Tradition Day by Day: February 10

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February 10

A happy sin

et all creatures bless you, O Lord, since you are the salvation of all of us. Let your angels bless you, they who are ever valiant executors of your orders, let your armies bless you, as well as your ministers, always ready to follow your instructions. Let all your created works praise you, all over the horizon, as far as your empire stretches out, and together with them, let my soul praise you too. It is said, in Psalm 96, at the very beginning, Oh sing unto the Lord a new song, and indeed your greatness is so special that it deserves to be praised by a new language, a new music, a new song. Your arm became our salvation, your Word became our Jesus. Your very power, your right hand, your strong fortress and castle, became for us a sweet and helpful medicine. You brought your Son Jesus in front of all of us, as our salvation, and by it you made your cause acceptable and accepted by everybody. No one will complain that you let us fall in the past, since you helped so much to retrieve and save us from such an ancient fall. There was guilt, yet the medicine was all-powerful. We may even say that it was a happy sin, since it brought for us the salvation of our Jesus.

Luis de León, O.S.A.

Augustine Day By Day

The Augustinians - St. Thomas of Villanova Province

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.

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