"Love proves itself by deeds, and how shall I prove mine? The little child will scatter flowers whose fragrant perfume will surround the royal throne, and in a voice that is silver-toned, she will sing the canticle of love… I can prove my love only by scattering flowers, that is to say, by never letting [...]
"Let us take a look at the pre-Christian world… Eros was thus celebrated as divine power, as fellowship with the Divine… The Old Testament firmly opposed this form of religion, which represents a powerful temptation against monotheistic faith, combating it as a perversion of religiosity. But it in no way rejected eros as such; rather, [...]
"Any great love… makes the lover indifferent to physical hardships and sordid surroundings. The hovel of a man and wife who love each other is a far more joyous place than the rich apartment of the couple who have lost their love. Love of God begets an even greater indifference to our environment: a saint [...]
"The tendency to avoid the word eros, together with the new vision of love expressed through the word agape, clearly point to something new and distinct about the Christian understanding of love." Source: Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love: Deus Caritas Est, Ignatius Press, 2006.
"Cannot the Church leave this service to the great variety of other philanthropic organization? The answer is No, the Church cannot do this. She must practice love for neighbor as a community, too, or she would proclaim the God of love in an incomplete and insufficient way." Source: Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love: Deus Caritas [...]
"That many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances, and particular exercises, while they neglect the love of God, which is the end. That this appeared plainly by their works, and was the reason why we see so little solid virtue." Source: Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence [...]
"Let us note straight away that the Greek Old Testament uses the word eros only twice, while the New Testament does not use it at all: of the three Greek words for love, eros, philia (the love of friendship) and agape, New Testament writers prefer the last, which occurs rather infrequently in Greek usage." [...]
"God's love for us is fundamental for our lives, and it raises important questions about who God is and who we are. In considering this, we immediately find ourselves hampered by a problem of language. Today, the term 'love' has become one of the most frequently used and misused words, a word to which we [...]
"They who drink the juice of the Ethiopian herb Ophiusa imagine that they see serpents and horrors everywhere; and those who drink deep of pride, envy, ambition, hatred, will see harm and shame in everyone they look upon. The first can only be cured by drinking palm wine, and so I say of these latter: [...]
"Let us first of all bring to mind the vast semantic range of the word 'love': we speak of love of country, love of one’s profession, love between friends, love of work, love between parents and children, love between family members, love of neighbor and love of God. Amid this multiplicity of meaning, however, one [...]