Friday, May 30 : Saint Theodore the Studite

You know it well yourself, the pains give birth to rest and, surely, the afflictions succeed the joys, the groans are bringing forth the pleasures of the soul and the narrow doors give birth to free spaces, the hunger and the fasts, the tight throat produce eternal choirs, the thirst and the burning salivas make , as the Lord says, spring forth the waters of eternal life (Jn 4,14). And to also bring you the words of the Holy Psalmist David: “Those who sow in tears harvest in joy” (PS 125.5). “Since so you know these things, blessed are you”, as it is written, “if you put them in practice” (cf. Mt 7,24), but “the fool will not know them and the man without intelligence will not understand them” (PS 91,7). (…) Yes, you are prudent and sensible, wise and intelligent, capable of thinking and, because of that, you have reached some of the virtues, for others you will reach them, and, I will add, you are not finished reaching them. So let’s stay firm in the fight, my brothers, and continue to exhaust the pits of perseverance. And I know it, we will wear a crown, we will live in the sky and we will be full of joy in this place that pain, sadness and groans fled (cf. is 35,10; 51,11). Gird yourself with strength, strengthen yourself in the lamp of your ardor shining forth, nourished by this oil, that is the force of the soul (cf. Mt 25, 8-12).

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team