Enter then into your heart, and if you have faith, you will find Christ there. There He speaks to you. I the preacher, must raise my voice, but He instructs you more effectively in the silence. I speak in sounding words; He speaks within.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
A man who finds the path to virtue difficult, yet sets out on it bravely to conquer himself, gains double the reward of those whose mild and slothful nature gives them no trouble.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Don’t be afraid of what God has in store for you – love God very much for He wants to do you a great deal of good.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Some of the saints excelled in one virtue, some in another, and although all have saved their souls, they have done so in very different ways, there being as many different kinds of sanctity as there are saints.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
It is very good for us to know and feel our misery and imperfection, but we must not allow that to discourage us; rather, our awareness of our miseries should make us raise our hearts to God by a holy confidence, the foundation of which ought to be in Him…The throne of God’s mercy is our misery; therefore, the greater our misery the greater should be our confidence in God.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Our free will can stop or obstruct the course of God’s inspiration. When the favorable wind of God’s grace fills the sails of our soul, it is within our power to refuse consent, thereby impeding the effect of that favoring wind. But when our spirit sails along and makes a prosperous voyage, it is not we who cause the wind of inspiration to come to us. We neither fill our sails with it, nor do we give movement to the ship that is our heart: we consent to its movement. It is God’s inspiration, then, which impresses on our free will the gentle, blessed influence whereby it not only causes the will to see the beauty of the good, but also warms it, helps it, reinforces it and moves it so gently that by its agency, the will turns and glides freely toward the good.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
