Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'One afternoon a terrible temptation came to me. I said to myself that I was weary and that lying in bed had become intolerable. The devil availed himself of my impatience and began to tempt me and said that if I had given him the chance he would have cured me, and he would have done all that I wished. Father, I was almost on the point of yielding; I was terrified; I gave myself up for lost. All at once a thought came to me. I ran in spirit to the Venerable Gabriel and said to him, vehemently, "Save my soul first and then my body."

Nevertheless the demon continued with more violent assaults. A thousand evil thoughts flashed through my mind. Again I had recourse to the Venerable Gabriel; and this time I conquered. I regained control of myself; I made the sign of the cross and in a quarter of an hour, I began to unite myself to my God whom I had treated so disrespectfully. I remember now that very evening I began to read the "Life" of Brother Gabriel which the lady had left me. I read it many times. I could not read it often enough. I admired greatly his virtues and determined to follow his example.

From the day that my new protector, Venerable Gabriel, had saved my soul, I began to have a particular devotion to him. In the night I could not sleep if I did not have his picture under my pillow, and I began at last to see him near me, that is, Father, I seemed to feel his presence. In every bad deed I was about to do I turned to Brother Gabriel in spirit and he restrained me. I did not fail to pray to him every day with these words: "Save my soul, then my body."'

St. Gemma Galgani

[Shin]

'He who does not go down into hell while he is alive, runs a great risk of going there after he is dead.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'When I am troubled I sing softly some hymn to the Holy Virgin; this does me good and gives me courage.'

St. Jean-Theophane Venard

[Shin]

'This dark night is an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it from its ignorances and imperfections, habitual natural and spiritual, and which is called by contemplatives infused contemplation, or mystical theology. Herein God secretly teaches the soul and instructs it in perfection of love without its doing anything, or understanding of what manner is this infused contemplation. Inasmuch as it is the loving wisdom of God, God produces striking effects in the soul for, by purging and illumining it, He prepares it for the union of love with God. Wherefore the same loving wisdom that purges the blessed spirits and enlightens them is that which here purges the soul and illumines it.

But the question arises: Why is the Divine light (which as we say, illumines and purges the soul from its ignorances) here called by the soul a dark night? To this the answer is that for two reasons this Divine wisdom is not only night and darkness for the soul, but is likewise affliction and torment. The first is because of the height of Divine Wisdom, which transcends the talent of the soul, and in this way is darkness to it; the second, because of its vileness and impurity, in which respect it is painful and afflictive to it, and is also dark.'

St. John of the Cross

[Shin]

'You could not love Jesus if you did not possess the living source of holy and pure love, namely, the Holy Spirit. Our divine Redeemer said, "He that believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water." (John 7:38.) This He said of the spirit which they should receive who believed in Him. Therefore, when God enkindles in you the flames of divine love, holy, pure, and without stain, let yourself disappear in the infinite Good, and, like an infant, sleep the sleep of faith and love in the bosom of your heavenly Spouse.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Do not say: "I do not know what is right, therefore I am not to blame when I fail to do it." For if you did all the good about which you do know, what you should do next would then become clear to you, as if you were passing through a house from one room to another. It is not helpful to know what comes later before you have done what comes first. For knowledge without action "puffs up", but "love edifies", because it "patiently accepts all things" (1 Cor. 8:1; 13:7).'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'If you should ever reach the stronghold of pure prayer, do not accept the knowledge of created things which is presented to you at that moment by the enemy, lest you lose what is greater. For it is better to shoot at him from above with the arrows of prayer, cooped up as he is down below, then to parley with him as he offers us the knowledge he has plundered, and tries to tear us away from this prayer which defeats him.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to stick to it, and never to abandon it.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'The true servants of God endure life and desire death.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'The declared enemies of God and His Church, heretics and schismatics, must be criticized as much as possible, as long as truth is not denied. It is a work of charity to shout: "Here is the wolf!" when it enters the flock or anywhere else.'

St. Francis de Sales

[Shin]

'The Christian life does indeed mean battles and trials, but it also means consolations. And though I must leave Tabor and climb to Calvary, one day I will leave Calvary with Jesus and return to Tabor. A foretaste of Heaven awaits me there. My soul follows but one path: from Golgotha to Tabor. It leaves Golgotha to seek strength and courage at Tabor. Life is such a ladder.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

[Shin]

'Temptations are excellent signs; and the pain they occasion you is as a fire which will purify you and prepare you better and better for union with God.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'I never ceased hoping against all hope. . .'

St. Therese of Lisieux

[Shin]

'Charity and cheerfulness, or charity and humility, should be our motto.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'As God is not the only witness of our life, but as moreover the world, the angels, and men behold it, let us be good not only before God, but also before men.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'Prayer is the sure way that leads to holiness.'

St. Paul of the Cross