Grace, Page: Quotes, Quote Topic
Simple in himself, the Spirit is manifold in his mighty works. The whole of his being is present to each individual; the whole of his being is present everywhere. Though shared in by many, he remains unchanged; his self-giving is no loss to himself. Like the sunshine, which permeates all the atmosphere, spreading over land and sea, and yet is enjoyed by each person as though it were for him alone, so the Spirit pours forth his grace in full measure, sufficient for all, and yet is present as though exclusively to everyone who can receive him. To all creatures that share in him he gives a delight limited only by their own nature, not by his ability to give.
–Saint Basil the Great (330-379)
Grace, Page: Quotes, Quote Topic
Since we received a command to love God, we possess from the first moment of our existence an innate power and ability to love…What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and wonderful than God’s majesty? What desire is as urgent and overpowering as the desire implanted by God in a soul that is completely purified of sin and cries out in its love: I am wounded by love? The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe.
–Saint Basil the Great (330-379)
Grace, Page: Quotes, Quote Author
Christ was born in a stable; He was obliged to fly into Egypt; thirty years of His life were spent in a workshop; He suffered hunger, thirst, and weariness; He was poor, despised, and miserable; He taught the doctrines of heaven, and no one would listen. The great and the wise persecuted and took Him, subjected Him to frightful torments, treated Him as a slave, and put Him to death between two malefactors, having preferred to give liberty to a robber, rather than to suffer Him to escape. Such was the life which our Lord chose; while we are horrified at any kind of humiliation, and cannot bear the slightest appearance of contempt.
–François Fénèlon (1651-1715)
Grace, Gregory the Great (c. 540-604), Page: Quotes, Quote Author, Quote Topic
We read in sacred Scripture that the Holy Spirit breathes where he pleases, and we should also realize that he breathes when he pleases.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)
Grace, Page: Quotes, Quote Topic, Spiritual (life)
However severe God’s guidance may seem to us at times, it’s always the guidance of a Father who is infinitely good, wise, and kind. He leads us to our goal by different paths. And after all . . . let’s be honest —isn’t it true that we tend to spoil the work of grace in us? So it’s to our advantage to experience the withdrawal of grace and abandonment by God. Then we must act as little children do in the dark — clasp the hand of father or mother, and go where we are led.
–Saint Julie Billiart (1751-1816)
Detachment, Grace, Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), Page: Quotes, Quote Author, Quote Topic, Spiritual (life)
Although God is Almighty, He can only work in a heart when He finds readiness or makes it. He works differently in humans than in stones. For this we may take the following illustration: if we bake in one oven three loaves of barley-bread, of rye-bread, and of wheat, we shall find the same heat of the oven affects them differently; when one is well-baked, another will be still raw, and another yet more raw. That is not due to the heat, but to the variety of the materials. Similarly God works in all hearts not alike but in proportion as He finds them prepared and susceptible. If the heart is to be ready for the highest, it must he vacant of all other things. If I wish to write on a white tablet, whatever else is written on the tablet, however noble its purport, is a hindrance to me. If I am to write, I must wipe the tablet clean of everything, and the tablet is most suitable for my purpose when it is blank. Similarly, if God is to write on my heart, everything else must come out of it till it is really sanctified. Only so can God work His highest will, and so the sanctified heart has no outward object at all.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
