Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'Never belittle the significance of your thoughts, for not one escapes God's notice.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'In treating with men we must speak little and hear much; and speak even these few words as if the whole world were to hear them, though we speak only to one.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'The care and diligence due to our ordinary business are very different from solicitude, anxiety and restlessness. The Angels care for our salvation and seek it diligently, but they are wholly free from anxiety and solicitude, for, whereas care and diligence naturally appertain to their love, anxiety would be wholly inconsistent with their happiness; for although care and diligence can go hand in hand with calmness and peace, those angelic properties could not unite with solicitude or anxiety, much less with over-eagerness.

Therefore, my daughter, be careful and diligent in all your affairs; God, Who commits them to you, wills you to give them your best attention; but strive not to be anxious and solicitous, that is to say, do not set about your work with restlessness and excitement, and do not give way to bustle and eagerness in what you do; - every form of excitement affects both judgment and reason, and hinders a right performance of the very thing which excites us.

Our Lord, rebuking Martha, said, "Thou art careful and troubled about many things." If she had been simply careful, she would not have been troubled, but giving way to disquiet and anxiety, she grew eager and troubled, and for that our Lord reproved her. The rivers which flow gently through our plains bear barges of rich merchandise, and the gracious rains which fall softly on the land fertilize it to bear the fruits of the earth;-but when the rivers swell into torrents, they hinder commerce and devastate the country, and violent storms and tempests do the like. No work done with impetuosity and excitement was ever well done, and the old proverb, "Make haste slowly," is a good one, Solomon says, "There is one that laboureth and taketh pains, and maketh haste, and is so much the more behind;" we are always soon enough when we do well. The bumble bee makes far more noise and is more bustling than the honey bee, but it makes nought save wax-no honey; just so those who are restless and eager, or full of noisy solicitude, never do much or well.'

St. Francis de Sales

[Shin]

'Let us give ourselves over completely to our dear and good heavenly Father. Let us always love Him, and our hearts will be enlarged. There must be no standing still. Our love must become a flame which destroys within us all that does not unite us intimately with Him.'

St. Conrad of Parzham

[Shin]

'The first thing that hinders devotion are our sins, not only mortal sins but also venial sins. While little sins do not take away charity, they diminish its fervor, which is the same as devotion. So we should carefully avoid them, if not for the harm they do, at least for the great good that they prevent.

Excessive remorse of conscience that flows from our sins also impedes devotion. It makes the soul restless, depressed, faint and weak for every good practice.

Scruples obstruct devotion for the same reason. They are like thorns that prick the conscience and prevent it from resting in God and enjoying true peace.

Too many cares constitute another hindrance. They are those mosquitos from Egypt that disturb the soul. They do not allow it to sleep the spiritual sleep that lulls the soul in prayer. What's worse, they disturb the soul and divert it from its spiritual exercise.

Preoccupation with sensual comforts is another block to devotion because the person who indulges too much in worldly delights does not deserve those of the Holy Spirit.'

St. Peter of Alcantara

[Shin]

'You have the power to incline either upwards or downwards: choose what is superior and you will bring what is inferior into subjection.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'A man knows nothing about the powers that are outside him; but if they enter into him, he must fight them and drive them out.'

St. Poemen

[Shin]

'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

[Shin]

'What I shall now speak of was, I believe, the beginning of great harm to me. I often think how wrong it is of parents not to be very careful that their children should always, and in every way, see only that which is good; for though my mother was, as I have just said, so good herself, nevertheless I, when I came to the use of reason, did not derive so much good from her as I ought to have done -- almost none at all; and the evil I learned did me much harm. She was very fond of books of chivalry; but this pastime did not hurt her so much as it hurt me, because she never wasted her time on them; only we, her children, were left at liberty to read them; and perhaps she did this to distract her thoughts from her great sufferings, and occupy her children, that they might not go astray in other ways. It annoyed my father so much, that we had to be careful he never saw us. I contracted a habit of reading these books; and this little fault which I observed in my mother was the beginning of lukewarmness in my good desires, and the occasion of my falling away in other respects. I thought there was no harm in it when I wasted many hours night and day in so vain an occupation, even when I kept it a secret from my father. So completely was I mastered by this passion, that I thought I could never be happy without a new book.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'Learn, too, to be grateful.

May all the wealth of Christ's inspiration have its shrine among you; now you will have instruction and advice for one another, full of wisdom, now there will be psalms, and hymns, and spiritual music, as you sing with gratitude in your hearts to God. Whatever you are about, in word and action alike, invoke always the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, offering your thanks to God the Father through him.'

Colossians 3:16-17

[Shin]

'If therefore holy men, when they do mighty things, think themselves worthless, what must be said of those who, without fruit of virtue, are yet swollen with pride? But any works, although they be good, are as nothing unless seasoned with humility.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

[Shin]

'St. Scholastica said that if men knew the peace that good religious enjoy, the whole world would become a monastery; and St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi said that all, if they knew it, would scale the walls of the monasteries, in order to get into them. The human heart having been created for an infinite good, all creatures cannot content it, they being finite, imperfect, and few; God alone, who is an infinite good, can render it content. Delight in the Lord and He will give thee the request of thy heart? Oh no; a good religious united with God envies none of the princes of the world who possess kingdoms, riches, and honors. "Let the rich," he will say with St. Paulinus, "have their riches, the kings have their kingdoms: to me Christ is my kingdom and my glory."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Often say short prayers, but always with your whole heart. I will point out some to you: "Ah! my God, would that I never offended Thee! Ah! my Sovereign Good, wound, wound my heart with Thy holy love! He that loves Thee not, O my God! knows Thee not! When will my soul be filled with Thy divine charity!"'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Silence is not a virtue when charity calls for speech.'

St. Poemen

[Shin]

'It is a most useful thing, when we see another doing any spiritual good to his neighbour, to seek by prayer to have a part in that same good which the Lord is working by the hand of another.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'Mary sacrificed all to God; she needed Him alone. From this day forward, I shall follow her example: the Lord alone will be my portion. Why have I come here if not to love Our Lord with all my heart. As proof of my love for him, I must suffer and generously sacrifice everything to him, as Mary did. Courage, my soul, through prayer we can do all that is asked of us. The heart of Jesus is there: let us knock.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous