As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.
–Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335- c. 395)
It is not enough to acknowledge our faults; we must correct them.
–Saint Mother Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)
Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God’s loving kindness. Otherwise sadness will harden the heart and lead it more deeply into despair.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
How could one live without the knowledge of Scripture, through which one learns to know Christ himself, who is the life of believers?
–Saint Jerome (c. 340-420)
Reading is the careful study of the Scriptures, concentrating all one’s powers on it. Meditation is the busy application of the mind to seek with the help of one’s own reason for knowledge of hidden truth. Prayer is the heart’s devoted turning to God to drive away evil and obtain what is good. Contemplation is when the mind is in some sort lifted up to God and held above itself, so that it tastes the joys of everlasting sweetness.
–Guigo II (d. 1188)
What a great laudable exchange: to leave the things of time for those of eternity, to choose the things of heaven for the goods of earth, to receive the hundred-fold in place of one, and to possess a blessed and eternal life.
–Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
