Quote/s of the Day – 22 November – St Cecilia (Died 3rd Century) Virgin Martyr – Ecclesiasticus 51:13-17; Matthew 25:1-13 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Our Lord Jesus Christ
Has appeared to us from the bosom of the Father.
He has come and drawn us out of the shadows
And enlightened us with His joyful Light.
Day has dawned for humankind,
Cast out the power of darkness.
For us, a Light from His Light has arisen
That has enlightened our darkened eyes.
Over the world He has made His glory arise
And has lit up the deepest depths.
Death is no more, darkness has ended,
The gates of hell are shattered.
He has illumined every creature,
All the shades from times long past.
He has brought about salvation and given us Life;
Next He will come in glory.
Our King is coming in His great glory:
Let us light our lamps
and go out to meet Him (Mt 25,6);
Let us be glad in Him, as He has been glad in us
And gives us gladness, with His glorious Light.
My friends, arise! make yourselves ready
To give thanks to our Saviour King,
Who will come in His glory and make us joyful
With His joyous Light in the Kingdom.”
St Ephrem (306-373)
Father of the Church
(Hymn I on the Resurrection)
“And He said to them:
Why are you troubled and why
do thoughts arise in your hearts?”
Luke 24:38
“Christ is truly the Word,
the Only-begotten Son equal to the Father,
united to a truly human soul
and a real body, clean of all sin.
This is the Body which died,
the Body which rose again,
this Body was fastened to the Cross,
this Body laid in the tomb,
this Body is seated in the Heavens.
Our Lord wished to persuade His disciples
that what they were seeing was truly bone and flesh…
Why did He want to convince me of this truth?
Because He knew, just how much it was to my own good,
to have faith in it and how much
I had to lose, if I did not.
You too, then, have faith – it is He, the Bridegroom!”
St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace
“Behold, the Bridegroom is coming,
go forth to meet Him!”
Matthew 25:6
“He worked and struggled as our Champion
against our enemies,
broke open the bars of our prison,
won the struggle,
vanquished our death through His Own,
redeemed us through His Blood,
freed us through His water in Baptism
and made us rich,
through His Sacraments and His gifts,
so that, as He says in the Gospel (Mt 25:6),
we might “go out” with all virtues to,
“meet Him” in the palace of His glory
and enjoy Him forever in eternity.”
Blessed Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381)
AnaStpaul 