Saturday, October 14 : Saint John Cassian
For the mind of man cannot be emptied of all thoughts, and so as long as it is not taken up with spiritual interests, is sure to be occupied with what it learned long since. For as long as it has nothing to recur to and exercise itself upon unweariedly, it is sure to fall back upon what it learned in childhood, and ever to think about what it took in by long use and meditation. And so if these things have been carefully taken in and stored up in the recesses of the soul and stamped with the seal of silence, afterwards like some sweet scented wine that makes glad the heart of man, they will, when mellowed by the antiquity of the thoughts and by long-standing patience, be brought forth from the jar of your heart with great fragrance, and like some perennial fountain will flow abundantly from the veins of experience and irrigating channels of virtue and will pour forth copious streams as if from some deep well in your heart. For that will happen in your case, which is spoken in Proverbs to one who has achieved this in his work: Drink waters from your own cisterns and from the fount of your own wells. Let waters from your own fountain flow in abundance for you, but let your waters pass through into your streets. Proverbs 5:15-16 And according to the prophet Isaiah: You shall be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in you; you shall raise up the foundations of generation and generation; and you shall be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. Isaiah 58:11-12 And that blessedness shall come upon you which the same prophet promises: And the Lord will not cause your teacher to flee away from you any more, and your eyes shall see your teacher. And your ears shall hear the word of one admonishing you behind your back: This is the way, walk in it, and go not aside either to the right hand or to the left. Isaiah 30:20-21 And so it will come to pass that not only every purpose and thought of your heart, but also all the wanderings and rovings of your imagination will become to you a holy and unceasing pondering of the Divine law.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
