Devotion

“ Remember all Thy people everywhere, give us all the grace of devotion to Thy will; fulfill our desires with good gifts, and crown us with Thy mercy. When we serve Thee with faithful devotion, pardon our sins and correct us with Fatherly tenderness. Grant that, being delivered from all adversity, and both here and eternally justified, we may praise Thee forever and ever, saying Holy, Holy, Holy; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. ”

“ Devotion is nothing else but that spiritual agility and vivacity by which charity works in us, or we by her, with alacrity and affection; and as it is the business of charity to make us observe all God’s commandments generally and without exception, so it is the part of devotion to make us observe them cheerfully and with diligence.... Devotion is the pleasure of pleasures, the queen of virtues, and the perfection of charity. If charity be milk, devotion is the cream; if charity be plant, devotion is the flower; if charity be a precious stone, devotion is its lustre ”

“ Our forms of devotion ought then to become not a snare and a hypocrisy, but honest outward signs of the spiritual grace which is within us; as honest and as rational as the shake of the hand to the friend whom we truly love, as the bowing of the knee before the Queen for whom we would gladly die.
O may God give us all grace to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. To seek first the kingdom of God; to work earnestly, each in his place, to do God’s will, and to teach and help others to do it likewise. ”

“ That we must not only devote times and places to prayer, but be every where in the spirit of devotion, with hearts always set towards heaven, looking up to God in all our actions, and doing every thing as servants living in the world, as in an holy temple of God; always worshipping him, tho’ not with our lips, yet with the thankfulness of our hearts, the holiness of our actions, and the pious and charitable use of his gifts. ”

“ Are not the habits of devotion gradually displaced by other habits of solicitude, hurry, and care? Is not the taste for devotion lessened? Is not the time for devotion abridged? Are you not more and more conquered against your warnings and against your will ”

“ If devotion be essential to the perfection of a seraph’s service, how much more essential must it be to ours, our necessities being so immensely greater than those of the bright inhabitants of heaven! ”

“ It is not saying too much to call devotion to the Holy Souls, a kind of centre in which all Catholic devotions meet, and which satisfies more than any other single devotion our duties in that way; because it is a devotion all of love, and of disinterested love. ”

“ As prayers and fasts are the outer duties, so Love and Devotion are the inner duties. Their ingredients are pain and sorrow. Devotion leads the devotee to God. Hence Devotion is necessary to tread the Path. ”

“ Aye, we are meant, every one of us, every person, every living being is meant, has been created, for the worship of God. My hands, thy hands; my eyes, thy eyes; my powers, thy powers—pardon the presumption which differentiates 'my and thy'—these are given to us, evolved in us, conjured up in us, by God Himself for worship and adoration. He seeks our worship, not as the praise-loving God, but as the tender, watchful Mother unto whom the lisp of the child is the music of deep affection, the revelation of profound love, the gospel of all-absorbing devotion. ”

“ Again, charity precedes the virtue of religion. But devotion seems to precede charity; for charity is signified in Scripture by fire, and devotion by the fat of the sacrifices—the material on which the fire feeds. Consequently devotion is not an act of the virtue of religion. ”

“ One who is devoted to another is strongly attached to that other’s interests, and so one who is devout is zealous for the service of God.
(a) Thus, devotion is an act of the will, that is, an offering of oneself to the service of God, the Last End. But devotion will be found in other acts in so far as they are done under the will’s impulse, such as prayer, adoration, sacrifice. The looks, gestures, and voice of those who pray or take part in services of divine worship are influenced by internal devotion, and so become fitting expressions of honor shown to God and an inspiration to beholders. ”

“ Devotion, as all know, is only another name for charity towards God, piety, holiness, that is, a condition of soul resulting from, and at the same time, conducive to, fidelity to God's law and the dictates of one's conscience. ”

“ Since therefore it is the heart only that is devout, I shall consider devotion chiefly in this respect, as it is a state and temper of heart; for it is in this sense only that Christians are called to a constant state of devotion. They are not to be always upon their knees; but they are to be always in the state of devotion. ”

“ I believe that whatever is meant as an act of devotion to God, or as an acknowledgment of His greatness and glory, whether expressed by the simple prayer of a Covenanter on the hill-side or by the ceremonies of a Catholic priesthood, or even by the prostrations of a Mahometan, or by the self-torture of a Hindoo, may and ought to inspire us with respect and with a devout feeling, at least when the worshippers themselves are pious and sincere. ”

“ But the intrinsic cause of devotion on our part is meditation or contemplation. For, as we have said, devotion is a certain act of the will by which a man gives himself promptly to the Divine service. All acts of the will, however, proceed from consideration, since the will's object is good understood. ”

“ Not by fitful gusts of religious passion, not by fervid outbursts of sentimental devotion, not by repetition of approved forms, and not by acquiescence in orthodox beliefs, but by the calm, steady, persistent concentration of the soul on this truth, by the intent fixing of the inward eye on the righteousness and the grace of the Eternal Being before Whom you stand, will you redeem your spirits and sanctify your lives. ”

“ Ought we not to rise above the mere forms and ceremonies of devotion, into that immediate intercourse with the Holy One which the Scriptures describe by the appropriate phrase of [73] 'walking with God?' May we not fairly presume that such an hallowed exercise will have a most material influence in inducing within us that pure and ardent spirit of devotion, without which the duties of our sacred profession will be discharged in a cold, formal, and unimpressive manner? ”

“ Acts of devotion are revitalized by being restored to a relation to the life of devotion, and the life of devotion is given an opportunity in acts of devotion to articulate its meaning, and to be guided and renewed in the dialogue between God and man as expressed in worship. ”

“ Devotion has a religious signification. The root of devotion is to devote to a sacred use. So that devotion in its true sense has to do with religious worship. It stands intimately connected with true prayer. Devotion is the particular frame of mind found in one entirely devoted to God. It is the spirit of reverence, of awe, of godly fear. It is a state of heart which appears before God in prayer and worship. It is foreign to everything like lightness of spirit, and is opposed to levity and noise and bluster. ”

“ We publicly, from the bottom of Our heart, avow the grateful feelings of Our soul, cherishing the fullest confidence that, in the present critical state of things and in the difficulties of the times, this your devotion and love and the devotion and love of the faithful will never fail Us. Nor have We any doubt that these conspicuous examples of filial piety and Christian virtue will be of such avail as to make Our most merciful God, moved by these dutiful deeds, look with favor on His flock and grant the Church peace and victory. ”

“ Thou oughtest to seek earnestly the grace of devotion, to ask it fervently, to wait for it patiently and faithfully, to receive it gratefully, to preserve it humbly, to work with it diligently, and to leave to God the time and manner of heavenly visitation until it come. Chiefly oughtest thou to humble thyself when thou feelest inwardly little or no devotion, yet not to be too much cast down, nor to grieve out of measure. God ofttimes giveth in one short moment what He hath long time denied; He sometimes giveth at the end what at the beginning of prayer He hath deferred to give. ”

“ Consequently, since devotion is the act of a man who offers himself to serve Him Who is the Ultimate End, it follows that devotion gives a certain measure to human acts—whether they be the acts of the will itself with regard to the means to an end, or the acts of the other faculties as moved by the will. ”

“ But now We have in mind a more signal form of devotion which shall be in a manner the crowning perfection of all the honors that people have been accustomed to pay to the Sacred Heart, and which We confidently trust will be most pleasing to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. ”

“ It cannot escape observation that the deepest and most solemn devotion is in the hearts of those who, shut out from the worship of God in temples made with hands, are led to commune with him amid the boundless magnificence that his own power has framed. ”

“ All the little distinctions of modes, forms, and particular expressions of devotion and worship will be swallowed up and lost in the unlimited effusions of heavenly love, charity, and benevolence with which the hearts of every member of this glorious New Church and Body of Jesus Christ will overflow one toward another. ”

“ Among them all there is a rare devotion, and lives spent in cheerful obedience to God and in loving service for man have left on their faces the impress of "the love which looks kindly and the wisdom which looks soberly on all things." ”

“ The majesty of God and the sanctity of religion require the first, in order to excite in the minds of men proper sentiments of reverence and devotion; and experience itself shows how much the sacred ceremonies of religion conduce to this end. ”

“ Devotion is exercised in things that pertain to the divine service, that is, to the worship or honor of God. Thus, he who offers himself to God intending the offering as an act of spiritual union or friendship exercises the virtue of charity, while he who forms the intention of doing good in order to glorify God exercises devotion. But devotion and charity are not separated, for charity inspires devotion and devotion nourishes charity. ”

“ So, when Love takes root in the heart, it bears presence and absence, joy and sorrow, union and separation, with equanimity....
Devotion is the perfection of Love. Worship makes a servant, knowledge makes a knower, abstinence makes an ascetic, sincere seeking makes an earnest aspirant, sacrifice of all the world [Pg 57] makes a Friend, self-sacrifice makes a Lover, losing the perishable and imperishable elements of self in the Beloved makes a Devotee. ”

“ Here, too, we may emphasize the three aspects of tranquil devotion, repentance, and conversion, which both from the point of view of the soul and that of external condition the history of the Divine Passion repeats to mankind, no less than the ideal consummation in glory and the blessedness of pure attainment. ”

“ So we have to prepare ourselves by sedulous purity if there is to be any life or power in our devotions. But I pass from that, and ask you to think of the lovely picture of true devoutness given in that inflamed incense, wreathing in coils of fragrance up to the heavens. Prayer is more than petition. It is the going up of the whole soul towards God. Brother! do you know anything of that instinctive and spontaneous rising up of desire and aspiration and faith and love, up and up and up, until they reach Him? ”

“ And yet if you was to ask Mandanus and Classicus, or any man of business or learning, whether piety is not the highest perfection of man, or devotion the greatest attainment in the world, they must both be forced to answer in the affirmative, or else give up the truth of the gospel.
17. Devotion is nothing else but right apprehensions and right affections towards God. ”

“ The faculty of veneration inspires devotion, and leads to the manifestation of a feeling of dependence. It centres upon the Supreme Being, and largely developed takes great delight in the exercises of religion, and never eats a morsel of bread, nor drinks of the cooling stream, without spontaneous thanksgiving. To culture this, is eminently to educate yourselves. The contemplation of the stupendous works of God promotes veneration. Well might the poet exclaim—
“An undevout astronomer is mad.” ”

“ Besides keeping well in mind that the end of devotion is to become one by imitation with the object loved, these three devotions are the best for this purpose, because they bring us into personal contact with Our Lord, and keep Him before us as the Being the most to be loved and imitated. ”

“ Think of the great sages and saints, and of divine and devoted adepts, who were adored by even the gods, for the steadiness of their holy devotion, that have passed away in the observance of their rigid and unruffled vows of an universal indifference. ”

“ THERE is in the Church an abundance and a rich variety of what we call devotions—practices that express our respect, affection and veneration for the chosen friends of God. These devotions we should be careful not to confound with a thing very differently known as devotion—to God Himself. ”

“ True devotion will rather ask to be allowed to give, and will count as loss all which may not be given up for the Lord's sake—"I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." ”

“ That is the simple principle on which the value of all external aids to devotion depends. They may be helps towards the appreciation of divine truth, and to the suffusing of the heart with devout emotions which may lead to building up a holy character. ”