“I beg you to consider all things in the designs of Providence and, while humbly and carefully doing your share to contribute to success, leave the rest to the good pleasure of God.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

"Do not be depressed. Do not let your weakness make you impatient. Instead, let the serenity of your spirit shine through your face. Let the joy of your mind burst forth." St. Peter Damian (1007 – 1072)

Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.
- Saint Francis de Sales

“For Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. … It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Seek That Which is Above, Ignatius 2007, pas 15, 16, 17)

All human ideas, from wherever they come, can be both good and bad. One must learn to assimilate all the good and offer it to God, eliminating the bad. St.  Pio of Pietrelcina(A. del Fante – Per la storia, 55 )

“History is not just a record of different things that have happened to ancient peoples; it is also a record of the same things happening to new people. He who knows history will not be a prey to the theory of ‘automatic progress,’ nor will he be without a standard to judge the ‘commentator-mentality,’ which identifies the later with the most important.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Life is Worth Living)

“Holiness is like salt; its usefulness to others must begin with self. As only the wise man can impart wisdom to others, so only the saintly can communicate sanctity. A man can bring forth to others only those treasures which he already has in his own heart.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

“O Lord, keep us in thy way, direct us in thy paths, recall our wanderings, make us to hear thy voice with gladness and to rejoice in thy salvation.”  – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure." - St. John Paul the  Great

“For God, having given her power over his only-begotten and natural Son, also gave her power over his adopted children – not only in what concerns their body – which would be of little account – but also in what concerns their soul.” » Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

"Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude." St. John Chrysostom (347-407)

Saint John Bosco on Islam

"It would take too long to tell you all the stories about this famous impostor (...) Mohamed's religion consists of a monstrous mixtures of Judaism, Paganism and Christianity. Mohamed propagated his religion, not through miracles or persuasive words, but through the force of arms. [It is] a religion that favors every sort of licentiousness and which, in a short time, allowed Mohamed to become the leader of troop of brigands. Along with them he raided the countries of the East and conquered the people, not by introducing the Truth, not by miracles or prophecy; but for one reason only: to raise his sword over the heads of the conquered shouting: believe or die."

"In failing to confess, Lord, I would only hide You from myself, not myself from You."
--Saint Augustine

“History is always passing judgment on the decisions of men, for history develops in the framework of Divine Justice and not outside it. The fall of Rome was a judgment on human pride, the Religious Revolution was a judgment on human sin; the French Revolution was a judgment on human avarice and selfishness.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (A Declaration of Dependence)

"There is no sinner in the world, however much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by recourse to Mary, and by asking her assistance" St. Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 1373)

“If we are faithful in small things, God will entrust us with those that are greater.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

“Finally, Newman teaches us that if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his Kingdom. Newman understood this, and was the great champion of the prophetic office of the Christian laity. He saw clearly that we do not so much accept the truth in a purely intellectual act as embrace it in a spiritual dynamic that penetrates to the core of our being. Truth is passed on not merely by formal teaching, important as that is, but also by the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness; those who live in and by the truth instinctively recognize what is false and, precisely as false, inimical to the beauty and goodness which accompany the splendour of truth, veritatis splendor.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 18 September 2010, Prayer Vigil Address on eve of Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, Hyde Park, London)

"We must become accustomed to the sufferings which Jesus will be pleased to send us. Jesus, who cannot bear to keep you in a state of affliction at length, will come to help and comfort you, by instilling new courage in your spirit." St. Pio  of Pietrelcina (A. del Fante – Per la storia, 561)

“We are sent not only to love God but to make God loved. It is not enough to love God if our neighbor does not love God.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God's kingdom."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"So your strength is failing you? Why don't you tell your mother about it?...Mother! Call her with a loud voice. She is listening to you; she sees you in danger, perhaps, and she—your holy mother Mary—offers you, along with the grace of her Son, the refuge of her arms, the tenderness of her embrace...and you will find yourself with added strength for the new battle."--St. Josemaria Escriva

“Much remains to be done to support those whose lives are wounded and to restore hope to those who are afraid of life. Courage is needed to resist pressures and false slogans, to proclaim the supreme dignity of all life, and to demand that society itself give it its protection. A distinguished American, Thomas Jefferson, once stated: ’The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the just and only legitimate object of good government’ -March 31, 1809. I wish therefore to praise all the members of the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches, all men and women of the Judeo-Christian heritage, as well as all people of good will who unite in common dedication for the defense of life in its fullness and for the promotion of all human rights.” (Pope St. John Paul II, Homily in Washington, D.C., October 7, 1979)

There are such sublime joys and such deep sufferings that words cannot express them. Silence is the last resort of the soul in ineffable joy as in extreme oppression. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (A. Serritelli, Notizie su P. Pio,4 )

"If you have too much to do, with God's help you will find time to do it all" St. Peter Canisius (1521—1597)

“The great tragedy of history is not that men should fall, but that they should fail to rise to full realization of their vocation as children of God, in other words, that they should miss so much. All about us we see vast multitudes of men and women of refinement and culture, endowed with intelligence and possessed of every natural virtue and every now and then swept by noble emotions and ideals, but who are living second-rate, superficial unimportant and morally insignificant lives, because they never had their nature enkindled into flame by the Spirit of Christ.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Mystical Body of Christ)

"The Lord points out and calls, but we do not want to see and answer because we prefer our own interests. It also sometimes happens that because the voice is always audible, we no longer hear it; but the Lord enlightens and calls. It is man who puts himself in the position of no longer being able to hear."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina (P. Pio Archives)

"The conflict with Hell cannot be maintained by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata (Mother Mary) alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan" St. Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941)

“To serve the poor is to serve Jesus Christ. O my daughters, how true this is! You serve Jesus Christ in the person of the poor, and this is as true as that we are here present.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

“Out of gratitude and love for him we should desire to be reckoned fools.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest)

“I must not be ashamed if I am fearful and if my whole being shrinks in dread. What I must fear is my unwillingness to fulfill the will of God as revealed by the present circumstances of life. Not my will but Thine be done.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Wartime Prayer Book)

"Some people know nothing about God because no one has talked to them about him in terms they can understand" St. Josemaria Escriva (1902.-1975.)

"My secret is simple: I pray." Blessed  Teresa of Calcutta

"Those who sincerely say "Jesus, I trust in You" will find comfort in all their fears and anxieties"
St.John Paul the Great

“‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little’ duties of each moment.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá; The Way)

"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens..remember Christ crucified."  St. John of the Cross

I hate sin! Our country would be fortunate if, as mother of our rights, it would perfect the laws and customs in the light of honesty and Christian principles. St. Pio of Pietrelcina           ( G,Del Ton – Il Buon Pastore, 143 )

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” (G. K. Chesterton, ILN April 19, 1930)

"How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God." St. Thomas Aquinas (1225.–1274.)

“The more people own beyond the limit of things they can personalize and love, the more they will suffer boredom, ennui, and satiety.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

“It is the conscience that tells us when we do wrong, so that we feel on the inside as if we have broken a bone. The bone pains because the bone is not where it ought to be. Our conscience troubles us because the conscience is not where it ought to be. Thanks to this power of self-reflection that we have, we can see ourselves, particularly so at night. Your freedom is never destroyed but you feel the sweet summons, and you ask why it is not stronger. It is strong enough if we would listen.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction" St. Edmund the Martyr (841. - 869.)

O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all you necessities. Call her to your assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.
- Saint Basil the Great

"The souls in Purgatory pray for us, and their prayers are even more effective than ours,
because they are accompanied by their suffering. So, let's pray for them, and let's pray them to pray for us."   St. Pio of  Pietrelcina

"The more an era is engulfed in the night of sin and estrangement from God the more it needs souls united to God."
St Teresa Benedicta if the Cross

“Christ is our king. He desires ardently to rule our hearts, because we are children of God. But we should not try to imagine a human sort of rule — Christ does not dominate or seek to impose himself, because he 'has not come to be served but to serve.' His kingdom is one of peace, of joy, of justice.”
- St. Josemaría Escrivá

"Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if he wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength." St. Phillip Neri (1515-1595)

“He who made his mother is born of his mother. He who made all flesh is born of flesh. The bird that built the nest is hatched therein. Maker of the sun, under the sun; molder of the earth, on this earth; ineffably wise, a little infant; filling the world, lying in a manger; ruling the stars, suckling a breast; the mirth of heaven weeps; God becomes man; Creator, a creature. Rich becomes poor; Divinity, incarnate; Majesty, subjugated; Liberty, captive; Eternity, time; Master, a servant; Truth, accused; Judge, judged; Justice, condemned; Lord scourged; Power, bound with ropes; King, crowned with thorns; Salvation wounded; Life, dead. And thought we shall live on through eternity, eternity will not be long enough for us to understand the mystery of that Child Who was a Father and of the mother who was a child.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Divine Romance)

"He rightly reads the Scripture when he turns the Word into deeds" St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090.-1153.)

"Though men failed in this crisis (of Calvary) there is no instance of a single woman failing. In the four trials the voice heard in Christ's defense was that of a woman, Claudia Procul, the wife of Pontius Pilate...On Calvary it is woman who is fearless, for there are several of them at the foot of the Cross. Magdalene, among them as usual, is prostrate. But there is one whose courage and devotion was so remarkable that the Evangelist who was there indicated the detail that she was “standing.” That woman was the mother of the man on the central cross. Our Blessed Lord willed her presence there. Since he was the second Adam undoing the sin of the first, Mary would be the new Eve proclaiming the new race of the redeemed.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The New Virtues)

“What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.” St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491.-1556.)

“Man is living in fear, but it is different from any fear in the past–first, because man used to fear God with a filial fear, which made him shrink from hurting One Whom he loved. Later on, man feared not God but his fellowman, as the world shuddered under two world wars in twenty-one years. Now we have come to the last and most awful of all the fears, in which man trembles before the littlest thing in the universe–the atom! The atomic bomb has taken our minds off existence and purpose. Yet it is still true today that how one gets out of time is not so important as how one is in eternity. The atomic bomb in the hands of a Francis of Assisi would be less harmful than a pistol in the hand of a thug; what makes the bomb dangerous is not the energy it contains, but the man who uses it. Therefore, it is modern man who has to be remade. Unless he can stop the explosions inside his own mind, he will probably–armed with the bomb–do harm to the planet itself, as Pius XII has warned. There is no such thing as the problem of the atomic bomb. There is, rather, the problem of the man who makes and uses it. Only men and nations whose personalities were already atomized could join forces with external nature to use an atomic bomb in an attack on human existence.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World’s First Love)

"God is closer to us than water is to a fish" St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

"History attests that religion has not encroached upon the temporal sphere, but rather jealous temporal rulers have invaded the spiritual. Sometimes these rulers were kings and princes, even so-called ‘Catholic defenders of the faith.’ Today they are dictators.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Characters of the Passion)

"The Virgin Mary, being obedient to His word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God."  - Saint Irenaeus

God gave me my poor sister, and God has taken her away. Blessed be his holy name. In this resignation and exclamation I find the strength to avoid giving way to sorrow. I exhort you, too, to resign yourselves to the divine will, and you will find, like me, relief for your sorrow. St. Pio of Pietrecina

"If Christ did not want to dismiss the Jews without food in the desert for fear that they would collapse on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven."

- St. Jerome

"The souls in Purgatory pray for us, and their prayers are even more effective than ours,
because they are accompanied by their suffering. So, let's pray for them, and let's pray them to pray for us." St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“He used His Body not only to teach but also to govern and to found a Kingdom. Gathering the elements of His first Kingdom, consisting mostly of ignorant men, He chose from the twelve of them one as their chief and guide – Peter the Rock, on whom He said He would build His Church, and to whom He committed the supreme power of feeding His lambs and feeding His sheep…This new body, sometimes called a mystical body, is to be understood after the analogy of the human body which is made up of many members performing different functions and yet all cooperating toward the harmony of the whole. The hand is not the foot, the eye is not the ear, the heart is not the lung. So, too, the priest is not the layman, the apostle is not the disciple, the Vicar of Christ is not the deacon, and yet all are one in the same Spirit.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Divine Romance)

“We must always remind ourselves that we are pilgrims until we arrive at our heavenly homeland, and we must not let our affections delay us in the roadside inns and lands through which we pass, otherwise we will forget our destination and lose interest in our final goal.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest)

"When there is no room for the poor, there is no room for me" St. Candida Maria of Jesus (1845 – 1912)

“There is hierarchy of life in the universe and the life of man is higher than any other life, not because he has nutritive powers like a plant, not because he has generative powers like a beast, but because he has thinking and willing powers like God. There constitute his greatest claim to life and losing these he becomes like to a beast.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Life is Worth Living)

“God asks for our good will, a firm, genuine disposition to seize every opportunity of serving him.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

In 1922, Bishop Alberto Costa asked Padre Pio if he had ever seen a soul in Purgatory. "I have seen so many of them that they don't scare me anymore."

"To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us."  - St. Faustina

“The revealing act of Herod is his treatment of John the Baptist. He had invited John the Baptist into his palace not to hear the truth of his preaching but to enjoy the thrill of his oratory. There are so many in the world that way: they do not want to be better; they want only to feel better. But John was not the type of preacher who toned down his Gospel to suit the paganism of his hearers. Because he condemned Herod’s second marriage, he lost his head. Everyone in the world at one time loses his head, but it is better to lose one’s head John’s way in the defense of truth, rather than Herod’s way, to wine and passion.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation (Characters of Passion)

"Serve the Lord with Joy" St. Pio of Pietrelcina 

“As long as we are Christians we are obligated to support ill-humor of our neighbor and try to sweeten it.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"I do not promise to make you happy in this life ,but in the next.".~Our Lady of Lourdes to St Bernadtte

Writing on the Lord’s gift of the Eucharist…
“He could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this Sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this Sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on Me shall live on account of Me.”  - (St. Albert the Great, Bishop, Confessorand Doctor of the Church)

“The Eucharist is not a thing. It is not a dead object. It is Christ and He is fully alive. Receiving Him with this awareness, we become more fully alive, so that we can say with St. Paul, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.’ “  —Vinny Flynn  From “7 Secrets of the Eucharist”

“It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for ‘God is Charity.’"  - St. Albert the Great

"In family life have strong convictions, smile in the face of self-denial and in the constant sacrifice of your whole self." St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my souls recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration...St. Faustina

"Love our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible." ~ St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Please remember the "Poor Souls in Purgatory"...
Every time you pray the "Holy Rosary"...

“Criticism of others is thus an oblique form of self-commendation. We think we make the picture hang straight on our wall by telling our neighbors that all his pictures are crooked.” (Venerable Fulton J. Sheen)

“For the new atheism is not like the old, theoretical atheism, which prided itself on being intellectually compounded of a little science, anthropology, and comparative religion. The new atheism is not of the intellect, but of the will; it is an act of free and eager rejection of morality and its demands. It starts with the affirmation of self and the denial of the moral law.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Lift up Your Heart)

"Do you really want to be a saint? Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and concentrate on what you are doing" St. Josemaria Escriva (1902.-1975.)

"Most of the saved pass through Purgatory before arriving at the fullness of beatitude." St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

"Provided He reigns, that suffices."   - St. Louise de Marillac.

"May  the Lord bless you and render the family yoke less heavy for you. Always be good.
  
Remember that there are difficult duties in wedlock that only divine grace can facilitate. 

Always be worthy of this grace and the Lord will preserve you unto the third and fourth 

generation." St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

"Who we love shapes what we become" St. Clare of Assisi (1193.-1253.)

"Religion must not be a cloak covering the dagger of hate!" - Venerable Fulton Sheen

“God, grant us the grace to see things with the same eyes as you do.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“Mary’s participation in Christ’s suffering began with the annunciation, when she was asked to give God a human body, more properly, a human nature. In other words, will you make God capable of suffering? God though He was, He learned obedience in the school of suffering. God could know experimentally what suffering was only by taking a body. So the Blessed Mother is asked, will you make it possible for your creator to suffer? And here Mary has to say yes, I will let him suffer.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Through the Year with Fulton Sheen)

My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy  --  Diary of St. Faustina (367).

"He taught us to learn from Him, to be meek and humble of heart. If we are meek and humble, we will love each other as He loves us."  - Blessed  Teresa  of Calcutta

"I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”  - (St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin and Foundress)

"If we do what we have always done, what our fathers did before us, we cannot go wrong. Satan wants to destroy this prayer, but in this he will never succeed. The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone. It was Our Lady who taught us this prayer, just as it was Jesus who taught us the Our Father.”  - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Minds no longer object to the Church because of the way they think, but because of the way they live. They no longer have difficulty with the Creed, but with her Commandments, they remain outside her saving waters, not because they cannot accept the doctrine of Three Persons in One God, but because they cannot accept the moral of two persons in one flesh; not because Infallibility is too complex, but because the veto on Birth Control is too hard; not because the Eucharist is too sublime, but because Penance is too exacting. Briefly, the heresy of our day is not the heresy of thought, it is the heresy of action.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Communism and the Conscience of the West)

“Obedience to our parents is one of God’s commandments, not only in our childhood but also when we have reached the age of reason.” St. Damien of Molokai (1840 – 1889)

“Let go of your plans. The first hour of your morning belongs to God. Tackle the day’s work that he charges you with, and he will give you the power to accomplish it.” St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein) (1891.-1942.)

"Humility is the only virtue that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons." St. John Climacus (525 – 606)

“Every heresy in the history of the Church has been either a truth exaggerated to an excess, or diminished to a defect.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Moods and Truths)

"Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to His essence deny also that He took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary"
- Saint Athanasius

“Let us give ourselves to God, so that He will grant us the grace to stand fast.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“Lord, if your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet if you bid me continue to hold the battle line in defense of your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do the work you entrust to me. While you command, I will fight beneath your banner.” —St. Martin of Tours, Bishop and Confessor, Patron Saint of Soldiers

"Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.”  - St. Padre Pio

"My sweetest Joy is to be in the presence of Jesus in the holy Sacrament. I beg that when obliged to withdraw in body, I may leave my heart before the holy Sacrament. How I would miss Our Lord if He were to be away from me by His presence in the Blessed Sacrament!"
- St. Katharine Drexel

"I see that all the seasons of the year can be found in your souls. Sometimes you feel the winter of much sterility, distractions, restlessness and boredom; sometimes the dews of the month of May with the perfume of holy little flowers (penance); sometimes the heat of the desire to please our divine Spouse. Nothing remains but the autumn in which you don't see much fruit, but it often happens that when the grain is threshed and the grapes crushed, there is a bigger harvest than the harvesting promised."St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

"As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord desires them to have." St. Madeline Sophie Barat (1779-1865)

"When it is all over you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly." St. Sebastian Valfre (1629–1710)

“IF there is any subject which is offensive to modern sentimentalism it is the subject of hell. Our generation clamors for what the poet has called a soft dean, who never mentions hell to ears polite, and our unsoiled age wants a Christianity watered so as to make the Gospel of Christ nothing more than a gentle doctrine of good will, a social program of economic betterment, and a mild scheme of progressive idealism.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Hymn of the Conquered)

“The man who lives only for his own impulses keeps very bad company.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Way to Happiness)

"Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?" St. Gerard Majella (1726-1755)

"If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured." St. Colette of Jesus (1381-1447)

"Let us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us." St. John Eudes (1601 – 1680)

“Just as the cathedral was the center of the political and social life of the time, so the Real Presence was the center and soul of the cathedral. As man, the microcosm, summed up all visible creation within himself, whose vital principle was a soul, so too the cathedral summed up all creation within itself, and its soul was the Eucharistic Emmanuel. The world is a great sacrament and the cathedral is a still greater one. The cathedral synthetized everything. All kingdoms, the mineral, the vegetable, the animal, the human, and the angelic – all arts, all sciences, all times – left their trace on it.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Old Errors and New Labels)

Padre Pio was asked why he prayed for the happy death of his great-grandfather since he was already long dead. He said, "For the Lord, the past doesn't exist; the future doesn't exist. Everything is an eternal present. Those prayers had already been taken into account. And so I repeat that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather." From the book, The Holy Souls, pages 178-179

“If our arm suffers injury, our whole body feels the pain. In like manner, if the Church in any part of the world suffers martyrdom, we should feel pity toward it as part of our body, and that pity should express itself in prayer and good works.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Victory over Vice)

“God bestows a special blessing on the counsel we take in matters pertaining to his service.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

"Mary has the authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels who fell away through pride. Such is the will of the almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth and hell, willingly or unwillingly, must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of His armies, keeper of His treasure, dispenser of His graces, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of His enemies, and faithful associate in His great works and triumphs."  - Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, would that I might be for you a spouse of your heart! I would anoint you with glory, I would love you - even unto death! Yet I sense my frailty and ask you to adorn me with yourself; identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, submerge me, overwhelm. me, substitute yourself in me that my life may become but a reflection of your life. Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Saviour.  Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity O.C.D. (feast day is 11/8)

“We must know how to dispose of our time with order and method, otherwise nothing is done; or if we do work, we get through very little, because the work is not regular. Irregularity and inconsistency never obtain a good result.”  – St. Vincent de Paul  

“True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement.” (Pope St. John Paul II)

“You have sometimes heard a radio program in which a voice spoke, while at the same time music was playing in the background. When we say the Rosary, something like that occurs. Our lips say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, but our mind, thinking about the life of our Lord, creates a soundless background symphony of thoughts.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fifteen Mysteries)

“After the love which we owe Jesus Christ, we must give the chief place in our heart to the love of His Mother Mary.”
- St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"More souls of the dead from Purgatory than of the living climb this mountain to attend my Masses and seek my prayers."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask yourself “How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?” Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery. -Bleesed Teresa of Calcutta

“The Church which Christ founded has not only preserved the Word He spoke, and the wonders he wrought; it has also taken Him seriously when He said: “Do this for a commemoration of me.” Hence the Mass is to us the crowning act of Christian worship. A pulpit in which the words of our Lord are repeated does not unite us to Him; a choir in which sweet sentiments are sung brings us no closer to His Cross than to His garments. A temple without an altar of sacrifice is non-existent among primitive peoples, and is meaningless among Christians. And so in the Catholic Church the altar, and not the pulpit or the choir or the organ, is the center of worship, for there is reenacted the memorial of His Passion. Its value does not depend on him who says it, or on him who hears it; it depends on Him who is the One High Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Calvary and the Mass)

“Eternity! That voice to be everywhere understood. Eternity! To love and serve Him only who is to be loved and eternally served and praised in heaven.”  – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"Whatever you do, think not of yourself, but of God." St. Vincent Ferrer (1350. - 1419.)

"To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us." (1746)  St. Faustina

“In what does your life consist except two things: (1) Active duties; and (2) passive circumstances. The first is under your control; do these in God’s name. The second is outside your control; these submit to in God’s name. Consider only the present; leave the past to God’s justice, the future to His Providence. Perfection of personality does not consist in knowing God’s plan, but in submitting to it as it reveals itself in the circumstances of life. There is really one shortcut to sanctity – the one Mary chose in the Visitation, the one Our Lord chose in Gethsemane – abandonment to the Divine Will.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Seven Words of Jesus and Mary)

"If we only try to show the Dear Lord a good will and ask Him for resignation to the crosses He sends or permits to come our way, we may be sure that sooner or later they will turn out to have been just so many blessings in disguise."  - Venerable Solanus Casey

“It was creation that introduced the verb ‘have.’ When there was only God, before the world was made, there was only one verb, and only one form of the verb –namely, the infinitive ‘to be’ – to indicate the Supreme being of God. God has nothing, but because He is sheer being, He is infinitely rich. If God had anything, it would be a sign that He needed something external to Himself in order to perfect His being.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Guide to Contentment)

“How much our hearts should be on fire with love for this ministry of assisting poor people and for devoting ourselves earnestly to it, because the need is so great, and God expects this of us.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

"Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor."

- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

“Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession.” » St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"In your soul, there must be a deep serenity that everything is in His Hands." - Mother Angelica

"If then you remain constant in faith in the face of trial, the Lord will give you peace and rest for a time in this world, and for ever in the next." St. Jerome Emiliani (1481-1537)

OF THE FEWNESS OF THOSE WHO LOVE THE CROSS OF JESUS

Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many seekers of comfort, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to undergo anything for His sake. Many follow Jesus that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of the cup of His passion. Many are astonished at His Miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities happen to them. Many praise Him and bless Him, so long as they receive any comforts from Him. But if Jesus hide Himself and withdraw from them a little while, they fall either into complaining or into too great dejection of mind.

2. But they who love Jesus for Jesus' sake, and not for any consolation of their own, bless Him in all tribulation and anguish of heart as in the highest consolation. And if He should never give them consolation, nevertheless they would always praise Him and always give Him thanks.

3. Oh what power hath the pure love of Jesus, unmixed with any gain or love of self! Should not all they be called mercenary who are always seeking consolations? Do they not prove themselves lovers of self more than of Christ who are always seeking their own gain and advantage? Where shall be found one who is willing to serve God altogether for nought?

4. Rarely is any one found so spiritual as to be stripped of all selfish thoughts, for who shall find a man truly poor in spirit and free of all created things? "His value is from afar, yea from the ends of the earth." A man may give away all his goods, yet that is nothing; and if he do many deeds of penitence, yet that is a small thing; and though he understand all knowledge, yet that is afar off; and if he have great virtue and zealous devotion, yet much is lacking unto him, yea, one thing which is the most necessary to him of all. What is it then? That having given up all things besides, he give up himself and go forth from himself utterly, and retain nothing of self-love; and having done all things which he knoweth to be his duty to do, that he feel that he hath done nothing. Let him not reckon that much which might be much esteemed, but let him pronounce himself to be in truth an unprofitable servant, as the Truth Himself saith, When ye have done all things that are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants.(1) Then may he be truly poor and naked in spirit, and be able to say with the Prophet, As for me, I am poor and needy.(2) Nevertheless, no man is richer than he, no man stronger, no man freer. For he knoweth both how to give up himself and all things, and how to be lowly in his own eyes.

(1) Luke xvii. 10. (2) Psalm xxv. 16.

The Imitation of Christ
Thomas, `a Kempis

"It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world." St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568 – 1591)

“Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.” (St. Charles Borromeo)

"Reflect on what you write, because the Lord will ask you to account for it. Be careful, journalist! May the Lord grant you the satisfactions you desire in your career."  St Pio of Pietrelcina

“The happiest people on earth, hear it, are the holiest people. The most unhappy are the most sinful.”
- Fr. John Hardon

“A Catholic cannot help but be happy; sadness should be banished from their souls. Suffering is not sadness, which is the worst disease. This disease is almost always caused by atheism, but the end for which we are created guides us along life's pathway, which may be strewn with thorns, but is not sad. It is happy even through suffering.”
- Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

“The happiest people on earth are those who do not run away from suffering.”
- Fr. John Hardon

One day a spiritual son asked: Father, how can I increase my love? Reply: By doing your duty with exactitude and upright intentions and observing the law of the Lord. If you do this with constancy and perseverance your love will grow. (From Letters of Padre Pio, presented by Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, Vicenza 1969

“No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost."
-Saint Hilary of Poitiers

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.” (St. Pio of Pietrelcina)

“They do not really hate the Church. They hate only what they mistakenly believe to be the Church. If I had heard the same lies about the Church they have heard, and if I had been taught the same historical perversions as they, with my own peculiar character and temperament, I would hate the Church ten times more than they do.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Seven Words of Jesus and Mary)

“We must never be surprised when those upon whom we relied fail us; it is then that God steps in to do His work.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son."
-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

“As we enter Heaven we will see them, so many of them coming towards us and thanking us. We will ask, who they are, and they will say a poor soul you prayed for in Purgatory.” Venerable Fulton Sheen

"Do you really want to be a saint? Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and concentrate on what you are doing" St. Josemaria Escriva (1902.-1975.)

“Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart… The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us – that is all He asks.” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux — of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church)

"As the rays of the sun are so rich that we cannot see their many splendors unless they are shot through a prism, which causes them to break into the seven rays of the spectrum, so too, the Life of Christ which the saints reflect, is so infinitely Good, that it takes an infinite variety of saints shot through the prism of love and penance to reflect the holiness of the Son of God. Sinners are always alike, saints are always different." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: 'But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....' Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory.” 
- St. John of Damascus

"Duty before everything else, even before what is holy." St. Pio  of Pietrelcina

"Today, together we confirm that the Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia. Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new Springtime. Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. In the current world, so dispersive, this prayer helps to put Christ at the centre, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are
traced. With Mary the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the centre of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory. May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these mysteries, so that through us we can "water" society,
beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God. The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation. It contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the centre of each "Hail Mary".

- Pope Benedict XVI in an address at the Basilica of St. Mary Major