God wills only our good; God loves us more than anybody else can or does love us. His will is that no one should lose his soul, that everyone should save and sanctify his soul… God has made the attainment of our happiness, his glory.
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
What is meditation? It means to “remember” what God is done and not to forget all his gifts to us… a way in which our mind makes contact with the heart of God.
–Pope Benedict XVI (1927-
Weakness of the body also breaks the powers of the soul and makes the talent of the mind to grow feeble; nor can it accomplish anything good by its weakness. Enough of this excess! For whatever is done without moderation is salutary, but whatever is done immoderately is dangerous and turns to the opposite. It is proper, therefore, to be moderate and temperate in every work. For whatever is excessive is dangerous; just as water, if it bestows too much rain, not only has no use, but also brings danger.
–Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636)
Cure yourself of the affliction of caring how you appear to others. Concern yourself only with how you appear before God, concern yourself only with the idea that God may have of you.
–Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936)
The Lord told us to pray in secret – that means in your heart – and he instructed us to “shut the door.” What is this door he says we must shut, if not the mouth? For we are the temple in which Christ dwells, for as the Apostle said: “You are the temple of the Lord.” And the Lord enters into your inner self into this house, to cleanse it from everything that is unclean, but only while the door — that is, your mouth – is closed shut.
–Saint Aphrahat the Persian 270-345)
Prayer, according to its quality, is communion and union of man with God, by its action it upholds the world. It is reconciliation with God. It is the mother, but also the daughter, of tears. It is the atonement of sins, a bridge over temptations, a wall against affliction, a crushing of conflicts, a work of Angels, the food of the Incoporeal, future gladness, boundless work, source of virtues, cause of grace, invisible progress, food of the soul, illumination of the mind, an axe against despair. a proof of hope, a cure for sorrow, the wealth of monks, the treasure of hesychasts, the reduction of anger, the mirror of progress, the demonstration of stature, an indication of one’s condition, a revelation of future things, a sign of glory. For one who truly prayers, prayer is the court, the judgment hall and the tribunal of the Lord before the judgement to come.
–Saint John Climacus (c. 525-606)
