Quote for the Day

[Shin]

'The saints owed to their confidence in God that unalterable tranquility of soul, which procured their perpetual joy and peace, even in the midst of adversities.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Whatsoever we do, we can never be true children of Mary, unless we are humble.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

'Virgins enjoy many privileges. They will have gold crowns, they alone will sing the canticle, they will wear the same garments that Christ wears, they will always march after the Lamb himself.'

St. Jerome

[Shin]

'Alas, my friend. We cannot be together in Heaven unless we have begun to live so in this world. Death makes no change in that. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. . . Jesus Christ said . . . "He that does not hear the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican." And he also said, "There shall be one fold and one shepherd," and He made St. Peter the chief shepherd of His flock. My dear friend, there are not two ways of serving Jesus Christ. There is only one good way, and that is to serve Him as He Himself desires to be served.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

[Shin]

'We should carefully beware of giving ourselves so completely to any employment as to forget to have recourse to God from time to time.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

[Shin]

'Just as sailors, in the hope of gain, gladly endure the burning heat of the sun, so those who hate wickedness gladly accept reproof. For the former contend with the winds, the latter with passions.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

[Shin]

'One must wage war against his predominant passion and not retreat until, with God's help, he has been victorious.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

[Shin]

'The soul is more precious than the whole world!'

St. John Chrysostom

[Shin]

'In general, distress arises from the privation of pleasure, whether it be of a worldly kind or relate to God.'

St. Thalassios the Libyan

[Shin]

'Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.'

St. Basil the Great

[Shin]

'Our eighth struggle is against the demon of pride, a most sinister demon, fiercer than all that have been discussed up till now. He attacks the perfect above all and seeks to destroy those who have mounted almost to the heights of holiness. Just as a deadly plague destroys not just one member of the body, but the whole of it, so pride corrupts the whole soul, not just part of it. Each of the other passions that trouble the soul attacks and tries to overcome the single virtue which is opposed to it, and so it darkens and troubles the soul only partially. But the passion of pride darkens the soul completely and leads to its utter downfall.

In order to understand more fully what is meant by this, we should look at the problem in the following way. Gluttony tries to destroy self-control; unchastity, moderation; avarice, voluntary poverty; anger, gentleness; and the other forms of vice, their corresponding virtues. But when the vice of pride has become master of our wretched soul, it acts like some harsh tyrant who has gained control of a great city, and destroys it completely, razing it to its foundations. The angel who fell from heaven because of his pride bears witness to this. He had been created by God and adorned with every virtue and all wisdom, but he did not want to ascribe this to the grace of the Lord. He ascribed it to his own nature and as a result regarded himself as equal to God. The prophet rebukes this claim when he says: 'You have said in your heart: "I will sit on a high mountain; I will place my throne upon the clouds and I will be like the Most High." Yet you are a man, and not God' (cf. Isa. 14:13-14). And again, another prophet says, 'Why do you boast of your wickedness, O mighty man?' and he continues in this same vein (Ps. 52:1). Since we are aware of this we should feel fear and guard our hearts with extreme care from the deadly spirit of pride. When we have attained some degree of holiness we should always repeat to ourselves the words of the Apostle: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me' (1 Cor. 15:10), as well as what was said by the Lord: 'Without Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). We should also bear in mind what the prophet said: 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it' (Ps. 127:1), and finally: 'It does not depend on-man's will or effort, but on God's mercy (Rom. 9:16).'

St. John Cassian

[Shin]

'Spiritual knowledge teaches us that, at the outset, the soul in pursuit of theology is troubled by many passions, above all by anger and hatred. This happens to it not so much because the demons are arousing these passions, as because it is making progress. So long as the soul is worldly-minded, it remains unmoved and untroubled however much it sees people trampling justice under foot. Preoccupied with its own desires, it pays no attention to the justice of God. When, however, because of its disdain for this world and its love for God, it begins to rise above its passions, it cannot bear, even in its dreams, to see justice set at naught. It becomes infuriated with evil-doers and remains angry until it sees the violators of justice forced to make amends. This, then, is why it hates the unjust and loves the just. The eye of the soul cannot be led astray when its veil, by which I mean the body, is refined to near-transparency through self-control. Nevertheless, it is much better to lament the insensitivity of the unjust than to hate them; for even should they deserve our hatred, it is senseless for a soul which loves God to be disturbed by hatred, since when hatred is present in the soul spiritual knowledge is paralyzed.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

[Shin]

'A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction between its being completely formed or unformed is not admissible among us.'

St. Basil the Great

[Shin]

'If I had to remake my character entirely, struggle endlessly against my own inclinations and destroy them, or even tear my own heart out, all this I would do to be worthy of serving you. I am entirely persuaded that the miracle you worked to reward the faith of our holy patron is but a shadow of the glorious resurrection you will deign to grant me if I am faithful to my vocation.'

St. Bernadette Soubirous

[Shin]

'As a man lives, so shall he die.'

St. Augustine

[Shin]

'Know that the more tenderly a son loves his father, the more he fears to offend him. This holy fear will be a curb which will prevent you from committing sin. Love God with an ardent love; place in Him a childlike confidence; let all your words, all your actions, your pains, your sighs, and your tears, be a holocaust offered to His holy love.'

St. Paul of the Cross