Blessings
rite that should bring persons or property share in divine power or grace
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Blessingsare the infusion or bestowal of something withholiness,spiritualredemption,divinewill,or one'shopeor approval.
Quotes
edit- MayGodgive you...For everystormarainbow,for everytearasmile,for everycareapromiseand a blessing in eachtrial.For everyproblemlifesends, afaithfulfriendto share, for every sigh a sweetsongand an answer for eachprayer.
- AnonymousIrish blessing, as quoted inThe Puppet Master(2009) by Jan Coffey.
- Quoted byVin Scullyin his final sign-off on October 2, 2016.
- Blessings may appear under the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let him have patience, and he will see them in their proper figures.
- Joseph AddisonThe Guardianno. 117 25 July 1713.
- Blessingsstarforth forever; but acurse
Is like acloud— it passes.- Philip James Bailey,Festus(1813), scene Hades.
- Lifeis acreativeendeavor. It is active, not passive.We are the yeast that leavens our lives into rich, fully baked loaves. When we experience our lives as flat and lackluster, it is our consciousness that is at fault. We hold the innerkeythat turns our lives from thankless to fruitful.That key is "Blessing."
- Julia Cameron,Blessings: Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life(1998).
- Thegrowthof one blessesall.I am committed to grow inlove.All that I touch, I leave in love. I move through thisworldconsciously and creatively.
- Julia Cameron,Blessings: Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life(1998).
- I honor my importance and the importance of others.None of us is dispensable, none of us is replaceable. In the chorus of life each of us brings a True Note, a perfect pitch that adds to theharmonyof the whole. I act creatively and consciously to actively endorse and encourage the expansion of those whose lives I touch.Believing in thegoodnessof each, I add to the goodness of all. We bless each other even in passing.
- Julia Cameron,Blessings: Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life(1998).
- A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I bless'd them unaware.- Samuel Taylor Coleridge,The Rime of the Ancient Mariner(1798; 1817), Part IV.
- For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds,
And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.- William Congreve,The Mourning Bride(1697), Act V, scene 3.
- Godbless us every one.
- Charles Dickens,A Christmas Carol(1843), Stave 3 (saying of Tiny Tim).
- Like a led Victim, to my Death I'll go,
And, dying, bless the Hand that gave the Blow.- John Dryden,The Spanish Friar(1681), Act II, Scene I.
- I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
- Genesis32:26 (KJV).
- Das Leben ist der Güter höchstes, und das schlimmste Übel ist der Tod.
- Life is the greatest of blessings, and death the worst of evils.
- Heinrich Heine,Ideen(1835),Das Buch Le Grand,Ch. 3.
- When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
'Let us,' said he, 'pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.'- George Herbert,The Pulley(published posthumously, 1633).
- Blessed are thepoorinspirit,for theirs is the kingdom ofheaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit theearth.
Blessed are those whohungerand thirst forrighteousness,for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shownmercy.
Blessed are the pure inheart,for they will seeGod.
Blessed are thepeacemakers,for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is thekingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you whenpeopleinsult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds ofevilagainst you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted theprophetswho were before you.- JesusChristas quoted in theGospel of Matthew5:1–12 (NIV); ofen referred to as "TheBeatitudes"this is the start of" TheSermon on the Mount".
- Thomas,because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
- JesusChristas quoted in theGospel of John20:29 (AKJV).
- My attention was first called to this by watching the effect produced by the celebration of the Mass in a Roman Catholic church in a little village in Sicily... the quite ordinary celebration of the Mass was a magnificent display of the application ofoccultforce.... At the moment of consecration the Host glowed with the most dazzling brightness it became in fact a veritable sun to the eye of theclairvoyant,and as thepriestlifted it above the heads of the people I noticed that two distinct varieties ofspiritualforce poured forth from it, which might perhaps be taken as roughly corresponding to the light of the sun and the streamers of his corona. The first rayed out impartially in all directions upon all the people in the church; indeed, it penetrated the walls of the church as though they were not there, and influenced a considerable section of the surrounding country. Ch. 8
- C.W. Leadbeater,inThe Hidden Side of things(1913)
- The light which I have just described poured forth impartially upon all, the just and the unjust, the believers and the scoffers. But this second force was called into activity only in response to a strong feeling of devotion on the part of an individual. At the elevation of the Host all members of the congregation duly prostrated themselves— some apparently as a mere matter of habit, but some also with a strong feeling of deepdevotionalfeeling. The effect as seen by clairvoyant sight was most striking and profoundly impressive, for to each of these latter there darted from the uplifted Host a ray of fire, which set the higher part of the astral body of the recipient glowing with the most intense ecstasy. Ch. 8
- C.W. Leadbeater,inThe Hidden Side of things(1913)
- Clearly one of the great objects, perhaps the principal object, of the daily celebration of the Mass is that everyone within reach of it shall receive at least once each day one of these electric shocks which are so well calculated to promote any growth of which he is capable. Such an outpouring of force brings to each person whatever he has made himself capable of receiving; but even the quite undeveloped and ignorant cannot but be somewhat the better for the passing touch of a noble emotion, while for the few more advanced it means a spiritual uplifting the value of which it would be difficult to exaggerate. Ch. 8
- C.W. Leadbeater,inThe Hidden Side of things(1913)
- The same idea carried out in a different way shows itself to us in the blessing of theincensebefore it is burned. For the incense has always a dual significance. It ascends before God as a symbol of the prayers of the people; but also it spreads through the church as a symbol of the sweet savour of the blessing of God, and so once more the priest pours into it a holy influence with the idea that wherever its scent may penetrate, wherever the smallest particle of that which has been blessed may pass, it shall bear with it a feeling of peace and of purity, and shall chase away all inharmonious thoughts and sensations. Ch. 8
- C.W. Leadbeater,inThe Hidden Side of things(1913)
- Blessings. Under this heading should come the various types of blessings such as are given in the Church, inFreemasonry,and by the pupils of ourMasters.Blessings may be arranged in two sections—those which a man gives from himself, and those which are given through him as an official by a higher power. The first kind of blessing is merely an expression of an earnest good wish... this will depend upon theearnestnessof the good wish and the amount of spiritual force put into it... If the words were uttered... without much feeling orintentionbehind them, the effect would be slight and transient; on the other hand, if they came from a full heart and were uttered with definite determination, their effect would be deep and lasting. The second type of blessing is that which is uttered by an official appointed for the purpose, through whom power flows from some higher source... the power of giving a definite blessing is one of those conferred upon thePriestat his ordination... he is simply a channel for the power from on high, and if it should unfortunately happen that he speaks it merely as a matter of course and as part of his ritual, that would make no difference to the spiritual power outpoured. The blessing flows equally over all, but the amount of the influences which any individual can obtain from it depends upon his receptivity.
- C.W. Leadbeater,The Masters and the Path(1925) p. 142-143
- I well remember giving each of these on different occasions to a great Angel of the neighbourhood with whom I have the honour to be well acquainted. Passing close to his territories... I gave him once as a greeting the full blessing of myMaster,and it was indeed beautiful to see the way in which he received it, bowing profoundly and showing his appreciation by a lovely soft glow of holiness and uttermost devotion. Another day under similar circumstances I gave him the blessing ofthe Brotherhood,and instantly every power of that great Angel flashed out in glad response, and the whole of his territory lit up. It was as though a soldier had leapt to attention, as though everything, not only within himself but in all the thousands of minor creatures working under him, had suddenly been vivified and raised to its highest power. All nature instantly responded. You see, my Master, however deeply reverenced by him, is not his Master, but my King is his King, for there is but One.
- C.W. Leadbeater,The Masters and the Path,(1925) p. 173
- TheLord Buddhahas his own special type of force, which he outpours when he gives his blessing to the world, and this benediction is a unique and very marvellous thing; for by his authority and position a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond our reach, hence he can transmute and draw down to our level the forces peculiar to those planes. Without this mediation of the Buddha these forces would be of no use to us here in physical life; their vibrations are so tremendous, so incredibly rapid, that they would pass through us unsensed at any level we can reach, and we should never even know of their existence. But as it is, the force of the blessing is scattered all over the world; and it instantly finds for itself channels through which it can pour (just as water instantly finds an open pipe), thereby strengthening all good work and bringing peace to the hearts of those who are able to receive it.
- C.W. Leadbeater,The Masters and the Path(1925) p. 284-5
- What is the greatest blessing?
- Not to serve the foolish,
- But to serve the wise;
- To honour those worthy of honour;
- This is the greatest blessing...
- To have a soul filled with right desire...
- Pleasant words that are well spoken...
- To support father and mother,
- To cherish wife and child,
- To follow a peaceful calling...
- To abhor and cease from sin,
- To abstain from strong drink,
- Not to be weary in well-doing...
- To be long-suffering and meek...
- The knowledge of theFour Great Truths...
- Invincible on every side
- Is he who acteth thus;
- On every side he walks in safety;
- And his is the greatest blessing.
- Mangala SuttabyGuatama Buddha,translated thus by ProfessorRhys Davids(with slight modifications introduced from other sources, when they seemed decided improvements by CWL) as Quoted inThe Masters and the PathbyC.W. Leadbeater,(1925) p. 291
- The blest to-day is as completely so,
As who began a thousand years ago.- Alexander Pope,An Essay on Man(1733-34), Epistle I, line 75.
- Suffer not thy wrongs to shroud thy fate,
But turn, my soul, to blessings which remain.- Anna Seward,"Sonnet XII" (1773), inPoetical Works,ed.Walter Scott,Vol. III (Edinburgh: John Ballantyne and Co., 1810), p. 133.
- Steal immortal blessing from her lips.
- William Shakespeare,Romeo and Juliet(1595), Act III, scene 3, line 37.
- The benediction of these coveringheavens
Fall on their heads like dew!- William Shakespeare,Cymbeline(1611), Act V, scene 5, line 350.
- In vita itaque apprime utile est, intellectum seu rationem, quantum possumus, perficere, et in hoc uno summa hominis feticitas seu beatitudo consistit; quippe beatitudo nihil aliud est, quam ipsa animi acquiescentia, quae ex Dei intuitiva cognitione oritur.
- Thus in life it is before all things useful to perfect the understanding, or reason, as far as we can, and in this alone man's highest happiness or blessedness consists, indeed blessedness is nothing else but the contentment of spirit, which arises from the intuitive knowledge of God.
- Baruch Spinoza,Ethics(1677), Part IV, Appendix, IV.
- Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself. We do not enjoy blessedness because we keep our lusts in check. On the contrary, it is because we enjoy blessedness that we are able to keep our lusts in check.
- Baruch Spinoza,Ethics(1677), Book 5, Proposition 42, as translated by Samuel Shirley,Complete Works(2002), p. 382
- Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
- For some reason, the most vocalChristiansamong us never mention theBeatitudes.But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that theTen Commandmentsbe posted in public buildings. And of course that’sMoses,notJesus.I haven’t heard one of them demand that theSermon on the Mount,the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
"Blessed are themerciful"in a courtroom?" Blessed are thepeacemakers"in the Pentagon? Give me a break!- Kurt Vonnegut,Cold TurkeyatIn These Times(10 May 2004).
- Likebirds,whose beauties languish half concealed,
Till, mounted on the wing, their glossy plumes
Expanded, shine with azure, green and gold;
How blessings brighten as they take theirflight.- Edward Young,Night Thoughts(1742-1745), Night II, line 589.
- Amid my list of blessingsinfinite,
Stands this the foremost, "That myhearthas bled. "- Edward Young,Night Thoughts(1742-1745), Night IX, line 497.
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
edit- Quotes reported inHoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations(1922), p. 71-72.
- 'Tis not for mortals always to be blest.
- John Armstrong,The Art of Preserving Health(1744), Book IV, line 260.
- Prosperityis the blessing of the Old Testament;
Adversityis the blessing of the New.- Francis Bacon,Of Adversity.
- Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
- Deuteronomy, XXVIII. 5.
- O close my hand upon Beatitude!
Not on her toys.- Louise Imogen Guiney,Deo Optimo Maximo.
- To heal divisions, to relieve the oppress'd,
Invirtuerich;in blessing others, bless'd.- Homer,The Odyssey,Book VII, line 95. Pope's translation.
- A man's best things are nearest him,
Lie close about his feet.- Monckton Milnes,The Men of Old,Stanza 7.
- Godbless us every one,prayed Tiny Tim,
Crippled and dwarfed of body yet so tall
Ofsoul,we tiptoeearthto look on him,
High towering overall.- James Whitcomb Riley,God Bless Us Every One.