Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'If a man desires something, he makes every effort to attain it. But of all things which are good and desirable the divine is incomparably the best and the most desirable. How assiduous, then, we should be in order to attain what is of its very nature good and desirable.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'Whilst the enemy sees us humble, he tries to inspire the mind with a false humility, that is to say, an extreme and wicked humility.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'Afflict your flesh with hunger and vigils and apply yourself tirelessly to psalmody and prayer; then the sanctifying gift of self-restraint will descend upon you and bring you love.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'We need no wings to go in search of Him, but have only to look upon Him present within us.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'Men are generally the carpenters of their own crosses.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'But the contemplation of God is gained in a variety of ways. For we not only discover God by admiring His incomprehensible essence, a thing which still lies hid in the hope of the promise, but we see Him through the greatness of His creation, and the consideration of His justice, and the aid of His daily providence: when with pure minds we contemplate what He has done with His saints in every generation, when with trembling heart we admire His power with which He governs, directs, and rules all things, or the vastness of His knowledge, and that eye of His from which no secrets of the heart can lie hid, when we consider the sand of the sea, and the number of the waves measured by Him and known to Him, when in our wonder we think that the drops of rain, the days and hours of the ages, and all things past and future are present to His knowledge; when we gaze in unbounded admiration on that ineffable mercy of His, which with unwearied patience endures countless sins which are every moment being committed under His very eyes, or the call with which from no antecedent merits of ours, but by the free grace of His pity He receives us; or again the numberless opportunities of salvation which He grants to those whom He is going to adopt -- that He made us be born in such a way as that from our very cradles His grace and the knowledge of His law might be given to us, that He Himself, overcoming our enemy in us simply for the pleasure of His good will, rewards us with eternal bliss and everlasting rewards, when lastly He undertook the dispensation of His Incarnation for our salvation, and extended the marvels of His sacraments to all nations.

But there are numberless other considerations of this sort, which arise in our minds according to the character of our life and the purity of our heart, by which God is either seen by pure eyes or embraced: which considerations certainly no one will preserve lastingly, if anything of carnal affections still survives in him, because "thou canst not," saith the Lord, "see My face: for no man shall see Me and live;" viz., to this world and to earthly affections.'

St. Moses the Black Hermit

[Shin]

'When you suffer some dishonor from men, recognize at once the glory that will be given you by God. Then you will not be saddened or upset by the dishonor; and when you receive the glory you will remain steadfast and innocent.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you. And in that day you shall not ask me any thing. Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full.'

John 16:22-24

[Shin]

'As for the ardent desire which urges you to become a saint, I hope this will be so, with the grace of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Who will make you a great saint, but I think He will sanctify you in His own way and not in yours. Therefore you must leave it to Him, and have no other end in view than to glorify Him by self-effacement; He in His turn will look upon you to purify and sanctify you.(To Rev. Father Croiset).'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Remember that true holiness is accompanied by pains and tribulations from within and without, by attacks of visible and invisible enemies, by trials of body and mind, by desolations and prolonged aridities; "and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12) - that is to say, all sorts of trials from demons, from men, and from our rebellious flesh.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'It suffices not to perform good works; we must do them well, in imitation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is written, "He doeth all things well."'

St. Vincent de Paul

[Shin]

'Seek Him, and rest not until thou hast found Him, whom thy soul desires, hold Him and do not let Him go (Cant. 3, 4).'

The Blessed Virgin, to Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Shin]

'After this we know of the resurrection of the dead, the first-fruits of which was our Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed, and not merely in appearance, carried a body, of Mary Mother of God, who at the end times came to the human race to put away sin, was crucified and died, and yet without any detriment to His divinity, being raised from the dead, taken up into heaven, and seated at the right hand of Majesty.'

St. Alexander of Alexandria

[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]

'The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right.'

Deuteronomy 32:4