Quote for the Night

[Shin]

'What is done in accordance with God's will is the best of all things even if it seems to be bad. What is done contrary to God's will and decree is the worst and most unlawful of all things-even if men judge that it is very good. Suppose someone slays another in accordance with God's will. This slaying is better than any loving-kindness. Let someone spare another and show him great love and kindness against God's decree. To spare the other's life would be more unholy than any slaying. For it is God's will and not the nature of things that makes the same actions good or bad.'

St. John Chrysostom

[Shin]

'When I go to the chapel, I put myself before the good God and say to Him, "Lord, here I am, give me what You wish." If He gives me something, I am happy and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I thank Him still, because I do not deserve anything more. Then I tell Him all that comes into my mind. I tell Him my sorrows and my joys - and I listen.'

St. Catherine Laboure

[Shin]

'When Abraham entered the promised land he bought a sepulchre for himself and by means of this tomb, he inherited the land. . . [The tomb is] the place of tears and compunction.'

St. Poemen

[Shin]

'As soon as we know the will of God, we ought without delay to follow it.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'With Him we shall always live, having become sons of God through Him; with Him we shall always rejoice, having been restored by His blood.'

St. Cyprian of Carthage

[Shin]

'Because the martyrs were devout men and women, fire, flame, wheel and sword seemed to be flowers and perfume to them. If devotion can sweeten the most cruel torments and even death itself, what must it do for virtuous actions?'

St. Francis de Sales

[Shin]

'She [Blessed Mary] taught them [the Apostles] how to pray mentally, insisting on the excellence and necessity of that kind of prayer; how the principal duty and the most noble occupation of the rational creature was to raise itself, by understanding and the will, above all that is created to the knowledge and love of God; and that no other object or occupation should ever be preferred or should ever interrupt this duty, so as not to deprive the soul of this supreme benefit, the beginning of eternal life and happiness. She taught them also how to thank the eternal Father for having given us his only Son for our Redeemer and Master, and for the love with which the Lord redeemed us at a cost of his Passion and Death. She exhorted them to give thanks to God for having singled them out as his Apostles, and his companions and as the founders of his holy Church. . . She exhorted them to persevere in humble prostrations and other actions of worship and reverence in adoring the greatness and majesty of the Most High.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Shin]

'He who is gentle in God's sight is wiser than the wise; and he who is humble in heart is stronger than the strong. For they bear the yoke of Christ with spiritual knowledge.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'I am full of miseries; however, I hope to save my soul: I hope it of the infinite power and goodness of God; I hope it through the Passion and death of Jesus; I hope it by the intercession of the Mother of Sorrows; yes, I hope to go to heaven.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Happy is the youth, because he has time before him to do good.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'We ought to imitate the gardeners and the vine-dressers; when a storm breaks out they retire to the shed, and remain there until the storm has passed. So, in the midst of the tempests with which we are threatened on account of our sins and those of the world, we should retire under the golden tent of the divine will, rejoicing that the good pleasure of the Sovereign Master is being accomplished in all things.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Devote yourself ceaselessly to the words of God: application to them destroys the passions.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'One may understand by the nourishment of the swine the false philosophy of the world, the vain eloquence of oratory. Their cadence and harmony, in flattering the ear, possess the mind, and enchant the heart; but after one has read works of this kind with great attention, nothing is left but vacancy and confusion. Let us not delude ourselves by saying we do not put any faith in the fable, with which these authors have filled their writings. This reason does not justify us, since we scandalize others who think we approve of what they see us read.'

St. Jerome, to Pope St. Damasus

[Shin]

'When you have not the means of helping your neighbor, recommend him fervently to God, Whose sovereign dominion holds all creatures in His hand. Counsels gently given heal every wound, but given with asperity only serve to aggravate it tenfold.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Rest tranquilly in the loving Heart of our dear Saviour; do not lose peace, even though the world turn upside down.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Poverty is the glorious standard, the impregnable fortress of the religious life.'

St. Paul of the Cross