Loading…
VRSZ
This sets the art on your cards and whose commentary you read on each verse. You can change it later in settings.
Translation
Loading…
What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"Withal taking up the shield of faith." By "faith" in this place, he means, not knowledge, (for that he never would have ranged last,) but that gift by which miracles are wrought. And with reason does he term this "faith" a shield; for as the shield is put before the whole body, as if it were a sort of rampart, just so is this faith; for all things yield to it. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Above all, by the words "above all" he points to the truth and righteousness mentioned earlier, and the hope of the Gospel. For all of this requires faith. But by faith here he means not the knowledge of true worship of God, but faith free from doubt, which makes one believe in the future as though it were the present, which performs signs and is so fervent and ardent that it even moves mountains. …
Ignatius of Antioch
Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when ye come frequently together in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and his "fiery darts" urging to sin fall back ineffectual. For your concord and harmonious faith prove his destruction, and the torment of his assistants. Nothing is better than that peace which is according to Christ, by which all war, both of aërial and terrestrial spirits, is brought to an end. …
Western Saints
Thomas Aquinas
The second function of weapons is to protect. Two areas which contain the mainsprings of our life must be guarded: the chest in which the heart is situated, and the head which contains the brain. The chest is protected by a shield; thus he states in all things taking the shield of faith because faith is presupposed to all the other virtues just as a shield is basic to all weapons. …
Bonaventure
The soul is disposed to the gift of fortitude through the unconquerable shield of faith. "In all things taking up the shield of faith, by which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one." The devil draws man to the concupiscence of the flesh, to the concupiscence of the eyes, and to the pride of life. What is the means of resisting these? Through truth. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield," namely through faith dwelling within. …
Translation