Quotes

Words of Wisdom & Encouragement

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When you receive Holy Communion…

When you have received Holy Communion, close your bodily eyes so that you may open the eyes of your soul.Then look upon Jesus in the center of your heart.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Never dwell upon anything wrong…

God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Coming of the Holy Spirit…

The first requirement for the coming of the Holy Spirit to our souls is that we should be aware of his power, and that we should believe that he can accomplish marvels… The second requirement for the Holy Spirit to be willing to come into our hearts…is to have the will to receive him as our guest, sincerely and anxiously to desire his coming.
–Saint John of Avila (1500-1569 )

Possess the grace and love…

Let it be your firm conviction that you should neither desire nor strive for anything but to possess the grace and love of God, to avoid offending Him and to please Him in all things. Whether death or life, sickness or health, joy or sadness, honor or shame, be your lot … it will matter nothing, except in so far as it brings you nearer to God.
–Saint John of Avila (1500 – 1569)

Rooted in love…

Our life is all grounded and rooted in love, and without love we may not live.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

You shall not be overcome…

[God] did not say ‘You shall not be tempest-tossed, you shall not be work-weary, you shall not be discomforted’. But he did say, ‘You shall not be overcome.’ God wants us to heed these words so that we shall always be strong in trust, both is sorrow and in joy.
— Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

If we should at anytime fail…

And if we can our blindness and weakness should it any time fall,,, we should quickly rise… and go at once to God in love; not on the one hand crawling abjectly as if we were in despair, nor, on the other, being over-bold as if we thought it did not matter.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

One can never learn…

A man can never learn what divine power is while he abides in comfort and spacious living.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)

Be a lover of silence…

If you love truth, be a lover of silence. Silence, like the sunlight will illuminate you in God.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)

God requires us…

Reflect that God requires nothing else of us except that we show our neighbors the love we have for God.
–Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

The measure of your love…

You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love.
–Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

By humble and faithful prayer…

By humble and faithful prayer, the soul acquires, with time and perseverance, every virtue.
–Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

Tolerance is an…

Tolerance is an attitude of reasoned patience towards evil and a forbearance that restrains us from showing anger or inflicting punishment. But what is more important than the definition is the field of its application. The important point here is this: Tolerance applies only to persons but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth but never to persons. Tolerance applies to the erring; intolerance to the error.
–Blessed Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

A perfect soul…

Behold the true sign of a totally perfect soul: when one has reached the point of giving up his will so completely that he no longer seeks, expects or desires to do ought but that which God wills.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

When God loves…

For when God loves, all He desires is to be loved in return. The sole purpose of His love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love Him are made happy by their love of Him.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

A person who prays carelessly…

A person who prays carelessly, and still expects his prayers to be heard, is likened to a man who pours into the mill bad grain, and expects to receive good flour in return.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

All must be saints…

All of us must be saints in this world. Holiness is a duty for you and me. So let’s be saints and so give glory to the Father.
–Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

We need silence…

The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls.
–Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Fact of death…

The fact of death should not sadden us. The only thing that should sadden us is to know that we are not saints.
–Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Prayer changes us…

I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.
–Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

The Simple Faith…

The Simple Path
The fruit of Silence is prayer.
The fruit of Prayer is faith.
The fruit of Faith is love.
The fruit of Love is service.
The fruit of Service is peace.
–Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Sin is believing the lie…

Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

To touch God…

To touch God a little with our mind is a great blessing, to grasp him is impossible.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

To withhold forgiveness…

To withhold forgiveness is to take poison and expect the unforgiven to die.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

When people withdraw…

Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

God is within…

Where so ever you are, where so ever you may be praying, God who hears you is within you, hidden within, or God who hears you is not merely by your side, and you have no need to go wandering about, no need to be reaching out to God as though you would touch him with your hands.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

Love wipes away sin…

Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

An idiot disciple…

He who has himself as a guide has an idiot as a disciple.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Let Christ crucified…

Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with him suffer and take your rest, and hence annihilate yourself in all inward and outward things.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Contemplation is a…

Contemplation is nothing else than a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Appetites are like…

Darkness and coarseness will always be with a soul until its appetites are extinguished. The appetites are like a cataract on the eye or specks of dust in it; until removed they obstruct vision…The affections and appetites deprive them of a treasure of divine light. Any appetite, even one that is but slightly imperfect, stains and defiles the soul.
–Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

The work of love…

For as heat makes things expand, so it is the work of love to expand the heart, for its power is to heat and make fervent.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)

Fasting is wonderful…

Fasting is wonderful, because it tramples our sins like a dirty weed, while it cultivates and raises truth like a flower.
— Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)

Guard our tongue…

Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)

Repentance raises up the fallen…

Repentance, therefore, raises up the fallen soul, which has been estranged from God, and again becomes His friend. Repentance protects the soul’s essence from the darkness, and drives away death. Repentance raises again the fallen soul, lifts up the destitute, heals the broken, and gives health to the traumatized. Let us hasten towards repentance, the promise of the Kingdom, the laver of sins, the mother of salvation.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)

The Church is…

The Church is an enclosure. If you are within, the wolf does not enter; but if you leave, the beasts will seize you. Do not distance yourself from the Church; there is nothing mightier than the Church. The Church is your hope. The Church is your salvation. The Church is higher than the heavens. The Church is harder than stone. The Church is wider than the world. The Church never grows old but always renews itself.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)

Love is the reason for my…

To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love.
–Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

It is the grace…

For it is the grace of Christ, and not our own virtue, that gives us the power to overcome the flesh and the world.
–Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Without the Way…

Without the Way, there is no going, Without the Truth, there is no knowing, Without the Life, there is no living.
–Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Few wish to suffer for Jesus…

There will always be many who love Christ’s heavenly kingdom, but few who will bear his cross. Many are eager to be happy with him; few wish to suffer anything for him. Many love Christ as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless him as long as they receive some comfort from him. But if Jesus hides himself and leaves them for a while, they either start complaining or become dejected. Those, on the contrary, who love him for his own sake and not for any comfort of their own, praise him both in trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if Jesus should never comfort them, they would continue to praise and thank him. What power there is in a pure love for Jesus – love that is free from all self-interest and self-love.
–Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

When we receive Holy Communion…

When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary – a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)

You cannot please both God and…

You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)

Saints or outcasts…

We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either saints or outcasts, that we must love for Heaven or for Hell; there is no middle path in this.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)

If you fall…

If you fall seventy times a day, rise seventy times and return to God so that you will not fall too often.
–Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)

God draws them…

[God] draws them so mysteriously unto Himself and His own blessedness; their spirits are so lovingly attracted, while they are at the same time so filled and transfused with the Godhead, that they lose all their diversity in the Unity of the Godhead.
–Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)

The Blessed Sacrament…

Your meditations may be as profound, as exalted, as devout as you like; you may practice every pious exercise you can manage, but all this is as nothing in comparison with the Blessed Sacrament. What we do may be godly, but this sacrament is God Himself!
–Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)

Detachment from things…

The importance of detachment from things, the importance of poverty, is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to people. Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble. That is the crux of the whole matter.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Contemplative prayer…

The only thing to seek in contemplative prayer is God; and we seek Him successfully when we realize that we cannot find Him unless He shows Himself to us, and yet at the same time that He would not have inspired us to seek Him unless we had already found Him.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Our actions of love…

The stirring of leaves in the wind makes the wind visible. Their stirring is the wind’s stirring, their whisper is the wind’s whisper. And so with love. Our actions of love make the invisible visible. Our actions of love make love present to ourselves and to others.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

To acquire humility…

Here is one of the best means to acquire humility; fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)

Empty enjoyment…

When the soul is troubled, lonely and darkened, then it turns easily to the outer comfort and to the empty enjoyments of the world.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)

Always have joy…

Study always to have joy, for it befits not the servant of God to show before his brother or another sadness or a troubled face.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)

We have been called to…

We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 – 1226)

Do not delay…

Do not delay in coming to grace, but hasten, lest the robber outstrip you, lest the adulterer pass you by, lest the insatiate be satisfied before you, lest the murderer seize the blessing first, or the publican or the fornicator.
–Saint Gregory Nazianzen (329-c. 391)

Raise our attention…

Let us not esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to Heaven; esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good, but virtue which unites us to God.
–Saint Gregory Nazianzen (329-c. 391)

Let us visit Christ…

Let us visit Christ wherever we may be. Let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honor him – not only at a meal, as some have done, or by anointing him, as Mary did, not only by lending him a tomb, like Joseph of Arimathea did, or by arranging for his burial, like Nicodemus, not only by giving him gold, frankincense and myrrh, like the Magi did before all the others. The Lord of all asks for mercy and sacrifice, and mercy is greater… Let us then show him mercy in the persons of the poor and those who today are lying on the ground, so that when we come to leave this world, we may be received into an everlasting dwelling place, by Christ our Lord. Amen
–Saint Gregory Nazianzen (329-c. 391)

Unconquerable faults…

A fault that might easily be overcome at its first appearance becomes unconquerable through passing of time and habitual giving way.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

What God requires…

If you want to know what God requires of you, you must first of all put aside all affection and preference for one thing rather than another.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Illness and setbacks…

Realize that illness and other temporal setbacks often come to us from the hand of God our Lord, and are sent to help us know ourselves better, to free ourselves of the love of created things, and to reflect on the brevity of this life and, thus, to prepare ourselves for the life which is without end.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

God’s purpose in creating us…

God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God’s purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

In dryness be…

The man of prayer must not be cast down in aridity, nor elated when he receives consolation. In dryness let him remember the graces he has enjoyed; and when he feels sensible devotion, let him consider it an alms given him gratis by God.
–Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

What happiness to be with God…

What a happiness it is to be with God, no one knowing what passes between God and the heart but God Himself and the adoring heart.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Leave behind affections for low…

Little by little, let us leave behind us affections for the low things of earth and aspire to the happiness that has been prepared for us.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Wait upon God…

It is a good prayer, and a good method of keeping one’s self in the presence of God, to wait upon his will and good pleasure.
–Saint Francis de Sales, (1567-1622)

Do not be anxious about..

Do not be anxious about what may happen tomorrow. The same Eternal Father who takes care of you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day of your life. He will either shield you from suffering, or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all useless thoughts, all vain dreads and all anxious imaginations.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Go to your confessor…

Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls.
–Saint Frances de Sales (1567-1622)

Make holy what…

It is not what we do that makes us holy, but we ought to make holy what we do.
— Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

Mystics speak the…

Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

God is a great…

God is a great underground river that no one can dam up and no one can stop.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

The soul must be…

Jesus went into the temple and boldly drove out those that bought and sold. And when all was cleared, there was nobody left but Jesus. Observe this, for it is the same with us: when he is alone he is able to speak in the temple of the soul. If anyone else is speaking in the temple of your soul, Jesus will keep still, as if he were not at home. And he is not at home wherever there are strange guests-guests with whom the soul holds conversation, guests who are seeking to bargain. If Jesus is to speak and be heard, the soul must be alone and quiet.
–Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

Suffer the wicked with patience…

The more the wicked abound, so much the more must we suffer with them in patience; for on the threshing floor few are the grains carried into the barns, but high are the piles of chaff burned with fire.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)

Contemplative life…

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, an effort finally to hem oneself in, so to speak, in order to gain access to spaces that are broad and open. There are times indeed when one succeeds, overcoming the opposing obscurity of one’s blindness and catching at least a glimpse, be it ever so fleeting and superficial, of boundless light.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)

Past, present, and future…

To escape the distress caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.
–Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

Welcome with open arms what…

Souls who can recognize God in the most trivial, the most grievous and the most mortifying things that happen to them in their lives, honor everything equally with delight and rejoicing, and welcome with open arms what others dread and avoid.
–Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

Utterly quiescent faith…

There is a kind of holiness in which all the messages from God are bright and clear, but there is also that state of utterly quiescent faith in which all that God tells us is wrapped in the impenetrable darkness which veils his throne, and all we feel is confused and shadowy. In this condition, we are often afraid of running smack into a rock as we advance through his darkness. We should have no fear. We are on the right path and led by God… God truly helps us however much we feel we have lost his support. Our trust and faith will deepen the darker it grows. We are incapable of becoming holy by our own efforts; God would not have taken away our ability to walk unless he was to carry us in his arms.
–Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

 

Accept our own death…

We must accept our own death and that of our relations when God shall send it to us, and not desire it at any other time; for it is sometimes necessary that it should happen at that particular moment for the good of our own and their souls.
–Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)

For Christ alone…

He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.
— Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)

God loves saving…

For God loves saving, not condemning, and therefore He is patient with bad people, in order to make good people out of bad people.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

Understanding is…

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, don’t seek to understand so that you may believe, but believe so that you may understand.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

God gives us what we need…

We must understand then, that even though God doesn’t always give us what we want, He always gives us what we need for our salvation.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

All is humility…

Should you ask me, What is the first thing in religion? I should reply, The first, second, and third thing therein – nay, all – is humility.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)

In the hands of God…

In the hands of God the soul must become like clay in the hands of the potter, who from it can form any sort of dish; or, if you like, the soul must become like soft wax receptive to the impression of the seal, or like a blank sheet upon which the Holy Spirit writes His divine will.
–Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641)

Give heart and mind to God…

To give heart and mind to God, so that they are ours no longer — to do good without being conscious of it, to pray ceaselessly and without effort as we breathe — to love without stopping to reflect upon our feelings — such is the perfect forgetfulness of self, which casts us upon God, as a babe rests upon its mother’s breast.
— Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803)

Every soul surrendered…

The soul that has acquired humility is always mindful of God, and thinks to herself: ‘God has created me. He suffered for me. He forgives me my sins and comforts me. He feeds me and cares for me. Why then should I take thought for myself, and what is there to fear, even if death threaten me?’ The Lord enlightens every soul that has surrendered to the will of God, for He said: “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

–Saint Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938)

Anger is a…

Anger is a reminder of hidden hatred, that is to say, remembrance of wrongs.
–Saint John Climacus (c. 525-606)

Prayers in Scripture…

Prayers which are really spiritual – because the Spirit was praying in the heart of the saints – are recorded in scripture, and they are full of unutterably wonderful declarations.
–Origen (c. 184- c. 254)

From the Old and New Testament…

First drink from the Old Testament, so that you may drink from the New as well. You cannot drink from the second without drinking from the first. Drink from the Old Testament to slake your thirst, and from the New to quench it completely.
–Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-397)

When reading the Holy Scriptures…

When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in spiritual work will apply everything to himself and not to someone else.
–Saint Mark the Ascetic (Fifth Century)

The Catholic Church…

Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church.
–Saint Ignatius of Antioch (First Century)

The Church is built upon…

The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church’s foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.
— Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-397)

A system of doctrine…

A system of doctrine has risen up during the last three centuries, in which faith or spiritual-mindedness is contemplated and rested on as the end of religion, instead of Christ. I do not mean to say that Christ is not mentioned as the author of all good, but that stress is laid on the believing rather than on the object of belief, on the comfort and persuasiveness of the doctrine than on the doctrine itself. And in this way religion is made to consist of contemplating ourselves, instead of Christ; not simply in looking to Christ, but in seeing that we look to Christ; not in His divinity and atonement, but in our conversion and faith in Him.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Christ is both…

Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation.
–Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)

Humility and simplicity…

If you keep the spirit of humility and simplicity, never seek the world’s esteem, then God will be glorified and you will obtain the conversion of souls.
–Saint Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879)

Failings of others…

We are too fond of flinging our own faults behind our backs, so that we may fix all our attention on the foibles and failings of others.
–Saint Pior (d. 395)

Devote yourself inwardly…

Any man or woman who neglects to maintain inward vigilance, and only makes an outward show of holiness in dress, speech, and behavior, is a wretched creature. For they watch the doings of other people and criticize their faults, imagining themselves to be something when in reality they are nothing. In this way they deceive themselves. Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues. In this way you will be truly converted to God.
–Walter Hilton (1340-1396)

God alone is…

But there is another reason why God alone is the happiness of our souls, to which I wish rather to direct attention: The contemplation of Him, and nothing but it, is able fully to open and relieve the mind, to unlock, occupy, and fix our affections.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

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