Category: QUOTES on DEATH

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on DEATH

Thought for the Day – 12 January – The Death of the Just

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Thought for the Day – 12 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

The Death of the Just

Consider now the death of the just man.
Through his dying tears, he also will see the world slipping away from him.   But, one thing will remain to comfort him, namely, the memory of his good actions, of the virtues he acquired, of his fervent prayers and of his voluntary mortifications.
Above all, there will remain his great love of God, for Whom he has lived, worked and drawn breath.
In that moment, this love will even increase the flaming desire consuming his poor, frail body, to be united to God.
He will be able to say, as some of the Saints have said – “I never thought it would be so sweet to die.”
With St Louis, he will be able top say: “I am going joyfully to meet my God.”
He will be able to exclaim with St Charles: “I long for my body to be dissolved, so that I may be with Christ!” (Phil 1:23)

In the sight of God, the death of the good man is a very precious thing.   “Precious in the eyes of the Lord, is the death of His faithful ones” (Ps 115:6)

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

in the sight of god the death of the good man bacci 12 jan 2020.jpg

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on DESPAIR, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on SIN, The LAST THINGS

Thought for the Day – 11 January – The Death of the Sinner

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Thought for the Day – 11 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Saturday after Epiphany

The Death of the Sinnerit is the height of stupidity - bacci - 11 jan 2020.jpg

“The Sinner must also die.
For him death is really terrible.
Imagine him lying on his deathbed, instinctively aware, that his life is over.
The past will rise up to reproach him, a past full of sin and of ingratitude towards his Creator and Redeemer.
The plans which he has centred around profit, ambition and honour, will have vanished like smoke.
His friends, will have either deserted him, or will be at hand, to utter useless words, which will have no power to comfort him.
Now he must stand alone, alone before God!

What will happen, at that moment?
Perhaps, despair will overcome his soul, as it overcame the soul of Judas?
Perhaps, the innumerable graces which he has despised, will tip the balance of Divine Justice towards the abyss of damnation?
Or, will a final ray of mercy pierce his tired mind, burning with remorse, so that, with it’s last throb, his poor heart will torn towards God and implore His pardon?
Who can say?
It is certain, however, that of the two thieves dying beside the Cross of our Redeemer, only one heard Him say:
“This day, you will be with me in Paradise!”
The other, remained obdurate in his sin.
It is the height of stupidity, to wait to be converted, at the hour of death!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on DEATH, The LAST THINGS

Thought for the Day – 8 January – Death

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 8 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Third Day after Epiphany

Death

death - we must always be ready - bacci - 8 jan 2020.jpg

In theory, everybody believes in death.
In practice, many live as if they did not believe in it.
So, it is necessary and helpful, for us to meditate on death.
We begin to die on the day when we were born.
People say:  “I have lived twenty, thirty or forty years.” But, if they said, “I have used up twenty or thirty or forty years of my life,” how many would then be left?   We do not know, we only know that death will come at the very moment when we least expect it.
Let us always be prepared.
“You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.” (Lk 12:40)

We must always be ready.
Let our faith be lively and active and our minds turned towards God, Who is waiting for us.
There is no need to be afraid.
He is good and merciful.
He desires our salvation.
This is a wonderfully consoling thought.   God desires my salvation!
Let us surrender ourselves to Him, therefore, as if we had to die this very moment!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, MARTYRS, POETRY, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on TRUST in GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 8 January – “Take courage, it is I” and Bl Titus Zeman

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Quote/s of the Day – 8 January – Third day after Epiphany, Readings: 1 John 4:11-18, Psalm 72:1-2, 10-13, Mark 6:45-52 and the Memorial of Blessed Titus Zeman SDB (1915-1969) Priest and Martyr

“They had all seen him and were terrified.   But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, be not afraid!” (Mark 6:50)

Prudentius (c 348 – c 413) (formally known as Aurelius Clemens Prudentius) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed during today’s Mass:

Thus I by my loquacious tongue
From the heaven of silence am led
Into perils unknown and dark.

Not as Peter, disciple true,
Confident in his virtue and faith,
I am as one whose unnumbered sins
Have shipwrecked on the rolling seas.

How easily can I be shipwrecked,
One untaught in seafaring arts,
Unless you, almighty Christ,
Stretch forth Your hand with help divine.

(Against Symmachus, 2)

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.   He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some time after 405, possibly around 413.
Prudentius practised law with some success and was twice provincial governor, perhaps in his native country.   Towards the end of his life (possibly around 392) Prudentius retired from public life to become an ascetic, fasting until evening and abstaining entirely from animal food and writing poems, hymns and controversial works in defence of Christianity. Prudentius later collected the Christian poems written during this period and added a preface, which he himself dated 405.
The poetry of Prudentius is influenced by early Christian authors, such as Tertullian and St. Ambrose, as well as the Bible and the acts of the martyrs.   His hymn Da, puer, plectrum (including “Corde natus ex parentis” – “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”) and the hymn for Epiphany O sola magnarum urbium (“Earth Has Many A Noble City”), both from the Cathemerinon, are still in use today.mark 6 5- it is I be not afraid - how easily can I be shipwrecked - prudentius 8 jan 2020.jpg

“Even if I lose my life,
I do not consider it a waste,
knowing that at least one of those
whom I have saved,
has become a Priest
to take my place.”

Blessed Titus Zeman

even if i lose my life - bl titus seman 8 jan 2020.jpg

Posted in CARMELITES, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on MARTYRDOM, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, The RESURRECTION

Quote/s of the Day – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents

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Quote/s of the Day – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents – The Fourth Day of the Christmas Octave

“These then, whom Herod’s cruelty
tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom,
are justly hailed as “infant martyr flowers”;
they were the Church’s first blossoms,
matured by the frost of persecution
during the cold winter of unbelief.”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of the Churchthese-then-28-dec-2017 and 2019.jpg

“The star of Bethlehem
shines forth in the dark night of sin.
Upon the radiance
that goes forth from the manger,
there falls the shadow of the cross.
In the dark of Good Friday, the light is extinguished
but it rises more brightly, as the sun of grace.
on the morning of the resurrection.
The road of the incarnate Son of God,
is through the cross and suffering.
to the splendour of the resurrection.
To arrive with the Son of Man,
through suffering and death,
at this splendour of the resurrection,
is the road for each one of us,
for all mankind.”

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
[Edith Stein] (1891-1942)the star of bethlehem shines forth - st teresa benedicta - holy innocents 28 dec 2019.jpg

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CHRISTMASTIDE!, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on MARTYRDOM, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 28 December – They are alive! 

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents – The Fourth Day of the Christmas Octave, Readings: 1 John 1:5-2:2, Psalm 124:2-5, 7-8, Matthew 2:13-18

“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” … Matthew 2:18matthew 2 18 - a voice was heard in rama - feast of the holy innocents 28 dec 2019.jpg

REFLECTION – “Where does this jealousy lead?…   The crime committed today shows us. Fear of a rival to his earthly kingdom fills Herod with anxiety, he plots to suppress “the newborn King” (Mt 2:2), the eternal Kin, he fights against his Creator and puts innocent children to death…   As for those children, what fault had they committed?   Their tongues were dumb, their eyes had seen nothing, their ears heard nothing, their hands done nothing.   They accepted death who had not known life. ( … )   Christ reads the future and knows the secrets of the heart, He weighs our thoughts and probes our intentions (cf. Ps 138[139]), why did He forsake them? ( … )   Why did the newborn heavenly King abandon these companions in innocence, forget the sentinels watching around His crib to such an extent, that the foe who wanted to get at the King, ravaged His whole army?

My brethren, Christ did not forsake His soldiers but covered them with honour by allowing them to conquer, before they had lived and to carry away the prize, without a fight. ( … )   He wanted them to possess heaven rather than earth. ( … )   He sent them before Him as His heralds.   He did not abandon them but saved those who went on ahead.   He did not forget them. ( … )

Blessed are they who have exchanged their travail for repose, their pains for ease, their suffering for joy.   They are alive!   Yes, they are alive, they live indeed, who have undergone death for Christ’s sake. ( … )   Happy the tears their mothers shed for these infants, they have won them the grace of baptism. ( … )   May He who deigned to rest in a stable be pleased to lead us also, to the heavenly pastures.” … St Peter Chrysologus (400-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Churchthey accepted death who had not known life - st peter chrysologus - holy innocents - 28 dec 2019.jpg

PRAYER – We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord, the white-robed army of martyrs praise you. (from the Te Deum).we-praise-you-o-god-te-deum-28-dec-2017 and 2019.jpg

Posted in CARMELITES, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, CHRISTMASTIDE!, MARTYRS, Pope BENEDICT XVI, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on LOVE, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 26 December – “See the gold that I expect of you” – St Stephen

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 December – Feast of St Stephen the ProtoMartyr and The Second Day in the Christmas Octave

“Love, indeed, is the source
of all good things,
it is an impregnable defence
and the way that leads to heaven.   
He who walks in love
can neither go astray,
nor be afraid,
love guides him,
protects him
and brings him
to his journey’s end.”

St Fulgentius of Ruspe (460-533)love indeed is the source of all good things - st stephen - by st fulgentius 26 dec 2019.jpg

“He [St Stephen],
followed the Lord in what may be,
by nature, the most difficult and even,
apparently, impossible for the human heart.
He fulfilled the command to love one’s enemies,
as did the Saviour Himself.
The Child in the manger,
who has come to fulfill His Father’s will,
even to death on the Cross,
sees before Him in spirit,
all who will follow Him on this way.
His heart goes out to the youth
whom He will one day await with a palm
as the first to reach the Father’s throne.
His little hand points him out to us,
as an example, as if to say,
“See the gold that I expect of you.”

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

[Edith Stein] (1891-1942)see the gold that i expect of you - st teresa benedicta of the cross 26 dec 2019 st stephen.jpg

“For believers, the day of death
and even more so,
the day of martyrdom,
is not the end of everything
but rather, the “passage”
to immortal life,
it is the day of the final birth,
the “dies natalis.”
Thus is understood,
the link that exists between
the “dies natalis” of Christ
and the “dies natalis”
of St Stephen.
If Jesus had not been
born on earth,
men would not have been able
to be born for heaven.
Precisely because
Christ was born,
we are able
to be “reborn.”

Pope Benedict XVI

26 December 2006for believers the day of death - st stephen - pope benedict 26 dec 2019.jpg