bishops

"I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me."

"Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. And after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles."

"I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?"

"James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised."

"And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. Therefore let no one despise him. But send him on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren."

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,"

"Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away."

"Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”"

"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

"The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”"

"Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”"

"Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”"

"Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”"

"And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him."

"The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”"

"(To Saint Peter referring to Jesus) We have found the Messiah."

"Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do."

"(Before the Feeding the multitude) There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"

"[Jesus:] "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”"

"Veni Creator Spiritus, Mentes tuorum visita, Imple superna gratia, Quae tu creasti pectora. Qui Paraclitus diceris, Donum Dei altissimi Fons vivus, ignis, caritas, Et spiritalis unctio."

"Tu septiformis munere, Dexterae Dei tu digitus, Tu rite promissum Patris, Sermone ditans guttura."

"Accende lumen sensibus: Infunde amorem cordibus: Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti."

"Gloria Patri Domino, Natoque qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito, In saeculorum saecula. Amen."

"I ask the Lord Jesus Christ to accept this eye as a gift of love for every Muslim wherever he is. I give you my eye, my beloved Muslim. If you do not see, I will be the eye for you, and this eye will be, as we say in the Iraqi dialect, "my beloved, this eye will be a sacrifice for you"."

"This young man who did this act almost two weeks ago, I say to you, my dear, you are my son. And you will always be my son. I will always pray for you. I'll always wish you nothing but the best."

"But you are my son, my dear, and the Lord knows it is coming from the bottom of my heart. I'll always pray for you, and for whoever was in this act."

"I have great respect for the President and his family and I was not prepared to be left out of the progress the government was making to change the lives of Kenyans."

"The Kenyan voters have started to adopt the ‘six-piece’ voting trend, where they elect people of their preferred political party."

"When people go out and campaign together, the crowd start looking at the whole team. There could be one or two that they don’t agree with, but for the sake of others we will do party politics."

"Even in my party (UDA), there are people I cannot vote for. They all know my stand, if someone has a questionable character or has zero service delivery track record, I Margaret Wanjiru cannot be part of their team."

"The Nairobi governorship was mine and it remains mine."

"Any party that feels that it wants to work with me, they can invite me, but ODM is not among them. Going back to ODM is a no. I left ODM a long time a go after what they did to me and that is democracy."

"I have much respect and love for His Excellency Dr William Ruto, our Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and their families. We started this journey towards building a better and a more prosperous Nation together and we shall finish well together."

"With the apostles and all the righteous [in heaven], rejoicingly glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of our souls, the Governor of our bodies, and the Shepherd of the catholic church throughout the world."

"When the funeral pile was ready, Polycarp, laying aside all his garments, and loosing his girdle, sought also to take off his sandals, — a thing he was not accustomed to do, inasmuch as every one of the faithful was always eager who should first touch his skin. For, on account of his holy life, he was, even before his martyrdom, adorned with every kind of good. Immediately then they surrounded him with those substances which had been prepared for the funeral pile."

"When those wicked men perceived that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to go near and pierce him through with a dagger. And on his doing this, there came forth a dove, and a great quantity of blood, so that the fire was extinguished; and all the people wondered that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this most admirable Polycarp was one, having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the catholic church which is in Smyrna."

"As soon as he had ceased praying, having made mention of all that had at any time come in contact with him, both small and great, illustrious and obscure, as well as the whole catholic church throughout the world, the time of his departure having arrived, they set him upon an ass, and conducted him into the city, the day being that of the great Sabbath."

"The centurion then, seeing the strife excited by the Jews, placed the body in the midst of the fire, and consumed it. Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps."

"Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings, and potentates, and princes, and for those that persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest to all, and that ye may be perfect in Him."

"We have written to you, brethren, as to what relates to the martyrs, and especially to the blessed Polycarp, who put an end to the persecution, having, as it were, set a seal upon it by his martyrdom."

"When the adversary of the race of the righteous, the envious, malicious, and wicked one, perceived the impressive nature of his martyrdom, and [considered] the blameless life he had led from the beginning, and how he was now crowned with the wreath of immortality, having beyond dispute received his reward, he did his utmost that not the least memorial of him should be taken away by us, although many desired to do this, and to become possessors of his holy flesh. For this end he suggested it to Nicetes, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, to go and entreat the governor not to give up his body to be buried, "lest," said he, "forsaking Him that was crucified, they begin to worship this one." This he said at the suggestion and urgent persuasion of the Jews, who also watched us, as we sought to take him out of the fire, being ignorant of this, that it is neither possible for us ever to forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of such as shall be saved throughout the whole world (the blameless one for sinners), nor to worship any other. For Him indeed, as being the Son of God, we adore; but the martyrs, as disciples and followers of the Lord, we worthily love on account of their extraordinary affection towards their own King and Master, of whom may we also be made companions and fellow-disciples!"

"Whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist."

"I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus Christ, because ye have followed the example of true love [as displayed by God], and have accompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days long gone by, endureth even until now, and bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death."

"The deacons be blameless before the face of His righteousness, as being the servants of God and Christ."

"Let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor."

"With tears we sow seeds of prayer in the earth of the heart, hoping to reap the harvest in joy."

"The eye of the soul cannot be led astray when its veil, by which I mean the body, is refined to near-transparency through self-control."

"If, therefore, we learn persistently to be detached from the good things of this world, we shall be able to unite the earthly appetite of the soul to its spiritual and intellectual aspiration, through the communion of the Holy Spirit who brings this about within us. For unless His divinity actively illumines the inner shrine of our heart, we shall not be able to taste God's goodness with the perceptive faculty undivided, that is, with unified aspiration."

"Timely silence, then, is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts."

"One side of the soul is carried away by the passionate part in man, and we are then captivated by the good things of this life, but the other side of the soul frequently delights in the activity of the intellect and, as a result, when we practice self-restraint, the intellect longs to pursue heavenly beauty."