Friday, May 8 : Saint Aelred of Rielvaux

Among human values, there is nothing holier to desire, nothing more useful to seek, nothing more difficult to find, nothing sweeter to experience, nothing more fruitful to possess than friendship. It gives its fruit in the present life, that of today, as well as in the future life; its sweetness seasons all the virtues; his strength slays vices; it tempers adversity and moderates prosperity. (…) What joy, what security, what charm to have someone with whom to speak without fear, as if to oneself; to whom to confess without fear if you have made a mistake; to whom to reveal without blushing his spiritual progress, to whom to entrust all the secrets of his heart, and to discover his designs! (…) There is no more energetic, more effective, more excellent remedy for our wounds, in everything that happens to us here below, than to have someone who comes to sympathize with all our disappointments and runs to congratulate us on our successes: two friends, as the Apostle says (cf. Gal 6:2), support each other, carry their burdens mutually or better, each finds his own lighter than that of his friend. (…) Friendship is a close step towards perfection which consists of love and knowledge of God: a man, as soon as he is the friend of another man, becomes the friend of God, according to these words of the Savior in the Gospel: Behold, “I will no longer call you my servants, but my friends” (Jn 15:15).

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team