Quote for the Night

[Shin]

'But it was not so much the sorrows of his Passion which saddened and embittered the life of our Redeemer, as the sight of all the sins which men would commit after his death. These were the cruel executioners which made him live in continual agony, oppressed by such an overwhelming grief that pain alone would have been enough to make him die of pure sorrow. Father Lessius says that the sight alone of the ingratitude of mankind would have been sufficient to make Jesus Christ die of grief a thousand times.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light, and causes me to know your truth. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.'

St. Catherine of Siena

[Shin]

'I do not know why God inspires me to speak so often of simplicity, unless it be that He seems to me to have such a horror of the contrary. Were I to see in a soul all the other virtues without that of simplicity, were it even favored with all those graces which our Lord bestows on His dearest friends -- all would seem to be but deceit and illusion.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Brethren and Fathers, while the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ when they are recalled are always able to pierce the soul, they do so especially in these present days, on which each of them reached its end. What then are they? The murderous council against him, the Jewish arrest, his being led away to death, his arraignment before Pilate's tribunal, the interrogation, the scourging, the blows, the spittings, the insults, the mockeries, the ascent of the Cross, the nailing of his hands and feet, the tasting of gall, the piercing of his side and all the other things which blazed forth with them, which the world cannot contain, nor can anyone worthily proclaim, not human tongue, nor even all the tongues of angels together. For let us consider, brethren, this great and ineffable mystery. The Lord who reveals the counsels of hearts [1 Cor. 4:5] and knows every human desire is the one who is taken before a council of death; the Lord who bears all things by the word of his power [Hebrews 1:3.] is the one who is handed over to sinners; the Lord who binds the water in the clouds [Job 26:8.] and sows in the earth in due season and uniformly is the one who is led away prisoner; the Lord who measures the heavens with the span of his hand and the earth in a handful and weighed all the mountains in the balance [Isaias 40:12.] is the one who is struck by the hand of a servant; the Lord who adorned the boundaries of the earth with flowers is the one who is dishonourably crowned with thorns; the Lord who planted the tree of life in Paradise is the one who is hanged upon an accursed tree. O great and more then natural sights! The sun saw them and faded, the moon saw them and was darkened, the earth perceived them was shaken, the rocks perceived them and were rent, all creation was turned back at the outrages done to the Master. The lifeless elements which have no senses, as if endowed with life and sensation from fear of the Lord and from the spectacle of what is seen, were amazed and altered; and do we, who have been honoured with reason, for whose sake Christ died, remain untouched and unweeping in these days? How could we be less rational than things which have no reason, more unfeeling than the stones? In no way, my brothers, in no way. Let us rather be amazed in a manner worthy of God, by being changed with a fair change; let us draw down tears, sacrifice the passions, changing insults for insults and exchanging wounds for wounds, the one through obedience, the other through unflinching confession'

St. Theodore the Studite

[Shin]

'The earth under the ancient curse brought forth thorns and thistles; but now the Church beholds it laughing with flowers and restored by the grace of a new benediction. Mindful of the verse, "My heart danceth for joy, and in my song will I praise Him", she refreshes herself with the fruits of His Passion which she gathers from the Tree of the Cross, and with the flowers of His Resurrection whose fragrance invites the frequent visits of her Spouse.'

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

[Shin]

'When the intellect is engaged in the contemplation of intelligible realities, its delight in them is such that it can hardly be dragged away.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'When the enemy has booked against a man many forgotten sins, he forces his debtor to recall them in memory, taking fall advantage of "the law of sin" (cf. Rom. 8: 2).'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'

Psalm 26:8

[Shin]

'When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure, by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity, and as much for our good? When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven, leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him, and of serving Him well in all that we can?'

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

[Shin]

'There is nothing more holy, more eminently perfect, than resignation to the will of God, which confirms us in an entire detachment from ourselves, and a perfect indifference for every condition in which we may be placed.'

St. Vincent de Paul

[Shin]

'Grace has been given mystically to those who have been baptized into Christ; and it becomes active within them to the extent that they actively observe the commandments. Grace never ceases to help us secretly; but to do good - as far as lies in our power - depends on us.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'The Lord has given me to know that, in order to apply to anything intelligibly and holily, I must first go and prostrate at His feet, and there my work will be blessed. I have then firmly resolved never to draw up any plan with out having first thought it over before Our Lord and submitted it to Him for approval.'

Bl. Peter Julian Eymard

[Shin]

'I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man: and behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.'

Proverbs 24:30,31

[Shin]

'O Priest! You are not yourself because you are God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not you own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What then are you? Nothing and everything. 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

[Shin]

'Your most important business is the care of your soul. This is why, before leaving your room in the morning, you should spend at least a quarter of an hour in meditating on the life, the Passion, and the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.'

St. Paul of the Cross