If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a crucifix, and think that Christ has shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave his enemies, but prayed the Eternal Father to forgive them also.
–Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)
With me prayer is a lifting up of the heart, a look towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and love uttered equally in sorrow and in joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Everything seems to be a heavy burden, and rightly so, because it involves a war against ourselves. But once we begin to work, God does so much in the soul and grants it so many favors that all that one can do in this life seems little.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
There is a difference between possessing poison and being poisoned. Pharmacists keep almost every kind of poison in stock for use on various occasions, yet they are not themselves poisoned because it is merely in their shops, not in their bodies. So, too, you can possess riches without being poisoned by them if you keep them in your home, purse or wallet, but not in your heart.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Be careful and attentive to all the matters God has committed to your care: since God has entrusted them to you, God wishes that you have great care for them. Do not be worried, that is, don’t exert yourself over them with uneasiness, anxiety and forwardness. Don’t be worried about them, for worry disturbs reason and good judgment and prevents us from doing well the very things about which we are worried in the first place.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
