Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'"The shadow of death" is human life. Therefore if a man is with God and God is with him, clearly he is able to say, "Though I walk through the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'. . . it said by the Lord, through the mouth of Job, concerning the devil: His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another. One is joined to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated (Job. xli. 6, 8). By these words He makes clear that the spirits of evil have, between them, such harmony of purpose that in no way can they be separated one from another. For by the body of the devil is understood the whole array of the malignant spirits. And because of their strength these same malign spirits are spoken of as molten shields, and they are described as scales pressing upon one another, and as, holding one another fast, and as being joined to one another, because of this surpassing unity and concord which they possess in every kind of malice and desire of evil-doing. Would indeed if it could be that this so great unity and harmony might be broken, and the kingdom of evil be destroyed!'

St. Bruno

[Shin]

'If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.'

St. Isidore of Seville

[Shin]

'The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.'

St. Vincent de Paul

[Shin]

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

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'If you have faith in the Lord you will fear punishment, and this fear will lead you to control the passions. Once you control the passions you will accept affliction patiently, and through such acceptance you will acquire hope in God. Hope in God separates the intellect from every worldly attachment, and when the intellect is detached in this way it will acquire love for God.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'Prayer is an activity becoming to the dignity of the mind, or rather, is its real use.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

[Shin]

'They who aspire to reform the morals of others lose their time and their pains, by not preaching by example, in correcting themselves first.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'The self-indulgent person loves wealth because it enables him to live comfortably; the person full of self-esteem loves it because through it he can gain the esteem of others; the person who lacks faith loves it because, fearful of starvation, old age, disease, or exile, he can save it and hoard it. He puts his trust in wealth rather than in God, the Creator who provides for all creation, down to the least of living things.

There are four kinds of men who hoard wealth: the three already mentioned and the treasurer or bursar. Clearly, it is only the last who conserves it for a good purpose - namely, so as always to have the means of supplying each person's basic needs.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'Having once made an entire donation of ourselves, let us not retract it: our Lord will employ every means to sanctify us, in proportion as we make use of every opportunity to glorify Him.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Do not distress yourself on account of any distaste or dryness you experience in God's service. He wills that you should serve Him fervently and constantly it is true, but without any other help than simple faith, and thus your love will be more disinterested, and your service the more pleasing to Him.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Shin]

'Our body is a vessel of corruption; it is meant for death and for the worms, nothing more! And yet we devote ourselves to satisfying it, rather than to enriching our soul, which is so great that we can conceive nothing greater -- no, nothing, nothing! For we see that God, urged by the ardor of His love, would not create us like the animals; He has created us in His own image and likeness, do you see? Oh, how great is man!

Man, being created by love, cannot live without love: either he loves God, for he loves himself and he loves the world. See, my children, it is faith that we want. . . . When we have not faith, we are blind. He who does not see, does not know; he who does not know does not love; he who does not love God loves himself, and at the same time loves his pleasures. He fixes his heart on things which pass away like smoke. He cannot know the truth, nor any good thing; he can know nothing but falsehood, because he has no light; he is in a mist. If he had light, he would see plainly that all that he loves can give him nothing but eternal death; it is a foretaste of Hell.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[Shin]

'In my judgment the war that is waged against us by our fellow countrymen is the hardest to bear, because against open and declared enemies it is easy to defend ourselves, while we are necessarily at the mercy of those who are associated with us, and are thus exposed to continual danger. This has been your case. Our fathers were persecuted, but by idolaters their substance was plundered, their houses were overthrown, they themselves were driven into exile, by our open enemies, for Christ's name's sake. The persecutors who have lately appeared, hate us no less than they, but, to the deceiving of many, they put forward the name of Christ, that the persecuted may be robbed of all comfort from its confession, because the majority of simpler folk, while admitting that we are being wronged, are unwilling to reckon our death for the truth's sake to be martyrdom. I am therefore persuaded that the reward in store for you from the righteous Judge is yet greater than that bestowed on those former martyrs. They indeed both had the public praise of men, and received the reward of God; to you, though your good deeds are not less, no honours are given by the people. It is only fair that the requital in store for you in the world to come should be far greater.'

St. Basil the Great

[Shin]

'Created free and called to freedom (cf. Gal. 5:13), do not be enslaved by impure passions.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'An evil suspicion darkens the mind (cf. Ecclus. 3:24) and diverts attention from the path to what lies beside it.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'"Put to death therefore whatever is earthly in you: unchastity, uncleanliness, passion, evil desire and greed" (Col. 3:5). Earth is the name St. Paul gives to the will of the flesh. Unchastity is his word for the actual committing of sin. Uncleanness is how he designates assent to sin. Passion is his term for impassioned thoughts. By evil desire he means the simple act of accepting the thought and the desire. And greed is his name for what generates and promotes passion. All these St. Paul ordered us to mortify as "aspects" expressing the will of the flesh.'

St. Maximos the Confessor