Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

Jesus also said: "You are the light of the world." Now a light does not illumine itself, but instead it diffuses its rays and shines all around upon everything that comes into its view. So it must be with the glowing lives of upright and holy clerics. By the brightness of their holiness they must bring light and serenity to all who gaze upon them. They have been placed here to care for others. Their own lives should be an example to others, showing how they must live in the house of the Lord.'

St. John of Capistrano

[Shin]

'"One day in spring," he said, "I was going to see a sick person; the bushes were full of little birds that were singing with all their might. I took pleasure in listening to them, and I said to myself, 'Poor little birds, you know not what you are doing! What a pity that is! You are singing the praises of God.'"'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[Shin]

'Christ's servants, male or female, neither seek nor desire any miracle except to finish their lives virtuously, persevering in that state to which God has called them.'

St. Catherine of Bologna

[Shin]

'Make great account of your precious trials, both interior and exterior; it is thus that the garden of Jesus is adorned with flowers, that is, with acts of virtue.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'We must say to ourselves, "O Lord, Thou hast wrought all our works in us." [Is. 26:12] Because this is really so you must attribute every good work to Him and not to yourself. Bear in mind that "you in your own might and in the strength of your own hand" [c.f. Deut. 8:17] have not attained to all the good things you possess. "It is the Lord who made us and not we ourselves." [c.f. Ps. 99:3]'

St. Bonaventure

[Shin]

'Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow.'

St. Clare of Assisi

[Shin]

'When the body dies, it is wholly separated from the things of this world. Similarly, when the intellect dies while in that supreme state of prayer, it is separated from all conceptual images of this world. If it does not die such a death, it cannot be with God and live with Him.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'I would believe myself to have failed in duty, as St. Bonaventure said, were I to pass a single day without thinking of my Saviour's Passion.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'Those whom divine providence is leading towards holiness in this life are tested by the following three tests: by the gift of agreeable things, such as health, beauty, fine children, money, fame and so on; by afflictions causing distress, such as the loss of children, money and fame; and by bodily sufferings, such as disease, torture and so on. To those in the first category the Lord says, "If a person does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33); and to those in the second and third He says, "You will gain possession of your souls through your patient endurance." (Luke 21:19)'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'Blessed the one who heart has blossomed like a palm tree by rightness of faith and has not been thrust out, as by thorns, by the heresy of the faithless and impious.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

[Shin]

'Blessed the one who sits in his cell with all devotion, as Mary sat at the Lord's feet, and hastens, like Martha, to receive him, the Lord and Saviour.'

St. Ephrem of Syria

[Shin]

'Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul's deepest desires. May my heart always hunger and feed upon you, so that my soul may be filled with the sweetness of your presence. May my soul thirst for you, who are the source of life, wisdom, knowledge, light and all the riches of God our Father. May I always seek and find you, think upon you, speak to you and do all things for the honor and glory of your holy name. Be always my only hope, my peace, my refuge and my help in whom my heart is rooted so that I may never be separated from you.'

St. Bonaventure

[Shin]

'It seems that God is calling you to great perfection. And I perceive it by this, that He takes away from you every tie that might hinder it in you.'

St. Catherine of Siena

[Shin]

'Be faithful to correspond with the wonderful graces which you have received from Our Lord; they are a preparation for greater graces and more sublime lights, which will cause you to love God more, to acquire more solid virtue, and to practise it in a more heroic degree.'

St. Paul of the Cross