"Does anyone want to eat the moss?!"

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Quote of the day, 17 September: Rule of St. Albert

Since man’s life on earth is a time of trial, and all who would live devotedly in Christ must undergo persecution, and the devil your foe is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for prey to devour, you must use every care to clothe yourselves in God’s armour so that you may be ready to withstand the enemy’s ambush.

Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. Faith must be your shield on all occasions, and with it you will be able to quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without faith; and the victory lies in this—your faith. On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets his own free from their sins. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord’s word for accompaniment.

Saint Albert of Jerusalem

Rule of Saint Albert
1999 publication, chapters 18–19, trans. Bede Edwards, OCD

Featured image: The Mediterranean is seen from the Discalced Carmelite property at Stella Maris, Haifa. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission)

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Quote of the day, 9 April: St. Teresa of Avila

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:44-46

So I say now that all of us who wear this holy habit of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation.

This call explains our origin; we are the descendants of men who felt this call, of those holy fathers on Mount Carmel who in such great solitude and contempt for the world sought this treasure, this precious pearl of contemplation (Cf. Mt 13:46) that we are speaking about.

Yet few of us dispose ourselves that the Lord may communicate it to us. In exterior matters we are proceeding well so that we will reach what is necessary; but in the practice of the virtues that are necessary for arriving at this point we need very, very much and cannot be careless in either small things or great.

So, my Sisters, since in some way we can enjoy heaven on earth, be brave in begging the Lord to give us His grace in such a way that nothing will be lacking through our own fault; that He show us the way and strengthen the soul that it may dig until it finds this hidden treasure (Cf. Mt 13:44).

The truth is that the treasure lies within our very selves.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Interior Castle, V, chap. 1, no. 2

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Brazilian photographer Mateus Campos Felipe captures a tender silhouette of his pregnant wife praying beside a lighted candle in the family’s icon corner. He took the photo just before the birth of their son. Image credit: Mateus Campos Felipe / Unsplash

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
What hidden treasure is the Lord inviting you to uncover more deeply in prayer today?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

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