Evan

“And since a property of all good arts is to draw the mind of man away from the vices and direct it to better things, these arts can do that more plentifully, over and above the unbelievable pleasure of mind [which they furnish]. For who, after applying himself to things which he sees established in the best order and directed by divine ruling, would not through diligent contemplation of them and through a certain habituation be awakened to that which is best and would not wonder at the Artificer of all things, in Whom is all happiness and every good? For the divine Psalmist surely did not say gratuitously that he took pleasure in the workings of God and rejoiced in the works of His hands, unless by means of these things as by some sort of vehicle we are transported to the contemplation of the highest Good.”
― Nicholas Copernicus, On The Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres

“But increasing freedom transformed our character to arrogance and sloth; we began envying and abusing each other, cutting our own throats, as occasion offered, with weapons of sharp-edged swords; rulers hurled themselves at rulers and lay men waged party fights against laymen, and unspeakable hypocrisy and dissimulation were carried to the limit of wickedness. At last, while the gatherings were still crowded, divide judgment, with its wonted mercy, gently and gradually began to order things its own way, and with Christians in the army the persecutions began.”
― Eusebius, The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine

“The prophecy that "this gate shall remain shut, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it" (Ezek. 44:1-2) was unanimously accepted as proof that Mary had remained a virgin after the birth of Christ.”
― Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition 3: The Growth of Medieval Theology 600-1300

“Something reddens in the cup. A blush before its creator, some new testament? Sign of new life and a new way.”
― Thomas L. Martin, Christ the Life: A Gospel Psalm