Quote for the Day

[odhiambo]

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.
Isaiah 62:1

[Shin]

'Take with you everywhere this spirit of prayer and interior recollection. Go out of yourself, and lose yourself in God; go out of time, and lose yourself in eternity.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

There's so deep a meaning to 'silence'.

[odhiambo]

There's so deep a meaning to 'silence'.

That is true Shin.
There is also the " Prayer of Silence".
I try this prayer at times during my weekly Eucharistic Adoration but I am no good at it. I soon give up and read instead, especially at those times when I am not collected and cannot pray properly.

[odhiambo]

'There was once a solitary who had built himself a royal palace in the trunk of an oak-tree; he had placed thorns inside of it, and he had fastened three stones over his head, so that when he raised himself or turned over he might feel the stones or the thorns. And we, we think of nothing but finding good beds, that we may sleep at our ease.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[odhiambo]

'Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely enmeshed.'
St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

That's one of my favorite St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney qoutes odhiambo. It really speaks to me of what the life of a saint is.

The St. Mark quote makes me think of these times especially, where everything has fallen apart. The only way out is to follow the saints, and get clear, far clear, of the world's conversations and entertainments.

I wish I could pray decently. I am not pleased with my prayer life. I think it is because I lack virtue. I think the more virtue one has the better in this regard..

Without sufficient virtue it would be, I think, no wonder, that prayer was not what it should be, because one was not developing the interior qualities for it.

[odhiambo]

That's one of my favorite St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney qoutes odhiambo. It really speaks to me of what the life of a saint is.

Was he referring to St. Simon Stock or was there another Saint who lived a similar life?

[odhiambo]

The St. Mark quote makes me think of these times especially, where everything has fallen apart. The only way out is to follow the saints, and get clear, far clear, of the world's conversations and entertainments.

I wish I could pray decently. I am not pleased with my prayer life. I think it is because I lack virtue. I think the more virtue one has the better in this regard..

Without sufficient virtue it would be, I think, no wonder, that prayer was not what it should be, because one was not developing the interior qualities for it.

You know the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again."   
That is all any of us can do Shin. Success will come with constant trying. It is what is in our hearts that counts with God. Perseverance is important. That is also my problem. At times I want to praise Him using my own words but nothing flows, so I turn to our written prayers. How I envy those who just open their mouths and words of praise, thanksgiving, etc, flow out in spontaneous worship. I have asked Jesus to teach me how to pray. I believe He will.

[Shin]

Thank you odhiambo!

I remember how I love litanies, I should pick those up again. Each line is a short prayer that is memorable and one can think on.


'Let him who seeks true humility, employ two means: mental prayer, meditating on the greatness of God, and his own nothingness; vocal prayer, asking it of God, through the merits of Jesus and Mary.'

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

[odhiambo]

'Let him who seeks true humility, employ two means: mental prayer, meditating on the greatness of God, and his own nothingness; vocal prayer, asking it of God, through the merits of Jesus and Mary.'

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Amen!

[odhiambo]

Vocal prayer . . . must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I don't call prayer-----however much the lips may move.
St. Teresa of Avila

[odhiambo]

Saint Teresa of Avila's quote brings to mind this verse from Mathew:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Matthew 6:7

[Shin]

'Christ could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. "It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on me shall live on account of me."'

St. Albert the Great

[odhiambo]

'.... this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. ..."'
St. Albert the Great

The very one God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden so they would not eat of it and thus live forever; . Jesus Himself!

[odhiambo]

“Despise not yourselves, ye women; the Son of God was born of a woman”

Saint Augustine