Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'It is true that wicked men do many things contrary to God's will; but so great is His wisdom and power, that all things which seem adverse to His purpose do still tend towards those just and good ends and issues which He Himself has foreknown. And consequently, when God is said to change His will, as when, e.g., He becomes angry with those to whom He was gentle, it is rather they than He who are changed, and they find Him changed in so far as their experience of suffering at His hand is new, as the sun is changed to injured eyes, and becomes as it were fierce from being mild, and hurtful from being delightful, though in itself it remains the same as it was.'

St. Augustine

[Shin]

'In general, distress arises from the privation of pleasure, whether it be of a worldly kind or relate to God.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'He who is unable to spend a long time together in prayer, should often lift up his mind to God by short prayers.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'A virtuous life consists in mortifying vices, sins, bad thoughts, and evil affections, and in exercising ourselves in the acquisition of holy virtues.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'Prayer without fervor has not sufficient strength to rise to heaven.'

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

[Shin]

'St. Bernard says that poverty was not to be found in heaven, it existed only on earth; but that man, not knowing its value, did not seek after it. Therefore the Son of God came down from heaven to this earth, and chose it for his companion throughout his whole life, that by his example he might also render it precious and desirable to us: "Poverty was not found in heaven, but she was well known on earth, and men knew not her excellence. So the Son of God loved her, and came down from heaven to take her to himself, that we might learn to value her when we see how he regards her."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'To pray well requires the whole man.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'For if our Lord and God was arrested for our sins, is it a great matter if we unprofitable servants should also be arrested for his sake? And if he was bound and led away and put in prison, is it so strange should we suffer the same treatment as the Master? Rather it would be exceedingly grievous not to encounter such things. But if we must be scourged, let us bear the scourges; and if we must be beaten, let us bear the beatings; and we have to be spat on, let us bear the spittings; and finally if we must be put to death, let us bear that revered death. And good it is if anyone were to be found worthy to become a partaker in Christ's sufferings. This is blessedness, this is immortality. Do we not hear what the Apostle says? From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of the Lord Jesus branded on my body [Gal. 6:17]. As though he were saying: Let no one despise me, for I bear the adornments of Christ the universal King in my flesh.'

St. Theodore the Studite

[Shin]

'If you pray truly, you will receive assurances of many things, and angels will come to you as they came to Daniel, and will enlighten you with understanding of causes, the wherefore of all things.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

[Shin]

'Let us ask Him to strengthen our weakness, to enrich our poverty, to soften the hardness of our hearts so as to make them susceptible to His pure love, which will not be content with a divided heart.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Control your stomach, sleep, anger and tongue, and you will not "dash your foot against a stone"(Ps. 91:12).'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'Now although man is created for the possession of happiness, yet, having deviated from his true end, his nature has become deformed and is entirely repugnant to true beatitude. And on this account we are forced to submit to God this depraved nature of ours which fills our understanding with so many occupations, and causes us to deviate from the true path, in order that he may entirely consume it until nothing remains there but himself; otherwise the soul could never attain stability nor repose, for she was created for no other end.'

St. Catherine of Genoa

[Shin]

'I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that you use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.'

St. Ignatius of Antioch

[Shin]

'Even in this desert we have often seen some people admit that when they were living in the cenobia of Syria they were easily able to go without eating for five days, whereas now they are so hungry at the third that they can hardly keep the daily fast until the ninth hour. When someone asked why, after having lived in a cenobium where he felt no hunger and often disdained to eat for whole weeks, he should now be hungry at the third hour, Macarius replied pointedly: "Because here there is no one to see you fasting and to support and sustain you with his praises. But there the attention of others and the food of vainglory filled you to repletion."'

St. John Cassian

[Shin]

'Unquestioning acceptance of tradition is helpful for a gentle person, for then he will not try God's patience or often fall into sin.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'On awaking, enter in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and consecrate to It your body, your soul, your heart and your whole being, so as to live but for Its love and glory alone.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque