The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
Saint AugustineRead
If bodies please thee, praise God on occasion of them, and turn back thy love upon their Maker; lest in these things which please thee, thou displease. If souls please thee, be they loved in God: for they too are mutable, but in Him they are firmly established.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the divine as the source of beauty and goodness in others, rather than becoming overly attached to the physical or mutable aspects of existence.
Saint Augustine's quote serves as a reminder to appreciate the beauty and goodness in others while also acknowledging that such qualities ultimately stem from God, the Creator. It cautions against becoming overly attached to the physical forms that attract us, as these are fleeting and mutable. Instead, one should love the essence of individuals as reflections of the divine, keeping in mind that true stability and permanence are found only in God.
Themes
LoveDivineHumanityAttachmentBeautyEssence
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about appreciation for others' qualities, one might use this quote to encourage the congregation to see the divine in all people.
More from Saint Augustine
All quotes →There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
Saint AugustineRead
Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint AugustineRead
Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
Saint AugustineRead
Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
Saint AugustineRead
Everyone who observes himself doubting observes a truth, and about that which he observes he is certain; therefore he is certain about a truth. Everyone therefore who doubts whether truth exists has in himself a truth on which not to doubt.... Hence one who can doubt at all ought not to doubt the existence of truth.
Saint AugustineRead
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