Fathers

Loading…

What the Fathers say

Psalms 146:2

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

But who saith it, and to whom saith he it? What shall we say, brethren? Is it the flesh that saith, "Praise thou the Lord, O my soul"? And can the flesh suggest good counsel to the soul? However much the flesh be conquered, and subjected as a servant to us through strength which the Lord imparteth, that it serve us entirely as a bond slave, enough for us that it hinder us not. ...For the body, inasmuch as it is the body, is even beneath the soul; and every soul, however vile, is found more excellent than the most excellent body. …

Exposition on Psalm 146 ↗

Jerome

I will praise the Lord in my life. See what it says: it exhorts itself, and it itself answers. What does it say? It says to me, Praise the Lord, O my soul: I myself answer, I will praise the Lord in my life. At present I cannot praise, I am weighed down by sins. As often as I open my lips in the praises of God, so often does the consciousness of my sins glue them shut. I will praise the Lord in my life. Beautifully he said, I will praise, not I praise. When I shall have been with my Lord, then I will praise my Lord in my life. …

Homily 55, on Psalm 145 ↗