Latin Is a Dead Language.

St. Mary-or-the-Wood College, Indiana

I had taken two years of Latin in high school and that was our favorite excuse when exams were returned and we hadn't done as well as we had anticipated. I have this wonderful book now, written by Archabbot Lambert Reilly, O.S.B of St. Meinrad, IN. It's called Latin Saying for Spiritual Growth. Let me share this with you, because I have found there is Life in words in whatever language they are spoken (or not spoken...anymore.)

Cor gaudens exhilarat factem

('A joyful heart light up the face')
Salomo

St. Teresa of Avila says, "Deliver us from frowning saints!" This doesn't mean that we are to be Pollyannas, blind to the harsh realities of life; but it does mean that in our hearts we know that whatever happens, the Lord is dealing with us as we should be dealt with.

When we realize that whatever we are experiencing is something to help us along the road to eternal life, we can bear it, and we can bear it in hope. That inner hope then finds its way to our countenance, and we'll live the truth that Paul expresses in Romans when he says, "We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Romans 5:3-4).

The joy in our heart that we experience when we realize that the Lord loves us and would never leave us will reflect His light for all to see.

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Thanks be to God.