30 December 2022
The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye. In it we see our
inner face. From the Scriptures we can learn our spiritual deformities and
beauties. And there too we discover the progress we are making and how far we
are from perfection.
Saint Gregory the Great
The Intercession of His Saint
28 December 2022
God, who created all things, is in all places, and is everywhere to be worshiped. Yet his infinite wisdom thinks fit to work wonders at the intercession of his saints.
Saint Augustine
God, who created all things, is in all places, and is everywhere to be worshiped. Yet his infinite wisdom thinks fit to work wonders at the intercession of his saints.
Saint Augustine
Judgement Day
26 December 2022
At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not how well have we spoken, but how well we have lived.
Thomas à Kempis
At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not how well have we spoken, but how well we have lived.
Thomas à Kempis
Nativity of Our Lord
24 December 2022
For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.
Leo the Great
For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.
Leo the Great
O Emmanuel
23 December 2022
O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God. Isaiah had prophesied, The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.
O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God. Isaiah had prophesied, The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.
O Rex Gentium
22 December 2022
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust. Isaiah had prophesied, For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5), and He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. (Isaiah 2:4).
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust. Isaiah had prophesied, For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5), and He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. (Isaiah 2:4).
O Oriens
21 December 2022
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Isaiah had prophesied, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown. (Isaiah 9:1).
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Isaiah had prophesied, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown. (Isaiah 9:1).
O Clavis David
20 December 2022
O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom. Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open. (Isaiah 22:22), and His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. (Isaiah 9:6).
O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom. Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open. (Isaiah 22:22), and His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. (Isaiah 9:6).
O Radix Jesse
19 December 2022
O Flower of Jesse's stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. Isaiah had prophesied, But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. (Isaiah 11:1), and A On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10). Remember also that Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David's city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:1).
O Flower of Jesse's stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. Isaiah had prophesied, But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. (Isaiah 11:1), and A On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10). Remember also that Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David's city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:1).
O Adonai
18 December 2022
O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free. Isaiah had prophesied, But He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the lands afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. (Isaiah 11:4-5); and Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic; yes the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will save us. (Isaiah 33:22).
O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free. Isaiah had prophesied, But He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the lands afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. (Isaiah 11:4-5); and Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic; yes the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will save us. (Isaiah 33:22).
O Sapientia
O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all
creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to
salvation. Isaiah had prophesied, The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a
spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a
spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of
the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2-3), and Wonderful is His counsel and great is His
wisdom. (Isaiah 28:29).
Meditate On God's Word
16 December 2022
I urge you to meditate seriously on the word of God, and not to think lightly of the writings which your Creator has bequeathed to us. Beyond all doubt they afford warmth to hearts which would otherwise be numb with cold because of our sins.
Saint Gregory the Great
I urge you to meditate seriously on the word of God, and not to think lightly of the writings which your Creator has bequeathed to us. Beyond all doubt they afford warmth to hearts which would otherwise be numb with cold because of our sins.
Saint Gregory the Great
God's Glory
15 December 2022
Unclench your fists. Hold out your hands. Take mine. Let us hold each other. Thus is his Glory Manifest.
Madeleine L'Engle
Unclench your fists. Hold out your hands. Take mine. Let us hold each other. Thus is his Glory Manifest.
Madeleine L'Engle
On Prayer
14 December 2022
He will give either what we ask, or what he knows to be more profitable to us.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
He will give either what we ask, or what he knows to be more profitable to us.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
On Humility
13 December 2022
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
Saint Augustine
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
Saint Augustine
On Prayer
12 December 2022
Sometimes during a lengthy prayer only a few minutes are really pleasing to God, and constitute true prayer, true service to Him. The chief thing in prayer is the nearness of the heart to God.
Saint John of Kronstadt
Sometimes during a lengthy prayer only a few minutes are really pleasing to God, and constitute true prayer, true service to Him. The chief thing in prayer is the nearness of the heart to God.
Saint John of Kronstadt
Making Choices
11 December 2022
He who is making a choice ought to examine himself whether the affection that he has towards anything arises solely from love of God and regard to him.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
He who is making a choice ought to examine himself whether the affection that he has towards anything arises solely from love of God and regard to him.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
On Pursuing Virtue
10 December 2022
Let’s continue to be strenuous in pursuing virtue. Let’s not grow tired of seeking it, for our Lord has become a guide for us and for every person who has a desire for the virtues. And so that it might not be tedious for us, St. Paul became our example when he said, “I die daily” (see 1 Cor 15:31). Now, if we were to think each day that we had to die that day, we would never sin at all. This is the explanation of Paul’s saying. If in the morning we imagined that we would never last until evening, and if at evening we thought that we would never see morning, we would never sin.
Saint Athanasius the Great
Let’s continue to be strenuous in pursuing virtue. Let’s not grow tired of seeking it, for our Lord has become a guide for us and for every person who has a desire for the virtues. And so that it might not be tedious for us, St. Paul became our example when he said, “I die daily” (see 1 Cor 15:31). Now, if we were to think each day that we had to die that day, we would never sin at all. This is the explanation of Paul’s saying. If in the morning we imagined that we would never last until evening, and if at evening we thought that we would never see morning, we would never sin.
Saint Athanasius the Great
Charity and Devotion
9 December 2022
Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire.
Saint Francis de Sales
Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire.
Saint Francis de Sales
Do Not Sin
8 December 2022
But do not sin… expecting that you will repent; and do not succumb [to sin] being confident of forgiveness! Remember that death will not delay. Do not craftily seek means to draw nigh the pleasure of sin with a knavish mind! God is not mocked [Gal. 6:7]. His knowledge precedes your thoughts. Affliction will overtake you suddenly, and when you cry out, He will not answer you.
Saint Isaac of Syria
But do not sin… expecting that you will repent; and do not succumb [to sin] being confident of forgiveness! Remember that death will not delay. Do not craftily seek means to draw nigh the pleasure of sin with a knavish mind! God is not mocked [Gal. 6:7]. His knowledge precedes your thoughts. Affliction will overtake you suddenly, and when you cry out, He will not answer you.
Saint Isaac of Syria
On Repentance
7 December 2022
The main thing in repentance is the anguish of the heart over being deficient in the Lord’s eyes and a firm resolution to try to be diligent in everything in the future.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
The main thing in repentance is the anguish of the heart over being deficient in the Lord’s eyes and a firm resolution to try to be diligent in everything in the future.
Saint Theophan the Recluse
Courage Follows Repentance
6 December 2022
Pay attention carefully. After the sin comes the shame; courage follows repentance. Did you pay attention to what I said? Satan upsets the order; he gives the courage to sin and the shame to repentance.
Saint John Chrysostom
Pay attention carefully. After the sin comes the shame; courage follows repentance. Did you pay attention to what I said? Satan upsets the order; he gives the courage to sin and the shame to repentance.
Saint John Chrysostom
Rejoicing In God's Love
5 December 2022
Wonderful and splendid is the place where the Lord lives. And therefore it is his will that we turn quickly at his gracious touch, rejoicing more in the fullness of his love than sorrowing over our frequent failures.
Saint Julian of Norwich
Wonderful and splendid is the place where the Lord lives. And therefore it is his will that we turn quickly at his gracious touch, rejoicing more in the fullness of his love than sorrowing over our frequent failures.
Saint Julian of Norwich
Desire and Prayer
4 December 2022
There is another inward kind of prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart… If you do not want to pause in prayer then never pause in your longing. Your continuous desire is your continuous prayer. If you cease to desire than you will have fallen silent in your prayer.
Saint Augustine
There is another inward kind of prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart… If you do not want to pause in prayer then never pause in your longing. Your continuous desire is your continuous prayer. If you cease to desire than you will have fallen silent in your prayer.
Saint Augustine
Believe in the Gospels
3 December 2022
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
Saint Augustine
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
Saint Augustine
The Liturgy of Advent
2 December 2022
The liturgy of Advent…helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.
St. John Paul II
The liturgy of Advent…helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.
St. John Paul II
A Savior is Born
1 December 2022
The star came to rest above the place where the child was. At the sight of it the wise were filled with great joy and that great joy should fill our hearts as well. It is the same as the joy the shepherds received from the glad tidings brought by the angels. Let us join the wise men in worship and the shepherds in giving glory to God. Let us dance with angels and sing: To us is born this a savior who is Christ the Lord. The Lord is God and he has appeared to us, not as God which would have terrified us in our weakness, but as a slave in order to free those living in slavery. Could anyone be so lacking in sensibility and so ungrateful as not to join us all in our gladness, exultation, and radiant joy?
Saint Basil the Great
The star came to rest above the place where the child was. At the sight of it the wise were filled with great joy and that great joy should fill our hearts as well. It is the same as the joy the shepherds received from the glad tidings brought by the angels. Let us join the wise men in worship and the shepherds in giving glory to God. Let us dance with angels and sing: To us is born this a savior who is Christ the Lord. The Lord is God and he has appeared to us, not as God which would have terrified us in our weakness, but as a slave in order to free those living in slavery. Could anyone be so lacking in sensibility and so ungrateful as not to join us all in our gladness, exultation, and radiant joy?
Saint Basil the Great
On Prayer
29 November 2022
The greatest part of my prayer here and for years now is thankgiving. What else should I ask, when I have everything?
Gabriela Papayannis
The greatest part of my prayer here and for years now is thankgiving. What else should I ask, when I have everything?
Gabriela Papayannis
Christ's Passion
28 November 2022
By Christ’s Passion our weakness was cured. By His Resurrection death was conquered. Still we have to be sorrowful for the world, as well as joyful in the Lord, sorrowful in penance, joyful in gratitude.
Saint Ambrose of Milan
By Christ’s Passion our weakness was cured. By His Resurrection death was conquered. Still we have to be sorrowful for the world, as well as joyful in the Lord, sorrowful in penance, joyful in gratitude.
Saint Ambrose of Milan
The story of Jesus
27 November 2022
The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story will not always be accepted, but it must be told.
Henri Nouwen
The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story will not always be accepted, but it must be told.
Henri Nouwen
On Gratitude
26 November 2022
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
GK Chesterton
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
GK Chesterton
Evil Inclinations
25 November 2022
There are two things to be aware of if the fight against evil inclinations is to have any chance of success. First, our efforts will never be sufficient on their own. Only the grace of Christ can win us the victory. Therefore our chief weapons are prayer, patience, and hope. Second, one passion can only be cured by another — a misplaced love by a greater love, wrong behavior by right behavior that makes provisions for the desire underlying the wrongdoing, recognizes the conscious or unconscious needs that seek fulfillment and either offers them legitimate satisfaction or transfers them to something compatible with the person’s calling.
Jacques Philippe
There are two things to be aware of if the fight against evil inclinations is to have any chance of success. First, our efforts will never be sufficient on their own. Only the grace of Christ can win us the victory. Therefore our chief weapons are prayer, patience, and hope. Second, one passion can only be cured by another — a misplaced love by a greater love, wrong behavior by right behavior that makes provisions for the desire underlying the wrongdoing, recognizes the conscious or unconscious needs that seek fulfillment and either offers them legitimate satisfaction or transfers them to something compatible with the person’s calling.
Jacques Philippe
Should We Fall, Not Not Despair
24 November 2022
For to sin, even in the case of those who are most
righteous, is easy, while repentance is not easy for everyone because death is
near; and even before death comes there is despair. It is good, then, not to
fall; or, if we fall, to rise again. And should we fall, we should not despair
and so estrange ourselves from the Lord’s love. For if He so chooses, He can
deal mercifully with our weakness. Only we should not cut ourselves off from
Him or feel oppressed when constrained by His commandments, nor should we lose
heart when we fall short of our goal. Rather, let us learn that a thousand
years in the sight of the Lord are but a single day, and a single day is as a
thousand years (cf. Ps. 90:4). Let us be neither hasty nor tardy, and let us be
always ready to make a new start. If you fall, rise up. If you fall again, rise
up again. Only do not abandon your Physician, lest you be condemned as worse
than a suicide because of your despair. Wait on Him, and He will be merciful,
either reforming you, or sending you trials, or through some other provision of
which you are ignorant.
Saint Peter of Damascus
The Kingdom of Heaven
22 November 2022
There is only one way leading upwards for all who see, lightened with heavenly light. But many and dark and contrary are the ways of those who see not. This way leads to the Kingdom of heaven, uniting man to God: but those ways bring down to death, separating man from God. Therefore it is necessary for you and for all who care for their own salvation to make your course unswerving, firm, and sure by means of faith.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
There is only one way leading upwards for all who see, lightened with heavenly light. But many and dark and contrary are the ways of those who see not. This way leads to the Kingdom of heaven, uniting man to God: but those ways bring down to death, separating man from God. Therefore it is necessary for you and for all who care for their own salvation to make your course unswerving, firm, and sure by means of faith.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Thanksgiving
20 November 2022
For if God does not for a moment tire of giving us good things, how can we tire of thanking Him for these good things?
Saint Nicholas Velimirovic
For if God does not for a moment tire of giving us good things, how can we tire of thanking Him for these good things?
Saint Nicholas Velimirovic
On Temptations
19 November 2022
Conquer temptations by the patience and prayer. If you oppose them without these, you will fall all the more severely.
Saint Mark the Ascetic
Conquer temptations by the patience and prayer. If you oppose them without these, you will fall all the more severely.
Saint Mark the Ascetic
On Love
18 November 2022
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Wondering
16 November 2022
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
Saint Augustine
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
Saint Augustine
On the Heart
15 November 2022
A heart that would contemplate must be bright as a mirror, shimmer like some still stretch of water crystal clear, so that in it and through it the mind may see itself, as in and through a mirror, an image in the image of God. The heart that covets the sight of God as in a mirror must keep itself free from cares, from harmful, unnecessary and even necessary ones. It must keep itself ever alert through reading, meditation and prayer. “Blessed are the pure of heart; they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8)
Isaac of Stella (12th Century)
A heart that would contemplate must be bright as a mirror, shimmer like some still stretch of water crystal clear, so that in it and through it the mind may see itself, as in and through a mirror, an image in the image of God. The heart that covets the sight of God as in a mirror must keep itself free from cares, from harmful, unnecessary and even necessary ones. It must keep itself ever alert through reading, meditation and prayer. “Blessed are the pure of heart; they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8)
Isaac of Stella (12th Century)
On Prayer
13 November 2022
Even though we may have had a powerful conversion experience, felt great fervor, and received immense graces, without fidelity to mental prayer our Christian life will soon reach a plateau and stall there.
Jacques Philippe
Even though we may have had a powerful conversion experience, felt great fervor, and received immense graces, without fidelity to mental prayer our Christian life will soon reach a plateau and stall there.
Jacques Philippe
Love and Self-Control
11 November 2022
Love and self-control liberate the soul from its obsessions. Reading and reflection deliver the intellect from ignorance. Regular prayer brings the soul into the very presence of God.
Saint Maximos the Confessor
Love and self-control liberate the soul from its obsessions. Reading and reflection deliver the intellect from ignorance. Regular prayer brings the soul into the very presence of God.
Saint Maximos the Confessor
On Love
9 November 2022
There is nothing in human life better than mutual love nor anything sweeter than holy fellowship. To love and be loved is a sweet exchange, the joy of one’s whole life, the recompense of blessedness. What can be lacking in the sweetness of this good and pleasant dwelling, this place where God dwells and where he rests? ‘God is in his holy place, God, who makes those of one mind to dwell in a house’.
Baldwin of Forde
There is nothing in human life better than mutual love nor anything sweeter than holy fellowship. To love and be loved is a sweet exchange, the joy of one’s whole life, the recompense of blessedness. What can be lacking in the sweetness of this good and pleasant dwelling, this place where God dwells and where he rests? ‘God is in his holy place, God, who makes those of one mind to dwell in a house’.
Baldwin of Forde
Our Journey
7 November 2022
Be always displeased with what you are if you wish to be what you are not. Keep on adding, keep on walking, keep on progressing: do not delay on the road, do not go back, do not deviate.
Saint Augustine
Be always displeased with what you are if you wish to be what you are not. Keep on adding, keep on walking, keep on progressing: do not delay on the road, do not go back, do not deviate.
Saint Augustine
True Fasting
6 November 2022
The essence and power of abstinence is not in refraining from food, but in expelling from the heart every remembrance of evil and other such things. That is true fasting, and what – above all else – the Lord demands.
Saint Leo of Optina
The essence and power of abstinence is not in refraining from food, but in expelling from the heart every remembrance of evil and other such things. That is true fasting, and what – above all else – the Lord demands.
Saint Leo of Optina
Virtues of the Saints
4 November 2022
Jesus does not want from me a mediocre virtue, but a high one: He is not happy with me until I become, or at least I am committed to becoming a saint.
Saint John XXIII
Jesus does not want from me a mediocre virtue, but a high one: He is not happy with me until I become, or at least I am committed to becoming a saint.
Saint John XXIII
Called to be Saints
2 November 2022
The active life to be productive must have contemplation. When it (contemplation) gets to a certain height it overflows to active life and gets help and strength from the heart of God. This is the way the saints produced so much fruit, and we’re all called to be saints.
Saint Katharine Drexel
The active life to be productive must have contemplation. When it (contemplation) gets to a certain height it overflows to active life and gets help and strength from the heart of God. This is the way the saints produced so much fruit, and we’re all called to be saints.
Saint Katharine Drexel
Good Thoughts
1 November 2022
Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.
Saint Thomas More
Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.
Saint Thomas More
Love of God and Neighbor
31 October 2022
Whatever religious practice or observance it leads to, any teaching or discipline that fosters a stronger love of God and, through God, of our neighbours, is most acceptable to God for that reason. This love is the reason why things should be or not be, why they should remain the same or be changed. This love should be the reason why things are and the end to which all things are directed. For nothing can be considered wrong that is truly directed towards and according to that love. Without such love we cannot be pleasing to God, and without it we cannot achieve anything at all.
Isaac of Stella (12th Century)
Whatever religious practice or observance it leads to, any teaching or discipline that fosters a stronger love of God and, through God, of our neighbours, is most acceptable to God for that reason. This love is the reason why things should be or not be, why they should remain the same or be changed. This love should be the reason why things are and the end to which all things are directed. For nothing can be considered wrong that is truly directed towards and according to that love. Without such love we cannot be pleasing to God, and without it we cannot achieve anything at all.
Isaac of Stella (12th Century)
Inner Peace
30 October 2022
Just as a city is not built in a day, do not think that you can achieve, in a day, this peace, this interior calm, because it is within you that a home must be built for God, while you yourself become his temple. And it is the Lord himself who must handle the construction. Without him your work would not exist.
Jacques Philippe
Just as a city is not built in a day, do not think that you can achieve, in a day, this peace, this interior calm, because it is within you that a home must be built for God, while you yourself become his temple. And it is the Lord himself who must handle the construction. Without him your work would not exist.
Jacques Philippe
On Silence
29 October 2022
Even amid the “busy-ness” and the stress of our daily lives, we need to make space for silence, because it is in silence that we find God, and in silence that we discover our true self. And in discovering our true self, we discover the particular vocation which God has given us for the building up of his Church and the redemption of our world.
Pope Benedict XVI
Even amid the “busy-ness” and the stress of our daily lives, we need to make space for silence, because it is in silence that we find God, and in silence that we discover our true self. And in discovering our true self, we discover the particular vocation which God has given us for the building up of his Church and the redemption of our world.
Pope Benedict XVI
Walk in Jesus
28 October 2022
“Walk in Jesus Christ, rooted in Him, built up on Him strengthened in faith and growing in Him in thanksgiving.” (Col 2:6-7) Yes, little child of my heart and soul, walk in Jesus Christ: you need this broad road, for you were not made for the narrow paths of here below! Be rooted in Him. This implies being uprooted from self, or doing everything as if you were, by denying self each time you meet it. Be built up on Him, high above everything that is passing, there where everything is pure, everything is luminous.Saint Elizabeth of the Blessed Trinity
In the Image of God
27 October 2022
To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. If, therefore, I do anything or think anything or say anything or know anything that is not purely for the love of God, it cannot give me peace, or rest, or fulfillment, or joy. To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. If, therefore, I do anything or think anything or say anything or know anything that is not purely for the love of God, it cannot give me peace, or rest, or fulfillment, or joy. To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Hope in the Lord
26 October 2022
We can hope. We are precisely the ones that Jesus came to save, for we are being lost. Yes, without Him we are perishing at every moment. We can hope, for whatever we may be guilty of, Jesus wants to save us. The more sinful we are, the closer to death, the deeper our state of despair for our body and our soul, the more it can be said that Jesus wants to save us, for He came to save what was about to be lost. We must never be discouraged, but always hope. We are on the edge of a gulf, we are about to sink…we are sinking. We are just the ones Jesus came to save. He wants to save us because we are sinking. He is infinitely good and infinitely powerful. To the very last, as long as there is a breath of life left, all can hope in Him.
Blessed Charles De Foucauld
We can hope. We are precisely the ones that Jesus came to save, for we are being lost. Yes, without Him we are perishing at every moment. We can hope, for whatever we may be guilty of, Jesus wants to save us. The more sinful we are, the closer to death, the deeper our state of despair for our body and our soul, the more it can be said that Jesus wants to save us, for He came to save what was about to be lost. We must never be discouraged, but always hope. We are on the edge of a gulf, we are about to sink…we are sinking. We are just the ones Jesus came to save. He wants to save us because we are sinking. He is infinitely good and infinitely powerful. To the very last, as long as there is a breath of life left, all can hope in Him.
Blessed Charles De Foucauld
In the Lord's Presence
24 October 2022
Our best plan is to place ourselves in the Lord’s presence, meditate upon His mercy and grace and upon our lowliness, and leave Him to give us what He wills…He knows best what is good for us.
Saint Teresa of Ávila
Our best plan is to place ourselves in the Lord’s presence, meditate upon His mercy and grace and upon our lowliness, and leave Him to give us what He wills…He knows best what is good for us.
Saint Teresa of Ávila
Living Quietly
20 October 2022
Just as grass does not grow at all on a well-traveled road, even if you sow seed on the road, because the ground is trampled down, so it is with us: Live quietly, apart from things, and you will see plants growing that you had no knowledge of because they were within you and you were trampling them down.
The Desert Fathers
Just as grass does not grow at all on a well-traveled road, even if you sow seed on the road, because the ground is trampled down, so it is with us: Live quietly, apart from things, and you will see plants growing that you had no knowledge of because they were within you and you were trampling them down.
The Desert Fathers
On Holy Scripture
19 October 2022
Scriptural readings such as those from the prophets were viewed not as reminiscences from the past but as a living message for the present.
Saint Justin Martyr
Scriptural readings such as those from the prophets were viewed not as reminiscences from the past but as a living message for the present.
Saint Justin Martyr
On Pride
16 October 2022
Pride does not allow the soul to set out on the path of faith. Here is my advice to the unbeliever: let him say, “Lord, if you exist, then illumine me, and I will serve you with all my heart and soul.” And for this humble thought and readiness to serve God, the Lord will immediately illumine him… And then your soul will sense the Lord; she will sense that the Lord has forgiven her, and loves her, and you will know this from experience, and the grace of the Holy Spirit will be a witness in your soul of your salvation, and you will want to cry out to the whole world: “The Lord loves us so much!”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
Pride does not allow the soul to set out on the path of faith. Here is my advice to the unbeliever: let him say, “Lord, if you exist, then illumine me, and I will serve you with all my heart and soul.” And for this humble thought and readiness to serve God, the Lord will immediately illumine him… And then your soul will sense the Lord; she will sense that the Lord has forgiven her, and loves her, and you will know this from experience, and the grace of the Holy Spirit will be a witness in your soul of your salvation, and you will want to cry out to the whole world: “The Lord loves us so much!”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
Each Day
14 October 2022
When you arise it on each day, make a fresh start in every virtue and commandment of God with greatest patience, with fear and long-suffering, and the love of God, with all spiritual and physical fervor, and with much humiliation.
The Desert Fathers
When you arise it on each day, make a fresh start in every virtue and commandment of God with greatest patience, with fear and long-suffering, and the love of God, with all spiritual and physical fervor, and with much humiliation.
The Desert Fathers
On Prayer
13 October 2022
If the heart does not pray, the tongue works in vain.
Saint Thomas of Cori
If the heart does not pray, the tongue works in vain.
Saint Thomas of Cori
On Fasting
12 October 2022
Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity. Enter again into yourself.
Saint Augustine
Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity. Enter again into yourself.
Saint Augustine
God's Word
11 October 2022
Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed his message in many colors, so that whoever gazes upon it can see in it what suits him. Within it he has buried manifold treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out.
Saint Ephrem of Syria
Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed his message in many colors, so that whoever gazes upon it can see in it what suits him. Within it he has buried manifold treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out.
Saint Ephrem of Syria
On Adversity
10 October 2022
See that you are not suddenly saddened by the adversities of this world, for you do not know the good they bring, being ordained in the judgments of God for the everlasting joy of the elect.
Saint John of the Cross
See that you are not suddenly saddened by the adversities of this world, for you do not know the good they bring, being ordained in the judgments of God for the everlasting joy of the elect.
Saint John of the Cross
On Prayer
8 October 2022
It is of paramount importance— we must repeat this— for contemplation to become prayer. The worshiper must reach out to the living God, must become aware of His holy presence, must seek out His holy countenance and enter into His heart. Contemplation should become a real dialogue in which man’s I faces its true Thou, which is God.
Roman Guardini
It is of paramount importance— we must repeat this— for contemplation to become prayer. The worshiper must reach out to the living God, must become aware of His holy presence, must seek out His holy countenance and enter into His heart. Contemplation should become a real dialogue in which man’s I faces its true Thou, which is God.
Roman Guardini
On Prayer
30 September 2022
A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might rise again. There is no soul, which is not bound to pray, for every single grace comes to the soul through prayer.
Saint Faustina
A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it might rise again. There is no soul, which is not bound to pray, for every single grace comes to the soul through prayer.
Saint Faustina
On Prayer
29 September 2022
When you need something, take heart and cry out to the Lord. But remain in peace in the will of God without the least anxiety.
Saint Paul of the Cross
When you need something, take heart and cry out to the Lord. But remain in peace in the will of God without the least anxiety.
Saint Paul of the Cross
God's Ways
28 September 2022
The ways of God are entirely different from our ways. To us it seems necessary to employ powerful means in order to produce great effects. This is not God’s method; quite the contrary. He likes to choose the weakest instruments that He may confound the strong: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong — Infirma mundi elegit ut confundat fortia.” (1 Cor 1:27)
Blessed Columba Marmion
The ways of God are entirely different from our ways. To us it seems necessary to employ powerful means in order to produce great effects. This is not God’s method; quite the contrary. He likes to choose the weakest instruments that He may confound the strong: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong — Infirma mundi elegit ut confundat fortia.” (1 Cor 1:27)
Blessed Columba Marmion
On Duty
27 September 2022
Don’t shirk your duty. Carry it out conscientiously, even though others neglect theirs.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Don’t shirk your duty. Carry it out conscientiously, even though others neglect theirs.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Good Deeds
25 September 2022
He should first show them in deeds rather than words all that is good and holy.
Saint Benedict (480-547)
He should first show them in deeds rather than words all that is good and holy.
Saint Benedict (480-547)
On Prayer
22 September 2022
The only “failure” in prayer is when we neglect it. The only “success” in prayer is the sense of God’s presence, or a deep peace and sense of well-being, a marvelous moment of inner freedom. When that comes, it is a special gift from God. We have no claim on it; we cannot demand it. Our part is to turn to him as best we can, trying to raise our minds and hearts to him.
Basil Hume (1923-1999)
The only “failure” in prayer is when we neglect it. The only “success” in prayer is the sense of God’s presence, or a deep peace and sense of well-being, a marvelous moment of inner freedom. When that comes, it is a special gift from God. We have no claim on it; we cannot demand it. Our part is to turn to him as best we can, trying to raise our minds and hearts to him.
Basil Hume (1923-1999)
On Prayer
18 September 2022
A bound person cannot run. Nor can the mind, which works like a slave for a certain passion, be able to offer a true prayer, because it is dragged around and wanders here and there on account of impassioned thoughts and cannot remain undisturbed. You will not be able to pray clearly if you are preoccupied with material things and are agitated by incessant cares, because prayer implies riddance of every care.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
A bound person cannot run. Nor can the mind, which works like a slave for a certain passion, be able to offer a true prayer, because it is dragged around and wanders here and there on account of impassioned thoughts and cannot remain undisturbed. You will not be able to pray clearly if you are preoccupied with material things and are agitated by incessant cares, because prayer implies riddance of every care.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
Hallowed Be Your Name
16 September 2022
We say “Hallowed be Your name” not that we wish for God that He may be hallowed by our prayers, but that we beseech of Him that His name may be hallowed in us.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
We say “Hallowed be Your name” not that we wish for God that He may be hallowed by our prayers, but that we beseech of Him that His name may be hallowed in us.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Omnipresent
14 September 2022
Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows Himself everywhere, in everything – in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It’s impossible. The only thing is we don’t see it.
Thomas Merton
Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows Himself everywhere, in everything – in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It’s impossible. The only thing is we don’t see it.
Thomas Merton
On Morning Prayer
13 September 2022
In order to succeed in prayer, it should be done when we first awaken, when our whole being is calm and recollected. We need to make our meditation before anything else.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
In order to succeed in prayer, it should be done when we first awaken, when our whole being is calm and recollected. We need to make our meditation before anything else.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard
The Word of God
12 September 2022
The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its branches. It is like that rock which was struck open in the wilderness, from which all were offered spiritual drink… And so whenever anyone discovers some part of the treasure, he should not think that he has exhausted God’s word… A thirsty man is happy when he is drinking, and he is not depressed because he cannot exhaust the spring. So let this spring quench your thirst, and not your thirst the spring. For if you can satisfy your thirst without exhausting the spring, then when you thirst again you can drink from it once more… Be thankful then for what you have received.
Saint Ephrem of Syria
The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its branches. It is like that rock which was struck open in the wilderness, from which all were offered spiritual drink… And so whenever anyone discovers some part of the treasure, he should not think that he has exhausted God’s word… A thirsty man is happy when he is drinking, and he is not depressed because he cannot exhaust the spring. So let this spring quench your thirst, and not your thirst the spring. For if you can satisfy your thirst without exhausting the spring, then when you thirst again you can drink from it once more… Be thankful then for what you have received.
Saint Ephrem of Syria
On Sin
11 September 2022
What would you expect? Sin will not come to you saying, 'I am sin.' It would do little harm if it did. Sin always seems 'good, pleasant and desirable' at the time of arrival.
J.C. Ryle
What would you expect? Sin will not come to you saying, 'I am sin.' It would do little harm if it did. Sin always seems 'good, pleasant and desirable' at the time of arrival.
J.C. Ryle
Examine Your Conscience
10 September 2022
Carefully examine your conscience, then. Cleanse and purify it to the best of your power by true contrition and humble confession, that you may have no burden, know of no remorse, and thus be free to come near. Let the memory of all your sins grieve you, and especially lament and bewail your daily transgressions.
Thomas à Kempis
Carefully examine your conscience, then. Cleanse and purify it to the best of your power by true contrition and humble confession, that you may have no burden, know of no remorse, and thus be free to come near. Let the memory of all your sins grieve you, and especially lament and bewail your daily transgressions.
Thomas à Kempis
On Prayer
9 September 2022
Those who pray but accumulate sorrows and grudges inside them are likened to people who draw water from the well and empty it into a leaking container.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
Those who pray but accumulate sorrows and grudges inside them are likened to people who draw water from the well and empty it into a leaking container.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
On Love
8 September 2022
For there is nothing but the power of love which can lead the soul from the things of earth to the lofty summit of heaven. Nor can anyone attain the supreme beatitude unless summoned to it by love and yearning. Love after all is the life of the soul, the wedding garment and the soul’s perfection, containing all the law and the prophets and our Lord’s teaching.
Saint Albert the Great (c. 1206-1280)
For there is nothing but the power of love which can lead the soul from the things of earth to the lofty summit of heaven. Nor can anyone attain the supreme beatitude unless summoned to it by love and yearning. Love after all is the life of the soul, the wedding garment and the soul’s perfection, containing all the law and the prophets and our Lord’s teaching.
Saint Albert the Great (c. 1206-1280)
The State of the World
7 September 2022
Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.
Saint Peter of Alcántara
Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state; but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves, a really good beginning will have been made.
Saint Peter of Alcántara
On Pure Prayer
6 September 2022
Sometimes we try hard to practice pure prayer, and cannot; but it happens also that we do not compel ourselves, yet the soul prays with purity. The first results from our infirmity, the second, from grace from above, which thus calls us to seek purity of soul and teaches us, in each case, not to ascribe it to ourselves if our prayer is pure, but to recognize in this a gift of the Giver. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought.” [Romans 8:26] When we try to make our prayer pure and cannot, but are enveloped in darkness, let us moisten our cheeks with tears and implore God to disperse the night of the battle and to let light shine in the soul.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
Sometimes we try hard to practice pure prayer, and cannot; but it happens also that we do not compel ourselves, yet the soul prays with purity. The first results from our infirmity, the second, from grace from above, which thus calls us to seek purity of soul and teaches us, in each case, not to ascribe it to ourselves if our prayer is pure, but to recognize in this a gift of the Giver. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought.” [Romans 8:26] When we try to make our prayer pure and cannot, but are enveloped in darkness, let us moisten our cheeks with tears and implore God to disperse the night of the battle and to let light shine in the soul.
Saint Nilus of Sinai
On Prayer
5 September 2022
We can only find our happiness on earth in loving God, and we can only love Him in prayer to Him. We see that Jesus Christ, to encourage us often to have recourse to Him through prayer, promises never to refuse us anything if we pray for it as we should. But there is no need to go looking for elaborate and roundabout ways of showing you that we should pray often, for you have only to open your catechism and you will see there that the duty of every good Christian is to pray morning and evening and often during the day — that is to say, always.
Saint John Vianney
We can only find our happiness on earth in loving God, and we can only love Him in prayer to Him. We see that Jesus Christ, to encourage us often to have recourse to Him through prayer, promises never to refuse us anything if we pray for it as we should. But there is no need to go looking for elaborate and roundabout ways of showing you that we should pray often, for you have only to open your catechism and you will see there that the duty of every good Christian is to pray morning and evening and often during the day — that is to say, always.
Saint John Vianney
Wisdom or Prudence
4 September 2022
There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Morning Prayers
2 September 2022
Never forget that it is at the beginning of each day that God has the necessary grace for the day ready for us. He knows exactly what opportunities we shall have to sin, and will give us everything we need if we ask him then. That is why the devil does all he can to prevent us from saying our morning prayers or to make us say them badly.
Saint John Vianney
Never forget that it is at the beginning of each day that God has the necessary grace for the day ready for us. He knows exactly what opportunities we shall have to sin, and will give us everything we need if we ask him then. That is why the devil does all he can to prevent us from saying our morning prayers or to make us say them badly.
Saint John Vianney
On Prayer
1 September 2022
To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the One whom we seek. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech.
Saint Augustine
To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the One whom we seek. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech.
Saint Augustine
Coram Deo
31 August 2022
If you hate something, refrain from doing it to anybody else. Do you hate it when somebody speaks ill of you? Then speak no ill of any person. Do you hate it when somebody makes false accusations against you? Then do not accuse anybody falsely. Do you hate it if somebody sets you at naught or insults you or makes off with what is yours or [does] whatever is like that? Then do nothing of that sort to another. For the person who can keep this saying, it will suffice for his salvation.
The Desert Fathers
If you hate something, refrain from doing it to anybody else. Do you hate it when somebody speaks ill of you? Then speak no ill of any person. Do you hate it when somebody makes false accusations against you? Then do not accuse anybody falsely. Do you hate it if somebody sets you at naught or insults you or makes off with what is yours or [does] whatever is like that? Then do nothing of that sort to another. For the person who can keep this saying, it will suffice for his salvation.
The Desert Fathers
Finding God
30 August 2022
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.
Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991)
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.
Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991)
On God's Will
29 August 2022
Be resigned to the will of God in all things; make frequent acts of submission; regard with the eye of faith all interior and exterior troubles as coming from God; do not think of the future – that is, of its misfortunes, its trials, and other occurrences which the imagination may conjure up, but dispel them in the will of God.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Be resigned to the will of God in all things; make frequent acts of submission; regard with the eye of faith all interior and exterior troubles as coming from God; do not think of the future – that is, of its misfortunes, its trials, and other occurrences which the imagination may conjure up, but dispel them in the will of God.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Trust God
28 August 2022
How good it is to trust God! Turn to Him often, as children look to their father and mother in their needs.
Saint Louise de Marrilac
How good it is to trust God! Turn to Him often, as children look to their father and mother in their needs.
Saint Louise de Marrilac
Overcoming Temptations
27 August 2022
Temptations are overcome by three words: Credo! Spero! Amo! I believe, I hope, I love.
Blessed Anthony Grassi (1592–1671)
Temptations are overcome by three words: Credo! Spero! Amo! I believe, I hope, I love.
Blessed Anthony Grassi (1592–1671)
On Prayer
26 August 2022
We should not trust every word we hear or every feeling in our hearts; rather, we should bring such matters before God and carefully ponder them at our leisure.
Thomas à Kempis
We should not trust every word we hear or every feeling in our hearts; rather, we should bring such matters before God and carefully ponder them at our leisure.
Thomas à Kempis
On Love
25 August 2022
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Dismiss All Anger
24 August 2022
Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.
Saint Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.
Saint Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
On God's Peace
23 August 2022
If a man truly loves God, and has no will but to do God’s will, the whole force of the river Rhine may run at him, and will not disturb him nor break his peace. If we find outward things a danger and disturbance, it comes from our appropriating to ourselves what is God’s.
Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)
If a man truly loves God, and has no will but to do God’s will, the whole force of the river Rhine may run at him, and will not disturb him nor break his peace. If we find outward things a danger and disturbance, it comes from our appropriating to ourselves what is God’s.
Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)
Yearning For God
22 August 2022
It is part of our human nature to desire God, and it is part of God’s nature to desire us. We can never stop yearning for God until we are possessed by God in the fullness of love.
Saint Julian of Norwich (1342–1416)
It is part of our human nature to desire God, and it is part of God’s nature to desire us. We can never stop yearning for God until we are possessed by God in the fullness of love.
Saint Julian of Norwich (1342–1416)
Preaching of the Church
21 August 2022
The preaching of the Church truly continues without change and is everywhere the same. It has the testimony of the Prophets and Apostles and all their disciples.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
The preaching of the Church truly continues without change and is everywhere the same. It has the testimony of the Prophets and Apostles and all their disciples.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Coram Deo
19 August 2022
Be patient in tribulation, watchful in prayer, strenuous in labors, modest in speech, grave in manners, and grateful for benefits, because for all these things God has prepared for you an eternal kingdom.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Be patient in tribulation, watchful in prayer, strenuous in labors, modest in speech, grave in manners, and grateful for benefits, because for all these things God has prepared for you an eternal kingdom.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Confidence In God
17 August 2022
My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings.
Saint Isaac Jogues (1607-1646)
My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings.
Saint Isaac Jogues (1607-1646)
The Rosary
16 August 2022
The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth. In the prayer we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel, and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.
Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth. In the prayer we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel, and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.
Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
On Prayer
14 August 2022
When prayer becomes too self-centered, even if it is centered upon noble and holy desires, if the focus of our prayer is I, me, or my, we are going to be in difficulty.
Armand M. Nigro, S.J.
When prayer becomes too self-centered, even if it is centered upon noble and holy desires, if the focus of our prayer is I, me, or my, we are going to be in difficulty.
Armand M. Nigro, S.J.
Turning Away From Impurity
13 August 2022
Be extremely prompt in turning away from all that leads and lures to impurity, for this evil… by small beginnings, progresses to great mischief. It is always easier to avoid than to cure this.
Saint Francis de Sales
Be extremely prompt in turning away from all that leads and lures to impurity, for this evil… by small beginnings, progresses to great mischief. It is always easier to avoid than to cure this.
Saint Francis de Sales
On Prayer
12 August 2022
Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God — neither salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of his own thinking. He is like one who has rejected the intervention of the Lord Jesus in his life, like one who hides himself from the Spirit of God. A man who does not pray is one who is content with his own condition. He wishes to remain as he is and not be changed, renewed or saved. His life unconsciously changes from bad to worse. He recedes spiritually day after day. The ties that bind him to the earth and to the flesh increase without his awareness. His ego remains the source of all his desires and ambitions.
Matthew the Poor (1919-2006)
Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God — neither salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of his own thinking. He is like one who has rejected the intervention of the Lord Jesus in his life, like one who hides himself from the Spirit of God. A man who does not pray is one who is content with his own condition. He wishes to remain as he is and not be changed, renewed or saved. His life unconsciously changes from bad to worse. He recedes spiritually day after day. The ties that bind him to the earth and to the flesh increase without his awareness. His ego remains the source of all his desires and ambitions.
Matthew the Poor (1919-2006)
Cultivate One Desire
11 August 2022
Even the holiest desires, whether they refer to the salvation of souls or the needs of the Church, which are very great, should be consumed in the fire of the love of God, whence they proceed, and await God’s time for their fulfillment. Meanwhile cultivate one only desire, the most perfect of all; that is, to please God more and more, and to nourish yourself with His will.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Even the holiest desires, whether they refer to the salvation of souls or the needs of the Church, which are very great, should be consumed in the fire of the love of God, whence they proceed, and await God’s time for their fulfillment. Meanwhile cultivate one only desire, the most perfect of all; that is, to please God more and more, and to nourish yourself with His will.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
On Love
10 August 2022
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
On Prayer
9 August 2022
For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself? The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from him.
Henri Nouwen
For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself? The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from him.
Henri Nouwen
On Temptation
8 August 2022
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Wrong is Wrong
7 August 2022
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it.
Saint Augustine
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it.
Saint Augustine
Be A Success
5 August 2022
I will be a success if when I stand at the beginning of eternity, God remembers my life on earth with a smile.
Donald X. Burt (1929-2014)
I will be a success if when I stand at the beginning of eternity, God remembers my life on earth with a smile.
Donald X. Burt (1929-2014)
Relying On Mercy, Continue In Sin
31 July 2022
Some people understand the charity of our Lord and are saved by it;
others, relying on this mercy and kindness, continue in their sins, thinking
that it may be theirs whenever they wish. But this is not so, for then they are
too late and are taken in their sins before they expect it, and so damn
themselves.
Walter Hilton (1340-1396)
Everyone Will Be Judged
30 July 2022
Everyone – past, present, and future – will be judged. Now, then, is the time for mercy, while the time to come will be the time for justice only. For that reason, the present time is ours, but the future time will be God’s only!
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Everyone – past, present, and future – will be judged. Now, then, is the time for mercy, while the time to come will be the time for justice only. For that reason, the present time is ours, but the future time will be God’s only!
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Coram Deo
28 July 2022
Bad times, hard times - this is what people keep saying; but let us live well and times shall be good. We are the times. Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bad times, hard times - this is what people keep saying; but let us live well and times shall be good. We are the times. Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint Augustine of Hippo
On Sin
27 July 2022
Sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals in life. If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate, obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why, in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain something we didn’t have, or we feared losing something we had.
Saint Augustine
Sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals in life. If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate, obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why, in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain something we didn’t have, or we feared losing something we had.
Saint Augustine
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