Sunday, January 10, 2016

St. Hippolytus of Rome: Prayer and instruction

"Let every faithful man and every faithful woman, when they rise from sleep at dawn, before they undertake any work, wash their hands and pray to God. Then they may go to work. But if there is some instruction in the Word, they shall go there, considering that it is God whom they hear in the one instructing. For having prayed in the assembly, they will be able to avoid all the evils of the day. The pious should consider it a great wrong if they do not go to the place in which they give instruction, especially if they know how to read.

~From The Apostolic Tradition.
Read about St. Hippolytus.



Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer,
by Hans Memling. 
Oil on oak panel, c. 1487; Upton House, Banbury.