I’m certain of this – that if my conscience were burdened with all the sins it’s possible to commit, I would still go and throw myself into our Lord’s arms, my heart all broken up with contrition; I know what tenderness He has for any prodigal son of His who comes back to Him.
–Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
What most attracts God’s graces is gratitude, because if we thank Him for a gift, He is touched and hastens to give us ten more, and if we thank Him again with the same enthusiasm, what an incalculable multiplication of graces! I have experienced this: try it yourself and you will see! My gratitude for everything he gives me is limitless, and I prove it to Him in a thousand ways.
–Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
Life is often irksome and bitter; it is hard to begin a laborious day, above all when Jesus hides Himself from us. What is this tender Friend doing? Does He not then see our anguish, the load that oppresses us; where is He? Why does He not come to console us? Ah, fear not … He is there, quite near! He is watching us; He, it is, who begs for these our labors and our tears … He has need of them for souls, for our soul; He wants to give us so glorious a recompense. Ah! Truly, it costs Him to make us drink of this bitter cup, but He knows that it is the one way by which to prepare us to know Him as He knows Himself and to become ourselves God-like.
–Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
Raise up your heart after a fall, sweetly and gently, humbling yourself before God in the knowledge of your misery, and do not be astonished at your weakness, since it is not surprising that weakness should be weak, infirmity infirm, and frailty frail.
–Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Love is a movement, effusion and advancement of the heart toward the good. The soul cannot live without love. All depends on providing it with a worthy object. We can never love our neighbor too much. There is nothing small in the service of God.
–Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
It is necessary to find those who will support us and need our support in promoting the devout life. This is holy partiality that separates good from evil, the sheep from the goats, the bees from the hornets. It is a distinction that has to be made.
–Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
