The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Faith involves believing in things that are not immediately apparent, and this belief ultimately leads to understanding or realization.
This quote by Saint Augustine emphasizes the concept of faith as a powerful force that transcends mere perception. It suggests that true belief often requires acceptance of the unseen, and through this act of faith, one may eventually come to genuinely see and understand the truths or realities they have faith in. It speaks to the transformational journey of believing in something greater than oneself, which can lead to profound insights and personal growth.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about perseverance during tough times, one might use this quote to inspire hope.
More from Saint Augustine
All quotes βThere 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.
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.
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.
Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
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.
Similar quotes
I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst, we may be going through the early stages of adolescence, and everyone remembers what that is like.
Indeed, theological discourse offers its strange jubilation only to the strict extent that it permits and, dangerously, demands of it wokman that he speak beyond his means, precisely because he does not speak of himself. Hence the danger of a speech that, in a sense, speaks against the one who lends himself to it. One must obtain forgiveness for every essay in theology. In all senses.
We are intelligent beings: intelligent beings cannot have been formed by a crude, blind, insensible being: there is certainly some difference between the ideas of Newton and the dung of a mule. Newton's intelligence, therefore, came from another intelligence
Hours of solitude, hours of creation, hours of meditation. Solitude and meditation gave me an awareness, a perspective which I have never lost: that of solidarity with the rest of mankind.
I'm really intrigued by those eternal questions of creation and belief and faith. I don't care who you are, it's what we all think about. It's in the back of all our minds.
It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections.