The Legacy of Aidan

Bede begins his account of Aidan by saying two things, that 'he left a most healthy pattern of living to his clergy', and that 'he and those with him commended their doctrine to all men by living just as they taught'. John Foster, They Converted Our Ancestors (1964)

 'Aidan cared for peace, love, self-control, humility; his spirit triumphed over anger and greed, and despised pride and vainglory. He was zealous to teach and to do God's will. He knew how to study, and to keep his times of prayer. With true priestly authority he could rebuke the proud and powerful, and with mercy he could comfort the weak, and relieve or defend the poor. To sum up, those who knew him tell us that he took what he knew was taught by the Gospels, the Apostles, and the books of the Prophets, and did his utmost to fulfill them all. These things in him I much admire and love, as surely well-pleasing to God.... About his keeping of Easter, this I do approve, that in his heart he held, and reverenced, and preached, nothing different from ourselves, which is the redemption of mankind, by the passion, resurrection and ascension into heaven, of the Mediator between God and man, himself Man, Jesus Christ.' The Venerable Bede,A History of the English Church and People (quoted in Foster)

 

Augustine on integrity in preaching

But the man who cannot speak both eloquently and wisely should speak wisely without eloquence, rather than eloquently without wisdom. If however, he cannot do even this, let his life be such as shall not only secure a reward for himself, but afford an example to others; and let his manner of living be an eloquent sermon in itself.  Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book IV

Bonhoeffer and the Church

The Church's concern is not religion but the form of Christ and its taking form among a band of people. D. Bonhoeffer

Saint Francis Prayer for Humility

Most high, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Give me, Lord, right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility, with wisdom and perception, so that I may carry out what is truly your holy will. Amen.

Catherine of Siena: Vision and Task

Catherine Benincasa is one of the purest of Contemplatives; she knows, what we to-day too often forget, that the task is impossible without the vision. But it follows directly upon the vision, and this great mediaeval mystic is one of the most efficient characters of her age. Letters of Catherine Benincasa: Catherine, of Siena, Saint, 1347-1380

Catherine of Siena: Love of God

The central fact in Catherine's nature was her rapt and absolute perception of the Love of God, as the supreme reality of the universe. This Love, as manifested in creation, in redemption, and in the sacrament of the Altar, is the theme of her constant meditations… "For nails would not have held God-and-Man fast to the Cross, had love not held Him there." Letters of Catherine Benincasa: Catherine, of Siena, Saint, 1347-1380

Discerning How God Acts

It is essential to able to discern from moment to moment how God acts in human history and how the personal, communal, national and international events that occur during our lives can make us more and more sensitive to the ways in which we are led to the cross and through the cross to the resurrection. Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus