Quote for the Night

[Shin]

'A person may say I am not much concerned how long I stay in purgatory, provided I may come to eternal life. Let no one reason thus. Purgatory fire will be more dreadful than whatever torments can be seen, imagined, or endured in this world. He who is afraid now to put his finger into the fire, does he not fear lest he be then all buried in torments for a long time?'

St. Caesarius of Arles

[Shin]

'If we would advance in virtue, we must not neglect little things, for they pave the way to greater.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'We ought to apply ourselves to the acquisition of virtue, because in the end the whole terminates in greater sweetnesses than before, and the Lord gives us back all our favours and consolations doubled.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'"The shadow of death" is human life. Therefore if a man is with God and God is with him, clearly he is able to say, "Though I walk through the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'When you have done something good, remember the words "without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'When the intellect devotes itself continually to divine realities, the soul's passible aspect becomes a godlike weapon.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'After Jesus Christ our Saviour had completed the work of our redemption by his death, the angels earnestly desired to have him with them in their heavenly country; hence they were continually supplicating him, repeating the words of David: "Arise, oh Lord, into thy resting-place, thou and the ark which thou hast sanctified." Come, oh Lord, now that thou hast redeemed men, come to thy kingdom with us, and bring with thee also the living ark of thy sanctification, namely, thy mother, who was the ark sanctified by thee when thou didst inhabit her womb.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'After Jesus Christ our Saviour had completed the work of our redemption by his death, the angels earnestly desired to have him with them in their heavenly country; hence they were continually supplicating him, repeating the words of David: "Arise, oh Lord, into thy resting-place, thou and the ark which thou hast sanctified." Come, oh Lord, now that thou hast redeemed men, come to thy kingdom with us, and bring with thee also the living ark of thy sanctification, namely, thy mother, who was the ark sanctified by thee when thou didst inhabit her womb.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Let no one think that he has actually become a child of God if he has not yet acquired divine qualities.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'You ought to make every effort to free yourselves even from venial sin, and to do what is most perfect.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'A lukewarm religious will be contented with what little he does for God; but God, who called him to a perfect life, will not be contented, and, in punishment for his ingratitude, will not only deprive him of his special favors, but will sometimes permit his fall "When you said, It is enough, then you perished," says St. Augustine. The fig-tree of the Gospel was cast into the fire, only because it brought forth no fruit.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'The virgin soul that desires to be united to God must keep itself pure not only from overt sins like unchastity, murder, theft, gluttony, backbiting, falsity, avarice, greed and so on; but to an even greater degree it must keep itself pure from sins that are hidden, such as desire, self-esteem, love of popularity, hypocrisy, love of power, wiliness, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, self-love, affectation and other things of this kind. According to Scripture, these concealed sins of the soul are just as pernicious as the overt sins. "The Lord has scattered the bones of those who seek to please men", it says (Ps. 53:5. LXX); and: "The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (Ps. 5:6), thus making it clear that deceitfulness is just as abhorrent to God as murder. Again, it numbers among the "workers of iniquity" those who "speak peace to their neighbor but have evil in their hearts" (Ps. 28: 3), and elsewhere it speaks of those who commit lawless acts in their hearts (cf. Ps. 58:2). It also says: "Woe to you, when men speak well of you" (Luke 6:26) - that is to say, when you want to hear people say good things about you and when you hang upon their glory and praise. It is true that those who do good cannot escape notice altogether. Indeed, the Lord Himself says: "Let your light shine before men" (Matt. 5:16), though here it is understood that we do good for the glory of God and not for our own glory or because we desire men's praise. If this is not the case, then we are lacking in faith, as the Lord makes clear when He says: "How can you have faith when you receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44). St. Paul bids us to do everything, even to eat and to drink, for the glory of God; "for," he says, "whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do it for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). And St John equates hatred with murder when he says: "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:15).'

St. Symeon Metaphrastis

[Shin]

'What light is to those who see and to what is seen, God is to intellective beings and to what is intelligible.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'Our Blessed Lady is the dispenser of all the favours which the goodness of God concedes to the Sons of Adam.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'No one should think or say anything of another which he would not wish thought or said of himself.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'He is truly humble of heart who knows himself thoroughly and who knows God. May the Lord grant this grace to all men!'

St. Paul of the Cross