The preservation of unity – Saint Clement, pope and martyr
Think of the men serving under our military commanders. How well disciplined they are! How readily and submissively they carry out orders! Not everyone can be a prefect, a tribune,…
The new commandment – Saint Augustine, bishop
Love does indeed renew the man who hears, or rather obeys its command; but only that love which Jesus distinguished from a natural love by the qualification: As I have…
Preaching truth – Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr
The Church, which has spread everywhere, even to the ends of the earth, received the faith from the apostles and their disciples. By faith, we believe in one God, the…
Each of us is called to be both a sacrifice to God and his priest – Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop
How marvelous is the priesthood of the Christian, for he is both the victim that is offered on his own behalf, and the priest who makes the offering. He does…
The Spirit gives life – Saint Basil the Great, bishop
Our Lord made a covenant with us through baptism in order to give us eternal life. There is in baptism an image both of death and of life, the water…
Christ the good shepherd – Saint Gregory the Great, pope
I am the good shepherd. I know my own—by which I mean, I love them—and my own know me. In plain words: those who love me are willing to follow…
Christ gave his own body for the life of all men – Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
“I am dying for all men,” says the Lord. “I am dying to give them life through myself and to redeem the whole human race through my humanity. In my…
The cross of Christ gives life to the human race – Saint Ephrem, deacon
Eve, the mother of all the living was that vineyard whose enclosure her own hands had enabled death to violate, so that she could taste its fruit; thus the mother…
The eucharist, pledge of our resurrection – Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr
If our flesh is not saved, then the Lord has not redeemed us with his blood, the eucharistic chalice does not make us sharers in his blood, and the bread…