Prayer, fasting, mercy

“Whoever wants to find God’s heart open toward him. Do not close his own to those who plead with him.”

“Three are the things, three, O brethren, whereby faith stands firm, devotion endures, virtue remains: prayer, fasting, mercy. That for which prayer knocks, fasting gets it, mercy receives it. These three things, prayer, fasting, mercy, are one and receive life from each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer and mercy the life of fasting. […] Therefore he who prays, let him fast. He who fasts, let him have mercy. He who in asking desires to be heard, let him who asks be heard. Whoever wishes to find God’s heart open toward him, let him not close his own to those who supplicate him. […] Let him who hopes for compassion have compassion. He who asks for mercy, let him exercise it. He who wants to be granted a gift, let him open his hand to others. He is a bad requester who denies to others what he asks for himself.

O man, be the rule of mercy for yourself. The way you want mercy to be used on you, use it on others. The breadth of mercy you want for yourself, abound it for others. Offer to others that same ready mercy, which you desire for yourself. […]

That…which thou shalt have bestowed in mercy shall return abundantly to thy barn. Therefore, O man, that thou mayest not lose by wanting to keep for thyself, give to others, and then thou shalt reap. Give to thyself, giving to the poor, for what thou hast bequeathed to another, thou shalt not have.”

(From the Discourses of St. Peter Chrysologus, bishop – Disc. 43; PL 52, 320 and 322)

O man, be for yourself The rule of mercy!

Dearest Workers and Collaborators of Operation Little Brother, what legacy do we want to build? What do we want to gather at the end of this Lenten season?

Three are the things, three, O brothers, whereby faith stands firm, devotion endures, virtue remains: prayer, fasting, mercy…

Let us, therefore, dedicate ourselves to them, especially let us not forget to make mercy concrete by sharing the little or the much we have with those who await mercy.

God bless you!

Orestes and the Executive Team