Words of Wisdom & Encouragement
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We will see Jesus…
If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus… for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)
This is that grace…
It is not that we keep His commandments first, and that then He
loves; but that He loves us, and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace, which is revealed to the humble, but hidden from the proud.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
We waste our lives…
What a pity it is that, through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!
–Saint Raphael Kalinowski (1835-1907)
Leave the rest to God…
Do all you can with the means at your disposal and calmly leave the rest to God.
–Saint Mary MacKillop (1842-1909)
Do everything for God…
Do everything calmly and peacefully. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Your inner peace…
Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
By interior recollection…
By interior recollection we retire into God, or draw God within ourselves. But when and where can we have recourse to it? At all times, and in all places.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Go on joyfully…
Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible; and if you cannot always be joyful at least be brave and confident.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Walk very simply…
Walk very simply along the way our Lord shows you and don’t worry.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Do not become captive…
Do not allow your heavenly spirit to become captive to earthly things.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Obedience is worth…
A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.
–Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (1566-1607)
Countless little ways…
God calls to us in countless little ways all the time. Through illnesses and suffering and through sorrow he calls to us. Through a truth glimpsed fleetingly in a state of prayer he calls to us. No matter how halfhearted such insights may be, God rejoices whenever we learn what he is trying to teach us.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
A closed heart…
The worst prison would be a closed heart.
–Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
Open the doors…
Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power….Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ.
–Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
Poverty is a way…
Poverty is not a question of having or not having money. Poverty is not material. It is a beatitude. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It is a way of being, thinking and loving. It is the gift of the Spirit. Poverty is detachment, and freedom and, above all, truth.
–Carlo Carretto (1910-1988)
Souls fall away…
Souls generally do not fall away from Christ because of the Creed; they first have difficulty with the Commandments.
–Blessed Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Many souls fail…
Many souls fail to find God because they want a religion which will remake society without remaking themselves.
–Blessed Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Be faithful to God…
Always be faithful to God in keeping the promises made to Him and do not bother about the ridicule of the foolish. Know that the saints were always sneered at by the world and worldlings; and they have trampled them under foot and triumphed over the world and its maxims.
–Saint Pio (1887-1968)
The meek live…
According to those who write on this virtue, the meek live in a noble quietude of mind, and are not easily perturbed. They are sober and temperate, control their anger, are not impetuous but very placid; they are gentle and never speak bitterly; courteous and not rough-mannered. They are good-hearted, not malicious, suspect no harm, always return good for evil, are healthy and un-corrupted, for those who are by nature meek are naturally healthy, not only, in soul but even in body. They are neither provoked nor do they provoke others to evil; they do not hinder people nor are they hindered: they bear no grudges and are generally self-possessed: are not readily annoyed and usually give place to evil. They overlook many offences; are easily corrected; do not resist though they are struck and wounded; are neither cruel nor melancholy but always cheerful;[175] they are extremely docile and sincere, simple and thoroughly straightforward: their face is open and they are full of kindness and patience.
–Francisco de Osuna (1497-1541)
Oh blessed tears…
Oh blessed tears, by which interior stains are washed away, and the flames of sin are quenched! Happy are those who weep thus, for they shall rejoice hereafter. By these tears, oh soul, discover your Bridegroom! Embrace him (whom) you desire; be inebriated with the river of delight; draw milk and honey from the breasts of his consolation. These tears and sighs are wondrous, precious gifts and consolations given you by your Spouse. Let these tears furnish drink for you; they are bread for you by day and by night, bread that surely strengthens the heart of man and is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
–Francisco de Osuna (1497-1541)
First we should…
First, we should withdraw from all sin, even venial, for the true lover endeavors to avoid all offence, not thinking of the punishment due to it, but of the Beloved whom all evil offends, great and small. Secondly, we should cultivate every virtue, losing no occasion of doing good and being very zealous in acts of piety, which have great merit. Thirdly, we should not set our love on anything, but possess what we have as a loan, so that we may not fix our heart on that, but on God. Fourthly, let us arouse our heart from sleep, so that it may often make acts of tender love.
–Francisco de Osuna (1497-1541)
Till death, be faithful…
Till death, be faithful, my dear, to the Spouse to whom you’ve promised yourself, and you’ll be crowned by God with the laurels of Life. Our labor here is brief, our reward eternal. Remember this. Don’t let the thrills of this world—which vanish like dew—excite you. Don’t let the fake delights of this deceptive world trick you. Close your ears to hell’s whispers. Be brave. Resist them. Smile and endure when things go wrong, and don’t let success go to your head! Instead, look to Christ, who goes before us, take up the cross, and follow Him. Never let the thought of Jesus leave your mind. Meditate constantly on the mysteries of the cross and the pain His mother felt standing there below Him. Pray. Always be alert.
–Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
Makes the soul holy and good…
Holy contrition, holy humility, holy charity, holy devotion, and holy joy makes the soul holy and good
–Blessed Giles of Assisi (1190-1262)
The Body of Christ…
It is appropriate that we should receive the body of Christ in the form of bread, because, as there are many grains of wheat in the flour from which bread is made by mixing it with water and baking it with fire, so also we know that many members make up the one body of Christ which is brought to maturity by the fire of the Holy Spirit… Similarly, the wine of Christ’s blood, drawn from the many grapes of the vineyard that he had planted, is extracted in the wine-press of the cross. When men receive it with believing hearts, like capacious wineskins, it ferments within them by its own power.
–Saint Gaudentius of Brescia (d. 410)
This heavenly sacrifice…
The heavenly sacrifice, instituted by Christ, is the most gracious legacy of his new covenant. On the night he was delivered up to be crucified he left us this gift as a pledge of his abiding presence. This sacrifice is our sustenance on life’s journey; by it we are nourished and supported along the road of life until we depart from this world and make our way to the Lord.
–Saint Gaudentius of Brescia (d. 410)
Jesus our Savior…
As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was made Flesh and had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate.
–Saint Justin Martyr (100-165)
The Church received…
The Church, spread throughout the whole world, received this preaching and this faith and now preserves it carefully, dwelling as it were in one house. Having one soul and one heart, the Church holds this faith, preaches and teaches it consistently as though by a single voice. For though there are different languages, there is but one tradition.
–Saint Irenaeus (late 2nd Century)
This is my Body…
Since Christ Himself has said, ‘This is My Body’ who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?
–Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-386)
The Holy Spirit…
The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil; it was in fact the Holy Spirit himself, who is called the oil of gladness because he is the source of spiritual joy. But we too have been anointed with oil, and by this anointing we have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in his life… While symbolically, on our foreheads and senses, our bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.
–Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-386)
Body of Christ…
We eat the body of Christ in order that we may be able to be partakers of eternal life.
–Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-397)
Christians will be…
Christians will not be asked how they began but rather how they finished. St. Paul began badly but finished well. Judas’s beginning was praiseworthy but his end was despicable. Many start the climb but few reach the summit.
–Saint Jerome (c. 340-420)
Be converted…
Be converted, then, with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord. Then the peace of God our Father will be with you always.
–Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Be peace loving…
Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. You are well aware that our sins arouse God’s anger. You must change your life, therefore, so that God in his mercy will pardon you.
–Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Passion of our Lord…
Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.
–Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Obedience is…
Without a doubt, obedience is more meritorious than any other penance. And what greater penance can there be than keeping one’s will continually submissive and obedient?
–Saint Catharine of Bologna (1413-1463)
Pain and love…
Pain and Love are almost synonymous words.
–Saint Lydwine of Schiedam (1380-1433)
Through God’s grace and forgiveness…
When we find that — through God’s grace and forgiveness — we are living spiritually harmonious lives, then we’ll understand that disobedience is without a doubt more horrible than hell, and more painful. Why? Because it goes against the essential grain of our good, God-given nature.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Peace is received…
For I saw most truly that where our Lord appears, peace is received and wrath has no place; for I saw no kind of wrath in God, neither briefly, nor for long.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Neither rest nor peace…
For until I am one with him I can never have true rest nor peace. I can never know it until I am held so close to him that there is nothing in between.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
This blessed friend is Jesus…
This blessed friend is Jesus; it is his will and plan that we hang on to him, and hold tight always, in whatever circumstances; for whether we are filthy or clean is all the same to his love.
— Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Three things make…
Three things make a person worthy of God’s path, and three things cause them to recognize it and enter onto it. First, submit to God and relinquish all your ideas about control. Hold on to God’s grace and determine to keep it by forgiving everyone in all things, as far as is humanly possible. Second, stay on God’s path by welcoming all things, except for sin. This will keep your heart open and flexible. Third, remain on this path by doing all things well for God’s honor. That’s why I think doing simple things is just as important in God’s sight as the highest states of contemplation. Why? Whatever I do for love gives honor to God. It’s all one and the same. There’s no high or low. But whenever I sin, I step off this path.
–Mechthild of Magdeburg (Thirteenth Century)
Spirituality is not…
Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
The core of God…
To get at the core of God at his greatest, one must first get to the core of himself at his least, for no one can know God who has not first known himself. This core is a simple stillness, which is unmoved itself but by whose immobility all things are moved and all receive life.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
With the love of God…
With the love of God, people will be able to accept and endure whatever happens to them. They will gently forget the harm that is done to them. There is nothing else in human experience that will bring you as close to God or form a more certain bond.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
Find ourselves in love…
Let us find ourselves… in love; root ourselves in it like trees, build ourselves on it as a firm foundation founded on love for God which makes us his mansion and his temple in which he dwells; let us, rooted in love for our neighbor which makes us fruitful, give forth leaves of help and fruit of sustenance. Those who are thus founded and rooted can, to a certain extent, understand what is the length and breadth and depth and height of love. Its breadth extends to our enemies; its length perseveres to the end; its height makes it all powerful, and its depth makes us attribute nothing to ourselves but all to the love God bears for us.
–Francisco de Osuna (1497-1541)
God is always…
No one of us desires anything so eagerly as God desires to bring us to the knowledge of Himself. God is always ready, but we are very unready. God is near us, but we are far from Him. God is within, and we are without. God is friendly — we are estranged.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
God is nearer…
I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely. I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
This holy table…
Let no one approach this holy Table without reverent devotion and fervent love, without true penitence, or without recalling the mystery of his redemption.
–Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Jesus comes to us…
Every day He humbles Himself just as He did when from from His heavenly throne into the Virgin’s womb; every day He comes to us and lets us see Him in lowliness, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
What sublime humility…
For One in such a lofty position to stoop so low is a marvel that is staggering. What sublime humility and humble sublimeness, that the Lord of the Universe, the Divine Son of God, should stoop as to hide Himself under the appearance of bread for our salvation! See the humility of God, brothers, and pour out your hearts before Him.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
Priests preach and distribute…
We ought to fast, and to abstain from all vice, and from all that will lead us into sin, as well as from extravagance and superfluity. We should often visit the churches, and venerate and reverence all ecclesiastics on account of their office, and because they distribute the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ, which they offer in sacrifice, receive themselves, and administer to others. And let everyone know and hold for certain that we cannot be saved except through the sacred Words and the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which priests preach, announce, and distribute, and of which they are the sole ministers.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
Be more humbled…
However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.
–Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Pray for God’s grace…
Without being discouraged on account of our sins, we should pray for God’s grace with a perfect confidence relying upon the infinite merits of our Lord. God never fails offering us His grace at each action, as I have distinctly perceived it myself… unless my thoughts had wandered from a sense of God’s Presence, or unless I had forgot to ask His assistance.
–Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
Dryness you experience…
Do not distress yourself on account of any distaste or dryness you experience in God’s service. He wills that you should serve Him fervently and constantly it is true, but without any other help than simple faith, and thus your love will be more disinterested, and your service the more pleasing to Him.
–Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)
Desire one grace…
I desire but this one grace, and long to be consumed like a burning candle in His holy Presence every moment of the life that remains to me… and to acknowledge that burning love He shows us in this wonderful Sacrament. Here His love holds Him captive till the end of time. It is of this one can truly say, “Love triumphs, love enjoys, Love finds in God its joys.”
–Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647- 1690)
Do more with grace…
You can do more with the grace of God than you think.
–Saint John Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719)
Frequent acts of love…
The means for maintaining perfect love is to accomplish frequent acts of love. Fire is kindled by the wood we cast into it and love is enkindled by acts of love.
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Times of aridity…
God uses times of aridity to press his most beloved souls closer to him. What hinders true union with God is attachment to our disordered inclinations. When, therefore, God wants to draw souls to his perfect love, he tries to detach them from all affection for created goods.
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Always humble ourselves…
We should always and before everyone humble ourselves, following the teachings of St. Isaac the Syrian: ‘Humble yourself and you will see the glory of God in yourself.’ (Homily 57) For this reason let us love humility and we shall see the glory of God; for where humility issues forth, there the glory of God abounds. What is not in the light is all dark; likewise without humility there is nothing in a man but darkness alone.
–Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833)
Only the humble…
The gate of Heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it.
–Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)
A step along the way…
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
–Blessed Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Human nature resists grace…
All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.
–Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964)
The aim in Christian meditation is…
The all-important aim in Christian meditation is to allow God’s mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality, but the reality in our lives; to let it become that reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, to everything we are.
–John Main (1926-1982)
Live and be led…
When we realize that we do not have to be clever, powerful or successful in order to be loved, then we can live in truth, come to the light and be led by the Spirit of God.
–Jean Vanier (1928-
Humility is…
Humility is not an exaggeratedly low opinion of yourself. Humility is self-forgetfulness.
–Peter Kreeft (1937-
The Holy Eucharist…
The Holy Eucharist is the greatest treasure that the Church has on earth: It is Christ himself.
–Francis Arinze (1937-
Visit Jesus in the…
In the meantime, there are five graces we receive each time we visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. By His glorious wounds we are the ones who are transfigured and changed through His healing love. Restoration, sanctification, transformation, reparation and salvation are the graces being poured out graciously upon us with each holy hour we make.
–Vincent Martin Lucia and Josefino Ramirez (2006)
God works through…
God works through people and situations both because of them and in spite of them.
–Daniel Burke (3/10/2017)
People, place, or thing…
Any loving, desiring, or clinging to some person, place, or thing that is not purely for the glory of God renders the soul incapable of giving that same love to God or others to whom, for the glory of God, it is owed.
–Daniel Burke (2015)
The presence of God…
Each of us is enriched by the presence of God everywhere, in every blade of grass, in every beam of light, in every prayer, and in every truth in every scripture.
–Caroline Myss (1952-
To hear God…
We are no longer able to hear God — there are too many frequencies filling our ears.
–Pope Benedict XVI (1927-
Grace holds precedence…
As oil floats on all other liquids, so grace holds precedence over the rest of the gifts, virtues, blessings, and fruits of the Holy Spirit, for without the grace that makes us pleasing to God we cannot be saved whatever else we have. As, however skilled and practiced a man may be in any art, he cannot practice it without the proper instruments, so whatever other virtues and qualities a man may have, without grace he cannot perform actions worthy of eternal life.
–Francisco de Osuna (1497-1541)
Finding God…
Finding God in all things
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
The fire to enkindle…
If you want to be of use to others, begin by taking pains with yourself: the fire that is to enkindle others should be lighted at home.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Created things…
All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Threat to the church…
Maybe the greatest threat to the church is not heresy, not dissent, not secularism, not even moral relativism, but this sanitized, feel-good, boutique, therapeutic spirituality that makes no demands, calls for no sacrifice, asks for no conversion, entails no battle against sin, but only soothes and affirms.
–Timothy Dolan (1950-
Confess with regularity…
It is very helpful to confess with a certain regularity. It is true our sins are always the same; but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week even if the dirt is always the same, in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again. Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen, but it builds up.
–Pope Benedict XVI (1927-
Confession is an…
Confession is an act of honesty and courage – an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.
–Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
Looking for the true Church…
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which theworld rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself.
–Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
Whenever you sin, confess…
As a spiritual father I advise you, whenever you sin, to be careful not to despair but to run to the spiritual doctor to confess and seek a cure: the mercy of God. The Lord came into the world to save not the righteous, those who are healthy in soul, but the sinners, those who are ill. He will receive these with great love and mercy as He received the prodigal son, the prostitute, the thief, the publican, and millions of sinners who were saved by repentance and confession. I leave you this paternal counsel: never, never despair whenever you sin, but have confidence and hope in the immeasurable mercy of God. Repent and confess, and you will be saved. The grace, peace, mercy and bless of God, the protection and aid of the Virgin Mary and of all the saints, and my blessing be with you.
–Philotheos Zervakos (1884-1980)
To pray well…
We do not have to talk very much in order to pray well. We know that God is there in His holy tabernacle; let us open our hearts to Him; let us rejoice in His Presence: This is the best prayer.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
Two good works…
Two good works present themselves to be done, one in favor of a person we love, the other in favor of a person who has done us some harm. Well, we must give preference to the latter.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
In the Blessed Sacrament…
Happier than those who lived during His mortal life, when He was only in one place, we find Jesus Christ today in every corner of the world, in the Blessed Sacrament.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
Humble and humiliated…
What will be the crown of those who, humble within and humiliated without, have imitated the humility of our Savior in all its fullness!
–Saint Bernadette (1844-1879)
Become more humble…
Why is He so little in me? Is it because I am not little enough, not humble enough. Therefore may I become more humble, may I humble myself, and Jesus will increase.
–Saint Bernadette (1844-1879)
Before the Blessed Sacrament…
When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, instead of looking about us, let us shut our eyes and open our hearts; and the good God will open his. We will go to him, and he will come to us, the one to give, and the other to receive. It will be like a breath passing from one to the other. What delight we find in forgetting ourselves that we may seek God!
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
Love one another…
Remember the precept that St. John the Evangelist used to give to his disciples: “Love one another.” Since it is not a mere exhortation, but a command, it would be sinful to do otherwise. Therefore, do away with insults, quarrels, envy, revenge, mockery, or bad will. Be good to one another. This will prove that you love each other like brothers.
–Saint John Bosco (1815-1888)
Cleansed and reordered…
Good moral actions are not enough. Everything in us, from the very depths, must be cleansed and reordered.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
The beginning of love…
The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
In prayer we discover…
In prayer we discover what we already have. You start from where you are and you deepen what you already have, and you realize you are already there. We have everything but we don’t know it and don’t experience it. Everything has been given us in Christ. All we need is to experience what we already possess.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
The mystery of Christ…
As a magnifying glass concentrates the rays of the sun into a little burning knot of heat that can set fire to a dry leaf or a piece of paper, so the mystery of Christ in the Gospel concentrates the rays of God’s light and fire to a point that sets fire to the spirit of man. … Through the glass of His Incarnation He concentrates the rays of His Divine Truth and Love upon us so that we feel the burn, and all mystical experience is communicated to men through the Man Christ.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Two serious evils…
In order that what we have said may be the more clearly and fully understood, it will be well to set down here and state how these desires are the cause of two serious evils in the soul: the one is that they deprive it of the Spirit of God, and the other is that the soul wherein they dwell is wearied, tormented, darkened, defiled and weakened
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
No spiritual substance…
Be hostile to admitting into your soul things that of themselves have no spiritual substance, lest they make you lose your liking for devotion and recollection.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Dryness and suffering…
God values in you the inclination to dryness and suffering for love of him more than all the consolations, spiritual visions, and meditations you could possibly have.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Love unites the soul…
Love unites the soul with God, and, the more degrees of love the soul has, the more profoundly does it enter into God and the more is it centered in Him.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Benefits of the dark night…
Four benefits of the dark night: delight of peace, habitual remembrance and thought of God, cleanness and purity of soul, and the practice of the virtues.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)
In love, God…
In love did He bring the world into existence; in love does He guide it during this its temporal existence; in love is He going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state, and in love will the world be swallowed up in the great mystery of Him who has performed all these things; in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)
Christ draws near…
Is it not true that Christ draws near with love to those who turn away from him? That he struggles with them, begs them not to scorn his love, and if they show only aversion and remain deaf to his appeals, becomes himself their advocate?
–Pseudo-Dionysius (Fifth-Sixth Century)
Praise God, if…
If physical things please you, then praise God for them, but turn back your love to Him who created them, lest in the things that please you, you displease Him.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
Show me God…
You say to me ‘Show me your God.’ I answer you, ‘Everything you see in your heart that might sadden God, remove.’
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
Don't Be Shy
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