Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident… See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Do not forget that holiness consists not in extraordinary actions, but in performing your duties towards God, yourself and others well.
–Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941)
Before reading you should empty your soul of everything. Arouse the desire to know about what is being read. Turn prayerfully to God. Follow what you are reading with attention and place everything in your open heart. If something did not reach the heart, stay with it until it reaches. You should of course read quite slowly. Stop reading when the soul no longer wants to nourish itself with reading. That means it is full. If the soul finds one passage utterly stunning, stop there and read no more… Thus you can take up a little bit each day.
–Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)
If you seek peace and tranquillity, you will certainly not find them so long as you have a cause of disturbance and turmoil within yourself.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Perhaps the City of God is not so much a place in space, as a place in the heart.
–Madeline L’Engle (1918-2007)
Everyday I say to myself: ‘Today I will begin.’
–Saint Anthony of Egypt (c. 251-356)
