Quote for the Night

[Shin]

'In fact, my children, it is sin that brings upon us all calamities, all scourges, war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, fires, frost, hail, storms, -- all that afflicts us, all that makes us miserable.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[Shin]

'Just as spring stimulates the growth of plants, so dispassion stimulates the intellect to attains spiritual knowledge of created beings.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'Salvation is necessary, because there is no middle way - we must either be saved or lost. It will not do to say: I shall be satisfied with not going to hell; I shall not be concerned at being deprived of heaven. No; either heaven or hell; either forever happy with God in heaven in an ocean of delights, or forever trampled upon by devils in hell in an ocean of fire and torments: either saved, or lost; there is no alternative.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Great is the intellect that is freed from the passions, has separated itself from created beings, and lives in God.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'I would believe myself to have failed in duty, as St. Bonaventure said, were I to pass a single day without thinking of my Saviour's Passion.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'As for me, I cannot understand how it is possible not to be always thinking of God.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

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

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'I have been passionately fond of the perfection of the evangelical councils; with God's grace I have embraced them. With all the power I have exhorted others to do the same; and I have companions whom I have succeeded in persuading.'

St. Augustine

[Shin]

'Our Apostolic Mandate requires from Us that We watch over the purity of the Faith and the integrity of Catholic discipline. It requires from Us that We protect the faithful from evil and error; especially so when evil and error are presented in dynamic language which, concealing vague notions and ambiguous expressions with emotional and high-sounding words, is likely to set ablaze the hearts of men in pursuit of ideals which, whilst attractive, are nonetheless nefarious. Such were not so long ago the doctrines of the so-called philosophers of the 18th century, the doctrines of the Revolution and Liberalism which have been so often condemned;'

Pope St. Pius X, 'Our Apostolic Mandate'

[Shin]

'To use profitably for our neighbor's salvation the gifts nature has given us, they must be actuated from within and draw their strength there from.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'Only the person who becomes irate without reason, sins. Whoever becomes irate for a just reason is not guilty. Because, if ire were lacking, the science of God would not progress, judgments would not be sound, and crimes would not be repressed.'

St. Thomas Aquinas

[Shin]

'To actual imperfections all are not liable in the same way. Some, whose spiritual good is so superficial and so readily affected by sense, fall into greater difficulties and dangers, which we described at the beginning of this treatise. For, as they find so many and such abundant spiritual communications and apprehensions, both in sense and in spirit wherein they oftentimes see imaginary and spiritual visions (for all these things, together with other delectable feelings, come to many souls in this state, wherein the devil and their own fancy very commonly practice deceptions on them), and, as the devil is apt to take such pleasure in impressing upon the soul and suggesting to it the said apprehensions and feelings, he fascinates and deludes it with great ease unless it takes the precaution of resigning itself to God, and of protecting itself strongly, by means of faith, from all these visions and feelings. For in this state the devil causes many to believe in vain visions and false prophecies; and strives to make them presume that God and the saints are speaking with them; and they often trust their own fancy. And the devil is also accustomed, in this state, to fill them with presumption and pride, so that they become attracted by vanity and arrogance, and allow themselves to be seen engaging in outward acts which appear holy, such as raptures and other manifestations. Thus they become bold with God, and lose holy fear, which is the key and the custodian of all the virtues; and in some of these souls so many are the falsehoods and deceits which tend to multiply, and so inveterate do they grow, that it is very doubtful if such souls will return to the pure road of virtue and true spirituality. Into these miseries they fall because they are beginning to give themselves over to spiritual feelings and apprehensions with too great security, when they were beginning to make some progress upon the way.'

St. John of the Cross

[Shin]

'There is no other way to God except through the burning love of the crucified.'

St. Bonaventure

[Shin]

'Fornication and slander, are two thoughts that should never be talked about or pondered in the heart; for if you want to understand them in the heart, it does no good: but if you fight shy of them, you will obtain peace.'

St. Poemen

[Shin]

'Unite the sufferings of Jesus with those of the holy Virgin, and, bowing yourself beneath their weight, make of yourself a holocaust of love and sorrow. Divine love will teach you how, if you keep yourself concentrated in your nothingness.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.'

St. Augustine