] people were willing to do this, there wouldn't be a single poor man left in town.
Pardon comes not to the soul alone; or rather, Christ comes not to the soul with pardon only! It is read more
Pardon comes not to the soul alone; or rather, Christ comes not to the soul with pardon only! It is that which He opens the door and enters by, but He comes with a Spirit of life and power.
