Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'I resolve to ask myself, whenever I have to encounter crosses of suffering, "Conrad, why have you come here?"'

St. Conrad of Parzham, resolutions in the novitiate

[Shin]

'Do not pass one day without devoting a half hour, or at least a quarter of an hour, to meditation on the sorrowful Passion of your Saviour. Have a continual remembrance of the agonies of your crucified Love, and know that the greatest saints, who now, in heaven, triumph in holy love, arrived at perfection in this way.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'The earth under the ancient curse brought forth thorns and thistles; but now the Church beholds it laughing with flowers and restored by the grace of a new benediction. Mindful of the verse, "My heart danceth for joy, and in my song will I praise Him", she refreshes herself with the fruits of His Passion which she gathers from the Tree of the Cross, and with the flowers of His Resurrection whose fragrance invites the frequent visits of her Spouse.'

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

[Shin]

'Withdraw your heart from the world before God takes your body from it.'

St. John of Avila

[Shin]

'Should you feel yourself overwhelmed by fear, cast yourself into the abyss of the unshaken confidence of the Sacred Heart, and there your fear will give place to love. If you find yourself frail and weak, lapsing into faults at every moment, go to the Sacred Heart and draw from It the strength which will invigorate and revive you.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter then snow.'

   'Asperges me hyssopo, et mundabor; lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.'

Psalms 50:9

[Therese]

"The Lord brings his servants to eternal life by mortification; but the devil leads sinners to everlasting death by pleasure and self-indulgence."

--St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'When a man falls into any bodily infirmity, he must lie and think, and say, "God has sent me this sickness, because He wishes something of me; I must therefore make up my mind to change my life and become better."'

St. Philip Neri

[Shin]

'Sanctorum vita ceteris norma vivendi est.'

'The life of the saints is the norm of living for others.'

St. Ambrose of Milan

[Shin]

'John, it is by thorns, by labours, and by sufferings that you must gain the crown which my Son has prepared for you.'

Our Lady, to St. John of God

One day, as St. John was on his knees before the crucifix in our Lady's church, he had a vision during which it seemed to him that there were no doors to the church, or at least that they were closed, and that the Blessed Virgin, descending from the altar with S. John the Evangelist, came and placed on his head the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ, and then she said this to him.

[Therese]

'When shall I be able to say, "My God, I cannot lose Thee anymore?"
--St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'My inheritance is become to me as an hyaena’s den. [Jer 12.8]

The hypocrite is an animal of this sort, living like a beast, small by his pretence, wild in the deformity of his action, digging up graves in the night of deceit. He creeps into the house of women, as the Apostle says [2Tim 3.6], by pleasing speeches and good words seducing the hearts of the innocent [Rom 16.18], and so eats the corpses of sinners. He affects a human voice (that is, praise), lurking round the shepherds’ huts, the places of preaching, so as to listen carefully and learn how to preach; then in the night he deceives men who associate with him by his preaching.

He counterfeits human vomit (the confession of sins). He accuses himself of being a sinner, but does not think he is. He draws men with false gurglings and groanings, so that they think he is a saint, seeing him groan like this! Sometimes he even deceives just men, too ready to believe in his false devotion. If his shadow touches anyone, they are unable to bark against him -- they even defend him! In particular, this happens today with those who trust heretics. They really do not heed the Lord’s advice: Beware of false prophets, etc.

The heretic’s eyes are very shifty. Sometimes he raises his eyes to heaven and sighs, sometimes he casts them down and weeps. His colour is always changing: now he is pale, now he is dark, now he has ragged clothing, now well-ordered. Now abstinence pleases him, now it displeases. This constant change of colour indicates his inner instability.

Any animal that the hyaena (the heretic or hypocrite) goes round three times -- encircling it with the word of preaching, with the example of a pretended holiness, and the appearance of attractive promise -- remains immovable as regards good. Beware, then, I pray you, of false prophets. By their fruits you shall know them. The Gloss says, ‘You can best tell them by their impatience in time of adversity.’ When prosperity smiles, the wolfish mind is hidden beneath the sheep-skin; but when adversity gives a jaundiced look, the sheep-skin is torn by the wolf’s teeth.'

St. Anthony of Padua

[Shin]

'But you, my daughter, whom I have chosen for myself and with whom I speak in spirit, love me with all your heart, not as you love your son or daughter or relatives but more than anything in the world! I created you and spared none of my limbs in suffering for you. And yet I love your soul so dearly that, if it were possible, I would let myself be nailed to the cross again rather than lose you. Imitate my humility: I, who am the king of glory and of angels, was clothed in lowly rags and stood naked at the pillar while my ears heard all kinds of insults and derision. Prefer my will to yours, because my Mother, your Lady, from beginning to end, never wanted anything but what I wanted. If you do this, then your heart will be with my heart, and it will be set aflame with my love in the same way as any dry thing is easily set aflame by fire. Your soul will be filled with me and I will be in you, and all temporal things will become bitter to you and all carnal desire like poison. You will rest in my divine arms, where there is no carnal desire, only joy and spiritual delight. There the soul, both inwardly and outwardly delighted, is full of joy, thinking of nothing and desiring nothing but the joy that it possesses. So love me alone, and you will have all the things you wish, and you will have them in abundance. Is it not written that the widow's oil did not fail until the day that the Lord sent rain upon the earth according to the words of the prophet? I am the true prophet. If you believe my words and fulfill them, oil and joy and exultation will never fail you for all eternity.'

The Lord, to St. Bridget of Sweden

[Shin]

'Assuredly there is no one in the world who would not receive every kind of help from Heaven, if he had a truly grateful love for Jesus Christ, such as that which is shown by devotion to His Sacred Heart.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'. . . so we will have no dealings with rebel heretics, remembering the Lord's command, who says, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine." [Matthew 7:6] Surely it is altogether unworthy and unjust to admit to freedom of discussion men whom the Holy Spirit describes in the words of the prophet, "the sons of the stranger have lied unto me."'

Pope St. Leo the Great

[Shin]

'Since the soul is more noble than the body and God incomparably more noble than the world created by Him, he who values the body more than the soul and the world created by God more than the Creator Himself is simply a worshiper of idols.'

St. Maximos the Confessor