Excerpts from Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Therese]

'Faith enlivens the other virtues and serves as a nourishment of the just man and a support in his labors.  Faith confounds and fills with fear the infidels and the lax Christians in their negligence; for it convinces them in this word of their sin and threatens punishment in the life to come.  Faith is powerful to do all things, for nothing is impossible to the believer; faith makes all things attainable and possible.  Faith illumines and ennobles the understanding of man, since it directs him in the darkness of his natural ignorance, not to stray from the way, and it elevates him above himself so that he sees and understands with infallible certainty what is far above his powers and assures him of it no less than if he saw it clearly before him.  He is thus freed from the gross and vile narrow-mindedness of those who will believe only what they can experience by their own limited natural powers, not considering that the soul, as long as it lives in the prison of this corruptible body, is very much circumscribed and limited in its sphere of action by the knowledge drawn from the coarse activity of the senses.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 387-388
(Bk. II, #504)

[Shin]

I never knew about Saints' Quotes, Shin.  I just had a look at it, it is very good!

I visit it every day for inspiration. 

[Therese]

I never knew about Saints' Quotes, Shin.  I just had a look at it, it is very good!

I visit it every day for inspiration. 

I must visit it very frequently, for inspiration.  The quotes are wonderful!

[Therese]

'On this account the holy Spirit calls Her the Mother of beautiful love and holy hope (Eccli. 25, 24); for just as She became the Mother of Christ because She furnished Him with the flesh of his body, so the holy Spirit made Her the Mother of hope, because by her especial concurrence and cooperation She conceived and brought forth this virtue for the faithful of the Church.  Her prerogative of being the Mother of holy hope was connected with and consequent upon Her being the Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord, for she knew that in her Son She would lay the foundation of all the security of our hope.  On account of these conceptions and births of the most holy Queen, She obtained a certain dominion and sovereignty over those graces and the promises the Most High, which depended upon the death of Christ, her Son, for their fulfillment.  When She of her own free will gave conception and birth to the incarnate Word She turned them all over to us and thereby gave birth to our hope.  Thus was accomplished in its legitimate sense that which the Holy Ghost said to Her: "Thy plants are a paradise" (Cant. 4, 13) ; for all that came forth from Mary, the Mother of grace, was to constitute our happiness, our paradise, and our certain hope of being able to attain them.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 392-393
(Bk. II, # 511)

[Therese]

'The Church has a celestial and true father in Jesus Christ, for He engendered and founded it by his merits and labors, and enriched it with his graces, his example and his doctrines, as was to be expected from the Father and Author of such an admirable work.  Therefore it was befitting that the Church should have also a loving and kind Mother, who with sweet regalement and caresses, and with maternal solitude and assistance, should nurse the little children at her breast (I. Cor. 3,2), nourish them with tender and delicious food as long as they can not in their infancy bear the food of the robust and strong.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 393
(Bk. II, # 512)

[Therese]

'In Her was the fulfillment of that great natural and divine precept: "Thou shalt love thy God with thy whole heart, with they whole soul, and with thy whole strength."  Mary alone satisfied this obligation and debt for all men, which in this life and before seeing God they nether knew nor could ever fulfill entirely.  This Lady fulfilled it more perfectly during her pilgrimage than the saints even in the state of beatitude.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 405
(Bk. II, #527)

[Therese]

'She [Mary] contained in Herself all the essential goodness of the human nature and all that was most perfect and the farthest removed from blemish in the accidental qualities of man; and many of the natural and many of the supernatural gifts of the angelic nature She possessed by special privilege and in a higher degree than the angels themselves.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 414
(Bk. II, # 537)

[Therese]

'Obedience is the subjection of our will, inducing us to do the will our superior in preference to our own.  Out free will is so estimable, that this virtue is admirable and excellent above all the moral virtues; for the sacrifice is greater than in any other.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 432
(Bk II, #561)

[Therese]

'She [Mary] knew more of Him than any other creature and more than all of them together; and according to her knowledge She rendered due honor, teaching even the Seraphim how to reverence Him.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 432
(Bk. II, # 562)

[Therese]

"She [Mary] excelled the seraphim from her first instant in contemplation, in prayer, in petition, and in devout promptitude for the service of God.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 433
(Bk. II, # 562)

[Therese]

"During Divine Office, prayer, and sacrifice see that thou remain on thy knees; implore with faith and receive his favors with humble thanksgiving; the same consideration thou shouldst show also to all men, even if they offend thee.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 439
(Bk. II, #570)

[Therese]

'For in the degree in which we love and esteem the eternal good, (and we should esteem it above all visible things), in that degree will we be ready, in order to obtain it and avoid the loss of it, to suffer all hardships in patience.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 442
(Bk II, #574)

[Therese]

'Of the virginal purity and modesty of this Virgin of virgins not even the seraphim could speak worthily, for in this virtue, though to them it was co-natural, they were inferior to their Queen and Mistress.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 454
(Bk II, # 589)

[Therese]

'Of Her own choice She never ate meat, nor did She eat more than once a day, except when She lived with her husband Joseph, or when She accompanied her most holy Son in his travels; for in such circumstances, in order to conform Herself to others, She imitated the mode of living followed by the Lord, although at all times She was wonderful in her temperance.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 454
(Bk. II, #588)

[Therese]

'Accordingly She never spoke to any man except at the command of God; nor did She ever look into the face of a man, and not even in the face of a woman; and this not on account of any danger to Her, but for the sake of gaining merit, and for our example, and in order to exercise the superabundance of her heavenly prudence, wisdom and charity.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 455
(Bk. II, # 589)

[Therese]

'Not only did She deem Herself unworthy of the dignity of being the Mother of God and of all the graces connected wherewith, but She did not esteem Herself deserving of the air She breathed, of the support the earth gave to her footsteps, of the sustenance derived from it, or of any service of kindness at the hands of creatures; of all things She considered Herself unworthy and She gave thanks for all, as if She were really so undeserving.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. I, p. 457-458
(Bk. II, # 593)