Whoever lives in the past is as if dead. Whoever lives in the future in his fantasy (or imagination) is naive, because the future belongs only to God. The Joy of Christ is found only in the present, in the Eternal Present of God.
— Gabriela Papayannis (1897-1992)
The pursuit of the contemplative life is something for which a great and sustained effort on the part of the powers of the soul is required: an effort to rise from earthly to heavenly things, an effort to keep one’s attention fixed on spiritual things, an effort to pass beyond and above the sphere of things visible to the eyes of flesh.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)
Let your desire be the vision of God, your fear the loss of Him, your sorrow His absence, and your joy in that which may take you to Him; and your life shall be in great peace.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.
— GK Chesterton (1874-1936)
Our future reward is made manifest through the impulses of the heart. A merciful heart will receive mercy, while a merciless heart will receive the opposite.
— Saint Mark the Ascetic (Fifth Century)
