Quotes

Become a saint…

I always wanted to become a saint…Instead of being discouraged, I told myself that God would not make me wish for something impossible…I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight. It is your arms, Jesus, which are the elevator to carry me to heaven. So there is no need for me to grow up. In fact, just the opposite: I must become less and less.
–Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)

The heart is the temple of God…

Never forget that spiritual and religious ideas are connected less with the head than with the heart, which is the temple of God, and when the heart is filled with the presence of God the head also is enlightened. For the mind and the eyes of the understanding are useless without the true light, as the natural eyes are without daylight.
–François Fénèlon (1651-1715)

A will no longer divided…

What God asks is a will which will no longer be divided between Him and any creature, a will pliant in His hands, which neither desires anything nor refuses anything, which wants without reservation everything which He wants, and which never, under any pretext, wants anything which He does not want.

–François Fénèlon (1651-1715)

Never be discouraged…

Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till He begin to cure them.
–François Fénelon (1651-1715)

Allow the Lord to work in us…

It is well to seek greater solitude so as to make room for the Lord and allow His Majesty to do His own work in us. The most we should do is occasionally, and quite gently, to utter a single word, like a person giving a little puff to a candle, when he sees it has almost gone out, so as to make it burn again; though, if it were fully alight, I suppose the only result of blowing it would be to put it out. I think the puff should be a gentle one because, if we begin to tax our brains by making up long speeches, the will may become active again.

— Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Only syllables…

We are only syllables of the perfect Word.
–Caryll Houselander (1901-1954)

Repenting and feeling sorrow…

Let those of us who have been worsted by a bodily passion not be negligent in repenting and feeling sorrow for ourselves for the sorrow of judgment ever test us.
–Abba Moses (330-405) a Desert Father

Consistently pray…

Consistently pray in all things, so that you might not do anything without the help of God … Whoever does or busies himself with anything without prayer does not succeed in the end. Concerning this, the Lord said: ‘Without Me you can’t do anything.‘ (John 15:5)
–Saint Mark the Ascetic (Fifth Century)

Repentance raises…

Repentance raises the fallen, mourning knocks at the gate of Heaven, and holy humility opens it.
–Saint John Climacus (c.525-606)

Time in prayer…

Do not say, after spending a long time in prayer, that nothing has been gained; for you have already gained something. And what higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and persevere in unceasing union with Him?
–Saint John Climacus (c. 525-606)

States of the converted…

There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle the contests of temptation; and in the end the fullness of perfection.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c.540-604)

Virtues assist the soul…

All the virtues assist the soul to attain to a burning love of God, but, above all, pure prayer. By means of it the soul escapes completely from the midst of creatures, carried to God, as it were, on wings.
–Saint Maximos the Confessor (580-662)

Prayer and virtues…

Perseverance in prayer cleanses the intellect, illumines it, and fills it with the light of truth. The virtues, led by compassion, give the intellect peace and light. The cleansing of the intellect is not a dialectical, discursive and theoretical activity, but an act of grace through experience and is ethical in every respect. The intellect is purified by fasting, vigils, silence, prayer, and other ascetic practices.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)

This good reflection…

You should often call to mind this good reflection: that in this world we are poised between paradise and hell, that our last step will land us in our eternal dwelling place, and that we do not know which step will be the last. In order to make the last step a good one, we must go on trying to make all the other steps good, too.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

In God’s presence…

The following consideration should never be forgotten when we go to prayer, namely, that we draw near to God and place ourselves in His presence principally for two reasons. The first is to render to God the honor and the homage we owe Him, and this can be done without God speaking to us or we to Him, for the duty is fulfilled by acknowledging that He is our Creator. . . . The second reason is to speak to God and to listen to Him when He speaks to us by His inspirations and the interior movements of grace. One or other of these two advantages can never fail to be derived from prayer.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Speak to our Lord…

If, then, we can speak to our Lord, let us do so in praise and supplication: if we are unable to speak, let us remain in his presence notwithstanding, offering him our silent homage; he will see us there, our patience will touch him and our silence will plead with him and win his favor. Another time, to our utter astonishment, he will take us by the hand, and converse with us, and make a hundred turns with us in his garden of prayer. And even should he never do this, still let us be content to know it is our duty to be in his retinue, and that it is a great favor and a greater honor for us that he suffers us in his presence.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Nature and grace…

God displays in a marvelous manner the incomprehensible riches of his power in the vast array of things that we see in nature, but he causes the infinite treasures of his goodness to show forth in an even more magnificent way in the unparalleled variety that we see in grace. In a holy excess of mercy, God is not content in solely with granting to his people, that is, to the human race, a general or universal redemption whereby everyone can be saved. God has diversified redemption in many ways, so that while God’s generosity shines forth in all this variety, the variety itself, in turn, adds beauty to his generosity.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Become a saint…

Perfection consists in one thing alone, which is doing the will of God… Behold, now, how little is needed to become as Saint? Nothing more than to acquire the habit of willing, on every occasion, what God wills.
–Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)

To be saints…

The saints try to be saints, and not merely to appear to be saints.
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

All can be saints…

God wants all of us to be saints, and each one according to his or her state of life: the religious as religious, laypeople and laypeople, the priest as a priest, the married person as married, the merchant as a merchant, the solider as a soldier, and so on, in every other state of life.
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

Satan’s civilized religion…

What is Satan’s device in this day? … What is the world’s religion now? It has taken the brighter side of the Gospel—its tidings of comfort, its precepts of love; all darker, deeper views of man’s condition and prospects being comparatively forgotten. This is the religion natural to a civilized age, and well has Satan dressed and completed it into an idol of the Truth. … [Those] fearful images of Divine wrath with which the Scriptures abound … are explained away. Every thing is bright and cheerful. Religion is pleasant and easy.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Christian way of life…

Those who intend to fulfill the Christian way of life to the best of their ability must first devote all their attention to the rational, discriminative and directing aspect of the soul. Perfecting in this way their discrimination between good and evil, and defending the purity of their nature against the attacks of the passions that are contrary to nature, they go forward without stumbling, guided by the eye of discrimination and not embroiled with the impulses of evil. For the soul’s will is able to preserve the body free from the vitiation of the senses, to keep the soul away from worldly distraction, and to guard the heart from scattering its thoughts into the world, completely walling them in and holding them back from base concerns and pleasures. Whenever the Lord sees someone acting in this manner, perfecting and guarding himself, disposed to serve Him with fear and trembling, He extends to him the assistance of His grace. But what will God do for the person who willingly gives himself up to the world and pursues its pleasures?
–Saint Symeon Metaphrastis Tenth Century)

Run to Christ alone…

Let us flee from the deceit of life and its supposed happiness and run to Christ alone, who is the Savior of souls. Him let us endeavor to find Who is present everywhere, and when we have found Him let us hold Him fast and fall at His feet (cf. Mt. 28:9) and embrace them in the fervor of our souls.
–Saint Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)

Peace and holiness…

‘Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.’ (Heb. 12:14) Why did he say ‘strive?’ Because it is not possible for us to become holy and to be saints in an hour! We must therefore progress from modest beginnings toward holiness and purity. Even were we to spend a thousand years in this life we should never perfectly attain it. Rather we must always struggle for it every day, as if mere beginners.
–Saint Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)

Saints intercede…

The greater the charity of the Saints in their heavenly home, the more they intercede for those who are still on their journey and the more they can help them by their prayers; the more they are united with God, the more effective those prayers are. This is in accordance with Divine order, which makes higher things react upon lower things, like the brightness of the sun filling the atmosphere.
–Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Saints yearn for you…

Remember that you will derive strength by reflecting that the saints yearn for you to join their ranks; desire to see you fight bravely, and that you behave like true knights in your encounters with the same adversities which they had to conquer, and that breathtaking joy is theirs and your eternal reward for having endured a few years of temporal pain. Every drop of earthly bitterness will be changed into an ocean of heavenly sweetness.
–Blessed Henry Suso (1295-1365)

Present in prayer

If you are concerned for your well-being, if you wish to be safe from the snares of the devil, the storms of this world, the ambush of your enemies; if you long to be acceptable to God, if you crave to be happy at the last—then let no day pass without at least once making yourself present to God in prayer.
–Saint Thomas More (1478-1535)

In meditation we find…

This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work. In meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.
–Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584)

The seeking pleases…

The seeking, with faith, hope and love, pleases our Lord, and the finding pleases the soul and fills it with joy.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

Not seeking God…

This is the reason why we have no ease of heart or soul, for we are seeking our rest in trivial things, which cannot satisfy, and not seeking to know God, almighty, all-wise, all-good. He is true rest.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

Never cease longing…

Our natural will is to have God, and the good will of God is to have us, and we may never cease willing or longing for God until we have him in the fullness of joy. Christ will never have his full bliss in us until we have our full bliss in him.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342–1416)

Well-being and woe…

All of us experience a wonderful mixture of both well-being and woe. It is necessary for us to fall. If we did not fall, we would have the wrong idea about ourselves. Eventually we will understand that we are never lost to God’s love. At no time are we ever less valuable in God’s sight. Through failure we will clearly understand that God’s love is endless nothing we can do will destroy it.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342- c. 1420)

In sorrow and in joy…

I was filled full of everlasting assurance, powerfully secured without any pain or fear. This experience was so happy spiritually that I felt completely at peace and relaxed; there was nothing on earth that could have disturbed me. But this lasted only for a short time, and then I was changed and I began to act with a sense of loneliness and depression and the futility of life itself, so that I hardly had the patience to continue living. No comfort or relaxation now, just ‘faith, hope and love’, and truly I felt very little of this. And yet soon after this our blessed Lord gave me once again that comfort, so pleasant and sure, so delightful and powerful, that there was no fear, no sorrow, no pain, physical and spiritual that could bother me. And then again I felt the pain; then the joy and pleasure; now the one and now the other, again and again… This vision was shown to teach me to understand that some souls profit by experiencing this, to be comforted at one time, and at another to be left to themselves. God wishes us to know however that he keeps us safe at all times, in sorrow and in joy.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

Fruit from prayer…

The fruit we ought to get from prayer, is to do what is pleasing to the Lord.
–Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)

Capable of growth…

When the soul has arrived at the attainment of the general light [contemplation]… she should not remain contented, because, as long as you are pilgrims in this life, you are capable of growth, and he who does not go forward, by that very fact, is turning back.
–Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

You will be consoled…

You will be consoled according to the greatness of your sorrow and affliction; the greater the suffering, the greater will be the reward.

–Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (1566-1607)

Things are crumbs…

From this we are to learn that all created things are crumbs that have fallen from the table of God. Wherefore he that feeds ever upon the creatures is rightly called a dog, and therefore the bread is taken from the children, because they desire not to rise above feeding upon the crumbs, which are created things, to the Uncreated Spirit of their Father. Therefore, like dogs, they are ever hungering, and justly so, because the crumbs serve to whet their appetite rather than to satisfy their hunger.

–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Devotion practiced differently…

At creation God commanded plants to bear fruit, each according to its kind. (Genesis 1:11-12) In the same way, he commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his church (John 15:5), to produce fruits of devotion, each according to ability and state in life. It must be obvious that devotion ought to be practiced differently by the gentleman, the artist, the employee, the prince, the widow, the celibate, the spouse.

–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Chastity is…

Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted.

–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Ignorant and wise…

There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Look on Christ crucified…

Look often on Christ, crucified, naked, blasphemed, slandered, forsaken, and overwhelmed by every kind of weariness, sorrow and labor.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

The devil will try…

The devil will try to upset you by accusing you of being unworthy of the blessings that you have received. Simply remain cheerful and do your best to ignore the devil’s nagging. If need be even laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Satan, the epitome of sin itself, accuses you of unworthiness! When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!

–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Temple of God…

In this temple of God, in this the divine dwelling place, God alone rejoices with the soul in the deepest silence. There is no reason for the intellect to stir or seek anything, for the Lord who created it wishes to give it repose here.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Be assured…

Ought you so soon to forget how He has cherished you or to believe that God would lightly withdraw affection He bestowed so fully? Why did He grant so many proofs of it, if not to make you trust Him? Be assured that He loves you, even if He does not show it at the present moment.
–Saint John of Ávila (1500-1569)

The secrecy of your heart…

Retire into the secrecy of your own heart, and open it to receive what is wont to come from so powerful a Light. Beseech the same Lord that, as He has deigned to place Himself within your hands, He will give you the further grace to esteem and venerate and love Him as you should.
–Saint John of Avila (1500-1569)

Suffered for God…

Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God’s sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.

–Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)

Freed from passions…

It is one thing to be delivered from bad thoughts, and another to be freed from the passions. Often people are delivered from thoughts, when they do not have before their eyes those things which produce passion. But the passions for them remain hidden in the soul, and when the things appear again the passions are revealed. Therefore it is necessary to guard the mind when these things appear, and to know toward which things you have a passion.

— Maximos the Confessor (580-662)

Branches of evil…

It is in vain that we cut off the branches of evil, if we leave intact the root, which continually produces new ones.

— Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)

Love is the fulfillment…

Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.

–Saint Augustine (354-430)

Perishable things…

So why do we who must still die still seek our joy in perishable things; why do we put so much futile effort into clutching on to this fleeting life? –Saint Augustine (354-430)

Pure desires and virtuous habits..

It is not by change of place that we can come nearer to Him who is in every place, but by the cultivation of pure desires and virtuous habits.

–Saint Augustine (354-430)

Sin is caused…

The sin is caused not by the flesh, but by the will of the soul, and the corruption contracted from sin is not sin, but sin’s punishment.

–Saint Augustine (354-430)

Mold the young…

What is nobler than to mold the character of the young? I consider that he who knows how to form the youthful mind is truly greater than all painters, sculptors and all others of that sort.