Currently Reading: September 2006

Title: The Confessions
Author: Saint Augustine. Translated by Henry Chadwick
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release: 1991, (Original Relase 5th Century, AD)

Seeds - August/September 2006

“Oh Lord, I beseech you that the fiery, honey-sweet force of your love might absorb my spirit, drawing it away from everything that lies beneath the sky, so that I might die of love for your love, who for love of my love deigned to die.”
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Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). Mendicant Preacher. Patron saint of animals and the environment. Founder of the Franciscan Order (Friars Minor).

Currently Reading: August 2006

Title: Francis & Clare of Assisi: Selected Writings
Author: Saint Francis & Saint Clare of Assisi. Foreword by Michael Morris
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release: 2006

Currently Reading: July 2006

Title: St. Benedicts's Rule For Monasteries
Author: Saint Benedict of Nursia
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Release: 1948, (Original Release: 6th Century, AD)

Seeds - June/July 2006

You holy flame, sweet comfort, now help us, joyful and content to bide forever in thy service, that sadness may not cast us out. O Lord, through your might prepare us, and make strong the weakness of our flesh, that we here may gallantly strive through death and life to reach thy presence. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

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Martin Luther (1483-1546). Monk, Reformer, Theologian.

Seeds - May 2006

You have made my soul for Your peace and Your silence, but it is lacerated by the noise of my activity and my desires. My mind is crucified all day by its own hunger for experience, for ideas, for satisfaction. And I do not possess my house in silence. . . I am – noisy, full of the racket of my imperfections and passions, and the wide open wounds left by my sins. Full of my own emptiness. Yet, ruined as my house is, You live there!

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Thomas Merton (1915-1968). Writer, Trappist Monk.

His books can be obtained here. Some of his writings include The Seven Storey Mountain, The Sign of Jonas, Contemplative Prayer.

Seeds - April 2006

Love all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. … If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things.

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Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). Prolific Russian author who wrote on religion, philosophy, and psychology.

To obtain free online e-texts of his works: http://dostoyevsky.thefreelibrary.com/

Seeds - March 2006

Sacrifice, that is to say, is not primarily a matter of giving up but of giving. The main emphasis falls not upon what we deny to ourselves, but upon what we offer to God and to our neighbours ...

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Bishop Kallistos Ware (b 1934-). Theologian, Lecturer, & Author of numerous books pertaining to the Orthodox Christian Faith.

Kallistos Ware on How to read the Bible: http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/11/1/4.aspx

Kallistos Ware on Faith & Worship: http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/11/1/6.aspx

Currently Reading: February 2006

Title: A History Of The Church In England
Author: J. R. H. Moorman
Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
Release: 1980, 3rd edition, (Original Release: 1963)

Seeds - February 2006

Possessions are not God's blessings and goodness, but the opportunities of service which he entrusts to us.

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). Theologian, Spiritual Writer, Church Leader who stood in opposition to Nazism. He paid for this opposition with his life.

See also the following link for more information on Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

http://www.ushmm.org/bonhoeffer/

Currently Reading: January 2006

Title: The Imitation Of Christ
Author: Thomas à Kempis
Publisher: Dover Publications
Release: 2003, (Original Release: 1418)

Seeds - January 2006

Lord, what You say is true. Your care for me is greater than all the care I can take of myself. For he who does not cast all his care upon You stands very unsafely. If only my will remain right and firm toward you, Lord, do with me whatever pleases You. For whatever You shall do with me can only be good.

If You wish me to be in darkness, I shall bless You. And if You wish me to be in light, again I shall bless You. If You stoop down to comfort me, I shall bless You, and if You wish me to be afflicted , I shall bless You forever.

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Thomas à Kempis (1379 - 1471). Priest, monk, writer. This quote taken from the classic Christian devotional The Imitation of Christ, a book second only to the Bible as a source of religious instruction and inspiration.