January 7

“It takes us all a long time and a sharp discipline to learn that he who would keep his life must first lose it, and that to empty oneself is the sure way to be filled. The heart of man is so constituted that its fulness comes of spending. In the great things of life Christianity teaches us this sublime lesson, but it is equally applicable to the lesser things of life, even to its veriest trifles. When we serve we rule. When we give we have. When we surrender ourselves we are victors. We are most ourselves when we lose sight of ourselves. He is most certain to have his own way and to find pleasure in it, who deliberately chooses to resign his preference in favour of others . . . We know not what we are or might be. As the seed has a tree within it, so men have within them – angels.”

J. H. NEWMAN

“It is the abnegation of self which has wrought out all that is noble, all that is good, all that is useful, nearly all that is ornamental in the world.”

WHYTE-MELVILLE