Saints' Discussion Forums

This is a thread for posting one's favorite saints' quotes, and a regular, every day or so, weather permitting, quote from a saint.

Feel free to post your own favorite saints' quotes to this thread too folks, as long as it's from a saint -- this is a good place. If it isn't, 'holy silence' is good too. 'Seek and ye shall find' some memorable quotes to read and post here. :D

Please become a part of this thread!

If you subscribe to this topic you will be notified upon the first reply, or next new quote as the case may be, and so keep up to date with inspirational words. :D

Sometimes there will even be two quotes a day! Or even more!

Please visit Saints' Quotes (http://saintsquotes.net/) to find quotations. Visiting every day, for inspiration, or for answers to questions, you will find gifts from God.

'The Saints await us; the Angels await us; Mary awaits us; and Jesus stands with the crown in His Hands wherewith to crown us if we shall be faithful to Him.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."
-St. Jerome

I hope we hear more from pebbles soon!  :D

Hope so too.
 I am very grateful to her for started the book study on  "Genesis", it helped me to read the book. :)

"Since Christ Himself has said, "This is My Body" who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?"
St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Good evening/morning odhiambo!

There's nothing like the saints for showing the true meaning of the holy scriptures!

:D

'For oftentimes by reason of their own sins the tongue of preachers is tied, oftentimes on the other hand it is because of the sins of their people that the gift of eloquence is withheld from pastors. By reason of their own sins the tongue of preachers is tied, according to the words of the Psalmist, "But to the sinner God hath said, Why dost thou declare My justices?" (Ps. xlix. 16.) And again, the voice of preachers is hindered because of the sins of the people, according to the words of the Lord to Ezechiel: "I will make thy tongue stick fast to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man that reproveth, because they are a provoking house" (Ezec. iii. 26).

As though He said expressly: The gift of eloquence is withdrawn from thee, because while the people offend Me by their sins they are not worthy to have the truth preached to them.

Through whose fault it is that speech is with drawn from the preacher is no easy matter to decide. But that the silence of the pastor is hurtful to himself sometimes, and to his flock at all times, is beyond all doubt.

But if we cannot preach as efficiently as we ought, would that by innocence of life we held the rank that befits our office. For the Gospel adds, "Behold I send you as lambs among wolves."'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

Good evening/morning, Shin! ;D
I agree completely.

'Lord, how sweet is Thy Spirit! "I know whom I have believed, and I am certain." (2 Tim. 1:12.) I am certain that Thou art in the tabernacle. What happiness to remain during the most silent hours at the foot of the altar! Oh, who will give me the wings of a dove, that I may take my flight of love towards Thy divine Heart?'

St. Paul of the Cross

One can feel the passion behind those words of Saint Paul. O:)
Saint Paul of the Cross,
Pray for us!

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!"
Saint Augustine

The sooner the better!

'Once our motives are pure and up right, and we seek not our interests, but those of our Lord and Master, He has a constant care over us, because He is infinitely good.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

I think that Saint Augustine's prayer or "lament", resonates with many of us  :(

Amen to that.
It bring to mind our political class.
There is a group of politician traversing the country for what is dubbed as  "prayer meetings".
During these so called "prayer meetings" presided over by certain pastors, perceived opponents are castigated, hate speeches abound!
Anyone who dares to complain is told to leave those who want to pray alone if they themselves hate prayers! They quote for you the Constitution and the Freedom of Speech!
How we do misuse the Name of the Lord for our own selfish gains! :(

'The desire for peace is certainly harbored in every breast, and there is no one who does not ardently invoke it. But to want peace without God is an absurdity, seeing that where God is absent thence too justice flies, and when justice is taken away it is vain to cherish the hope of peace. "Peace is the work of justice" (Is. xxii., 17).

There are many, We are well aware, who, in their yearning for peace, that is for the tranquility of order, band themselves into societies and parties, which they style parties of order. Hope and labor lost. For there is but one party of order capable of restoring peace in the midst of all this turmoil, and that is the party of God.

It is this party, therefore, that we must advance, and to it attract as many as possible, if we are really urged by the love of peace.'

Pope St. Pius X

“Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith.”
 Saint John of Damascene

There's so much to that one odhiambo!

Is there perhaps a deeper meaning to the quote that I have missed?
I know he was a great defender of the use of icons in the church.

Take the quote a little farther -- any 'icons', and 'veneration' in a general sense. I.E. not just actual 'icons'..

 :D

Here we go then:
 If I venerate money, for instance, you will know straight away I am of this world, is that it?

Haha, that's it exactly.  :D

What people worship tells you their religion.

If you sit in front of a TV all day in veneration, now we know what your idol is!

And then there are even people called that.. And the whys thereof you venerate them informs a person about you.

'We cannot be saved without a struggle, for this life is a continual warfare. But be of good courage, do not be disheartened or troubled about your faults, but always try to draw from them a love of abjection, which must never for a moment be absent from your heart.'

'We must never be discouraged or give way to anxiety. . . but ever have recourse to the adorable Heart of Jesus.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

That sounds like something St. Claude would have said to her!

'There is a breaking of the heart which is gentle and makes it deeply penitent, and there is a breaking which is violent and harmful, shattering it completely.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

This is some quote Shin!
Let me take it slowly now so I can appreciate it.
'There is a breaking of the heart which is gentle and makes it deeply penitent,"
This is in like penitance for my sin, but with a firm belief and hope that God has forgiven me and all will go well with my soul were I to die at that moment.  Though sorry for my sins, I am at peace with myself.
Then" there is a breaking which is violent and harmful, shattering it completely."
This now is going overboard with the sorrow for my sin. I am so devastated that I cannot see how God can possibly forgive me. I refuse to accept that I am forgiven. In my sorrow, I end up in despair, a terrible sin against the virtue of Hope. I am agitated, anxious.
This situation has caused damage to my heart, "shatterred it completely"  :(

That's really thought provoking odhiambo!

A lot of insight!

'Parents often prefer to see their children damned with themselves rather than to be saved away from them.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Saint Augusta of Treviso pray for us!

"My political views are those of the Lord's prayer."   St. John Bosco

St. John Bosco certainly knew about politics.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." as opposed to "My will be done on earth and forget about God's law."That's precisely what's wrong with the politics today.

This is an excellent thread. Good thinking Baily. Inspired I would say.  :D

Another that I have come across by Saint John Bosco and  is pertinant is:

"A Catholic priest has no politics but the Gospel and fears no recriminations."
Don Bosco

If you read the story of Don Bosco's life he was under constant thread because of politics, because he lived in very anti-clerical and anti-papal times there were accusations and attempts to set him up, and attempts on his life.

When people in government power saw how he was successful with the children they did not want to see these children becoming friends of the Church.

Nowadays they would have done things more efficiently, and simply condemned Don Bosco's oratories for code violations or for teaching hate speech, and then taken them over. That is the standard method of all anti-Catholic movements, get the Church out of charity and replace the Church's charities with the government, so that the people feel obliged and grateful to the government rather than the Church.

'How happy is the soul who detaches herself from all pleasure, from all sentiment, from all self-opinionatedness! You will realize this happiness if you put all your satisfaction in the cross of Jesus; that is, if you die on the cross of your Saviour to all that is not God.'

St. Paul of the Cross

How happy indeed! :crucifix:

The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.
Pope St. Gregory the Great

This is sooo true.  I pray we all persevere in the acting of love, sometimes easy and sometimes difficult.

 One of the Pharisees tested Jesus thus:
 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36).
 Jesus answered him:
 " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:
 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40).
Love of God and of neighbor. That really is the key to everything! :)

Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most.
Saint Jerome

I remember Saint Jerome's razor sharp words in connection with the ladies of his time and make-up.
I also still remember your "soap and water" comment Shin  :)

Uh-oh. I've forgotten it! What was it?

Make-up reminds me of a clown's mask. I know I heard some saint or priest make a remark like this and it has stayed with me. It's stuck with me now so that this is the impression I get. A mask, rather than a part of a person, which makes me feel sorry for the wearer.  :(

How much more simple, clean and honest and Christian be however plain and the age one truly is. Age has a certain nobility when embraced gracefully.. with it's due respect!

Oh, you were commenting on Saint Jerome's stinging remarks on women wearing makeup, lipstick etc. You said soap and water is really all that is necesary; the clean smell of soap. ;D
You and Saint Jerome come from the same pod as far as this topic is concerned.

Oh I remember! :D I was trying to restrain myself! Then the soap comment came to me!

No restraint necesarry so long as your passion is for the good cause of saving souls  ;D

'If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor.'

St. Charles Borromeo

Something to remember when a person wakes up in the morning! To get off a good start for the day!

There's nothing like keeping memory of the presence of God.  :crucifix:

That quote from St. Charles Borromeo is really sound advise. We cannot go wrong if we adhere to it.

"If there be here any hidden Roman Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have".
Saint John Ogilvie

Deo gratias!

'If you practice the holy exercise of Spiritual Communion a good many times each day, within a month you will see yourself completely changed.'

St. Leonard of Port Maurice

Exercise of Spiritual Communion?
Does that mean saying the prayer recommended at the time of Communion when one is not able to actually receive it for one reason or another?

Yes, that is correct. Holy Communion is the life of the soul.

And so Spiritual Communion is too, the sustenance our life.

Here is a thread on this priceless matter (http://saintsworks.net/forums/index.php?topic=1742.0).

'To you, O Master, who loves all mankind
I hasten on rising from sleep.
By your mercy I go out to do your work
and I make my prayer to you.
Help me at all times and in all things.
Deliver me from every evil thing of this world
and from pursuit by the devil.
Save me and bring me to your eternal kingdom,
For you are my Creator,
You inspire all good thoughts in me.
In you is all my hope and to you I give glory,
now and forever.'

St. Macarius the Wonder-Worker

Who has a feast on April 1st too.

Yes, he will be center stage at the Saints' thread tomorrow.

I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces.
I want to do God’s Holy Will, not my own”

St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Isn't that a fine name for a saint?

They knew how to choose Christian names in those days.

First Resolution.
letter of Saint Conrad of Parzham

"I resolve in the first place to remain continually in the presence of God and to ask myself frequently if I would do this or that if my confessor or superior were watching me and especially if God and my guardian angel were present"

In memory of Pope John Paul II who died on 2 April 2005
"...Surely it is important for America that the moral truths which make freedom possible should be passed on to each new generation. Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought. .."
Pope John Paul II
Homily in Orioles Park at Camden Yards
8 October 1995

A good reminder!

'The pearl is formed in the shell; but the shell, which has received the dew of heaven, closes itself and sinks to the bottom of the sea, where it engenders the precious pearl. Understand me well. The pearl of genuine virtue is engendered in the depths of the sea of suffering and humility. Thence we pass into the immense ocean of uncreated love and allow ourselves to be swallowed up in its waters.'

St. Paul of the Cross

I have just learnt that Blessed Pope John Paul  is now called Blessed Pope John Paul O:)

Some people call him that, but many others who are devout and knowledgeable about the popes would not. When he is compared to other popes who have that title, there's a difference.

'Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.'

St. Robert Southwell

The Church has not spoken then?

Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.
Saint Jerome

Exactly, it is only some people saying that.

Idleness is a dangerous state you'll hear more than one saint say!

And not just Saints, I have no idea where this saying comes from but there is nothing wrong with it save that it is not from the saints.
If it does not pass muster, feel free to remove it.
Here it is:
"an idle mind is the devil's workshop"
I agree 100%  ;D

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best"
Saint Jerome

Now that's a catchy one!

'Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading.'

St. Benedict

From an article:
What is the Rule of St. Benedict,
By.
Jon M. Sweeney

I particularly like the last sentence of the above quoted article, viz: "Work was made holy by St. Benedict".

'When the Arimathean lifted You, lifeless from the Cross, O Lord of Life, he anointed You, O Christ, with myrrh, and wrapped You in a shroud. He was moved by heartfelt love to kiss your body not subject to decay; but was restrained by fear, and rejoicing, he cried out to You: "Glory to Your condescension, O Lover of Mankind."'

from the Vespers of Great and Holy Friday

I like it too, though I think it would be more properly said of Our Lord, and His work as a carpenter. :D And then St. Benedict built from there!

Amen!

You are right Shin! it is true that Jesus, through his work as a carpenter, did indeed sanctify manual labor. I had not seen it that way.
Saint Benedict did and made it an important part of his Rule.

“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.”

Servant of God. Fulton J. Sheen

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"
(Jn 3:16).

Amen!

'. . . Holy Scripture says, "At noon he burneth the earth" (Ecclus. xliii. 3), that is to say, in the fervour of His Passion He burns up all mankind with His love. So St. Bernard says, "The chalice thou didst drink, O good Jesus, maketh thee lovable above all things." The work of our redemption easily, brushing aside all hindrances, calls out in return the whole of our love.'

St. Thomas Aquinas

Shin, I believe that Pope Benedict XVI is one of these people.  Though I'm not saying I agree with him.

Well, if that's the case, it's sad news to hear.

Yes.  But if it is true that Benedict XVI believes this, I wonder if has he ever called him "the Great."  I thought I just read last week that Benedict XVI favors calling John Paul II "the Great" but I don't know if he has ever even referred to John Paul II and "the Great."

Well, we can rest assured a future pope will set matters right. God takes care of His Faith and His Church, no matter how hard his people do the opposite.

 :D

Thanks for the assurance, Shin! :)

Here is a Wikipedia entry that confirms that Pope BenedictXVI is one of the people who refer to John Paul II as "the Great."

"Since giving his homily at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI has continued to refer to John Paul II as "the Great". At the 2005 World Youth Day in ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Marie_Simon-Pierre"

I expect we'll see a few beatifications annulled in the future.  :D

May God's will be done! :)

Yes, whatever it may be, may God's will be done.  :crucifix:

Exactly!
May His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

Yes. May the flock be properly tended to.

A blessed Easter to you, Shin!

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
 you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.
 Let your thoughts be on heavenly things,
not on the things that are on the earth,
because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.
 But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.
Colossians 3:1-4
Today's Second Reading.

'Finally, the happiness of the person whose will is entirely submitted to God's is constant, unchangeable and endless. No fear comes to disturb it for no accident can destroy it. He is like a man seated on a rock in the middle of the ocean who looks on the fury of the waves without dismay and can amuse himself watching and counting them as they roar and break at his feet. Whether the sea is calm or rough, whichever way the waves are carried by the wind is a matter of indifference to him, for the place where he is is firm and unshakeable.

That is the reason for the peaceful and untroubled expression we find on the faces of those who have dedicated themselves to God.'

St. Claude de la Colombiere

Very reassuring  :crucifix:

Born as a Son,
led forth as a Lamb,
sacrificed as a Sheep,
buried as a Man,
He rose from the dead as a God,
for He was by nature God and man.

He is all things:
He judges, and so He is Law;
He teaches, and so He is Wisdom;
He saves, and so He is Grace;
He begets, and so He is Father;
He is begotten, and so He is Son;
He suffers, and so He is Sacrifice;
He is buried, and so He is man;
He rises again, and so He is God.
This is Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs glory for all ages.

Prayer of Saint Melito of Sardis.

You found something special to keep!  :crucifix:

Deo gratias et Mariae semper Virgini!

Shin, that is exactly how I feel. It is a beautiful prayer. I wanted to find out more about the author, Saint Melito. Not much available though. Only that  he was  a 2nd Century Saint. Born in 110 and died in 180. He became Bishop of Sardis, Lydia which is now part of modern Turkey.
Reportedly wrote numerous theological treatises and had the gift of prophesy.
His Memorial is 1 April.
Thanks to God and to Saint Melito for that beautiful prayer in praise of Jesus!

"Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels.
 It was said to them:
 ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’
Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body.
 Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens.
Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven?...What greater power is there than this?
 The Father has given all judgment to the Son.
 And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men.
They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven"

St. John Chrysostom

Let us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us.
St John Eudes

It's a prayer!

'The soul's immortality resides in dispassion and spiritual knowledge; no slave to sensual pleasure can attain it.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

“One must attend first to the salvation of the soul and only then to the salvation of the body”
St. Giuseppe Moscati,
"The Holy Physician of Naples"

Certainly! The two goals can be in opposition! After all, one of the three great enemies is 'the flesh'!

'If you have promised Christ to travel the straight and narrow road, then keep your stomach in check; for if you give in to it, oif you enlarge it, you are breaking your promise. Listen and hear the word of warning: "Wide and spacious is the road of gluttony. It leads to the catastrophe of fornication, and there are many who travel that way. The gate is narrow and the way of fasting is hard, that way leads to the life of purity, and there are few to make the journey" (cf. Matt. 7:13-14)

The fallen Lucifer is prince of the demons, and gluttony is prince of the passions. So when you sit at a well-laden table, remember death and remember judgment, and even then you will only manage to restrain yourself a little. And when you drink, keep always in mind the vinegar and gall of your Lord. Then indeed, you will be either temperate or sighing; you will keep your mind humble. For you must not fool yourself. You will not escape from Pharaoh and you will not see the heavenly Passover unless you constantly eat bitter herbs and unleavened bread, the bitter herbs of toil and hard fasting, the unleavened bread of a mind made humble. Join to your breathing the word of him who said: "When devils plagued me, I put on sackcloth, humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer stuck to the bosom of my soul" (Ps. 34:13).'

St. John Climacus

The "public opinion" ( big bellies are also called "public opinion"  ;D)  in these parts is that fat bellied men are rich.
Which possibly means they can afford to drink as many bottles of beer( the supposed culprit), as they want.
( completely oblivious of Mattew's advise )  :)

"Don't you long to shout to those youths who are bustling around you: Fools! Leave those worldly things that shackle the heart - and very often degrade it - leave all that and come with us in search of Love!"

Saint Josemaria Escriva

Whenever I hear of certain times and cultures where fatness is admired all I can do is shake my head!

And who can blame you  ;D
Where as that may be true in the case of "well covered women"  as they are sometimes referred to, for men, it is just an observed fact that they tend to be well of; I do not think that they are admired, not if it is a consequence of overindulgence.

'As for those who run after visions, dreams, and the like, we must lay hold of them by the feet and pull them to the ground by force, lest they should fall into the devil's net.'

St. Philip Neri

Very true and yet we know too that God can talk to a select few through this very same medium.

"Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could."
St. Gregory Nazianzen

No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

This is very true.

May people learn to recognize this! And recognize this feeling within their heart! So that it may take ahold of their whole heart.

And so too my poor heart. Amen.

often times one knows that "earthly pleasures and  the kingdoms of this world" as Saint Ignatius of Antioch puts it are but of a temporary nature, no use to us at all spiritually; the problem is that such earthly things seem to have an attraction that is difficult to resist for most of us.  It is a never ending struggle.

Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession.
Saint Isidore of Seville

Thank God for good confessions!

"All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle."
Saint  Francis

Very nice! I have not heard that one before!

Today somebody sent me a fictional "conversation between a student and a lecturer" which she told me is worth reading and it was.
There was something about darkness being the absence of light. 
Allegorically, sin, which is darkness is the absence of light which is God. :crucifix:

It makes for a lot of thought doesn't it?

'I am at the sea-shore; a drop of water is suspended from my finger. I ask this water: Poor drop, where would you wish to be? It replies: In the sea. And what do I in answer to this appeal? I shake my finger and let the poor little drop fall into the sea. Now, I ask you, is it not true that this drop of water is in the sea? Certainly it is there; but go and seek it, now that it is lost in the ocean, its centre. If it had a tongue, what would it say? Deduce the consequence and apply the parable to yourself. Lose sight of the heavens, the earth, the sea and its rivers, and all created things, and permit this soul that God has given you to lose herself in this infinitely great and good God Who is her first cause.'

St. Paul of the Cross

That it does   :)

'It is never appropriate to speak about the parts of the body that must always be kept hidden and about certain bodily necessities to which nature has subjected all of us or even to name them. If sometimes you cannot avoid this in the case of a sick person or someone who is indisposed, do so in such a courteous manner that the terms you use cannot offend against decorum.'

St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle

This quote is one after my own heart; I couldn't agree more with St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle.  There are many people who see nothing wrong with such "crude talk" as I refer to them. I heard a mother talk to her child once in such explicit terms, repeatedly telling the child to do the deed in a loud voice. I did not know where to look; I felt so completely put off and uncomfortable in that compound I wanted to turn and walk away but I had just arrived for a visit and had no choice but to stay. :(

"Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels.
 It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
 and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’
Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body.
Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens.
Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven?...
What greater power is there than this?
 The Father has given all judgment to the Son.
And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men.
 They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven"

St. John Chrysostom

"My Jesus! What a lovable contrivance this holy Sacrament was; that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for a visit by anyone who desires You!"

    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

"O Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, and our dear Mother! O all ye holy angels, who, by your adoration in our churches, make up for the little love which your God and our Saviour receives from men, obtain for us the grace to comprehend a little the love of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament."

    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

As you can see Shin, quotations about The Holy Eucharist are simply irrisistible. :)
I am carried away, can't help myself :)

Just one more and that is it for today  ;D

If Angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.
 St. Maximilian Kolbe

And do not forget!  :crucifix:

'If you practice the holy exercise of Spiritual Communion a good many times each day, within a month you will see yourself completely changed.'

St. Leonard of Port Maurice

I remember when you  posted this quote earlier, I printed out the prayer and for a while I used to remember to say it; now it it is just in my hand bag, I hardly ever remember to say it. So much for perseverance  :(

"I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master."

   St. John Vianney

That quote really rings a bell for me. I wish I could live in the sanctuary.

You can always say the prayer ten times in the next hour odhiambo! To make a new beginning!  :crucifix:

Bless you Shin!
It is true we do fall but we do not have to remain fallen as Jesus' hand is always outstretched to help us up. :crucifix:

"God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar."

    - St. Maximilian Kolbe

"He remains among us until the end of the world. He dwells on so many altars, though so often offended and profaned."

    St. Maximilian Kolbe

 :crucifix:

Why do you not practice what you preach.
St. Jerome

'Use the senses and sense objects as a means to spiritual contemplation but, on the contrary, do not use what provokes the desire of the flesh as food for the senses.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

St. Jerome's quote is a memorable one! And humbling!

True though few heed him  :(

"When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."

    St. Francis de Sales

 A member over at CAF started a thread "I don't get that much out of communion" and wanted to know what experiences others have.
I posted the above quote of Saint Francis de Sales. I hope it helped. I think the benefits we get from Sacraments depends very much on our inner preparedness. If we have faith, Jesus works His miracles in us; without that faith, His hands are as good as tied. :(

“Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”

St. John Bosco

This sounds like a thread topic to start! :D

'Fly, as a pest, that self-satisfaction which begets vanity and inspires you with an esteem of yourself; it comes from the devil.

Thank the Lord that you have the grace to recognize and reject it.

Humility of heart, self-contempt, recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the impregnable fortress to which we should ever fly for help -- these are the chief means of guarding against illusion.

Those sentiments which enlighten your mind and inflame your will ought, after what you have told me, to be suspected if they occasion you one particle of self-complacency. You should, therefore, banish those imaginations and place yourself in the presence of God, endeavoring with a lively faith to conceive a high idea of the Divine Majesty, that you may the more effectually humble yourself before Him. If the, devil assail you, think of your sins and miseries; do not permit yourself to go further, but reflect on your own nothingness : you will thus baffle the ruses of the demon. Be faithful to this advice.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Should we start it and see what others have to say? ;D

Good evening from the other side of the world odhiambo!

Yes! :D

I am about to retire. A few words from the desert monks to read, and then lights out I think. God keep you I pray and give you a good day/night!  ;D

Have a good night's rest Shin, you deserve it.
Will start the thread.

"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man."

 St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.
Saint Isidore of Seville

The sacrifice of God for man. . .

The quote from St. Isidore reminds me of something I read elsewhere, I forget from who -- Was it Fr. Furniss? Perhaps St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori? Or..? A desert hermit? In any case, the saint, was advising people who said they got nothing from sermons or books.. Ah I think it was St. Bernardine of Siena! Though he may have been quoting another.. I will have to look it up..

In any case, he was advising people who got nothing out of what they listened to, or so they said.. and he said that little by little, it would penetrate.. it would benefit them..

Like a drop of water on a rock I am thinking.. :D

And if the people are concerned it is the sermons themselves that are of poor quality, all they have to do is go to the saints, and however poor their minds eventually it will get through, God willing. :D

'We truly love God and keep His commandments if we restrain ourselves from our pleasures. For he who still abandons himself to unlawful desires certainly does not love God, since he contradicts Him in his own intentions. . . Therefore, he loves God truly, whose mind is not conquered by consent to evil delight. For the more one takes pleasure in lower things, the more he is separated from heavenly love.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

"Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident -- in the most audacious way -- in His Fatherly goodness."

     St. Therese of the Infant Jesus

'Some people seem to glory in displaying their irreligious spirit in what they say by mingling the words of Holy Scripture with profane things, by mocking and making fun of sacred things and religious practices, or by bragging about the sins and infamous deeds they have committed. These are the very people of whom the Wise Man says that their conversations are intolerable, because they make a game and a joke of sin itself (Eccl [Sir] 27:15 [13]).'

St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle

“Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.”
Thomas Aquinas

"God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar."

    St. Maximilian Kolbe

I found thee not, O Lord, without, because I erred in seeking thee without that wert within.
Saint Augustine

"that wert within"?
I understand what he meant but " that wert within" is a bit much. I am glad English has evolved to such as it is today. ;D

Punishment is justice for the unjust.
Saint Augustine

I remember when I was trying to learn another language, the archaic stuff was all the more to learn!

I haven't heard that St. Augustine quote before.

Says it all in a few words!

'I promise thee if thou sleep upon straw, it is indeed most warm in winter, and in summer it is very fresh and cool.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

 :D

 ;D

  “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
 St. Francis of Assisi

“Beauty is indeed a good gift of God;
 but that the good may not think it a great good,
 God dispenses it even to the wicked.”
 Saint Augustine quotes

 ;D

I tend to think ugliness is a greater gift from God than beauty. :D

You are not one to "judge a book by it's cover" then?  ;D

It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey.
Saint Ignatius

This one makes me think, 'it is hard to obey when we do not love the one whom we obey', and how far I have to change.

 :-\

It is so true Shin. When we do not obey God, can we honestly still profess to love Him above all else?
I know that for most of us, we really want to obey God in all things but sometimes the body is weak. Take my case yesterday. It was First Friday and I wanted to go for the all night prayers which include two Masses;  one at around 9.30 pm and the second one at around 5.30 am the next morning to conclude the vigil. It was raining and cold, there was a snarl up of traffic and by the time I reached home I was hungry and tired. ( all excuses I know for not going to church!). I ended up not going. Can I honestly say that I love God above all else when my comfort seemed more important? :(
This is the question I am grappling with.

This is why I see virtue and understanding what it is as so important.

If I can see a particular virtue in Christ, and in a saint, and understand how it is properly practiced, I can aim for and pray for it to be learned by myself. I.e. then I know at least, what the goal is in a particular case.

And I have to keep praying to love God more! God help us!

Yes, let us pray for as Saint John Vianney said,
"You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God"

What prayer could be more true before God the Father than that which the Son, who is Truth, uttered with His own lips?
Saint John Chrysostom

Very inspiring!

I am still moved by the obedience quote. I keep coming back to it and it is helping motivate me to do the work to change my habits.

Yes, what I am absorbing from the Forum is helping me too.
When I come across quotes like that I treasure them.

There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God's.
Saint Teresa of Avila

A good thing to remember in conversation, I try!  ;D

This is what Shin always says!  :D

We will now join him and start reminding ourselves and  others of the same whenever it rains cats and dogs  ;D

Haha, I don't mind the rain, it's when it's too hot that I have to really work at saying it!  ;D

We must fear God out of love, not love Him out of fear.
Saint Francis de Sales

What a nice turn of phrase!

Consider all the past as nothing, and say, like David: Now I begin to love my God.
Saint Francis de Sales

Have you noticed Shin how the Saints all but say the same thing but in different words?

Yes I have. :D

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
Saint Augustine

And pride that makes them as devils!

Sadly yes  :(

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.
Saint Augustine

It reminds me of 'what you do for the least' . . .

A cup of water. . .

'"Like a tree planted by streams of water," [Ps. 1:3] the soul is irrigated by the Holy Scriptures and acquires vigour, produces tasty fruit, namely, true faith, and is beautified with a thousand green leaves, namely, actions that please God.'

St. John of Damascus

Thought provoking  :lilangel:

All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly.
Saint Francis de Sales

The following is now as well known as the Saint himself  :)
Ever Ancient, Ever New
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.
from The Confessions of Saint Augustine

'All men are made in God's image; but to be in His likeness is granted only to those who through great love have brought their own freedom into subjection to God. For only when we do not belong to ourselves do we become like Him who through love has reconciled us to Himself. No one achieves this unless he persuades his soul not to be distracted by the false glitter of this life.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

St. Diadochos of Photiki?
Never heard of him :)
Tell us a brief account of his life please.

I can't find much about him. I know he is a bishop, it's said he was born around 400 A.D. and is known for 'On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination' a work of one hundred texts on the subject.

Photiki was part of Epirus, which if you look on a map is the land directly across the water, East of the end of the Italian peninsula.

'No one can love God consciously in his heart unless he has first feared Him with all his heart. Through the action of fear the soul is purified and, as it were, made malleable and so it becomes awakened to the action of love. No one, however, can come to fear God completely in the way described, unless he first transcends all worldly cares; for when the intellect reaches a state of deep stillness and detachment, then the fear of God begins to trouble it, purifying it with full perception from all gross and cloddish density, and thereby bringing it to a great love for God's goodness. Thus the fear which characterizes those who are still being purified is accompanied by a moderate measure of love. But perfect love is found in those who have already been purified and in whom there is no longer any fear, for 'perfect love casts out fear' (1 John 4:18). Fear and love are found together only in the righteous who achieve virtue through the energy of the Holy Spirit in them. For this reason Holy Scripture says in one place: 'O fear the Lord, all you who are His saints' (Ps. 34:9), and in another: ‘O love the Lord, all you who are His saints' (Ps. 31:23). From this we see clearly that the righteous, who are still in the process of being purified, are characterized both by fear and by a moderate measure of love; perfect love, on the other hand, is found only in those who have already been purified and in whom there is no longer any thought of fear, but rather a constant burning and binding of the soul to God through the energy of the Holy Spirit. As it is written, ‘My soul is bound to Thee: Thy right hand has upheld me' (Ps. 63:8. LXX).'

St. Diadochos of Photiki, Text 16, 'On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination'

'Very few men can accurately recognize all their own faults; indeed, only those can do this whose intellect is never torn away from the remembrance of God. Our bodily eyes, when healthy, can see everything, even gnats and mosquitoes flying about in the air; but when they are clouded by some discharge, they see large objects only indistinctly and small things not at all. Similarly if the soul, through attentiveness, reduces the blindness caused by the love of this world, it will consider its slightest faults to be very grave and will continually shed tears with deep thankfulness. For it is written, 'The righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name' (Ps. 140:13). But if the soul persists in its worldly disposition, even though it commits a murder or some other act deserving severe punishment, it takes little notice; and it is quite unable to discern its other faults, often considering them to be signs of progress, and in its wretchedness it is not ashamed to defend them heatedly.

Only the Holy Spirit can purify the intellect, for unless a greater power comes and overthrows the despoiler, what he has taken captive will never be set free (cf. Luke 11:21-22). In every way, therefore, and especially through peace of soul, we must make ourselves a dwelling-place for the Holy Spirit. Then we shall have the lamp of spiritual knowledge burning always within us; and when it is shining constantly in the inner shrine of the soul, not only will the intellect perceive all the dark and bitter attacks of the demons, but these attacks will be greatly weakened when exposed for what they are by that glorious and holy light. That is why the Apostle says: 'Do not quench the Spirit' (1 Thess. 5:19), meaning: 'Do not grieve the goodness of the Holy Spirit by wicked actions or wicked thoughts, lest you be deprived of this protecting light.' The Spirit, since He is eternal and life-creating, cannot be quenched; but if He is grieved - that is if He withdraws - He leaves the intellect without the light of spiritual knowledge, dark and full of gloom.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki, Texts 27 & 28, 'On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination'

Thank you Shin.
The saint wrote of perfect love, being "found only in those who have already been purified and in whom there is no longer any thought of fear, but rather a constant burning and binding of the soul to God through the energy of the Holy Spirit"
There are many saints who had this perfect love.
In this day and age, though, where one cannot completely be divorced from the world, attaining this much desired spiritual growth is, well, not easy.  Even the very internet we are now  so dependent on has it's down side, almost like the T.V  :(

It's true, one has to separate oneself!

Let us resolve here and now to " do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God"
just as the Saint wished. :crucifix:

Beautiful!!

This quote to me captures the struggles Catholic young adults face in their Christian lives.

Yes, they haven't realized they have to give it all up completely.

If only more people were raised as Christians from their youngest childhood, by parents who were examples of Christian life, and separate from the world!

'To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil.'

St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle


St. Paschal Baylon, pray for us.

'He who wishes to purify his faults purifies them with tears and he who wishes to acquire virtues, acquires them with tears.'

St. Poemen

St. Poemen and St. Robert Southwell, pray for us.

'To him who hungers after Christ grace is food; to him who is thirsty, a reviving drink; to him who is cold, a garment; to him who is weary, rest; to him who prays, assurance; to him who mourns, consolation.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

According to SQPN, St. Mark the Ascetic reportedly knew the Scriptures by heart.
He was not the only one. I have come across at least one other; I forget which saint.

My daughter, I see more Pharisees among Christians than there were around Pilate.
St. Margaret of Cortona

Sigh, that's been in my thoughts lately, actually. And here is this quote.

Some many people treating Our Lord's words, and His saints so irreverently and looking for ways to cast aspersions or insinuate problems.

'He who loves Jesus trains himself in suffering: perseverance in suffering dispels listlessness.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Mount Calvary is the academy of love.
St. Francis de Sales

Proud is many a man who looks down on his neighbor because the wool of his gown is finer! Yet as fine as it is, a poor sheep wore it upon her back before it came upon his back, and all the while she wore it, she was after all still only a sheep. And why should he now think himself better than she was simply by having that wool-----wool that, even though it is now his, is still not so truly his as it was truly hers?  :)
 
St. Thomas More

The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.

St. Basil the Great

Quite a find odhiambo!  ;D Quite a find!

Hi Shin!
A real gem yes  ;D

'The intellect freed from the passions becomes like light, unceasingly illumined by the contemplation of created beings.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

That needs some thought to unravel.
I am a bit dull witted this morning  ;D

Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

St. John of the Cross

I was reading how the little children of Fatima used every trial that came their way as an offering to console the Herats of Jesus and Mary and plead mercy on poor sinners.

I need to keep this in mind and stop complaining.  :-[

Likewise. :(

Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.
St. Basil the Great

I thought that when God created us, He gave each one of us a Guardian Angel. From the quote, it seems that only Believers  have Guardian Angels. Is that the case?

No, I do believe it is everyone, I think he is simply saying it non-exclusively.

It's great to meditate on a quote and work at understanding it! :D

I think St. Thalassios' quote is one of those for a good deal of thought.

It makes me think of the difference in thought itself, when thought itself is virtuous, or not. And something I heard of once called the 'principle of the integral good', which is "good is from an integral cause, evil from any defect whatsoever."

I think to truly understand this quote you have to experience it in the end. But it's helpful guidance too.

God help us on the journey!

When tempted, invoke your Angel. he is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel.
St. John Bosco

How magnificent it is to know you have a guardian and protector and friend like this your entire life. :D

'Come, Lord, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you.'

St. Augustine

The sad fact is that few realize it. :(

Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" [Jn 3:5].
St. Thomas Aquinas

Whenever I am asked if I am born again, I am always at a loss how to answer;
well, not anymore; now, thanks to St. Thomas Aquinas, I know just how to answer that frequently asked question and it will be something like this:
Yes and No! I am not a born again Christian, not the one you have in mind.
I am Catholic. Born again of water and the Holy Spirit at the time I was baptized and confirmed!
How is that for an answer? ;D

Pretty good odhiambo! :D

The more I think of spiritual virtue, infused virtue, the more I think of how the Christian way of life is so different fundamentally, outside and in, than the worldly way of life.

All the ways of acting, the entertainment, the daily life, everything is different.

It frightens me to see how far I have to go and little I know.


'The reason why the lukewarm run so great a risk of being lost is because tepidity conceals from the soul the immense evil which it causes.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

God is merciful; we can but hope. :crucifix:
I have realised that the more we try the more we indeed grow in the faith. Once you start losing interest in some of the things you once thought were vital to a good life, you know you are inching forwards. :)

"There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved".
St. Thomas Aquinas

There is no place else to go!

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

St. Bernadette Soubirous

And to think that people actually leave the Church  :speachless:

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”

Saint Augustine

Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.
Saint Francis de Sales

What a miracle to have a mother so full of grace! :D

'God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it.'

St. Augustine

This is true even if they may seem undeserving.

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.
Saint Augustine

Yes, it took me time to learn that lesson odhiambo! Thankfully you have learned it!

Learning is a lifelong process Shin, it never ends. ;D

Those quotes provide plenty of food for thought.
The saints can say so much with so few words.  O:)

'My dear brethren, I call that man bad company who is without religion, who does not concern himself with either the commandments of God or those of the Church, who does not recognize Lent or Easter, who seldom comes to church or, if he does come, then only to scandalize others by his irreligious ways. You ought to shun his company; otherwise you will not be long in becoming like him without your even noticing it.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

He is so right.
There is always a risk even in just associating with those of other faiths. I know that this could be considered discrimination, but it is a fact that Catholics in the presence of Non-Catholics are reluctant to be"Catholics", if I can put it that way.
A poster over at CAF admitted to not making the Sign of the Cross before eating in school for fear of being ridiculed by other students. :(
The Desert Fathers and Mothers sure knew how to solve this problem.
Talking of the Desert Fathers and Mothers,what of Confession,  Holly Communion, Holy Mass and so on?
Did they sacrifice all that on the alter of constant prayer, solitude , sacrifices etc?

That reminds me of one of my favorite sermons.

In it was a story about a little girl going to kindergarten for the first time, and trying to say grace.

It's a reason why it's so necessary for there to be Christian society, and government, rather than a pluralistic society. Absolutely necessary. Only because of the profound ignorance today of what Christianity is, are people living their lives and raising their children as they are.

'Obviously the need of this Christian instruction is accentuated by the decline of our times and morals. It is even more demanded by the existence of those public schools, lacking all religion, where everything holy is ridiculed and scorned. There both teachers' lips and students' ears are inclined to godlessness. We are referring to those schools which are unjustly called neutral or lay. In reality, they are nothing more than the stronghold of the powers of darkness.'

Pope St. Pius X, 'Editae Saepe'

Shin I was reading that quote thinking it was your own til I scrolled on down and saw it was from Pope St. Pius X. It certainly sounds like things you've written before on the subject.  :)

Getting involved with this school catechises I've discovered that things are actually worse than I first imagined.; I think it will take direct intervention from the Lord to put things right but we still must do our own little bit.

Yes, pray and work! Bring as much grace to the situation as the Lord wills.

I think of that quote often if I say anything about the subject! Thank God for Pope St. Pius X and his writing on education! I pray he intercedes for us in regards to the help you're trying to bring to education. If only people had listened enough to his words!

'Abba Paphnutius said, "When I was walking along the road, I happened to lose my way and found myself near a village adn I saw some people who were talking about evil things. So I stood still, praying or my sins. Then behold an angel came, holding a sword, and he said to me, "Paphnutius, all those who judge their brothers perish by his sword, but because you have not judged, but have humbled yourself before God, saying that you have sinned, your name is written in the book of the living!"

'Abba Poemen said that Abba Paphnutius used to say, 'During the whole lifetime of the old men, I used to go see them twice a month, although it was a distance of twelve miles. I told them  each of my thoughts and they never answered me anything  but this, "Wherever you go, do not judge yourself and you will have peace."

'Amma Sarah sent someone to say to Abba Paphnutius, "Have you really done the work of God by letting your brother be despised?" and Abba Paphnutius said, "Paphnutius is here with the intention of doing the work of God, and he has nothing to do with anyone else."

- the sayings of the Desert Fathers

Same here martin. Shin, I honestly thought it was your say on the subject because it sounded so like you; until I realized it was a quote  ;D
Imagine this problem we are facing now was a problem even then, some one hundred years ago, give or take. :(

"Be just and fair in all you do. Always put yourself in your neighbour's place, and put him into yours, and then you will judge fairly. Sell as you would buy, and buy as you would sell, and your buying and selling will alike be honest. These little dishonesties seem unimportant, because we are not obliged to make restitution, and we have, after all, only taken that which we might demand according to the strict letter of the law; but, nevertheless, they are sins against right and charity, and are mere trickery, greatly needing correction-nor does any one ever lose by being generous, noble-hearted and courteous. Be sure then often to examine your dealings with your neighbour, whether your heart is right towards him, as you would have his towards you, were things reversed-this is the true test of reason."

St. Francis de Sales

Amen! Amen! Saint Francis and thank you!

'When the door of the steam baths is continually left open, the heat inside rapidly escapes through it; likewise the soul, in its desire to say many things, dissipates its remembrance of God through the door of speech, even though everything it says may be good. Thereafter the intellect, though lacking appropriate ideas, pours out a welter of confused thoughts to anyone it meets, as it no longer has the Holy Spirit to keep its understanding free from fantasy. Ideas of value always shun verbosity, being foreign to confusion and fantasy. Timely silence, then, is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

In other words: " Silence is golden"  ;D

 :D

'Put in practice these precious words: suffer, be silent. By doing so, you will become in a short time holy and perfect.'
St. Paul of the Cross

Easier to suffer than to be silent! So much to learn from the Saints.  O:)

I agree Patricia  :)
Silence is a virtue in certain conditions but in others, one is obliged to speak.
Listen to the prophet Isaiah in the next post.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.
Isaiah 62:1

'Take with you everywhere this spirit of prayer and interior recollection. Go out of yourself, and lose yourself in God; go out of time, and lose yourself in eternity.'

St. Paul of the Cross

There's so deep a meaning to 'silence'.

That is true Shin.
There is also the " Prayer of Silence".
I try this prayer at times during my weekly Eucharistic Adoration but I am no good at it. I soon give up and read instead, especially at those times when I am not collected and cannot pray properly.

'There was once a solitary who had built himself a royal palace in the trunk of an oak-tree; he had placed thorns inside of it, and he had fastened three stones over his head, so that when he raised himself or turned over he might feel the stones or the thorns. And we, we think of nothing but finding good beds, that we may sleep at our ease.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely enmeshed.'
St. Mark the Ascetic

That's one of my favorite St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney qoutes odhiambo. It really speaks to me of what the life of a saint is.

The St. Mark quote makes me think of these times especially, where everything has fallen apart. The only way out is to follow the saints, and get clear, far clear, of the world's conversations and entertainments.

I wish I could pray decently. I am not pleased with my prayer life. I think it is because I lack virtue. I think the more virtue one has the better in this regard..

Without sufficient virtue it would be, I think, no wonder, that prayer was not what it should be, because one was not developing the interior qualities for it.

Was he referring to St. Simon Stock or was there another Saint who lived a similar life?

You know the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again."   
That is all any of us can do Shin. Success will come with constant trying. It is what is in our hearts that counts with God. Perseverance is important. That is also my problem. At times I want to praise Him using my own words but nothing flows, so I turn to our written prayers. How I envy those who just open their mouths and words of praise, thanksgiving, etc, flow out in spontaneous worship. I have asked Jesus to teach me how to pray. I believe He will. :crucifix:

Thank you odhiambo!

I remember how I love litanies, I should pick those up again. Each line is a short prayer that is memorable and one can think on.


'Let him who seeks true humility, employ two means: mental prayer, meditating on the greatness of God, and his own nothingness; vocal prayer, asking it of God, through the merits of Jesus and Mary.'

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Amen!

Vocal prayer . . . must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I don't call prayer-----however much the lips may move.
St. Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila's quote brings to mind this verse from Mathew:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Matthew 6:7

'Christ could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. "It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on me shall live on account of me."'

St. Albert the Great

The very one God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden so they would not eat of it and thus live forever; . Jesus Himself! :crucifix:

“Despise not yourselves, ye women; the Son of God was born of a woman”

Saint Augustine

'In the spiritual life no storm is more formidable than calmness itself, nor an adversary more dangerous than the absence of adversaries.'
St. Ignatius of Loyola

I need help to understand St. Ignatius of Loyola's quote above.

I felt pain in seeing my dear God so offended. I could faint from seeing so many souls lost for not feeling the fruit of the Passion of Jesus. A desire to convert all sinners will not leave me.

Saint Paul of the Cross.

I think the quotes on false peace (http://saintsquotes.net/Selection%20-%20False%20Peace.html) would probably be the answer.

And these two too.

'No one ought to consider himself a true servant of God who is not tried by many temptations and trials.'

St. Francis of Assisi

'Without temptation, no one can be saved. . . Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.'

St. Anthony of Egypt

There isn't a selection series up on true peace yet, which is quite beautiful to read of and think on.

Thank you Shin.
You are right. I have read the quotes on false peace and they have helped me to understand what St. Ignatius meant.

Glad to hear it!

It frightened me a little though  :(
Now I want temptations  :)

What prayer could be more true before God the Father than that which the Son, who is Truth, uttered with His own lips?
Saint John Chrysostom

'Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not grow indifferent to God because of the intimate com­munion of its love.'
St. Maximos the Confessor

When we are sorry for our sins because of fear of punishment, it is imperfect contrition.
On the other hand, if it is the love of God that has triggered our regret and contrition, then that is perfect contrition.
My thoughts, not a quote. ;D

Haha, I know you know we should seek not them out. But if we are seeking to be virtuous we are certain to be opposed in that and so there they will be.

I become horrified when I think about the difference between a natural life and a supernatural life, and reflect on my life and past and what has changed and what has not.

I remember reading that there had to be a supernatural motivation.. When I think about the difference between natural desires and supernatural ones, natural virtuous and supernatural virtues, infused by the grace of God..

I wonder and think a great deal and try to discern.



'Moreover it is all the more remarkable that the more we submit to God's will, the more He tries to meet our wishes. It would seem that as soon as we make it our sole aim to obey Him, He on His part does His best to try and please us. Not only does He answer our prayers but He even forestalls them by granting the very desires we have endeavored to stifle in our hearts in order to please Him, and granting them in a measure we had never imagined.'

St. Claude de la Colombiere

The heart of the wicked swarms with sins like an anthill with ants. It is like a piece of bad meat full of worms. When we abandon ourselves to our passions, we interweave thorns around our heart. We are like moles a week old; no sooner do we see the light, than we bury ourselves in the ground. The devil amuses us till the last moment, as a poor man is kept amused while the soldiers are coming to take him. When they come, he cries and struggles in vain, for they will not release him.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'Now although man is created for the possession of happiness, yet, having deviated from his true end, his nature has become deformed and is entirely repugnant to true beatitude. And on this account we are forced to submit to God this depraved nature of ours which fills our understanding with so many occupations, and causes us to deviate from the true path, in order that he may entirely consume it until nothing remains there but himself; otherwise the soul could never attain stability nor repose, for she was created for no other end.'

St. Catherine of Genoa

'For God desires that man be like Him in all things, and for this reason he came down to earth and suffered, that He might subdue our hardened nature an cut off our wilfullness and the spurious knowledge that dominates our hearts. Indeed, whearas the irrational animals have preserved their own nature, man has changed his proper nature.

In the beginning, when God created man, He placed him in paradise, with sound senses established in their natural state. But when man accepted the counsel of the Devil, who deceived him, all of his senses were distorted from their natural state contrary to nature, and it was then that man fell away from his spiritual potential.

But our Lord took pity on our kind, on account of the great love with which He loved us, the ungrateful ones, and through His Divine Incarnation He changed man's unnatural state into a natural one. He effected this change through His Holy Body. He bestowed on us the capacity to communicate with His Divine Body through Divine Communion. In this way He brought us back again to Paradise and gave us holy commandments, which, provided we observe them, will enable us to overcome those who have estranged us from our glory and to establish ourselves once more in that natural state in which we were created in the beginning.

For man's natural desire consists in his yearning for things on high, without such desire one cannot even have love for God. For this reason, Daniel was called a man of desires (his desires being directed towards things on high and not towards earthly things). Our enemy, the Devil, turned this into shameful desire, so that we lust after every kind of impurity.

Zeal is a natural state of mind; without such zeal there can be no progress towards God. This is why the Apostle Paul writes: "Covet earnestly the best gifts" (I Cor. 12:31). This zeal for God has been transformed into something contrary to nature, such that we are jealous and envious of one another and lie to each other.

Anger is a natural state of mind. Without this anger, man cannot attain to purity of soul, for he is commanded to be angry about all that the Enemy sows in his mind. But this natural anger that we should have against the Devil has been twisted into anger against our fellow men for all the ways in which they fail to benefit us.'

Abba Isaiah, from the writings of the desert fathers

'Nature and grace cannot subsist together in the same heart. The one must always make room for the other.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

"You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves."
St. Francis de Sales.

Thank you Saint Francis!
The penny just dropped for me  ;D
I have asked God to give me the gift of spontaneous prayer and yet I do not pray much this way.
Now, thanks to Saint Francis' quote above, I will definately try to pray by talking to God.

AH, how wonderful odhiambo!

I too am inspired by this quote!

'I thank God for having preserved me in the integrity of faith in the midst of an age that has brought forth so many heresies and scandalous opinions, and for the grace of never having held any opinion contrary to that of the Church. By a special protection of God, notwithstanding the many dangerous occasions wherein I might have been turned from the right path, I have always been on the side of truth.'

St. Vincent de Paul

A relevent quote too (probably even more so) for our times. If truth is truth, how can some say that truth can be different from one person to the next?
I'm beginning to learn (or as you would say odhiambo) the penny is dropping that once the truth is known, it ceases to be the truth if it is compromised. That's seems to be the reason why the Church has so many martyrs. When one reads the accounts it becomes clear that in many cases the martyr's life would have been spared if he/she had just shown a tiny little speck of compromise.

Amen!

The saints are teaching us a lot Martin.

'A treasure is secure so long as it remains concealed; but when once disclosed, and laid open to every bold invader, it is presently rifled; so virtue is safe so long as secret, but, if rashly exposed, it but too often evaporates into smoke. By humility, and contempt of the world, the soul, like an eagle, soars on high, above all transitory things, and tramples on the backs of lions and dragons.'
St. Syncletica

This quote is also exemplified frequently in our everyday lives. How many of us have acted boldly, rashly, thinking we have it all and nothing can go wrong. No advice is heeded. Then when it is too late,  when everything has turned to ashes; we look back with  regrates. :(

Prayer of Saint John Vianney.
"I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally....My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath."
Saint John Vianney.

If it is "daily bread," why do you take it once a year? . . . Take daily what is to profit you daily. Live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it daily. He who does not deserve to receive it daily, does not deserve to receive it once a year.
St. Ambrose of Milan

I've made this mistake more than once. I hope I am a quieter person now, who does not have to tell a story about everything in life.


Amen, amen....

We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Prayer ought to be short and pure, unless it be prolonged by the inspiration of Divine grace.
Saint Benedict

Vocal prayer must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I don't call prayer however much the lips may move.
St. Teresa of Avila

I think this is what Jesus referred to as "babbling", no?

I think it's very important to aim for prayer from the heart.

'It has been Our lot from the very beginning of Our Pontificate to suit many grievous and painful occurrences from various causes, which We have often explained to you in encyclical letters; in these last years the burden of distress has grown so that, if the divine goodness did not sustain Us, we would be all but overwhelmed. Indeed things have reached such a point that death itself would seem preferable to life tossed about by so many waves; with eyes lifted to heaven, we are compelled to cry out from time to time: "it is better for us to die, than to witness the ruin of our sanctuary." [I Mc 3:59]

Forsooth, from the time when this Our beloved city was forcibly captured and subjected to the rule of men who are disdainers of right and enemies of religion, men to whom all things human and divine are one and the same, scarcely no day has gone by without some new wound beings invited on Our already wounded heart."'

Pope Bl. Pius IX

'I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.'

John 6:51-52

True, otherwise it is not really prayer. According to Saint Therese of Lisieux,
" prayer is a surge of the heart....."

That reminds me of a prayer before sleeping, offering up one's heart to God. I wonder where I put it.

'The Lord did not disdain to work great miracles through him. For at one time the Holy Spirit revealed to him the coming of the Lombards into the Gauls and he foretold it as follows: "The Lombards," said he, "will come into the Gauls and will lay waste seven cities because their wickedness has grown in the sight of God, since no one understands, no one seeks God, no one does good to appease the anger of God. For all the people are unfaithful, given up to perjury, addicted to thievery, ready to kill, and from them comes no fruit of justice at all. Tithes are not paid, the poor are not fed, the naked are not clothed, strangers are not received with hospitality or satisfied with food. Therefore this affliction has come."'

St. Gregory of Tours

"Prayer is a door that opens up into the mystery of God and at the same time a means of communing with Him. It actuates the personal relationship with the Lord present in the very depths of the spirituality. Prayer is the gate of entry to the center of the castle - God's dwelling place in the soul - where He sits upon His throne as King."
St. Teresa of Jesus

“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.”
 Saint John Damascene.

"The prayer most pleasing to God is that made for others and particularly for the poor souls. Pray for them, if you want your prayers to bring high interest."
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

"One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer".
St. Teresa of Avila

Good quote haji!
I however, think that suffering is a prayer only when accepted as the Will of God and offered to Him. If I resent the fact that I am suffering; think bitterly why it has to be me and not someone else, etc; can it still be a prayer really?

True. Suffering when joyfully borne can bear fruit. I have many a times rejected crosses sent my way as unbearable to carry. 

Never sure what to say on this subject, one of my disabilities is my concentration, sorry. I believe God reads our hearts and minds, so lying is a useless sin. So I can't say I am joyful about my sufferings, I do accept them but I must confess reluctantly. I do offer them up and ask the Lord to forgive my weaknesses. When I read about the martyrs or am around others who suffer heroically I feel quite small, unworthy. It's something I am working on, I suppose I am a work in propress.
Praying for you all

God wishes to test you like gold in the furnace. The dross is consumed by the fire, but the pure gold remains, and it's value increases.
St. Jerome Emiliani

Amen. Amen.

You are right of course, God sees what is in our hearts.
Thanks for remembering us in your prayers.

That which God commands seems difficult and a burden. The way is rough; you draw back; you have no desire to follow it. Yet do so and you will attain glory.

-- Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria

God measures our affliction according to our need.
St. John Chrysostom

I love these new quotes!  :D

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.

Saint Isidore of Seville.

'There was a holy father, who living as he did in a very humble little cell in a wood, had with him one of his good little hermits, who could remember naught of that which he heard for his instruction, and for this reason he never went to hear preaching or aught else. And when he was telling to the holy father the reason because of which he went not to hear the preaching he said: I remember naught.

Then said this holy father: Take this little pan, for he had a little pan in which to cook fish, and he said: Boil this water, and when the water is boiling he says: Fill a glass full with it and pour it into this little pan which is all greasy. The other did so. Go, pour it out without cleansing it. And he did so, and the father said: Look now, and see if it be as greasy as it was at first. He said that it was less greasy. The father said: Put some water in it once again, and pour it out. He did so. And this time also was it cleaner. And thus the father made him to do many times, and each time was it cleaner. And he said then to him: Thou sayest that thou dost remember naught. Knowest thou the reason of this? Because thou art fat-witted, and thus greasy like the pan. Go, and pour some water into thy mind, and thou wilt see that it will be cleansed. Pour in more and again it will become cleaner, and the more often thou shalt hear the word of God, the more shall thy mind be cleansed and thou wilt be able to hear the word of God, until that thy mind shall be wholly cleansed and clarified.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

It is an old custom of the saints of God to have some little prayers ready and to be frequently darting them up to heaven during the day, lifting their minds to God out of the mire of this world. He who adopts this plan will obtain great fruits with little pain.
St. Phillip Neri

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, protect us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, save souls.

St. Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
O Holy Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
St. Joseph, model and patron of those who love the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.

Arrow Prayers they are.
I love the "great fruits with little pain" bit  ;D
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
Lord have mercy on me!
Jesus, I love You!

Still on "little prayers", Saint John Chrysostom reportedly fired one up every hour. He had these 24 short prayers, one for every hour of the day and night. For instance:
"O Lord, of Thy heavenly bounties, deprive me not"
Saint John Chrysostom

I love that one!

Arrows remind of of the Golden Arrow.  :D

Food for thought!

This is not a saints quote, but I love this story, hope you don't mind.

" And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, " Father, what is sexsin?"
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my suprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case and set it on the floor.
" Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
"It's too heavy" I said.
"Yes," He said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it.
For now you must trust me to carry it for you".
Corrie Ten Boom 

"Remember that the Christian life is one of action, not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well"
St. Vincent Pallotti

Some knowledge is too heavy for adults too! :D

Thank you haji.
To me, that father could only have been inspired to answer as he did. I will remember it and pass it on.

Only too true ;D
There are some topics on CAF I "run away" from. :)

I believe in order to understand

"I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe that unless I believe, I should not understand."  :)
St. Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogium, Chapter 1
 Wow  :)
I have a feeling this quote has been posted before but still,
 my mind is awhirl ;D
 

Yes whenever something terrible happens and I look to the sky and ask why, I remember that little story.

"The passion of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also an ocean of love. Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this ocean. Dive to it's depths. No matter how deep you go, you will never reach bottom."

St. Paul of the Cross

Amen!

Above the clouds the sky is always blue.
St. Teresa of Lisieux

A sea of sorrows..

God's love and fish in the ocean. . .

And a blue sky above. :D

'The proper function of the soul's intelligent aspect is devo­tion to the knowledge of God, while that of its passible aspect is the pursuit of self-control and love.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

'When your poor, restless heart turns by the grace of God towards the divine light, and conceives a wish to fly thither and be consumed therein, speak to God with profound reverence and gratitude of the wonders He did in becoming incarnate, suffering and dying for us.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them ,
every day begin the task anew.
St. Francis de Sales

"The Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot"
St. Augustine of Hippo

Life without the Cross is the heaviest Cross of all.
St Sebastian Valfre

So valuable to heaven is the dignity of the human soul that every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be.
St. Jerome

A cross and an angel to help one carry it!  :D

Yes

Yes, and we aught to talk to them often, as they are with us always. :)
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

“ No matter how good food is, if mixed with poison, it may cause the death of him who eats it.
   So it is with conversation.  A single bad word, an evil action, an unbecoming joke, is often enough to harm one or more young listeners, and may later on cause them to lose God’s grace.”     
St. John Bosco

Sometimes it may happen that one attends an official function that is concluded with a dinner party or some such things. Almost always, at least the ones I used to attend, the master of ceremony took it upon himself to tell jokes. Most of these so called jokes tended to be dirty jokes but people laughed and had a great time. It is a long time since I last attended such a  function but I bet it is still practised.

Yes  odhiambo, One of my favorite books in the bible is James 3: 1-11
"The tongue is a fire"  "no human being can tame the tongue, a restless evil, full of deadly poison"

I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.
St. Dominic Savio

Yes, a fearsome thing.. a few words.. how careful we have to be.

'Prayer is, beyond doubt, the most powerful weapon the Lord gives us to conquer evil passions and temptations of the devil; but we must really put ourselves into our prayer: it is not enough just to say the words, it must come from the heart. And also prayer needs to be continuous, we must pray no matter what kind of situation we find ourselves in: the warfare we are engaged in is on-going, so our prayer must be on-going also.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

I realized how much my prayer life suffered when i was working those crazy work hours!  :(

It makes me think of St. Martha and St. Mary!

St. Martha is considered the example of the active life and St. Mary the contemplative life.

'Your temptations are from the devil and from Hell; but your sufferings and afflictions are from God and Heaven.'

St. Padre Pio

May the Lord protect us from the evils of the tongue.
May He give us the grace to govern out tongues  :crucifix:

It is like employing a small tool on big constructions, if we use human wisdom in the hunt for knowledge of reality.
 St. Cyril of Alexandria

All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.
St. Thomas Aquinas

Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity.
St. Therese of Lisieux

'In beautiful things St. Francis saw Beauty itself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making from all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who is utterly desirable.'

St. Bonaventure

Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey.
St. Anthony de Padua.

How I would love to learn how to do this!

We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: "I will pray, and then I will understand." 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 others.
St. Charles Borromeo

I like this
I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.
Peter Kreeft

I guess the first step is to consecrate  yourself to Him Shin.  :)

This is indeed how it is supposed to be with us Christians. It is a sure way of ensuring that we live  our lives according to the Will of God

“Hell is full of good wishes or desires”

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

What souls we can convert by our prayers. The one who saves a soul from hell saves this soul and his own as well.
St. John Vianney

Do not be troubled by Bernard's saying that "Hell is full of good wishes or desires."  ;D
 St. Francis de Sales.

I can't stop praying for poor sinners who are on the road to hell. If they come to die in that state, they will be lost for all eternity. What a pity! We have to pray for sinners! Praying for sinners is the most beautiful and useful of prayers because the just are on the way to heaven, the souls of purgatory are sure to enter there, but the poor sinners will be lost forever. All devotions are good but there is no better one than such prayer for sinners.
St. John Vianney

It's a very moving quote isn't it George?

It reminds me of one of St. Anthony Mary Claret's.

Indeed it is, I believe it's what I've been called to do.
Guardian angel guide me

I'm hoping to read about St. Anthony Mary Claret
 

Deo gratias! It is a splendid calling, a gift. :D

'If you succeed in bringing a single soul to heaven, what charity! what a gain! what glory to God!'

St. Paul of the Cross

O Priest! Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: "He saved others, himself he cannot save!"
 St. Norbert

Oh my God! Would I might prevent all from offending Thee! Rather would I could make Thee known, loved and served by all creatures! This is the sole object of my desire, for all things else are unworthy of attention.
St. Anthony Mary Claret

Yes, we have to be careful that we live what we speak of. We have to constantly work with hope to live the life of the saints, the life of Christ.

'This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide land, you know well what I would see. Brigands on the high roads, pirates on the seas, men murdered in the amphitheaters to please the applauding crowds, and under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is really a bad world. And yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians, and I have become one of them.'

St. Cyprian of Carthage

 A heartwarming quote; if only the Christians of today were anything near those of yesteryear :(

From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!
St. Teresa of Avila

Whatever did she mean? ;D

Well, there are many in name, but in their ignorance, scarcely more than. So many.. and so few who are true..

God help us to become true Christians! God help people everywhere..

I think that's a quote that needs to be more in context. One should have to look it up.

You have a point there.  :)

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax collector. the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!'

Believing that only God can read a heart, who can judge.
Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner

Saint Cyprian pray for us

This is an inspiring quote
Truly something to aspire to.

Great quote. Gives hope.  O:)

I must always remember never to judge. I know of at least two women who are "staunch" catholics, if I may use that expression. Both are second wives and I am afraid I have wondered how can that come about? A catholic woman? a second wife?
May the Lord forgive me if in so wondering, I have judged.

It is difficult, to know the laws of the church, and the laws of the heart, yet not fall victim to scrupulosity. One of beauties of scripture is it's depth, when I read this I see the Pharasee's mistake is in his comparing, bringing in a third party, so to speak ( Satan ? ). The tax collector kept it between God and himself. They were both obeying the law, being at temple, praying, but only one was breaking the law of the heart, only God can know our true motivations, only God can judge the heart . I fear we all fall victim to this at times.
Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner

Twice a day, or at least once, make your examens. Be careful never to omit them. So live as to make more account of your own good conscience than you do of those of others;
for he who is not good in regard to himself, how can he be good in regard to others.
St. Francis Xavier

Amen  :crucifix:

Do you mean the man has 2 wives and this Catholic woman is his second wife??

'Be very careful to retain peace of heart, because Satan casts his lines in troubled waters.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Yes Patricia.
A poligamous marriage in which the catholic woman is the "home breaker"; that is how I think of second wives, I am afraid. You see, there I go judging again :(

Dear God, my heart and mind are open to You. May your calming peace fill my whole  being.  :crucifix:

"If you are willing to bear serenely the trial of being displeasing to yourself, then you will be for Jesus a pleasant place of shelter"

St.Therese of the Child Jesus

Good virtuous folks feel more pleasure in the sorrow over their sins and the affliction of their penance than wretches feel in the fulfilling of their foul pleasure.
St. Thomas More

Odhiambo, that's not judging. It's the truth. You can't be a true Catholic and be a second wife/homebreaker. She is living in mortal sin, I'm afraid and not in the Faith. The Catholic faith does not allow polygamy.

I don't believe knowing the difference between right and wrong is a sin, it's a blessing. I'm going through something similar in my own family with how to deal with "the other women" and I am struggling with it.
Praying for wisdom

Reprimand and rebuke should be accepted as healing remedies for vice and as conducive to good health. From this it is clear that those who pretend to be tolerant because they wish to flatter, those who thus fail to correct sinners actually cause them to suffer supreme loss and plot the destuction of that life which is their true life.
St. Basil the Great

This quote from St. Basil is very key to understanding these times we live in I think.

And something sharp to think of when we consider ourselves and whether we have done this or not.


'A strong man is one who repels evil through the practice of the virtues and with spiritual knowledge.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

Noted Patricia. Thanks.

Totus Tuus!
 Pope John Paul II

'If you truly love God and long to reach the kingdom that is to come, if you are truly pained by your failings and are mindful of punishment and of the eternal judgement, if you are truly afraid to die, then it will not be possible to have an attachment, or anxiety, or concern for money, for possessions, for family relationships, for worldly glory, for love and brotherhood, indeed for anything on earth. All worry about one's condition, even for one's body, will be pushed aside as hateful. Stripped of all thought of these, caring nothing about them, one will turn freely to Christ.

One will look to heaven and to the help coming from there, as in the scriptural sayings: "I will cling close to you" (Ps. 62:9) and "I have not grown tired of following you nor have I longed for the day or the rest that man gives" (Jer. 17:16).'

St. John Climacus

The absolute truth Shin. It cannot be stated any plainer than that. :crucifix:

Isn't it wonderful to read the quotes of the saints? The practice of copying them down from books is a splendid one for spiritual learning! I am very thankful when folks share them here.

Ah, a quick correction there. At first I wrote out St. John Cassian, but it was St. John Climacus. I have now corrected it.

Yes, this forum has taught me that; I am ever so grateful to you for inviting me over Shin. You were right when you told me I did not know what I was missing. It was that which decided me. ;D

I was none the wiser. :)

Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

   
Amen

We should strive to keep our hearts open to the sufferings and wretchedness of other people, and pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion which is truly the Spirit of God.
St. Vincent de Paul

I am grateful you are here too!

I can only pray that more people realize how learning about the saints is so priceless.  :crucifix:

May God grant us His Spirit of compassion!

Thank you George. :D A moving quote!

"Life is like a cash register, in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded."
 Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Food for thought!  :D

On a lighter note.

Hearing nun's confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.
Venerable Fulton j. Sheen

It often happens that I wake at night, begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember - I am the Pope.
Pope John XXIII

It would take forever to die that death. ;D

"Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night"  ???
St. Jerome

Why did Saint Jerome make this remark?  I wonder. Marriage, a Sacrament, should surely be entered into with much , much more than a desire to avoid sleeping alone at night?
I wonder why he said that. Anyone?

It is curious, perhaps it's meant to be humorous.

The state of marriage is one that requires more virtue and constancy than any other. It is a perpetual exercise in mortification.
St. Francis de Sales

I think it is just a modest way of saying that the single life is preferred over marriage , but if one cannot stay pure/chaste  being single, then marriage is a better proposition.  :-\ My thought.

I am not too sure about that statement Patricia;  that "the single life is preferred over marriage". I think God calls each one of us to a life He sees suits us best. After all He did create  man and told him in Genesis 1:28 to  "...Be fruitful and multiply..." :)
If we choose not to marry because we want to dedicate ourselves to God, that is wonderful, but does it make it superior to marriage? hmm  :-\

Look at my reply in the thread ' Pope Benedict XVl and priestly celibacy'  :boggles:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God that inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 cor. 12: 4-6

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Cor. 12: 12

Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.
For great is the power of God; by the humble he is glorified.
What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.
What is committed to you, attend to; for what is hidden is not your concern.
With what is too much for you meddle not, when shown things beyond human understanding.
Their own opinion has misled many, and false reasoning unbalanced their judgment
Where the pupil of the eye is missing, there is no light,
and where there is no knowledge, there is no wisdom.
Sirach 3:18-24

It is one of the glories of scripture that it can embrace many meanings in a single passage.
St. Thomas Aquinas

Hmm, I wonder where he said that. :D

Haha!

Why who said what Shin?  ;D

Will do Patricia  :)

Oh, the quote attributed to St. Jerome.  :D


'Frequent confession is the cause of great good to the soul, because it purifies it, heals it, and confirms it in the service of God: we ought not therefore to omit confession on our fixed days for any business whatsoever; but go to confession first, and to business afterwards, and the first will help the last.'

St. Philip Neri

On Confession

Our Lord himself I saw in this venerable sacrament, I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the divine messenger. My God, what new scenes for my soul!
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

On Communion

"Without fear of any kind we have celebrated the Lord's supper because it cannot be missed; that is our law; we cannot live without the Lord's supper."
The Martyrs of Abitina

Splendid quotes George!

Deeply appreciating each and all!

Question.

If after an examination of conscience, one is not able to find sin ( yes, I know  :)), but think of the saints, I am sure some of them were in that situation; how then does one approach the confessional? To say " Bless me father, for I have sinned" would not be quite correct and the priest cannot absolve you if there has been no sin committed, and yet weekly confession is advised?

If you can't find any sins, work harder at your examination!

 :speachless:

St. Charles Borromeo went to Confession twice a day!

Of course if one has trouble finding out one's sins one could always ask a parent or associate. And then you are doing penance at the same time, ahead of time too as it were. ::)

Perhaps! ;D

Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession there is a chance for mercy.
St. Isidore of Seville

'If the man in the Gospel, who came to the marriage feast with out the nuptial garment, was condemned to darkness, what then should he expect who, admitted to the mystical banquet of the divine Lamb, neglects to adorn himself with the brilliant garb of virtues, and even presents himself impregnated with the fetid odors of impurity.'

St. Peter Damien

Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of my mercy, the blood and water which came forth from my heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself in my mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of my grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to my generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because my grace turns away from them to humble souls.
St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul

Shin, this is what a priest said on the subject. I knew I had come across it in one of my books  but for days I could not remember which book .  That is why I raised the topic. I finally located it yesterday.
It is not that we have not sinned, no, of course not, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
 Romans 3:23
The point is that we are human and prone to forgetfulness. I used to write down everything  :-[, but a priest discouraged me from this at the confessional; I understood from him that I was giving too much attention to the negatives, He advised me to make a thorough examination of conscience just before Confession and confess what I remember.
To come back to the topic, assuming we have no mortal sin to confess, this is what Father Leo.J. Trese wrote in his book "The Faith Explained" on the topic of Confession and I quote:
 
“ If we cannot remember even one deliberate venial sin since our last confession, then we can  re-confess some sin of our past life. It may be a sin that was confessed and forgiven long ago; but here and now we recall the sin and renew our heartfelt sorrow for it. Our past sin plus our present sorrow qualifies us for absolution and the graces of the Sacrament. In such an event, our confession would run something like this: “ Bless me father, for I have sinned. It is a week since my last confession. I do not remember having commited any sins since then, but I am sorry for any sins which I may have forgotten and for all the sins of my past life, especially for the sins of anger” ( for example)”

This sounds very familiar so it could be a repeat post. Still, here it is : :)
Do not give yourself over to sorrow, and do not distress yourself deliberately. A joyful heart is life itself, and rejoicing lengthens one’s life span. Indulge yourself and take comfort, and remove sorrow far fromyou, for sorrow has destroyed many and no advantage ever comes from it.
Sirach 30:21-23

'It is well to deny ourselves that which is permitted, in order to avoid more easily that which is not.'

St. Benedict

'Joyfulness of the heart, this is the life of a man, and a treasure without defect of holiness: and the joy of a man is long life. Have mercy on thine own soul, pleasing God, and refrain: and comfort thy heart in his holiness: and expel sorrow far from thee. For sorrow hath killed many, and there is no profit in it.'

Ecclesiasticus 30:23-25

This is from the original Douai.  :D

Let no mourn that he has fallen again and again; For forgiveness has risen from the grave.
St. John Chrysostom

Truth suffers, but never dies.
St. Teresa of Avila

To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thornbush, Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond...You... what have you done?
St. Josemaria Escriva

That is a good quote George. The Saint could also have added; "  ...and Joseph fled from an immoral woman..."  :crucifix:

So did St Anthony Mary Claret . :D

"More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason."
Our Lady of Fatima

Lord have mercy on our world.

Thank you Patricia. I did not know that.
Isn't it amazing how each and every single day we learn something new.  :)
It is storage which is a problem for me.
facts learnt today leak out in no time at all  :)

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.
Saint Isidore of Seville.

A happy quote!

Odhiambo, you makes me think of St. Bernardine's quote on that subject. :D


'Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are traveling, and when we are at rest.'

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Odhiambo, here is an excerpt from the autobiography of St. Anthony Mary Claret regarding this incident. He relates an incident where he was saved from drowning by the intercession of Our Lady and then relates the following incident:

Mary also saved me from a worse danger, not unlike that of the chaste patriarch, Joseph.
While I was in Barcelona, I used to visit a fellow townsman of mine from time to time. I never spoke
with anyone else in the house except him. When I arrived there, I would go straight to his room and talk
only with him, but the others in the house always saw me coming and going. I was fairly young then,
and although it's true that I had to buy my own clothes, I liked to dress--I won't say luxuriously--but with
a certain elegance, perhaps too much. Who knows? Maybe the Lord will take me to task for this on
judgment day. One day I went to the house and asked after my friend. The lady of the house, a young
woman, asked me to wait for him, as he was coming back soon. I had waited a little while when I
realized that her intentions were passionate, as her words and gestures made clear. I called out to the
Blessed Virgin and ran out of that house, never to return. I didn't tell anyone about what had happened,
for fear of ruining the lady's reputation.
73. God dealt me all these blows to wake me up and help me escape from the dangers of the
world.

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment....When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this,nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride."
St. John Chrysostom

Thanks again Patricia.  :thumbsup: It is beautiful reading. How I wish the whole world was peopled with such as him, both men and women; what a beautiful world that would be!  :)

Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.
St. John Chrysostom

Amen!  :D

 I don't know if I've posted this before, but I love this quote

Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky, and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify the sublimity of that sovereign artist who has given them being.
St. Paul of the Cross

For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards heaven, it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy.
St. Teresa of Lisieux

Beautiful quotes!!  O:)

Yes, they are, two hearts touched by the Spirit of God.

'He who loves God lives the angelic life on earth, fasting and keeping vigils, praying and singing psalms and always thinking good of every man.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Consider all the past as nothing, and say, like David: Now I begin to love my God.
Saint Francis de Sales

Ah... those quotes are refreshment to the soul, Beautiful.


I've had this sermon preached to me over the past several days while away in Donegal. The foxes, birds, rabbits, butterflies, the sea, the hills and the glorious sunsets. How great is our God.  :flower: :angelbell:

Welcome home Martin

I bind myself today to the power in the love of the Seraphim, in the obedience of the Angels, in the ministration of the Archangels, in the hope of resurrection unto reward, in the prayers of the Patriarchs, in the predictions of the Prophets, in the preaching of the Apostles, in the faith of the confessors, in the purity of the holy Virgins, in the deeds of Righteous men.
St. Patrick of Ireland

How great indeed  :crucifix:
Good to see you posting again Martin.  :)

Every day is a new day to begin anew! Every hour...

'It is good for a man to go from prayer rather with an appetite and desire to return to it, than satiated and weary.'

St. Philip Neri

“The most powerful weapon to conquer the Devil  is humility. For as he does not know at all how to
  employ it, neither does he know how to defend   himself from it.”
St. Vincent de Paul                                                                       

We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.
St. Francis Cabrini







No one heals himself by wounding another.
St. Ambrose

"Purity is the fruit of prayer."
 Blessed Mother Teresa

Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.
St. John Chrysostom

Let us all resign ourselves into His hands, and pray that in all things He may guide us to do His Holy Will ... When thoughts of this or that come I turn to Him and say: "Only what you will, my God. Use me as You will".
Blessed Mary MacKillop

'You don't need to wallow in guilt. Wallow in the mercy of God. When you are guilty, say so to God through a confessor. Acknowledge your problems and sins. The moment you have stated them, God puts His Hand over you and you are a newborn babe.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

This is a quote after my own heart; one definitely worth remembering; "first among equals"  no?

Going back to the  quotes on  Prayer, here is another memorable quote, most probably already posted earlier. I believe the more frequently we read these quotes, the more they will stay with us and help us lead a better and more spiritual live. :)

How often I failed in my duty to God, because I was not leaning on the strong pillar of prayer.
St. Teresa of Avila

Prayer and good prayer!  :crucifix:

'Labor to conquer yourself. This victory will assure you a brighter crown in heaven than they gain whose disposition is more amiable.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Wicked sons do not have the Holy Ghost in the same way as do beloved sons, and yet they do have Baptism. So, too, heretics do not have the Church as Catholics have, even though they have Baptism.
St. Augustine

He certainly did not hold back in calling a spade a spade, did he ? :)

That's the simple way of speaking that does the most good I am thinking.


'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.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

'He who prays most receives most.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"Have confidence in prayer. It is the unfailing power which God has given us. By means of it you will obtain the salvation of the dear souls whom God has given you and all your loved ones." "Ask and you will receive,"Our Lord said. Be yourself with the good Lord."
St. Peter Julian Eymard



When life knocks you on your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray.

That's a good one George and it is so true  :)
In fact that is when many people turn to God.

'We read in the holy Canticles, that at the Assumption of the Virgin, the angels three times asked her name: "Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke?" "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising?" And in another: "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights?" Richard of St. Laurence inquires why the angels so often asked the name of this queen, and answers: The sound of the name of Mary was so sweet to the angels, and they repeated the question that they might hear it repeated also.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."

Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did."
St. Maximilian Kolbe

“Whoever desires the fruit must go to the tree; whoever desires Jesus must go to Mary: and whoever finds Mary will most certainly find Jesus”

St Alphonsus de Liguori.

“Behold, your mother!”
Jesus!

'Love Mary! She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.'

St. Gabriel Possenti of the Sorrowful Mother

"Let us run to her, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence."
St. Francis de Sales


As I was typing this I could picture it in my mind. What joy!

Thank you for that to think on George!


'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 to be entirely His. I will become a saint if I am humble, docile and generous.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.
St. Bernard

So valuable to heaven is the dignity of the human soul that every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be.
St. Jerome

"I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind"
St. Bernard

Thanks be to God for our guardian angels!  :D

Beautiful quotes, George and Odhiambo!!  O:)

"What do they not see, who see Him Who sees all things?"
Pope St. Gregory the Great

" Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love."
St. Paul 1 Cor. 16:13-14

"Stand fast in faith, and love one another, and don't let our sufferings cause you to stumble."
St. Perpetua (At her martyrdom)

A great Pope St. Gregory quote!

'We are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.'

1 Corinthians 4:9

Yes, the Pope Gregory quote is a good reminder that we're never really alone.
The quote of Saint Paul is a good reminder, a warning against complacency, and taking things for granted ( I believe)

"Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit. without being seen, they are present with you."
St. Francis de Sales


"The martyrs were bound, imprisoned, scourged, racked, burned, torn apart, butchered and they multiplied."
St. Augustine

Nothing is far from God.
St. Monica

Praise be to God!! :crucifix:

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

Saint Augustine

Let us always listen to the Holy Scriptures!  :crucifix:

'And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

"Say to the children of Israel:

The soul that sinneth through ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done:

If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the Lord, and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice it to the Lord. He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and carry it into the tabernacle of the testimony. . .

And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and through ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of the Lord, and afterwards shall understand their sin, they shall offer for their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle. And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the head thereof before the Lord."

Leviticus 4:1-5,13-15

    The Bible is a letter from Almighty God to His creatures.

Pope St. Gregory

'If a person thinks of embracing a secular life, he should ask and desire more evident signs that God calls him to a secular life than if there were question of embracing the evangelical counsels; for Our Lord Himself has clearly exhorted us to embrace His counsels.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

This is not a Saint's quote, forgive me for that. I am currently reading Exodus and this Scriptural quote really opened my eyes to just how much God loved His chosen people, the Israelites.


“You saw what I, the LORD, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me.
 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people.
 The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people, a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests.”

The LORD God in
Exodus 19: 4-6

“Thomas, you  have written well about me. What do you want?”
Thomas replied to the Lord,
“ Lord, all I have written is straw before you”
I want only you”


Saint Thomas Aquinas

I remember St. Thomas's Summa Theologica was placed on the altar during the Council of Trent.


'Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

"Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."
Venerable John Paul II

Brilliant words by Pope JPII!  :D

There's no such thing as "freedom" in the sense that our society likes to talk about today.  If we are not trying to serve our Lord with our whole hearts then we are slaves to the evil one!

'Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

I thought so too  :)
In general, freedom means we have the legal rights to do or say whatever we want to do or say as long as in so doing we do not offend others, we do not try to force our points of view down others’ throats, we do not harm others etc.
With that in mind, are we really free? I’d say no, and a very good thing too!  I think the quote from the late Pope JPII is exactly it. That should be the definition of  freedom. :)

"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."
St. Joan of Arc

"Hold the crucifix up before my eyes so I may see it until I die."
St. Joan of Arc

What a beautiful way to die!

It is such an important thing to die a good death. What could be more important?

To have the cross before one's eyes.. to have the holy names of Jesus and Mary upon your lips.. to have Extreme Unction..  to die a martyr's death..

Let us pray for happy deaths! St. Joseph, pray for our departures!

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best.
St. Jerome

Saint Joseph, patron of the dying pray for us, that we be delivered from the snares of the devil and eternal death,
that we may merit to attain everlasting joy, through Christ our Lord.
 

A fine inspirational quote!
The perfect way to begin each day.

Good to hear! :D

'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

It brings to mind the Seven Woes of Matthew 23. :(

Something you can say aloud. Maybe something to say to the kids everyday!!  ;D

Guardian angel pray for me.

"For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer more."
St. Maximilian Kolbe

They can even adopt it as their motto. :)

Being over seventy is like being engaged in a war. All our friends are going or gone and we survive amongst the dead and the dying as on a battlefield.
St. Jerome

Take pains to refrain from sharp words. Pardon one another so that later on you will not remember the injury.
The recollection of an injury is itself wrong. It adds to our anger, nurtures our sins, and hates what is good.
It is a rusty arrow and poison for the soul. It puts all virtue to flight.
St. Francis Paola

This one I think I will not be forgetting!  :D

This makes me think of the differences.. between Christian conversation and its antithesis. Constant conflict, vice, argument, tearing at one another... like sick animals.. vain curiosity.. idle talk..

But in Christian conversation.. virtue.. grace.. peace.. charity.. prudence.. periods of silence.. care.. thoughtfulness.. lowering of oneself.. submission the Lord and His people... depth in a few words.. simplicity..

Hmm.. More to think on.. To truly get more ahold of the contrast..

Kyrie eleison..

'O Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life in this Mystical Body of Holy Church. I have naught to give save what Thou hast given me.'

St. Catherine of Siena

God willing, that is not something you need to remember for a long, long time. ;D

When you say " Christian conversation", do you mean the ideal or what actually happens? :)

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

 Mother Teresa

As for me, I've been told I'm very passionate in debate, over the years I've tried to express my affection for whomever I've debated after we finished our arguments, so as not to leave the impression that it's personal, the problem is sometimes it is personal, and there are times I walk away feeling wounded and the more I dwell upon it the further I get away from,"Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you"etc. and the more insecure I become. It is poison for the soul, and it is something I need to be aware of. Thank you Saint Francis

10 more years to go, and it's all coming true, my prayers for the deceased seem to grow longer month to month.

True George !!( What's Haji?)  I feel sad when I see my parents and in-laws in their seventies and already losing their parents first and then their cousins, brothers, sisters etc....  I imagine how they feel to know that they could be next. An eye opener for me spiritually speaking. One day I will be in their situation.

God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen. And then we speak to God from the fullness of our heart, and God listens. And this listening and this speaking is what prayer is meant to be....
Mother Teresa

\Yes when I pray for them I can see their faces in my mind and it reminds me what they gave to me and how much I miss them and long to be with them again.
The nickname Haji was given to me about 45 years ago by elderly woman in our neighborhood, when I started using the computer and they asked for a username I remembered it, I believe she meant it to mean "Pilgrim", I've been asked about it so many times, think it's time to retire it.

The prayer most pleasing to God is that made for others and particularly for the poor souls.
Pray for them, if you want your prayers to bring high interest.
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

Whoever is near us and needing us must be our ''neighbor''; it does not matter whether he is
related to us or not, whether he is morally worthy of our help or not. The love of Christ knows no limits.
It never ends; it does not shrink from ugliness and filth.

St. Edith Stein

Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

St. John of the Cross

I was reading about the French Revolution and The Martyrs of Compiegne and the Discalced Carmelites and came upon this quote from Sister Saint Eugenie of the Daughters of Wisdom.

"Enough, gentlemen, my last word is this: The guillotine seems set up for good. Take me there. An oath against my conscience you will never get from me."
Sister Saint Eugenie

This is the church I love
Guardian angel pray for me.

The only Christian ending to a dialogue of no good purpose?  :crucifix:

Thanks be to Our Lord God for such Christianity!

How eagerly the saints can go to martyrdom! :D Thank you George! And a fine day to you I pray!

'If we are not now saints, it is a great misfortune for us: therefore we must be so. As long as we have no love in our hearts, we shall never be Saints.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'If you say, "Show me your God," I will say to you, "Show me what kind of person you are, and I will show you my God." Show me then whether the eyes of your mind can see, and the ears of your heart hear.

It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear: high or low or pleasant. So it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.

God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.

A person's soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.'

St. Theophilus of Antioch

" A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea,
no one thinks of admiring it.
But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes.
Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world,
will one day shine before the angels in the sunshine of eternity."
Saint John Marie Vianney

Now that is today a quote that I feel like is a favorite forever.  :D I am very thankful to learn it!

Yes, what a beautiful mind to think such sublime thoughts.

God demands great purity of certain souls, and so He gives them a deeper knowledge of their own misery.
Illuminated by light from on high, the soul can better know what pleases God and what does not.
St. Faustina

We need to find God,
 and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
 God is the friend of silence.
 See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence;
see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...
We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa

'It is better to pray devoutly for your neighbor than to rebuke him every time he sins.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

How true! If the person's heart is hardened and one rebukes him he may persist in sin just to be defiant. Better to pray for such a soul. :crucifix:

Amen

I also think that if it's necessary to rebuke your neighbor you had better pray especially much beforehand, during, and throughout the process.

 :D

He who serves God willingly is heard;
his petition reaches the heavens.
The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest till it reaches it's goal,
nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
judges justly and affirms the right.
Sirach 35:16-18

I don't put a penny's value on this life, if only our Lord will give me a tiny corner in paradise.
Saint Camillus de Lellis

The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen

To think that our pitiful petitions pierce the Heavens themselves!

Absolutely!  There has to be a delicate balance between charitably correcting someone who has done something wrong and nagging them about it.  Praying for them is a great idea, however, and I am definitely going to try that next time I feel the urge to nag!  :D

'One day, while I was hearing confessions, a man came to the confessional where I was. He was tall, handsome, dressed with some refinement and he was kind and polite. He started to confess his sins, which were of every kind: against God, against man and against the morals. All the sins were obnoxious! I was disoriented, in fact for all the sins that he told me, but I responded to him with God's Word, the example of the Church, and the morals of the Saints. But the enigmatic penitent answered me word for word, justifying his sins, always with extreme ability and politeness.  He excused all the sinful actions, making them sound quite normal and natural, even comprehensible on the human level.. He continued this way with the sins that were gruesome against God, Our Lady, the Saints, always using disrespectful round-about argumentation. He kept this up even with with the foulest of sins that could be conjured in the mind of a most sinful man.  The answers that he gave me with such skilled subtlety and malice surprised me. I wondered: who is he? What world does he come from? And I tried to look at him in order to read something on his face. At the same time I concentrated on every word he spoke, trying to discover any clue to his identity.. But suddenly; through a vivid, radiant and internal light I clearly recognized who he was. With a sound and imperial tone I told him: "Say long live Jesus, long live Mary!" As soon as I pronounced these sweet and powerful names, Satan instantly disappeared in a trickle of fire, leaving behind him an unbearable stench.'

St. Padre Pio

'The devil is in the cinema.'

St. Padre Pio

'A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.'

St. Padre Pio

I will mention this here as it seems so relevant.
On Wednesday past I had a long chat with an old friend. I went to his work place as I didn't know how else to contact him. I had heard that he had split with his wife and was in an adulterous relationship for almost a year.

It was also providential that he had a few hours to spare as work wasn't particularly pressing that day. As we chatted over many cups of coffee the conversation eventually came round to his current situation. He told me that he was now living in an "irregular union" with another woman. I mentioned that his choice of words might be an obstacle to him recognizing the truth of his current situation and that if he were to use the words "adulterous union" it would more accurately describe the relationship. He agreed that this term was more correct.

The next day I attended the TLM which we now have at our local parish each Thursday. Before Mass the priest made a short announcement. He started by relating what happened while he was offering the TLM privately a few days before. He had a situation in which he could not see a possible solution. During the elevation of the Host and the Chalice he said that he placed this intention with Our Lord. An hour after Mass, the phone rang in his room. The phone call revealed that the situation had been resolved.

He told us that we should never underestimate the power of the Holy Mass and he said that during Mass he would allow adequate time at the elevation of the Host and Chalice for all present to place their petitions, and he as priest, standing in persona Christi, would ask the Lord to accept our petitions.

At the elevation, I prayed that my friend would be granted the grace to end his adulterous relationship and return to the Lord.

Yesterday morning (Saturday) he turned up at my door around 9 am. He asked if he could talk privately so I suggested we take a drive to the country. He informed me that on Friday night while laying in bed, he suddenly had a realisation of the seriousness of his situation and a great fear came over him. He was still visibly shaking while he was telling me this. He said that he had ended the relationship there and then and left.
I realized that he was in no fit state to be left on his own. He said he felt shell-shocked and although he would never be returning to the adulterous relationship he didn't know where to go from hear. I stayed with him for about 6 or seven hours and eventually by talking of the mercy of God and relating stories from the saints, he calmed down enough to the extent where he had determined to spend the rest of the evening examining his conscience and to seek confession the next day.

I haven't heard from him today but I had told him to contact me anytime he needed a friend to talk to.

It was a mentally exhausting time, but spiritually I am elated and overcome with gratitude to Our Blessed Lord and the Blessed Virgin.
I pray now for perseverance for him through the coming days and weeks and pray also for reconciliation with his family. That will take a miracle but nothing is impossible for God.

Please dear friends, pray one Hail Mary for him, his family and the other woman involved.

I'll pray a Hail Mary for them, Martin.  God bless you.

A Hail Mary for your friend!!  :crucifix:

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amoung women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

This story sounds a lot like how my personal conversion to the faith came about.  Maybe by sharing my story with you, it can help you with your current struggles:

I was a 24 year old guy and was, unfortunately, involved in an adulterous pre-marital relationship at the time.  I was out with some friends who were religious one evening (I was, at the time, a fallen away Catholic who had almost no relationship with God, whatsoever).  That night we were discussing some moral issues such as abortion, impurity etc and for the first time in my life it hit me like a brick wall.  I knew so clearly that what I was doing was extremely wrong and the fear I was experiencing was tremendous.  A few days later I came accross CAF and learned what the teachings of the Catholic Church was on fornication, etc...  It was after that when I felt God's love come over me and the fear and anxiety was replaced by a feeling of complete euphoria (it had to of been a sliver of what heaven must feel like for the saints).  I knew that I had to give myself fully to God and that this what exactly what love is (ie. the full giving of one's self to another).

The only problem was that I was still in the immoral relationship and I realize now that Satan doesn't let go of his victims without a big fight.  Shortly after, I gave into Satan out of a fear of going through a break-up and decided to try to ignore this profound realization that God had given me.  I wanted to go back to the way things were before even if it meant continuing to live immorally.  The feeling of peace went away and the anxiety quickly returned, except much worse then before (it was an indescribable burning sensation inside my chest that I couldn't get away from).  I couldn't sleep at night, couldn't concentrate at work, all the while I was trying to keep the immoral relationship alive (I'm convinced now that this burning was a sliver of what hell must feel like for the damned).  Fortunately for me, our Blessed Lord was infinite in His patience and after a month and a half of this suffering, the immoral relationship finally collapsed.  Instead of feeling devastated, I gave myself to God and that beautiful feeling came back and I decided to give myself to God fully and change my life!  :D

My advice for you and your friend is to just keep doing what you are doing (be a patient and welcoming companion like the father was for the prodigal son).  If your friend gets pulled back into the adulterous relationship he might try to "forget" about the discussions that he had with you (he may even be angry at you for causing the percieved turmoil in his life).  Just remember that you are showing your friend true love as you are caring for his immortal soul rather then just his temporal comfort (even if that means that you have to be a source of discomfort in the short term).

God bless, my prayers are with you! :)

My Brothers
If anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back,
he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way
will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5: 19-20

A Hail Mary for your friend Martin.
God be with you.

Thank you martin for telling us this wonderful miraculous occurances. It is just what we need to strenghten  us on this journey called life. :crucifix:

The Fiend!
LORD help us all!

'We let ourselves be overcome by human respect, and cease to show ourselves true followers of Our Lord before the world. . . We see truth trodden underfoot, and we remain silent. Why? Because we are cowards. Oh, how we need to renew our faith, to rekindle our hearts in the sublime principles of our holy religion.'

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Martin, though your friend was deep in mortal sin what was to his advantage, I think, was his humility to acknowledge his faults. God helped him by sending him a spiritual friend who would help him along the way to correction and a life change. How merciful is God! In this case I think you were an instrument in God's Hands to help this soul.

"It is said that there is no salvation outside the Church. Who denies this? And therefore whatever things of the Church are had outside the Church do not avail unto salvation.
 St. Augustine

A key quote! It reminds me of the difference between the baptized and the unbaptized, and also a quote by Ven. Mary of Agreda on how few please God and do good.

'God takes particular care to detach those from the fleeting pleasures of this life whom He loves with a love of predilection, by the desires with which He inspires them for the heavenly life, and by the griefs and afflictions which He sends them in this life.'

`~`St. Ignatius of Loyola

 :swordfight:

We need to detach and reattach to Him.  :D

He sends  griefs and afflictions to those He loves and to help them detach. I need strength  to read this quote.  :sweatdrop: A trifle scary!

Sometimes I think of myself as a remedial student taking the same lesson over and over again until I finally get it right.  :popeyes:

Thank God, He hasn't given up me! :D

You're right Shin! Many a time I've felt I did not pass through a trial right , but He is still by my side after it all.  ( With another trial to help me practice better ;D)
For example, with my job and the terrible management and co-workers. Sometimes I think I should have stuck it out and offered it all up. But at that moment I was completely stressed out and quit.  :-\  I pray God sees my weaknesses and is merciful!  :crucifix:

I think you did the right thing Patricia. That place was more than too tough!

Sometimes it's not the destination, but it's the journey, and we're only meant to stop off at some places as wayposts, to learn a little, then move on!

 ;D You certainly showed some courage there!

Thanks Shin!!   :)

The only way I can handle grief and afflictions is with prayer and consolation from God! I lack a lot of virtue in regards to fortitude and bearing things properly! God help me!

So true.
It's only through prayer and faith that I can overcome the helplessness I feel when confronted by some of life's heaviest burdens.
I guess through prayer and love even little shoulders can bear heavy crosses.

There's nothing like God's consolation while carrying the cross, is there?

 :crucifix:

No there isn't. Praise God for his mercy!

'As the branch separated from the roots soon loses all life and verdure, so it is with good works which are not united with charity.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which he desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint?
Ask God to to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.
St. Ignatius of Loyola

Sometimes it's only in hindsight we can see the benefits of such crosses.
You were very brave Patricia.


Sometimes while meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, it seems as if the Lord is inviting one to suffer with Him. I can never bring myself to ask Him to send me suffering; the best I can muster is to ask for the grace and courage to accept without complaining, those trials that come along each day.  :-[

It is difficult, it's a thing I pray over daily, accepting rather than embracing those crosses, I find offering up the suffering is doable though it is a struggle at times, but I find my prayer life grows richer and that's a blessing, maybe someday I'll find the courage to embrace rather than just accept.

God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with desire that men know of them.
St. John of the Cross

That's a quite inspiring quote George, thank you for it.


'In God's sight, our cross is as a precious balm which loses its aroma on exposure to the air; therefore we must make every effort to hide our cross and carry it in silence.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

I know sometimes we need help carrying the cross from our friends though. :D But we must also beware of being rewarded for our crosses in this life rather than the next!

'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.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

This is beautiful.
Thank you Shin

A tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out.
Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.
Do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself.
St. Charles Borromeo

Beatiful quote!  It's much better to save the reward for our good deads until the next life, then to reep all the benefits in this one.

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today”
St. Francis of Assisi

October 1
The Month of October is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Rosary.
Today is the Memorial of
Blessed Edward James
Among many other Saints and Blesseds
It is also the Memorial of
Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus
Patonness of African Missions.

Blessed Edward James
Myrtyr.
Edward was born at Breaston, Derbyshire in England. He was brought up as a Protestant, studied at Saint John’s College, Oxford, and converted to Catholicism as an adult. He studied as a seminarian at Rheims, France and Rome and was ordained in 1583. He returned to England to minister to Catholics covertly. He was arrested and imprisoned for four and a half years with Blessed Ralph Crockett. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on 1 October 1588 at Chichester, West Sussex, victim of the anti Catholic fury raging at the time in England. His crime? Being a priest.
He was beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI. His canonization is pending.
Blessed Edward James,
Pray for us!

It is a lesson we all need. To let alone the things that don't concern us. He has other ways for others to follow Him. All do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him.
St. Katharine Drexel

'Blessed the one whose thought has been with grace, like a cloud filled with rain, and which waters souls for the increase of fruits of life; his praise will be for everlasting glory.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

'Let us leave this worthless world.'

St. Francis de Sales

'See, my children, if we really wish to be saved we must determine, once for all, to labor in earnest for our salvation; our soul is like a garden in which the weeds are ever ready to choke the good plants and flowers that have been sown in it. If the gardener who has charge of this garden neglects it, if he is not continually using the spade and the hoe, the flowers and plants will soon disappear. Thus, my children, do the virtues with which God has been pleased to adorn our soul disappear under our vices if we neglect to cultivate them. As a vigilant gardener labours from morning till night to destroy the weeds in his garden, and to ornament it with flowers, so let us labor every day to uproot the vices of our soul and to adorn it with virtues. See, my children, a gardener never lets the weeds take root, because he knows that then he would never be able to destroy them. Neither let us allow our vices to take root, or we shall not be able to conquer them.

One day, an anchorite being in a forest with a companion, showed him four cypresses to be pulled up one after the other; the young man, who did not very well know why he told him to do this, took hold of the first tree, which was quite small, and pulled it up with one hand without trouble; the second, which was a little bigger and had some roots, made him pull harder, but yet he pulled it up with one hand; the third, being still bigger, offered so much resistance, that he was obliged to take both hands and to use all his strength; the fourth, which was grown into a tree, had such deep roots, that he exhausted himself in vain efforts. The saint then said to him, "With a little vigilance and mortification, we succeed in repressing our passions, and we triumph over them when they are only springing up; but when they have taken deep root, nothing is more difficult; the thing is even impossible without a miracle."

Let us not reckon on a miracle of Providence, my children; let us not put off till the end of our life the care that we ought daily to take of our soul; let us labor while there is yet time. . .'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

"The sinner who is ashamed to do evil is closer to God than the upright man who is ashamed to do good.”
 Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

'Subjugate your body, strip it of sensual pleasures, and free it from base servitude.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan