A couple of days ago I saw a quote from Hildegarde of Bingen, that extremely intelligent and talented holy nun from the middle ages. It was on facebook, where lately, a number of posts have been published about her. I really liked this.
Just as a mirror, which reflects all things, is set in its own container,
so too the rational soul is placed in the fragile container of the body.
In this way, the body is governed in its earthly life by the soul, and
the soul contemplates heavenly things through faith.
In these troubled days, it is good to contemplate the eternity of heaven, keeping our faith whole, and endure what our fragile human bodies must, remembering that we are only in the earth, not of it.
Then today, in Father Z's blog, WDTPRS, he shared what a priest friend of his in Texas (of course that piqued my interest) sent to him - a quote from a sermon of St. Augustine after the sack of Rome in the year 410 A.D.
Do not hold on to the old man, the world; do not refuse to regain your
youth in Christ, who says to you: "The world is passing away, the world
is losing its grip, the world is short of breath. Do not fear, Thy youth shall
be renewed as an eagle."
Father adds that Augustine likened the decline of his civilization to the olive press. Christians who are faithful under pressure yield a higher quality of pure oil.
We are being tried as Christians, and the trial is likely to become more harsh. Terrible persecution is happening in other parts of the world. There are real, modern martyrs being sacrificed to a false ideology simply because of their faith. We are being tested in this, our own country. How will we fare if our faith is challenged directly? It is almost certain to happen. Will we be renewed as eagles? Will we yield pure oil?
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