It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted, by many persons, that Christianity is not so read more

It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted, by many persons, that Christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry; but that it is, now at length, discovered to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it as if, in the present age, this were an agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained, but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule.

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary If you were to rise early every read more

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary If you were to rise early every morning, as an instance of self-denial, as a method of renouncing indulgence, as a means of redeeming your time and of fitting your spirit for prayer, you would find mighty advantages from it. This method, though it seem such a small circumstance of life, would in all probability be a means [toward] great piety. It would keep it constantly in your head that softness and idleness were to be avoided and that self-denial was a part of Christianity... It would teach you to exercise power over yourself, and make you able by degrees to renounce other pleasures and tempers that war against the soul.

Feast of Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200 It is quite possible to perform very ordinary actions with read more

Feast of Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200 It is quite possible to perform very ordinary actions with so high an intention as to serve God therein better than in far more important things done with a less pure intention.

Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877 The ordinary group of worshipping Christians, as the preacher read more

Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877 The ordinary group of worshipping Christians, as the preacher sees them from the pulpit, does not look like a collection of very joyful people, in fact, they look on the whole rather sad, tired, depressed people. It is certain that such people will never win the world for Christ... It is no use trying to pretend: we may speak of joy and preach about it: but, unless we really have the joy of Christ in our hearts and manifest it, our words will carry no conviction to our hearers.

Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, read more

Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until he be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so will he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century On humanist assumptions, life leads to nothing; and every read more

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century On humanist assumptions, life leads to nothing; and every pretense that it does not is a deceit.

The Church is not a tribe for the improvement in holiness of people who think it would be pleasant to read more

The Church is not a tribe for the improvement in holiness of people who think it would be pleasant to be holy, a means to the integration of character for those who cannot bear their conflicts. It is a statement of the divine intention for humanity.

The absorption of the individual in the universal is only another term for its destruction.

The absorption of the individual in the universal is only another term for its destruction.

Feast of Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers' Union, 1921 Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts read more

Feast of Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers' Union, 1921 Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust, not in the living God but in dying men. The unbeliever denies the selfsufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of man.