Quote for the Night

[Shin]

'Our memories can be stripped of passion through prayer, spiritual reading, self-control and love.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'We may have a confident hope of our salvation when we apply ourselves to relieve the souls in Purgatory, so afflicted and so dear to God.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Retire into yourself and reflect; do not curse that pain which makes you so despondent, for it is the plough which the diligent husbandman employs to work the ground of your souls before sowing the seeds. Say to yourselves that, later on, the angels will lay by for you in the granaries of heaven the harvest they would never have reaped, if the plough-share of suffering had not torn your poor soil! The supplications of the sick are the most agreeable to God.'

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

[Shin]

'One kind of evil dwells in the heart through long-continued prepossession; another kind attacks our thoughts through the medium of everyday things.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'O Lord, keep Thy hand this day over Philip, if Thou do not, Philip will betray Thee.'

St. Philip Neri, his morning prayer

[Shin]

'Watch over all your senses, and particularly over your eyes. By guarding the eyes, interior recollection may be acquired; for when we are at the window, or at the door, we may see what is going on outside, but not what is passing within; whereas, if we direct our attention to the interior of the house, we know nothing of what is passing without.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'See my children; the treasure of a Christian is not on the earth, it is in Heaven. Well, our thoughts ought to be where our treasure is. Man has a beautiful occupation, that of praying and loving. You pray, you love -- that is the happiness of man upon the earth. Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When our heart is pure and united to God, we feel within ourselves a joy, a sweetness that inebriates, a light that dazzles us. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax melted together; they cannot be separated. This union of God with His little creature is a most beautiful thing. It is a happiness that we cannot understand. . . God, in His goodness, has permitted us to speak to Him. Our prayer is an incense which He receives with extreme pleasure.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[Shin]

'Who could ever understand fully that eternal weight of glory which a single moment spent in cheerfully carrying a cross obtains for us? Who could understand the glory gained in Heaven by a year, and sometimes a whole lifetime, of crosses and suffering.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

[Shin]

'Do not ask how a poor man can be self-indulgent when he lacks the material means. For it is possible to be self-indulgent in a yet more despicable way through one's thoughts.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that is we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'A seed will not grow without earth and water; and a man will not develop without voluntary suffering and divine help.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.'

1 Corinthians 14:15

[Shin]

'See in everything vanity and the torment of the soul.'

St. Antonino Pierozzi

[Shin]

'When people say that it is impossible to attain perfection, to be once and for all free from the passions, or to participate fully in the Holy Spirit, we should cite Holy Scripture against them, showing them that they are ignorant and speak falsely and dangerously. For the Lord said: "Become perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48), perfection denoting total purity; and: "I desire these men to be with Me wherever I am, so that they may see My glory." (John 17:24) He also said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (Matt. 24:35) And St. Paul is saying the same as Christ when he writes: ". . . so that we may present every man perfect in Christ." (Col. 1:28) and: ". . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13) Thus by aspiring to perfection two of the best things come about, provided we struggle diligently and unceasingly: we seek to attain this perfect measure and growth; and we are not conquered by vanity, but look upon ourselves as petty and mean because we have not yet reached our goal.

Those who deny the possibility of perfection inflict the greatest damage on the soul in three ways. First, they manifestly disbelieve the inspired Scriptures. Then, because they do not make the greatest and fullest goal of Christianity their own, and so do not aspire to attain it, they can have no longing and diligence, no hunger and thirst for righteousness; (cf. Matt. 5:6) on the contrary, content with outward show and behavior and with minor accomplishments of this kind, they abandon that blessed expectation together with the pursuit of perfection and of the total purification of the passions. Third, thinking they have reached the goal when they have acquired a few virtues, and not pressing on to the true goal, not only are they incapable of having any humility, poverty and contrition of heart but, justifying themselves on the grounds that they have already arrived, they make no efforts to progress and grow day by day.

People who think it is impossible to attain through the Spirit the "new creation" of the pure heart (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) are rightly and explicitly likened by the apostle to those who, because of their unbelief, were found unworthy of entering the promised land and whose bodies on that account "were left lying in the desert." (Heb. 3:17)'

St. Symeon Metaphrastis

[Shin]

'Blessed the one who in accordance with God's will obeys his neighbour and while enduring afflictions gives thanks. Such a one will be crowned, for he will become a confessor for the Lord.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

[Shin]

'He is unworthy of divine contemplation who has not fought and conquered some great temptation.'

St. Paul of the Cross