Saints' Discussion Forums

From this moment on, anything concerning me is no longer of any interest to me. I must belong entirely to God, and God alone. Never to myself.

Mary sacrificed all to God; she needed him alone. From this day forward, I shall follow her example: the Lord alone will be my portion. Why have I come here if not to love Our Lord with all my heart. As proof of my love for him, I must suffer and generously sacrifice everything to him, as Mary did. Courage my soul, through prayer we can do all that is asked of us. The heart of Jesus is there: Let us knock.

O Divine Jesus, impress on my heart a disposition like that of a certain man who loved your cross so much that he used to say if after serving you for a hundred years his only recompense were the grace to suffer one hour for love of you, he would believe all his service too well rewarded.

O Virtue! How rarely we see you, yet how real you are!

O Jesus and Mary, let my entire consolation in this world be to love you and to suffer for sinners.

These are all so striking!

"O Virtue! How rarely we see you, yet how real you are!"

"I must belong entirely to God, and God alone. Never to myself."




What a hard thing to do!

O my Jesus, teach me to understand the holy jealousy of heavenly love! Free me from earthly detachments and raise all my affections up to you. May my crucified heart be forever lost in your own and hidden away in the mysterious wound made by the spear.

O Jesus, I would rather die a thousand deaths than be unfaithful to you!

O Immaculate Mary, O glorious Saint Joseph! And you Saint John, beloved disciple of the Divine Heart, teach me the great science of love! May it draw me powerfully! May I soar at last, may I take flight and hasten to lose myself, unite myself and disappear with you in the adorable heart of Jesus, and Jesus crucified, the Divine Heart of charity, purity, self-denial and perfect submission.

I must die to myself continually and accept trials without complaining. I work, I suffer and I love with no other witness than His heart. Anyone who is not prepared to suffer all for the beloved and to do His will in all things is not worthy of the sweet name of Friend, for here below, love without suffering does not exist.
It is in loving the cross that one discovers his heart, for divine love does not exist without suffering.

My bed became my little white chapel. Then it became my cross. Eventually it became a crucifix, when I could only lie on it and suffer.

We have to let Him have everything. . .

I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them.

Why must we suffer? Because here below pure love cannot exist without suffering. O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross when I think of yours.

O my soul imitate Jesus faithfully: he is gentle and humble of heart. Those who are humble of heart will be glorified. How beautiful the heavenly crown will be for those who are genuinely humble despite outward humiliations, those who follow the humility of the Savior in every way.

O Mary, my gentle Mother, here I am, your child who can bear no more. See my needs and above all my spiritual distress. Have pity on me; grant that one day I may be with you in heaven.

I shall do everything for heaven, my true home. There I shall find my Mother in all the splendor of her glory. I shall delight with her in the joy of Jesus himself in perfect safety.

O Mary, my good Mother, help me follow your example to be generous in every sacrifice Our Lord may ask of me during my life.

O my Mother, offer me to Jesus. Take my heart and unite it with the heart of my Jesus.

Jesus came to earth to be my model. I want to follow him and walk generously in his footsteps.

Divine Heart of my Jesus, grant that I may love you always, and always more.

O Mary, receive my heart as an expiatory victim for my offenses; may it be broken with sadness.

O my Mother, to you I sacrifice all other attachments so that my heart may belong to you and to my Jesus.

O my Mother, come to my aid; grant me the grace of dying to myself so I will no longer live save in my sweet Jesus and for my Jesus.

I want to follow you and be like you, O my Jesus; I would rather be crucified with you than enjoy all the pleasures of this world without you.

My sweet Jesus, give me a great love for the cross, and if I do not die at the hands of others as you did, may I die by the intensity of my love.

O my Jesus, help me to love you; Love me, and then crucify me as much as you please.

Jesus, my God, I love you above all things.

Dear gentle Jesus, be not my judge, but my Savior.

I want to sacrifice all and suffer without complaining since my Jesus keeps me from all fear.

Love overcomes, love delights, Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice.

You've found some splendid notes George! :D

There's nothing like taking notes from the writings of the saints! :D

I am reading 'The Ladder' and 'The Spiritual Direction of St. Claude de la Colobiere' this weekend, along with my various collections of the Desert Fathers. It's a fine way to spend the afternoon on the Lord's Day.

Reading and taking notes!

Wow, George. Those are  some amazing quotes! For some reason, St. Bernadette's quotes remind me of St. Therese. Well, there is the obvious, that they are both Saints. But there is more. I can't put my finger on it.

My wife got me a copy of Saint Bernadette's notes, I will keep posting them if you like, there are also letters as well. Bernadette collected thoughts from a number of sources, and kept them in a notebook, some of the quotes are believed to come from other spiritual sources that she then adapted to her own thoughts, but they are all Bernadette's writings.

I'd love to hear some more of them myself!

This is the sort of thing I am always hoping for.  :flower:

Those who are humble of heart will be glorified. How beautiful the heavenly crown will be for those who are genuinely humble despite outward humiliations, those who follow the humility of the Savior in every way.

O my beloved Jesus, the sighs of my heart rise up to you alone.

Margaret Mary Alacoque said: "I wanted no one to remember me save to scorn me, humble me and insult me; for indeed, that is all I deserved".

O Jesus, you who were forsaken have become the refuge of forsaken souls. Your love teaches me that I must gain the strength I need to endure being abandoned by seeing how you were abandoned. I am persuaded that the most terrible abandonment I could experience would be to have no part in yours. By your death, you gave me life; you delivered me from the suffering I deserved by suffering in my place.
Because of what you endured on the cross, our Heavenly Father will not desert me. He is never closer to me through his mercy than when I am most united with you in your abandonment.

O Jesus, light of my soul, enlighten me during times of tribulation; and since these trials are useful to me, pay no heed to my fears or my weakness.

O my God, I do not ask you to keep me from suffering, but to be with me in affliction. Teach me to seek you as my only comforter; sustain my faith; strengthen my hope; purify my love. Grant me the grace to recognize your hand in the midst of suffering and to want no other comforter than you.

I, for one, like reading her words. It seems that I get so much more out of a quote when I know of their life and they are Saints who've experiences are known to me.

Humble me as much as you want. Console me only when it may help me accept suffering and persevere until death. Since the graces I ask are the fruits of your abandonment, bring virtue out of my weakness and glorify yourself in my misery, O my Jesus, the only refuge of my soul.

O Most Holy Mother of my Jesus, you who saw and felt the extreme desolation of your dear Son, help me in my own time of desolation.
And you, saints of Heaven who have passed though this trial, have pity on those who are suffering it now and pray that I be given the grace to be faithful until death.

I turn to you, O Father of mercy! Receive me, O God of all consolation! Sustain me with your grace and grant that so much suffering and so much love may not be in vain.

Jesus gives all to those who surrender all.

The more obstacles there are to my love, the stronger it becomes. It is my one and only possession. Even if I were tormented day and night, no one could take it from my soul. The more I suffer, the more I will draw close to his heart.

A righteous person is a victim and his life is a continual sacrifice. For the love of Jesus, I will fight against my own desires even in the most insignificant matters.

Watch over me, Father, so that everything I do may be with the intention of pleasing Jesus.

O most merciful heart of my Jesus, accept each of my tears, every cry of pain, as a plea for those who suffer, for those who weep, for those who forget you.

O Mary, O Mother of Sorrows! At the foot of the cross, you became our mother. I am the child of your sorrow, the child of Calvary.

O most lovable Jesus, the sighs of my heart rise up to you.


My Jesus, I suffer and I love you.

That was so wonderful, George! Thanks for all your work on this post.

Thank's Brigid, I've always been fascinated with Bernadette and Lourdes, after going there I'm convinced of it's uniqueness and the beautiful simplicity of Bernadette. There's a lot more to post.

You went there!? Wow!!!! I admire what I've learned of Bernadette's simplicity, too.

Hi Brigid, yes I went to Lourdes 7 yrs. ago this month, I also went to knock in 2000, Lourdes is a life changing experience, such a very holy place.

I suffer. My comforter, my moans rise up to you without ceasing. It is in your most adorable heart that I shed my tears. It is to your heart that I confide my sighs and my anguish. I unite my sufferings with yours. My Jesus, sanctify them through this holy union. Let this union make them sweeter and lighter and let me grow in love.

My divine spouse has made me desire a humble and hidden life. Jesus has often told me that I will not die until I have sacrificed all to him. And to convince me, he has often told me that when it is over, at the hour of death, he alone, Jesus crucified, will console me. I will carry only him, my faithful friend, with me to my grave. It is madness to attach myself to anything other than him.

                                                      A POOR BEGGAR'S PRAYER TO JESUS
O Jesus, grant me, I pray, the bread of humility,
the bread of obedience,
the bread of charity,
the bread of strength to break my will and make it conform to yours,
the bread of interior mortification,
the bread of detachment,
the bread of patience to endure the pain my heart suffers.
O Jesus, you want me crucified, fiat,
the bread of strength to suffer well,
the bread of seeing only you in everything, at every moment, Jesus, Mary, the Cross,
I want no other friends than these.

If I had to remake my character entirely, struggle endlessly against my own inclinations and destroy them, or even tear my own heart out, all this I would do to be worthy of serving you. I am entirely persuaded that the miracle you worked to reward the faith of our holy patron is but a shadow of the glorious resurrection you will deign to grant me if I am faithful to my vocation.

The faithful soul obeys God's will for the church. Her spouse wants her to be perfect in every way, doing all with faith and charity. In this way, the Father will be the guiding principle for her actions; the Son, the source of her light; and the Holy Spirit the source of her love.

Union, intimate union with Jesus, heart to heart with Jesus like Saint John, in purity and in love.

O Jesus keep me as your own.

My hope is in you, Lord. Be my refuge, for you are my strength......Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.

I was nothing, yet out of this nothingness Jesus has made something wondrous. I dare to say this for through Holy Communion I become one with God. Jesus gives me his heart; my heart is joined with his. I am the spouse of Jesus, the friend of Jesus, in other words, another Jesus. So I must live through Jesus, and my death must resemble the death of Jesus himself. How sublime is our death if we are faithful.

Above all, I must be attached to no one but Jesus Christ. I ask for his light, his strength, his divine life. I must strive for a holy death in him and with him. I am a religious, thus I have made a profession of perfection.

There's so much in each of these I have to take each one at a time and think on it.

I know, it says Bernadette sometimes transposed texts  to adapt to the situation of a woman and a religious,  her notes were a combination of extracts from spiritual books, her own spontaneous prayers and her journals of annual retreats. I'm glad you are enjoying reading it, so am I.
She's been a part of my life for over 50 years. Back in the 1930's my mother was in a tragic fire and burned all over her body except for her face, the fire never rose above the miraculous medal she was wearing, she was anointed to die a few times, my grandmothers sister sent water from Lourdes, and they poured it down her throat, and she recovered, when my grandmother thanked the doctor he said " I had nothing to do with this, a hand greater than mine saved this girl", but they told her she would never have children, because of the burn damage  :) her story is even more remarkable, a miracle story really, but all my life I've heard how Our Lady of Lourdes saved my Mom, so when the opportunity came along for me to go there, I had to go and see for myself. And now I know for sure, it really happened, through the grace of God, my family was touched by Our Lady through Saint Bernadette.  

The Christian life does indeed mean battles and trials, but it also means consolations. And though I must leave Tabor and climb to Calvary, one day I will leave Calvary with Jesus and return to Tabor. A foretaste of Heaven awaits me there. My soul follows but one path: from Golgotha to Tabor. It leaves Golgotha to seek strength and courage at Tabor. Life is such a ladder.

I must work with all my strength to destroy self-love and self-interest.

Jesus does not want us attached to possessions, to human honors, to creatures. He asks humility. But his love and his generosity make this detachment less difficult and less cruel to our nature. Nothing else matters to me anymore, nothing has any value to me but Jesus, no place, no thing, no person, no idea, no feeling, no honor, no suffering, nothing can turn me away from Jesus. For me, Jesus himself is my honor, my delight, my heart, my spirit, he whom I love, what I love, my home, Heaven here on earth. Jesus is my treasure and my love, and Jesus crucified is my only happiness.

Jesus, keep me under the standard of your cross. May the crucifix not be just something I wear, something I look at, but let it be alive in my heart. Let me be transformed into a living Crucifixion, in union with you through the Eucharist. By meditating on your life and the most intimate feelings of your heart, let me draw souls to you from high on this cross where your love holds me forever.

Have mercy. Protect us from the temptations of the Demon and the illusions those temptations carry with them. Protect us from the kind of passion and sensuality that makes us disloyal and unfaithful to God.

New examination of conscience. Regret for having lacked charity toward Jesus so often, for having stifled in myself the Charity of Jesus Christ himself so often.
So many people say that Father Villefort is overflowing with charity. How I would like to be like that.

Resolution: In the future, be more charitable toward the poor (both the materially poor and the spiritually poor).

Preparation for Holy Communion.
The best preparation is meditation. I do that badly!
Renew and strengthen the resolutions I have made in this regard.     

How necessary it is.. to be crucified with Our Lord. . .

 :crucifix:

Praise be to God!  :littleprayer:

But I am so exhausted in the morning. Remind myself of the temptation Father Avila experienced one day when he was on his way to celebrate Mass. He hesitated because he was so weary. Our Lord appeared to him, showing him the wound on his heart and reminding him that weariness had not prevented him from going all the way to Calvary. Courage! I must learn how to persevere also.
After all, if I am tired, even if I am exhausted, I can rest in the heart of Jesus.

Take every opportunity to pour oil and wine on wounds as Jesus did, not vinegar, and without regard to person. Or like Jesus, reach out to the poorest, to those who are suffering most, to the humble, the most abandoned. In the future, be more charitable to others, recognize both their physical and spiritual poverty.
For love of Jesus and to glorify God, I will generously accept privations, suffering and mortifications as Jesus and Mary did.

Everything is the Father's will: Homeland, fortune, happiness, work, food, life, Jesus's death. Let his will be mine.

My soul, rejoice that you resemble Jesus a little in that you are hidden behind lowliness.

May I let Jesus lead me more easily. May I be ready to accept everything, even mortification, powerlessness, living in darkness, being hidden like Jesus in a dark prison. If I let it, this prison or whatever this mortification may be will be the heart of Mary for me.

Jesus Christ at his birth: I contemplate him there with Mary and Joseph. What conditions, though! Lying in a manger where animals feed! Humiliation, privation, suffering.

For the greater glory of God, the important thing is not to do many things, but to do all things well.

What does it profit a man to gain the universe if he loses his soul? A terrible thought, but profoundly true! As Saint Ignatius said: How insignificant earth seems to me when I consider Heaven.

A good Religious should ask God for:

More humility than mortifications,
More patience than suffering,
More willingness than works,
More love than actions,
More self-denial than orders,
More results than words,
More zeal for holiness than for health.

This reminds me of the warnings given to religious against particular friendships.

O my God, if I cannot shed my blood and give my life for you, may I at least die to all that displeases you: sin, earthly desires, desires of the flesh, the world and myself. Cross of my Savior, holy cross, cross worthy of adoration, in you alone are my strength, my hope and my joy. You are the tree of life, the mysterious ladder that unites earth to heaven, the altar on which I want to sacrifice myself by dying with Jesus.

Unlimited self-denial. Love for and fidelity to Jesus, my spouse, until death.

The heart of Jesus with all it's treasures is my portion. I shall live and die there in peace, even in the midst of suffering.

My Jesus, fill my heart with so much love that one day it will break just to be with you. My Jesus, you know I have placed you as a seal on my heart. Remain there always.

God is my creator; my Savior; my Sanctifier. I belong to God, therefore he is the absolute master of my body, my soul and my actions. He wants me to sacrifice my will to him at every moment and in everything. In the hands of my superiors, I should be like a dead person, or more accurately a staff. Never mind if they make mistakes. I know that I will never be wrong if I obey with a spirit o0f faith. My crown in heaven should shine with innocence and it's flowers should be as radiant as the sun. Sacrifices are the flowers Jesus and Mary chose.
I must be a victim; that is to say, I should live sacrificially every day as Jesus and Mary did.

Saint Ignatius does not insist that we be indifferent, but that we try to become indifferent. My heart is made for God and he is jealous. I want it to be entirely his. I will become a saint if I am humble, docile and generous.

Poverty should not just be difficult, but crucifying. Jesus chose the most humble things to satisfy his needs, such as hay to soothe his frail and delicate body. If he ever had any preference, it was always for suffering; unlike him, I choose comfort and pleasure. With the help of your grace, starting today, that is over. I want to walk in your footsteps, suffer, conquer my weaknesses and die to all that is not in you, in order to live for Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus. I this way, I shall belong entirely to Jesus. How sweet it will be to die in this way with Jesus.

Holy scripture tells us that whoever gives in to temptation will perish. Never fear temptation: it is useful and necessary to us. I must arm myself with prayer and have complete trust in our Lord and great mistrust of myself. I must face every trial with profound humility and blind, simple, happy obedience.
Jesus crucified is my model. I must work tirelessly to be like him. I should no longer allow myself to be sad about anything other than offending him or having nothing to suffer for him, for love of him.

What was mine no longer belongs to me. I have given all to Jesus.
Resolution: Energy to break my will even in the most insignificant things. Pause twice a day and make reparations for the time I have lost.
Detachment from creatures and things. Watch over my emotions. Listen to Jesus who says to me often: "My daughter, give me your heart. I want it entirely for myself."

The more I contemplate God, the more God looks on me. The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too.

The older I get the more I see how the virtuous life, virtue as in real defined traditional virtues, is so important to loving God.

Because as you develop this active life of various virtuous habits, the spiritual life improves, and one truly is loving God and learning to love God more.

In my life, the more I pray and the more virtuous I strive to become, the more my circle of friends diminishes, even within my own family I'm looked upon as odd, a bore, delusional. There is an ancient document known as " The letter to Diognetus" which discusses how Christians were looked upon in the early years of the Church, it's amazing how little things have changed for those who truly try to live out the life we are called upon to follow. As the document states "Such is the Christian's lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself." With a nod to another Christian writer , I have come to know peace, for I have come to know, "The invisible companionship of God". "The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too".

It's very comforting to hear you say that George, it makes me feel less alone.  :flower:

God keep you my brother in Christ!

In her quotes I don't see the very simple girl she was as a young teen (at least how I imagine she was - since Mary only seems to appear to the very simple). She seems like the woman she is and with little mention of Mary even though Mary appeared to her.

Hi Brigid, maybe this will help.
This is the introduction to her private notes.

Saint Bernadette collected thoughts on the spiritual life from a number of sources and carefully copied them down in a small notebook, interspersing them with her own prayers and thoughts. This tiny anthology of PRIVATE NOTES is the most precious document from Bernadette's writings, for it offers us a glimpse into the spiritual life of "The most secret of Saints". The visionary who was blessed with so many apparitions of the Holy Virgin Mary had great difficulty expressing her spiritual state , even with her spiritual director Father Douce. The notes that were dear to Bernadette allow us to enter into the spiritual life of this humble nun, this great saint, by meditating on the thoughts that sustained her.
Although most entries are not original, her choices, indeed even her misquotes, are a reflection of her spiritual life.
The PRIVATE NOTES include the following:
1. Extracts from spiritual books.
2. Bernadette's own spontaneous prayers and thoughts.
3. Extracts from the journal of annual retreats (1860 _ 1870) by father Pierre Olivaint
4. Notes from a retreat given by Reverend Father Secail in 1873
5. A text copied from an image of the Holy Virgin.
6. Notes taken during a retreat given by Father Candeloup in 1874, the advice given to her by Father Douce in confession during this retreat and her resolutions.
7. Thoughts on holiness and on the rule of the congregation.

I hope this helps in understanding the notes.
Later on the in book there are private letters between Bernadette and those she corresponded with as well as her account of the apparitions.

Father Douce: You must carry your cross hidden in your heart as Mary did.

Resolution: I will be joyful when I go to the parlor, even if my heart is full of sadness.
I shall say to God: Yes, I will go there on the condition that you free a soul from purgatory or convert a sinner.

Father Douce: Place yourself in the heart of Mary and remain there. Make it your home on earth.
O my mother, it is to your heart that I come to lay down the anguish of my heart; it is there that I draw strength and courage.
Do not be afraid to carry the cross, even naked.
The more I give to Jesus, the more he will give to me. For love of Jesus, I must overcome my weakness or die.

Consider Saint John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan

How austere and implacable he is! Jesus has not yet come, but look how Saint John prepare the way for him; how he inspires contrition through repentance; how he heralds the coming of Jesus! How he leads to Jesus! How he decreases before Jesus! Debeo a te baptizari.....See how humble and obedient he is before Jesus: Sic nos decet implere omnem justitiam, Jesus said, Omnem.....As Savior, by atoning for sins; as a sinner, by humbling himself and taking their place; as the Just One, by purifying himself again......Omnem, for Saint John the Baptist, as herald, by paying homage to his mission; as a servant, by obeying this master who pays him homage.
Yet another reason for Saint John the Baptist to exclaim: "Oportet illum crescere, me autem minui". I must do like him for I am still so very human.....too inflexible like Saint John the Baptist. 

I absolutely must do this so that God may be more glorified, so that my vocation will be better fulfilled, so that his grace will not be wasted in me, so that I may atone for the past and assure the future. But increase how, and diminish how? For Jesus to increase, I must decrease. His presence increases in proportion to how much I decrease. If I do not, I prevent him from increasing.

Why is he so little in me? It is because I am not little enough, not humble enough. Therefore may I become more humble, may I humble myself, and Jesus will increase.
Grow, Jesus, grow in me, in my heart, in my spirit, my imagination, my senses, by your modesty, your purity, your humility, your zeal, your love. Grow with your grace, your light, your peace. Grow despite my resistance, my pride. Grow until you reach the fullness of human perfection. Grow as you did at Nazareth before God and before men, for the glory of your Father. 

There she talks a lot of Mary's part in love of Jesus.

It seems that she, like many Saints, stresses her own humility as the/a key.

Yes, humility and mortification, she seems to emphasize those two qualities, she still seems like the simple innocent girl the Virgin appeared too, only now she's surrounded by religious superiors and she's trying to learn the deeper mysteries of the faith, and striving to be a part of her religious community.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam

We are tempted by pride to the same degree that we experience God's glory, God's love, humility and poverty. To keep from preferring pleasure and honor, we must care about ourselves too much to seek these things. When we are tempted to break God's law, we must love ourselves too much to risk committing a venial sin. We must love ourselves too much to risk committing a mortal sin.

Put faith into practice by thinking on these four truths:

God is always present.
Nothing happens without his permission or outside his will.
Anything we do to others we do to him.
All kindness and goodness are in him.

Live Faith with these truths:

Drive out all sin.
Console all grief.
Cast away all listlessness.
Enrich each soul with the life of grace.
One day God will say about us: quoniam bene.

How? union with Jesus and Mary.

Baptism of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ leaves his mother. Sciebat. She is resigned to it, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that she sends him, follows him in her heart and soon she is with him again. Jesus knows how to sacrifice the bonds of nature without wounding his mother's heart. Look at him going toward the Jordan. He has waited so long for the moment when he would begin his mission! Nevertheless, he does not hurry. He has an extraordinary kind of self-control. His Father's will governs everything. His only thought is to do his Fathers will.

Do penance.. How important it is that it be 'penance'.. And that is how it is translated in the Douai.. but how many other places is it forgotten?

The virtue of hope!

His first apostolic steps, so gentle and so solemn, draw people and inspire respect. And here I am so hurried and so inflexible! How many souls are frightened away by the thought of submitting to God's will.

Why does god ask for this union and submission to his will? Because it is absolutely just, loveable, superior to everything, so much so that there is no plausible reason ever to reject it. God's will is the only sure rule of conduct.

However good our intentions may be, it is always wrong to go against God's will; it is always an illusion and a mistake.

We need never fear being deceived by illusion if we follow the will of God because it is the true secret to the highest perfection. It is the true means of glorifying God in all things. Ad majorem dei gloriam! It is not important to do many things or extraordinary things; it is only important to do God's will because the entire gospel is in that, the entire life of our Lord. This practice is certain help in times of darkness, for God can never deceive us.

I know in whom I have put my trust. I choose what God wills, as he wills it, because he wills it because this is the secret of peace and happiness. If we do this, it can be said of us, as of Jesus: "Bene Omnia fecit." And at every instant we ourselves can say, as God said after the creation: "Et vidit quod esset bonum," because a good judgment awaits us after death.

From now on, may I put his will above all else: homeland, fortune, happiness, food, life. Jesus's sole desire was to do his Father's will. Let it also be mine. And why should I complain about trials? Without trials, I shall never be detached from my own desires; I shall never truly come into God's glory.

How is it possible to do this? Purity of conscience, purity of intention, pious practices, virtues in one's vocation.

This year I must overcome or die. I will wage war on my own will. For the greater glory of God, it is not important to do many things, but to do them well.

                                                                       Vocation

Why the rule? What does it profit a man to gain the universe and lose his soul?

Obstacles:
1. Countless occupations.
2. Undisciplined zeal, like the foolish virgins.
3. Self-interest.
4. discouragement.

1. Do not just be a channel for grace, but a reservoir, an overflowing reservoir. No sooner has a channel received grace than it pours it out. A reservoir waits to be filled up and then offers grace to those who come to draw from it's superabundance.
2. If you do not act wisely, you exhaust yourself in senseless work.

I have the obstacles down pat! :D

You are not alone, the more I read, the more I see how much work I have ahead of me.

 :rotfl:

                                                     The Private Life of Jesus Christ

He was interested in one thing alone: the holy will of his Father. This is his law and his life because it in doing God's will that his Father is glorified. It must be absolutely clear in my mind that everything consists in doing God's holy will.

But is not enough just to do God's will. I want to love doing God's holy will more than anything in the world.

What gifts do the shepherds bring? Not gold, incense and myrrh, but milk, fruit and sheep. In other words, purity, love, true piety and sacrifice.
And the Lamb gives himself to them. Mary presents him to them. How they embrace him in their arms, in their hearts. O Mary, keep Jesus in my heart.

Humility is the secret of God's glory.

AD majorem Dei gloriam.

Jesus in the heart of Mary: her heart is like an altar on which the victim of expiation, adoration, supplication and thanksgiving is offered.
Humiliation, suffering, privation in going to Bethlehem: so many ways to glorify God. They offer every trial to God. God's love grows in them through their sacrifices, and with love, the true life.

This interior life of Jesus hidden in Mary's heart is concealed from others, but what does that matter? How easily he finds his heavenly Father in Mary! How lovingly he glorifies his Father on the altar of Mary's heart! How he rejoices in cultivating Mary's beautiful soul with his grace!

May I too have an interior life!
What does it matter if no one sees it as long as I imitate Jesus, as long as I live through Jesus and I dwell in the heart of Mary like Jesus. May I accept privations, suffering and humiliations generously as Jesus, Mary and Joseph did in order to glorify God.

O my Jesus, be my strength and my virtue.

Meditation

1. Jesus is my model.
2. Jesus is my strength.
3. Jesus is my consolation.

On the spiritual resurrection of our souls

God is jealous of my heart. He wants me to sacrifice all human affections to him generously so that he may reign there as master.

I must become a great saint. My Jesus wants it and, by virtue of my situation, it is my duty.

On the death of a righteous person

A righteous person should not fear the destruction of his body since one day he will be resurrected glorious and radiant with glory.

On the reign of Jesus

Jesus must reign

1. In my heart.
2. In my Spirit.
3. In my will; in other words, in my entire soul.

The Fiat, of Mary's child

Of all Fiats, is this not the sweetest? Divine love unites them. Their two Hearts become one to love, to suffer and to obey.
No longer my will, my good Mother, but yours, which is always the will of Jesus.

                                                                         MARY

Courage, my child. You have found the precious pearl that buys the Kingdom of Heaven. To love what God wills always, to will it always, to desire it always, to do it always: this is the great secret of perfection, the key to paradise, the foretaste of the peace of the Saints.

The more you unite your heart to mine, the more you will understand the truth of these words. When you no longer have any will other than God's, your heart and mine will become one and the same heart. Learn to say the Ecce Ancilla (1) of perfect obedience with me each day.
(1) "I am the handmaid of the Lord" Lk. 1:38

Whatever trials the Lord sends you, whatever sacrifices he asks of you, whatever duties he imposes on you, always have this response of love and faithfulness on your lips and in your heart: Here is your servant, O my God, ready to undertake all, to give all, to sacrifice all, to offer up all, as long as Your will may be accomplished in me and on all the earth.

                                                                              THE SOUL

Ah! Let it be done unto me according to your word. O my Mother, let my heart, lost in yours, have no other movement, no other will, no other love than the desire of my divine Master. With my soul united to yours, let me begin here in this life to glorify the Lord by this perpetual homage of perfect submission. Yes, my God yes, yes....In everything and everywhere Yes....

These quotes give me such a feeling of peace!

Amen, Amen!

                                                                              Retreat of 1874

The most important grace to ask for during this retreat: To live more and more hidden like Jesus and Mary.
Detachment from others and from myself.

I will pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary every day for this intention. Resolution: fight generously against my predominant fault, sensitivity. Go to the person who has hurt me and be very kind to her. Not for herself, but for the love of Our Lord.

                                                                           Advice given by Father Douce

Have no fear. Always stay very close to Our Lord, present in the tabernacle. Be completely absorbed by devotion to Him there and never let go. Pray that the Holy Virgin will keep you well hidden there. Consider this Good Master. He suffers so much in silence. Even though He could easily reduce this suffering to nothingness, he does not move.
For the love of Jesus, follow his example and carry your cross hidden in your heart generously and courageously. I have sinned. It is right I should suffer.

From time to time, read and meditate on the chapter of the treatise on "The Royal Way of the Holy Cross". You will find strength and courage there for the coming year.

Have you been short tempered? Make an act of contrition. Humble yourself before Our Lord and go to him with confidence. It would be better to apologize to your sister also, but you are not obligated to do so. It is to her own disadvantage if she does not use it for her spiritual growth. She should have enough charity in her heart to consider that you have received forgiveness for your fault.

As for poverty, since you have asked permission to give and to receive, there is no need to be specific.

The most important grace to ask for during this retreat: To live more and more hidden like Jesus and Mary.

Often remind yourself of this word that the most Holy Virgin said to you: Penance! Penance!
You should be the first one to put it into practice. For this intention, suffer trials in silence so that Jesus and Mary may be glorified. Ask Our Lord and the Most Holy Virgin to show you the cross he wants you to carry this year. Carry it lovingly, faithfully and generously. Every evening give it back to the Lord, who will return it to you every morning when you wake. Always receive it lovingly and generously. This cross will be your glory and your consolation.

Make an examination of conscience every month. Am I faithful in following the advice of my confessor has given me in any given circumstance? Am I faithful in refraining from what he has told me to avoid?

Let go of the past and have confidence in the future.

Grace to ask for: Humility and generosity in the trials I must suffer, both mentally and physically.

Resolution: Be faithful in practices of piety and in even the smallest details of our holy rule.

Particular subject of examination: Being composed in both exterior and interior trials and annoyances.

On the Last Day, all our virtues will be tested by fire. Only humility will be able to withstand it. Saint Ephrem.

                  Instruction on the spiritual resurrection of our souls

In other words, with a spirit of faith, let the goal of all our actions be to please Our Lord. The more we die on the cross, the more glorious our resurrection will be. What folly it is to pull away when Our Lord asks for our hand to nail it to the cross. From now on, the more I am crucified, the more I will rejoice.......

Me too Brigid.

My divine Master, I have made my choice! I would rather suffer with You until death than rejoice even for an instant with those who insult and abandon you.... I have considered the wide way.....I have weighed the value of the passing riches of this life.....measured the length of it's fleeting pleasures.....contemplated it's vain happiness and it's ephemeral glory. I saw bright flowers under which grow the thorns of remorse and the disappointments of sorrow.
Thanks to Your divine light, I understood it all!.....And turning my lips away from the poisoned chalice, I cried out with the sage: Vanity of vanities; all is vanity on the earth, outside of loving God and serving Him.

So I raised my eyes and I no longer saw anyone but Jesus!
Jesus alone as my Goal,
Jesus alone as my Master,
Jesus alone as my Model,
Jesus alone as my Guide,
Jesus alone as my Joy,
Jesus alone as my Wealth,
Jesus alone as my friend!

Oh, yes, my Jesus! From now on, I want you alone to be my everything and my life. I shall follow you everywhere you go...Come my soul, courage. Climb to Calvary behind Jesus and Mary for just one more day. And then, with Jesus and Mary: Joy, rejoicing, eternity!

O good cross! O precious thorns along the way, soon your wounds will be glorious.

A religious must live with mortification as a fish swims in water. For a religious, there is something missing if she is not mortified. The serious practice of all her duties necessarily leads to the practice of a continual mortification at every moment. If she is not mortified, she is lacking in her duty.

What is the source of offences against the rule and against one's vows? What is the source of laxity of some communities? It is the fact that mortification has not been practiced or maintained. The mortification God asks of us is the precise observance of our rule, it's practices, it's customs and the recommendations made by our superiors. A Sister who is truly faithful in this way practices mortification judiciously and with absolutely no danger of vanity. I believe that she could enter heaven without passing through the fires of purgatory!

We should control our senses. Unrestrained curiosity is an obstacle to prayer. If someone enters the house, do not look or ask who it is. As for the sense of taste, we can practice any number of mortifications without anyone noticing it. A religious should never express a preference for a particular food. You should never hear a religious talk about food. It shows a lack of an interior life. When she goes to meals, she should be humbled by the fact that this necessity is an act we have in common with animals, then she should remember how the Saints have acted.

A religious who allows herself to eat and drink whatever she wants will never have an interior life.

'A religious who allows herself to eat and drink whatever she wants will never have an interior life.'

A timely reminder to keep aspiring to mortify the eating!

Even the laity you will hear St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle tell to be very restrained in their compliments towards any food at the table.

I wish I could live on moldy potatoes like St. Jean Maria Baptiste Vianney, but here I am seasoning the meatballs. How far I have to go..  ::)  :speachless:

'So I raised my eyes and I no longer saw anyone but Jesus!'

I know Shin, reading Bernadette and the desert Fathers, makes me realize how important a devout prayer life really is, I know I can't do any of the things they say we have to do to merit the eternal crown without the grace and fortitude given by God. There is so much more I want to do please keep me in your prayers.

These quotes are such an inspiration! Thank you for sharing them, George. They make me realize just how far I have to go. There is still so much self love in me, that there is barely any room for Our Lord. What a pitiful state to be in!

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!  :littleprayer:

Always George.. And I will think of this as a special intention..

Pray for me too.

If there is anything I want to improve it is my prayer life. If the prayers improve, everything else will improve.

Praying for you too Stella Matutina, so good to read the above.

I too! God help us!

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Hi Stella Matutina, yes we are all too human and subject to temptation and failures, thank God for our Savior, our hope. Meanwhile we are here struggling with our nature, as Saint Paul compares this to a great race (2 tim. 4:7) I think some of us need help getting over that finish line, and so Shin thank you for the prayers and I will certainly keep you and Stella in my daily prayers.