Remain called by God and persevere…
Strive with all your might to remain as you are called by God and to seek and desire all the ways and means necessary to persevere and make progress to the very end.
–Saint Angela Merici (1474-1540)
Gain by trials…
We gain more in a single day by trials that come to us from God and our neighbor than we would in ten years of penance and other exercises that we take up ourselves.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
The faults of others…
Beware of becoming vexed or impatient at the faults of others; for it would be folly, when you see a man falling into a ditch, to throw yourself into another for no purpose.
–Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Prayer despite dryness…
A soul should be faithful to prayer despite torments, dryness, and temptations; because oftentimes the realization of God’s great plans depends mainly on such prayer. If we do not persevere in such prayer, we frustrate what the Lord wanted to do through us or within us. Let every soul remember these words: ‘And being in anguish, He prayed longer.‘ (Lk 22:44)
–Saint Faustina (1905-1938)
If temptation comes…
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
An adverse wind…
They who set out to sail unfurl the sails at first when they encounter a favorable wind but then undo it when an adverse wind comes at them; the sailors do not discharge the ship because the wind is against them. They wait quietly for a while or wrestle with the storm, then they sail on again. So it is with us; when an adverse wind is against us, let us complete our voyage without fear, having unfurled the cross instead of a sail.
–Saint Synkletike (a Desert Mother) (d. 350)
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