Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'I used to press this reason against myself: The trials and sufferings of living as a nun cannot be greater than those of purgatory, and I have well deserved to be in hell. It is not much to spend the rest of my life as if I were in purgatory, and then go straight to Heaven -- which was what I desired. I was more influenced by servile fear, I think, than by love, to enter religion.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'The intellect falls from the realm of spiritual knowledge when the soul's passible aspect abandons its own virtues.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'O Mary, my gentle Mother, here I am, your child who can bear no more. See my needs and above all my spiritual distress. Have pity on me; grant that one day I may be with you in Heaven.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

[Shin]

'Blessed the one who farms fair and good thoughts each day and by hope conquers the wicked passion of despondency, by which the Lord's ascetics are warred upon.

St. Ephrem of Syria

[Shin]

'One may understand by the nourishment of the swine the false philosophy of the world, the vain eloquence of oratory. Their cadence and harmony, in flattering the ear, possess the mind, and enchant the heart; but after one has read works of this kind with great attention, nothing is left but vacancy and confusion. Let us not delude ourselves by saying we do not put any faith in the fable, with which these authors have filled their writings. This reason does not justify us, since we scandalize others who think we approve of what they see us read.'

St. Jerome, to Pope Damasus

[Shin]

'O Jesus, teach me to understand the holy Jealousy of heavenly Love! Free me from earthly attachments and raise all my affections up to you. May my crucified heart be forever lost in your own and hidden away in the mysterious wound made by the spear.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

[Shin]

'Remember the Judgment, and neither fornication, nor adultery, nor murder, nor any transgression of the law shall prevail with you. But whenever you forget God, immediately you begin to devise wickedness and to commit iniquity.'

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

[Shin]

'See if this grace of prayer, with which the Most High favors you, produces in you a better knowledge of your utter insufficiency.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Shin]

'The intellect is perfect when transformed by spiritual knowledge; the soul is perfect when permeated by the virtues.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'Prayer is, beyond doubt, the most powerful weapon the Lord gives us to conquer evil passions and temptations of the devil; but we must really put ourselves into our prayer: it is not enough just to say the words, it must come from the heart. And also prayer needs to be continuous, we must pray no matter what kind of situation we find ourselves in: the warfare we are engaged in is on-going, so our prayer must be on-going also.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'We should consider our departed brethren as living members of Jesus Christ, animated by His grace, and certain of participating one day of His glory. We should therefore love, serve, and assist them as far as is in our power.'

St. Vincent de Paul

[Shin]

'God, who sees everything, rewards at their proper value not only our actions but also our voluntary thoughts and purposes.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'In our time more than ever before, the greatest asset of those disposed toward evil is the cowardice and weakness of good men, and all the vigor of Satan's reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics. Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the Prophet Zachary did in spirit: "What are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands?" The answer would not be doubtful: ". . . With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me." I was wounded by my friends, who did nothing to defend me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of my adversaries. And this reproach can be leveled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries.'

Pope St. Pius X

[Shin]

'If we are under an obligation to perform daily all the good actions of which our nature is capable, what do we have left over to give to God in repayment for our past sins?'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'Love ought to consist of deeds more than of words.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'To each virtue there is an opposing vice; hence the wicked take vices for virtues.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan