St. Catherine's Candle

The Letters of Catherina of Siena ^ | Circa 1360s | St. Catherine of Siena

[MurphsLaw]

"Nor is the sacrament itself diminished by being divided,
any more than is fire, to take an example.
If you had a burning lamp and all the world came to you for light, the light of your lamp would not be
diminished by the sharing, yet each person who shared it would have the whole light.

True, each one’s light would be more or less intense depending on what sort of material each brought to receive the fire.
I give you this example so that you may better understand me.

Imagine that many people brought candles,
and one person’s candle weighed one ounce,
another’s more than that,
and they all came to your lamp to light their candles.
Each candle, the smallest as well as the largest,
would have the whole light with all its heat and color and brightness.
Still, you would think that the person who carried the one-ounce candle
would have less than the one whose candle weighed a pound.

Well, this is how it goes with those who receive this sacrament.
Each one of you brings your own candle,
that is, the holy desire with which you receive and eat this sacrament.
Your candle by itself is unlit, and it is lighted when you receive this sacrament.
I say it is unlit because by yourselves you are nothing at all.
It is I who have given you the candle with which you can receive this light and nourish it within you.
And your candle is love, because it is for love that I created you,
so without love you cannot have life."

(St. Catherine of Siena)

[MurphsLaw]

On Her day.

[PeteyBoy]

She had a heck of a drum corps in the early 60’s.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

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[married21]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.