To deny oneself means to give up one’s bad habits; to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad thoughts or desires; to suppress every evil thought; not to desire to do anything out of self love, but to do everything out of love for God.
–Saint Innocent of Alaska (1797-1879)
It is the nature of abandonment always to lead a mysterious life, and to receive great and miraculous gifts from God by means of the most ordinary things, things that may be natural, accidental, or that seem to happen by chance, and in which there seems no other agency than the ordinary course of the ways of the world, or of the elements.
–Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)
Since God offers to manage our affairs for us, let us once and for all hand them over to His infinite wisdom, in order to occupy ourselves only with Himself and what belongs to Him.
–Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)
When you are prevented from laboring for God’s glory, either by reason of bodily infirmity or from some other cause which shows forth his divine pleasure, be not grieved. Instead, cast yourself with confidence into the arms of the One who knows what is most to your advantage and who draws you in in proportion to your own abandonment.
–Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)
One doesn’t need muscles in the spiritual life. We must struggle humbly, we must ask for God’s mercy and we must be grateful to Him for everything. He who abandons himself into the hands of God, without any plan of his own, will pass into God’s plan.
–Saint Paisos the Athonite (1924-1994)
I am not always faithful, but I never get discouraged. I abandon myself into the arms of Jesus and there I find again all that I have lost and much more besides.
–Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
