Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass. -John Steinbeck.

Feast of Perpetua, Felicity & their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203 God in His providence has not allowed the survival of actual physical objects. But we have infinitely more than this, for instead of dead relics, however "authentic" and well preserved, we have a living life-line, stretching unbroken to Christ Himself. We have all the comfort and security that comes from historic tradition, but instead of being given the sad nostalgia of looking at an object and saying, "Look, how wonderful! This is what He touched then," we are given an evergreen memorial [in communion] which says, "This is what He touches now.".

The miserable have no other medicine, But only hope. -Measure for Measure. Act iii. Sc. 1.

That man who lives for self alone, Lives for the meanest mortal known.

'Tis pleasing to be school'd in a strange tongue By female lips and eyes--that is, I mean, When both the teacher and the taught are young, As was the case, at least, where I have been; They smile so when one's right; and when one's wrong They smile still more.

Feast of Christina Rossetti, Poet, 1894 We cannot attain to the understanding of Scripture either by study or by the intellect. Your first duty is to begin by prayer. Entreat the Lord to grant you, of His great mercy, the true understanding of His Word. There is no other interpreter of the Word of God than the Author of this Word, as He Himself has said, "They shall be all taught of God" (John 6:45). Hope for nothing from your own labors, from your own understanding: trust solely in God, and in the influence of His Spirit. Believe this on the word of a man who has experience.

Hard features every bungler can command: To draw true beauty shows a master's hand.

Better to sink beneath the shock Than moulder piecemeal on the rock!

I know it is a sin For me to sit and grin At him here; But the old three-cornered hat And the breeches and all that Are so queer.

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

All furnished, all in arms; All plum'd like estridges that with the wind Bated like eagles having lately bathed; Glittering in golden coats like images; As full of spirit as the month of May And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.

Can it be, O Christ in heaven, that the holiest suffer most, That the strongest wander furthest, and more hopelessly are lost?

Idleness is emptiness; the tree in which the sap is stagnant, remains fruitless.

Christmas turns things tail-end foremost. The day and the spirit of Christmas rearrange the world parade. As the world arranges it, usually there come first in importance -- leading the parade with a big blare of a band -- the Big Shots. Frequently they are also the Stuffed Shirts. That's the first of the parade. Then at the tail end, as of little importance, trudge the weary, the poor, the lame, the halt, and the blind. But in the Christmas spirit, the procession is turned around. Those at the tail end are put first in the arrangement of the Child of Christmas.

Life is a handful of short stories, pretending to be a novel.

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler.

How quickly nature falls into revolt When gold becomes her object! For this the foolish overcareful fathers Have broke their sleep with thoughts, their brains with care. Their bones with industry. For this they have engrossed and piled up The cankered heaps of strange-achieved gold; For this they have been thoughtful to invest Their sons with arts and martial exercises.

Every theory of love, from Plato down teaches that each individual loves in the other sex what he lacks in himself.