HAIL, O MOTHER!
by Saint John Chrysostom A.D. 349-407

Hail, O Mother!
Virgin, heaven, throne, 
glory of our Church,
its foundation and ornament.
Earnestly pray for us to Jesus,
your Son and Our Lord,
that through your intercession
we may have mercy on the day of judgment.
Pray that we may receive
all those good things
which are reserved for those who love God.
Through the grace and favour of Our Lord,
Jesus Christ, to whom,
with the Father
and the Holy Spirit,
be power, honour, and glory,
now and forever.

Amen.

"...do not omit Holy Communion unless you know well that your fall was serious; apart from this, no doubt must stop you from uniting yourself with Me in the mystery of My love. Your minor faults will disappear in My love like a piece of straw thrown into a great furnace. Know that you grieve Me much when you fail to receive Me in Holy Communion." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 156)

“No one will ever be the servant of the Son without serving the Mother.”  - Saint Ildephonsus

All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person's sins were as dark as night, God's mercy is stronger than our misery. One thing alone is necessary: that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God's merciful grace, and then God will do the rest. But poor is the soul who has shut the door on God's mercy, even at the last hour. It was just such souls who plunged Jesus into deadly sorrow in the Garden of Olives; indeed, it was from His Most Merciful Heart that divine mercy flowed out.  - St Faustina (Diary 1507) 

“Love Our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible.” -St. Pio of Pietrelcina

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives~Saint JP2

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

"Oh God! Let yourself always be heard, more and more, by my poor heart, and accomplish in me the work you have begun. I hear an interior voice which assiduously says to me: Sanctify yourself and others. Well, my dearest, I want to do this, but I don't know where to begin. Help me, you also. I know that Jesus is very fond of you, and you deserve this. Therefore, speak to Him for me, that He might grant me the grace of making me a less unworthy son of Saint Francis, so that I can be an example to my own confreres, in order that fervor might continue to grow more and more within me, making me a perfect Capuchin."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“It is not true that human relations are matters of instinct and in particular of the sex instinct. Man is not a creature of instincts like and animal. Since he is a rational creature, his instincts are to be directed reasonably. Most men have a hunting instinct, but this does not give them a right to shoot their mothers-in-law. There are times, too, when an instinct has to be suppressed; a husband must often suppress an instinct for his wife’s sake, and the wife must suppress an instinct for her husband’s sake.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Wit & Wisdom of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen)

“It seems to me that there is no dwelling place comparable to the one to which you aspire — that of peace and quiet.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

I understand that mercy is manifold; one can do good always and everywhere and at all times. An ardent love of God sees all around itself constant opportunities to share itself through deed, word and prayer.  -St. Faustina  (Diary 1313)

"Know that if you neglect the matter of the painting of the image and the whole work of mercy, you will have to answer for a multitude of souls on the day of judgment."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 154}

"It is an insult to the Holy Name and a disgrace to the Christian Faith that ... the Saracen priests ... meet to adore the infidel Mahomet, loudly invoke and extol his name each day ... and there make public declarations in his honor. ... This brings disrepute on our Faith and gives great scandal to the faithful. These practices cannot be tolerated any further without displeasing the Divine Majesty. We therefore ... enjoin on Catholic princes, one and all, ... to forbid expressly the public invocation of the sacrilegious name of Mahomet." (Pope Clement V, Council of Vienne, 1311-1312)

“Grace has its moments. Let us abandon ourselves to the providence of God and be very careful not to run ahead of it.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“With reason did the Most Holy Virgin predict that all generations would call her blessed, for all the Elect obtain eternal salvation through the means of Mary."  - Saint Ildephonsus

"A righteous person is a victim and his life a continual sacrifice. For love of Jesus, I will fight against my own desires even in the most insignificant matters."  St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844 - 1879)

"That which I fear is not the Commune of Paris - no - that which I fear is liberal Catholicism. . . I have said so more than forty times, and I repeat it to you now, through the love that I bear you. The real scourge of France is Liberal Catholicism, which endeavors to unite two principles as repugnant to each other as fire and water."  Pope Bl. Pius IX (1792 - 1878)

"Perfect resignation. This is the desire of my heart. I am amazed at the love with which Jesus has ever conducted me to where I was always best off, and with which He has given me whatever was proper for me and best for my condition."  St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811 – 1868)

"Wretch that I am! Oh, most unhappy! Why did I not know my Lord sooner? Why was I so deaf to His calls?"  St. Camillus de Lellis (1550 - 1614)

‘‘Whoever loves Him much will be able to suffer much for Him; whoever loves Him little will be capable of little.… The measure for being able to bear a large or small cross is love.’’

—St. Teresa of Avila

"Let us become saints so that after having been together on earth we will be together forever in Heaven."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Given a freedom which is independent of God, independent of moral law, independent of inalienable rights as the endowment of the Divine Spirit, and America could note itself out of democracy tomorrow. How can we continue to be free unless we keep the traditions, the grounds, and the roots upon which freedom is founded? We could not call our soul our own unless God exists. Why, we would not even have a soul! Democracy has within itself no inherent guarantee of freedom; these guarantees are from without. That is why I say our Declaration of Dependence on God is the condition of a Declaration of Independence of Dictatorship." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"The Lord gives us burdens and he removes them, because when he gives a cross to one of his elect, he so strengthens them that, bearing the weight with this strength, they are relieved of its burden. "  St. Pio of Pietrelcina -- Words of Light, Page 82

“If God does not give us peace, we are on the eve of many evils.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"... do not be afraid of sufferings; I am with you." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  - (Diary, 151) 

“Let Heaven sustain me in its embrace, because I am honored above it. For heaven was not Thy mother, but Thou hast made it Thy throne. How much more honorable and venerable than the throne of a king is her mother.”—St. Ephrem the Syrian (As quoted by Pope Pius XII, “Ad Caeli Reginam”, Encyclical, Oct. 11, 1954, Par. 10)

[When asked if the Blessed Virgin is present during the Holy Mass], “Yes, she places herself at a side, but I can see her, what a joy. She is always present. How can it be that the Mother of Jesus, present in Calvary at the foot of the Cross, who offered her Son as a victim for the salvation of our souls, not be present in the mystical Calvary of the altar?” - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host."  - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen 

"One day after having received Communion, I truly thought my soul was made one with the most sacred Body of the Lord. He appeared to me and by His presence caused me to make much progress."   St. Teresa of Avila  Spiritual Testimonies: 44, Union with Christ in the Eucharist   Probably written in Seville, 1575 

"The Eucharist bathes the tormented soul in light and love. Then the soul appreciates these words, 'Come all you who are sick, I will restore your health.'"  - St. Bernadette Soubirous

"We should make a great effort to become holy, and render great service to God and our neighbor."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Letters III, p. 469)

“Some things in life are too beautiful to be forgotten. These things may be what men do in this world; they may even be their manner of passing from it. For example, almost every country has instituted a memorial day to recall the supreme sacrifice its patriots have made in defense of country and civilization. Because life was the most precious thing they could give, the living cannot forget their gift. They themselves could not ask for any such memorial, nor could they institute it, that was left to their survivors.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (This is the Mass)

“When I was receiving Holy Communion today, I noticed in the cup a Living Host, which the priest gave to me. When I returned to my place I asked the Lord, ‘Why was one Host alive, since You are equally alive under each of the species?’ The Lord answered me, ‘That is so. I am the same under each of the species, but not every soul receives Me with the same living faith as you do, My daughter, and therefore I cannot act in their souls as I do in yours.’”  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1407)

“Have a great love for Jesus in his divine Sacrament of Love; that is the divine oasis of the desert. It is the heavenly manna of the traveller. It is the Holy Ark. It is the life and Paradise of love on earth.”   St. Peter Julian Eymard

Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, grant us in our misery that we may do for your sake alone what we know you want us to do, and always what pleases you; so that, cleansed and enlightened interiorly and fired with the ardor of the Holy Spirit, we may be able to follow in the footsteps of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  —Francis of Assisi

“Be watchful that nothing in your use be damaged or spoiled.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church.” (Pope St. John Paul II)

If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. St. Teresa of Calcutta

"Have you ever seen a field of fully ripened grain? You will see that some ears are tall and vigorous; while others are bent to the ground. Try to take the tall one, the most vain you will see that it is empty; if instead you take the low ones, the most humble, these are laden with grain. From this you can deduce that vanity is empty."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Pope Calixtus III to Ladislas: “How,” he asks, “can the French, the Spaniards, and the English think of sending armies against the Turks [Muslims] when you, who are near at hand, and whose interests are at stake, seem to take no heed of the danger which threatens you from the infidels?” (Calixtus III. to Ladislas. Æn. Sylv., Opp., 819-820.)

“Place all the weight of your trials and tribulations on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. He will carry them for you. Remember He once carried a heavy cross.” St. Rita of Cascia  (Rev. Joseph Sicardo, O. S. A., “Life of Sister St. Rita of Cascia of the Order of St. Augustine. Advocate of the Impossible. Model of maidens, wives, mothers, widows and nuns.” Translated by the Rev. Dan J. Murphy, O. S. A. from the Spanish, Cum Permissu Superiorum N. J. MURPHY, O. S. A., Provincial; NIHIL OBSTAT J. F. GREEN, O. S. A, Censor Librorum; IMPRIMATUR GEORGE W. MUNDELEIN, D. D., Archbishop, Chicago, pub. 1916)

"I wish to tell everyone of the vanity, of the nothingness of what passes, unless it is done for God." St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, OCD

“It is not wisdom that saves; it is ignorance! There is no redemption for the fallen angels. Those great spirits headed by Lucifer, endowed with an intelligence compared with which ours is but that of a child, saw the consequences of each of their decisions just as clearly as we see that two and two make four. It is because they knew what they were doing that they were excluded from the hearing of that cry that went forth from the Cross. It is not wisdom that saves; it is ignorance! “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Seven Last words)

"Before, by yourself, you couldn't. Now, you've turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy!"
- St. Josemaría Escrivá

“I heard a voice in my soul: ‘These words are for you. Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshipped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is, recourse to My mercy. My Heart rejoices in this feast.’ After these words, I understood that nothing can dispense me from the obligation which the Lord demands from me.”   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 998)

“Instead of afflicting yourselves at our separation, and My going to the Father, you ought, if you truly love Me, to testify your affection, by a faithful observance of My commandments. Behold, this is the best proof you can give Me of your attachment: better far than any exterior sign of grief and tenderness.” — St. John Chrysostom

“Those who do not pray are bent down towards the ground like moles seeking a hole to hide in. They are earthy, besotted.”  —St. Jean-Marie Vianney (Source: “The Remarkable Cure of Ars” by Michel de Saint Pierre, pg. 18)

“Courage gentlemen! It is God Himself who has established you in the place and duty where you are. If His glory is your goal, what can you fear, or rather, for what should you not hope?”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"I'm always happy, for I always manage in the midst of the tempest to preserve interior peace."   St. Therese of Lisieux (1873.-1897)

"Secretary of My most profound mystery, know that yours is an exclusive intimacy with Me. Your task is to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in their souls and will have the courage to approach Me. I therefore want you to devote all your free moments to writing."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1693)

“How much our predecessors the Roman pontiffs did labour for the deliverance of the oriental church, we have learned from the accounts of the ancients and have found it written in their acts. For our predecessor of blessed memory, pope Urban, did sound, as it were, a celestial trump and did take care to arouse for its deliverance the sons of the holy Roman church from the different parts of the earth. At his voice, indeed, those beyond the mountain and especially the bravest and strongest warriors of the French kingdom, and also those of Italy, inflamed by the ardour of love did come together, and, congregating a very great army, not without much shedding of their own blood, the divine aid being with them, did free from the filth of the pagans that city where our Saviour willed to suffer for us, and where He left His glorious sepulchre to us as a memorial of His passion, -and many others which, avoiding prolixity, we refrain from mentioning.”  Pope Eugene III, “Quantum praedecessores” Summons to A Crusade, Dec 1, 1154

“I know no other refuge, no other life, but Christ.  I desire to pass away and be united with Him, my Lord.” St. Casimir  (TH. Bertrand, “Lives of the Saints for Children”, NIHIL OBSTAT Remy Lafort, Censor Librorum., Imprimatur + MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York., New York, September 24, 1900., “St. Casimir”, pg. 29)

"Science my son, for all its greatness is nevertheless a small thing; and less than nothing compared to the formidable mystery of the Divinity. You must take another road. Cleanse your heart of every earthly passion, humble yourself in the dust and pray! In this way you will certainly find God, who will give you peace and serenity in this life and eternal beatitude in the next."     St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Let us admit the fact before picking up stones to cast at the adulteresses abroad, we ought to turn the searchlight into our own consciences. How many of us who protest against the destruction of churches and synagogues abroad ever go into a church or synagogue? What is the use of the world overthrowing a Hitler or a Stalin if it keeps the spirit that breeds them? To oppose a nation justly as the enemy of God we must believe in God. We may not smash its idols and keep our own.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Whence Comes Wars)

“The Rosary is the prayer that touches most the heart of the Mother of God. If you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the Family Rosary."   - Pope St. Pius X

“You must give the sick their remedies and nourishment at the proper time.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"I'm always happy, for I always manage in the midst of the tempest to preserve interior peace."    St. Therese of Lisieux (1873.-1897)

"A cheerful heart is easily made perfect than a downcast one"  -St. Philip Neri

"Behold, the treasures of grace that flow down upon souls, but not all souls know how to take advantage of My generosity."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1687)

"And so now with all those who see the Blessed Sacrament, sanctified by Our Lord's words on the altar, through the hands of the priest, in the form of bread and wine: if they do not see and believe, as the spirit and the Divine nature demand that it is truly the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, they stand condemned. For it is the Most High who bears witness to it. He says, ‘This is My Body, and the Blood of the New Testament’ (Mk, 14, 22-24) and, ‘He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, has life everlasting.’”  - (Jn. 6, 55) - from the writings of St. Francis of Assisi on The Blessed Sacrament 

“Go to the Madonna. Love her! Always say the Rosary. Say it well. Say it as often as you can! Be souls of prayer. Never tire of praying, it is what is essential. Prayer shakes the Heart of God, it obtains necessary graces!” (St. Pio of Pietrelcina)

"... do not be afraid of sufferings; I am with you." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 151) 

“Christ is called Net, because through Him and in Him the diverse multitudes of peoples are gathered from the sea of the world, through the water of Baptism and into the Church, where a distinction is made between the good and the wicked.” St. Gregory of Elvira, 360 A.D.   (As quoted by Fr. William Jurgens in his work: The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 1: 899.)

"I confess in the first place that for me it is a great misfortune to be unable to express and pour out this ever-active volcano which burns me up and which Jesus has placed in this very small heart of mine. It can all be summed up as follows - I am consumed by love for God and love for my neighbor."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“The less we think we are, the more good we do…reducing themselves to zero they leave room for infinity, whereas those who think themselves infinite, God leaves with their little zero.”Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Seven Capital Sins)

“Go and keep company with Jesus in His Passion, and with His Sorrowful Mother.”
- St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

" Abandon yourself into the hands of Mary. She will take care of you." - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"I will answer you... Be at peace." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 145)

Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.  - Saint John Bosco

"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."  - St. Athanasius

“In the fifteenth century, during a later period of scholastic theology, St. Bernardine of Siena collected and diligently evaluated all that the medieval theologians had said and taught on this question. He was not content with setting down the principal considerations which these writers of an earlier day had already expressed, but he added others of his own. The likeness between God's Mother and her divine Son, in the way of the nobility and dignity of body and of soul-a likeness that forbids us to think of the heavenly Queen as being separated from the heavenly King makes it entirely imperative that Mary ‘should be only where Christ is.’ (St. Bernardine of Siena, In Assumptione B. Mariae Virginis, Sermo 11)”  Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, November 1, 1950, Par. 33

“Of the marvellous care which God exerts over human nature, and how God watches over us with His Angels.”: “The soul is above all corporeal beings and is above everything on the whole earth, in dignity and power; above the water, above the fire, above the air, above everything in which the said elements have any part. The soul is greater than the heavens of the Moon, and of Mercury and of Venus, of the Sun, of Mars, of Jupiter, of Saturn, and of all their signs, and it is greater than the seventy-two constellations. But the angels are greater than the soul, and these angels rule us and guide us, and enlighten us in all those things which we should do. It is the angels who have led you hither into this Campo to listen, and the whole Campo is full of angels, who make you pay heed to the words which I speak to the glory of God, and to which you pay such heed that if it were Saint Paul himself preaching to you, I believe you could not listen with more attention. And whence doth this arise? Surely not from me, but from the angels, because we have no power in ourselves to use any strength of ours except with the help of the angels who guide us. In ourselves we have only right intention, the will to act, and after this good will doth come to us we are impelled to the performance of it. For this reason saith David: Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.   (Ps. 126:1)”   St. Bernadine of Siena, Sermon 

"Do the penance of remembering, with sorrow, your offenses committed against God; the penance of being constantly good, the penance of fighting against your defects."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Our blessed Lord did not ascend to heaven immediately after the Resurrection but remained on earth for 40 days, speaking to the Apostles about the Kingdom of God. It was during these days that He gave the details of His Church, which He said would have its visible manifestation on Pentecost. ‘And so the Lord Jesus, when he had finished speaking to them, was taken up to heaven, and is seated now at the right hand of God.’ Seated is a figurative expression of eternal repose, which He has merited by His victory over sin. At the right hand is a symbol of His power of eternal intercession before His heavenly Father on our behalf. The Ascension of Christ is the assurance of our own ascension into heaven after the Last Judgment. Not yet ascended in body, we nevertheless enjoy the ascension of our minds in union with Him. We find our true home in heaven. It is to heaven that we look expectantly for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to save us; He will form this humbled body of ours anew, modeling it into the image of His glorified body, so effective is His power to make all things obey Him. O heavenly Magnet, in each communion draw our body and blood to Thy own, that already following Thee in heart, we may later ascend with Thee in the flesh!” + Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fifteen Mysteries)

“Rarely is any good done without difficulty.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy"   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1317)

“As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by Mary."  - St. Thomas Aquinas

“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Pope St. John Paul II)

““Nobody ought to flatter himself with undue applause over anything that a sinner can do. A sinner can fast, pray, weep, mortify his flesh. But this he cannot do: remain loyal to his Lord”
Saint Francis of Assisi 

"You are not unaware of the fact That I desire to die and to love God; either death or love, given that life without this love is worse than death. Oh my daughter, help me! I am dying and in agony at all times. Everything seems to be a dream to me, and I don't know where I am wandering. Dear God! when will the time come when I, too, can sing: "Is this my rest, oh God in eternity?"  St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Letters III, pp. 410-211)

"Our Lord's departure on the Ascension was the very condition of the Apostles receiving Him intimately on Pentecost. If He sent His Spirit then He would not be an external voice or an example to be copied, but a veritable life to be lived: "But when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak; and the things that are to come, He will show you." And Again, "The Spirit of Truth Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him not; but you will know Him because He will abide with you and will be in you." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 “Usually, God wills to save men [and women] through men; Our Lord, himself, became man to save all.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of me in virtue of My Passion"  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1320)

"My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy. Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God. All the works of My hands are crowned with mercy"  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 300-301).

"My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain..."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1777).

The cross means there is no shipwreck without hope, there is no dark without dawn; nor storm with haven.-St.John Paul II

"If faith totter, love itself will grow cold. For if a man has fallen from faith, he must necessarily also fall from love; for he cannot love what he does not believe to exist."
— St. Augustine,  On Christian Doctrine (I.41)

“You have released us, O Lord, from the fear of death. You have made the end of life here on earth a beginning of true life for us. ... You redeemed us from the curse and from sin, having become both on our behalf. You have crushed the heads of the serpent who had seized man in his jaws because of the abyss of our disobedience. You have opened up for us a path to the resurrection, having broken down the gates of hell and reduced to impotence the one who had power over deaths. You have given to those who fear You a visible token, the sign of the holy cross, for the destruction of the adversary and for the protection of our life.” — St. Macrina the Younger

"It's not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look. "
- St. Francis of Assisi

“When we leave the holy banquet, we are as happy as the Wise Men would have been, if they could have carried away the Infant Jesus.” (St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney, Cure d’Ars)

“The human never long remains the Humanist, for either beast or angel he becomes, but not just man! If you came from the beast, you cannot leave the beast behind. But if you came from God then you can leave humanity behind and be a child of God! This is true Humanism, where man finds his center in his Source.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Seven Words to the Cross)

“By union and counsel we can achieve anything.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony" WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1320).

"Think of what the saints have done for their neighbor because they loved God. But what saint's love for God can match Mary's? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him or will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of her love was most extreme. If Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients, it could never equal Mary's love for even a single soul."  -- Saint Alphonsus Liguori

"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."   -- Saint Faustina

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

"God placed Mary far above all the angels and saints and so filled her with every heavenly grace from his own divine treasury so that her innocence and holiness exceeded every creature but God himself." -- Pope Pius IX

"God made Mary so powerful over the devils that not only can she instantly terrify them with a single glance, but also that the devils prefer to have their pains redoubled rather than to see themselves subject to her power." -- Saint Brigid

"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

"Regina Angelorum! Queen of the Angels! What a foretaste of heaven it is to think thus of Mary our mother ceaselessly accompanied by legions of angels!"  -- Pope Saint John XXIII 

...

"Be at peace... it is precisely through such misery that I want to show the power of My mercy."      WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 133) 

“Put yourself in the patient’s place and fancy how you would feel.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother and reflect on its boundless grief and how precious is our soul."  - St.  Pio  of Pietrelcina

"John tells us that all things came into being through the Son who is God the Word abiding with you, Father, from the beginning. Paul in his turn enumerates the things created in the Son, both visible and invisible, in heaven and on earth. And while he is specific about all that was created in and through Christ, of the Holy Spirit he considers it enough simply to say that he is your Spirit.Therefore I concur with those chosen men in thinking that just as it is not expedient for me to venture beyond my mental limitation and predicate anything of your only-begotten Son except that, as those witnesses have assured us, he was born of you, so it is not fitting for me to go beyond the power of human thought and the teaching of those same witnesses by declaring anything regarding the Holy Spirit other than that he is your Spirit. Rather than waste time in a fruitless war of words, I would prefer to spend it in the firm profession of an unhesitating faith.

"I beg you therefore, Father, to preserve in me that pure and reverent faith and to grant that to my last breath I may testify to my conviction. May I always hold fast to what I publicly professed in the creed when I was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May I worship you, the Father of us all, and your Son together with you, and may I be counted worthy to receive your Holy Spirit who through your only Son proceeds from you. For me there is sufficient evidence for this faith in the words 'Father, all that I have is yours, and all that is yours is mine,' spoken by Jesus Christ my Lord who remains, in and from and with you, the God who is blessed for endless ages. Amen."   The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD)  (excerpt from ON THE TRINITY 12.55-57)

“Talk to the Three Persons, to God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit. And so as to reach the Blessed Trinity, go through Mary.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, # 543)

“Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Everyone should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile. Joy shows from the eyes. It appears when we speak and walk. It cannot be kept closed inside us. It reacts outside. Joy is very infectious.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta)

"Do your best to conform always and in everything to the will of God, in all eventualities, and do not fear. This is the sure path to heaven."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Communism begins at the moment conceit is attached; fists clench and rise as soon as the ego is challenged; cheeks flush as soon as self-love is wounded, and blood boils and flows at that split second when pride is humbled. The anger is based on selfishness; he hates the rich not because he loves the poor in spirit, but because he wants to be rich himself. Every Communist is really a capitalist without any cash in his pockets. Selfishness is the world’s greatest sin; that is why the world hates those who hate it, why it is jealous of those who have more; why it is envious of those who do more; why it dislikes those who refuse to flatter, and why it scorns those who tell us the truth about ourselves; its whole life is inspired by the egotistical, and the personal, and its wrath is born of that self-love.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Cross and the Beatitudes)

“Do not be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her enough. And Jesus will be very happy, because the Blessed Virgin is His Mother.”  - St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"When people love and recite the Rosary. They find it makes them better."  - St. Anthony Mary Claret

"Give free course to your tears, because that is the work of God in you, and do not be concerned about what bystanders might think. The stabs of pain that you experience in your heart are willed by God, and he wills them because his mercy makes you precious to him, and he wants you to resemble his beloved Son in his suffering in the desert, in the garden, and on the cross....

The one counsel I would give you is to cling firmly to what I told you in the Lord, and do not allow anything to be in you except what the Holy Spirit longs to do in you. Abandon yourself to his will for you, and do not be afraid. He is so subtle, wise, and gentle that he will not bring about anything but good.

Do not be wary of inner delights, especially when they are accompanied by a profound sense of humility, so open wide your heart to receive them."

-St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Lost time can never be recovered, death is approaching, the harvest is great, the workers are few, and Our Lord is relying on you.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

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. -St. Augustine of Hippo

Let me sing the canticle of love, let me follow Thee, my Beloved, on high; let my soul lose herself in Thy praises, rejoicing exceedingly in Thy love. - St. Therese

“The torrents of grace inundate the humble. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them and goes to humble souls.”  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 1602)

“Since God is perfect in loving man, man must be perfect in loving his neighbor.” St. Vincent Palloti (1795 – 1850)

“Thus also in the Franciscan family, Roger Bacon, that scholar so dear to Our Predecessor, Clement IV, not only wrote learnedly on the Chaldean, Arab and Greek languages,[Opus maius, pars tertia.] but also facilitated their study for others. Following the above examples, Raymond Lulli, a man of singular learning and piety, urged with all the impetuosity of his nature, and obtained from Our Predecessors, Celestine V and Boniface VIII, favors which at the time were most unusual: that a Cardinal should be placed at the head of Oriental affairs and studies, and that Apostolic expeditions be sent to the Tartar, the Saracen, and other infidels, as well as to bring the ‘schismatics’ once more into the unity of the Church.”  --Pope Pius XI, Rerum Orientalium, September 8, 1928, Par. 4

Pope St. Celestine V, on being detained after his voluntary abdication: “I desired nothing in the world but a cell; and a cell they have given me.” (Quoted by Fr. Alban Butler in his work “Lives of the Saints”)

“ANOTHER road, which our Leader has pointed out to us is this: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ ... ‘Upon this path the Apostles also entered, though it would not have been difficult for them to have enriched themselves, since they were renowned for signs and wonders, and spoke the languages of many nations, and were admired by the whole world for their wisdom. But they who had once spoke the words, Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee;’ who had tasted how sweet it was to be free from the love of money, having food and wherewith to be covered, they considered virtue and the justice of God to be their great gain. On this road also walked, not only monks and hermits, but even kings and pontiffs who have thus arrived at the kingdom of heaven. ”
St. Robert Bellarmine, “The Eternal Happiness of the Saints”, Ch. VII

“Nothing so provokes the service of the needy as the consciousness of one’s own unworthiness when visited by the Grace of God.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The World’s First Love)

“After a succession of hot, sultry days in the summer, we sense there must be a storm before the cool days come back again. Similarly, in these days of confusion, there is an intuition of impending catastrophe, a feeling that some immense preternatural disturbance must bring the evil of the world to ruins before we can be set free again. As DeGoncourt told Berthelot, who had boasted of the future destructiveness of war through physics: ‘When that day comes, God as a night-watchman will come down from Heaven, rattling His keys, saying, Gentleman! It is closing time!” - Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"Jesus who reigned in Heaven with his most holy humanity received from the womb of the Virgin, wanted his mother to be reunited to Him not only with her soul but also with her body and share fully in his glory. And that was right and just. That body that was not a slave of the devil and sin for one instant was not to be a slave of corruption either."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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

"Learn to praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Learn to have a special devotion to the Blessed Trinity:...I believe in, I hope in and I love the most Holy Trinity. This devotion is much needed as a supernatural exercise for the soul, expressed by the movement of the heart, although not always in words."    -St. Josemaria Escriva

“Don’t worry about me no matter what happens in this world. Nothing can happen to me that God doesn’t want. And all that He wants, no matter how bad it may appear to us, is really for the best.” (St. Thomas More, Martyr)

"Tell souls not to place within their own hearts obstacles to My mercy, which so greatly wants to act within them. My mercy works in all those hearts which open their doors to it. Both the sinner and the righteous person have need of My mercy. Conversion, as well as perseverance, is a grace of My mercy."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1577)

"After Jesus Christ's ascension to Heaven, Mary longed continually with burning desire to be reunited with Him. To be without her divine Son was a very harsh exile. Those years of separation from Him were for her a most slow and painful martyrdom of love that consumed her slowly."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Culture today is becoming politicized. The State is extending dominance over areas outside its province, family, education and the soul. It is concentrating public opinion in fewer and fewer hands, which becomes the more dangerous because of the mechanical way in which propaganda can be disseminated. It seeks to achieve its ends by extra parliamentary means. The idea of a community of workers is replaced by mass cooperation on a non-personal basis, contract has taken the place of responsibility. The lines are becoming clear cut.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Characters of the Passion)

“I am asking Our Lord that we may die to ourselves in order to rise with him. May he be the joy of your heart, the end and soul of your actions, and your glory in heaven.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

I want the whole world to know My infinite mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My mercy.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 687).

When our hands have touched some aromatic herbs, then they perfume everything they touch! Let us pass our prayers through the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She will perfume all our prayers.   -(St. John Mary Vianney, . Curate of Ars).

“Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven. There are others: innocence, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of trials of life, but when they come we weep and ask to be. The surest, easiest, shortest way is the Eucharist.” — Pope St. Pius X

“It is time for you to follow Our Lord along the narrow path of a life in conformity with your vocation.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"You may not like somebody, but you can still love, because loving is a duty; it is good for your soul, and it also glorifies God. If you do an injury to someone you do not like, you will dislike him still more; if you do a favor to someone you do not like, you will love him more."

- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“We must not drift away from the humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small we look at things in a small way. But God, being Almighty, sees everything great. Therefore, even if you write a letter for a blind man or you just go sit and listen, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody—small things—or wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house. Very humble work, that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things. But there are very few people who will do the small things.”  —Saint Teresa of Calcutta

“If you don’t deny yourself you will never be a soul of prayer.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá; The Way)

"Mary's holy soul, like a dove set free, left her saintly body and flew to the bosom of her Beloved."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina  (Have a Good Day, Page 92)

“God is that Life which has throbbed throughout the agelessness of eternity, wherein each moment is eternity and eternity is as a moment; that life whence has come all existing things.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary.”
- St. Louis Marie de Montfort

God’s mercy is great. Rid yourself of a bad habit with a good confession. The power of God creates us; the wisdom of God governs us; the mercy of God saves us.
St. Crispin of Viterbo

“Our Lord has no use for our knowledge or our good works if He does not possess our heart; and even this heart He does not wish if we do not give it to Him when He asks.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

“I have not understood the world, and the world has not understood me.”  Pope Gregory XII, the true pope during the Great Western Schism, some time after his voluntary abdication so a universally recognized successor pontiff could be elected, and the last words before his death   (As quoted by Ludwig von Pastor in his work “The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages” Vol. 1, pub. 1891., pg. 202)

“With all our strength, therefore, let us never receive communion from or grant it to heretics; ‘Give not that which is holy unto dogs, saith the Lord, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,’ (Matt. 7:6); lest we become partakers in their dishonor and condemnation.”  St. John Damascene    (Patrologia Graeca, vol. 94, col. 1149, 1152, 1153; Also De Fide Orthodoxa (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith), Book IV, Chapter XIII).

“Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.” (St. Augustine of Hippo)

"We do not know the number of souls that is ours to save through our prayers and sacrifices; therefore, let us always pray for sinners."  (Saint Faustina's Diary 1783)

“If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, such a one is a stranger to the Godhead.”  - Saint Gregory Nazianzen

1. O living flame of love
That tenderly wounds my soul
In its deepest center! Since
Now you are not oppressive,
Now consummate! if it be your will:
Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

2. O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
That tastes of eternal life
And pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

3. O lamps of fire!
in whose splendors
The deep caverns of feeling,
Once obscure and blind,
Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
Both warmth and light to their Beloved.

4. How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
Where in secret you dwell alone;
And in your sweet breathing,
Filled with good and glory,
How tenderly You swell my heart with love.

St. John of the Cross

Pope John III, being a peacemaker and mediator, addressing General Narses after the Romans had made complaint of him to the Emperor Justinian: “I myself shall go to him [Justinian] sooner than you shall leave this land.” (It was through this intercession that General Narses returned peacefully to Rome to complete his governance of the Roman people. Quoted in the Liber Pontificalis, as translated by Dr. Louise Ropes Loomis, Ph.D.. pub. 1916)

St. Peter Chrysologus, to Eutyches: “We exhort you, honourable brother, to attend with docility in all things to what shall be prescribed to you by the most blessed Pope of the Roman city, since BLESSED PETER, WHO IN HIS OWN SEE LIVES AND PRESIDES, grants the knowledge of the true faith to those that seek it.” (S. Petrus Chrys. Ep. ad Eutycheten.)

Father, today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows: say something to me. Answer: "Our Lady of Sorrows loves us. She gave birth to us in suffering and love. May you never forget Our Lady of Sorrows and may her sufferings be engraved in your heart: may she inflame your heart with love for herself and her Son. "St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"The basic reason why moderns disbelieve in hell is because they really disbelieve in freedom and responsibility. To believe in hell is to assert that the consequences of good and bad acts are not indifferent." Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Preface to Religion)

“When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it, my Son finds joy in it too, and I myself am happier than you can possibly guess. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the Rosary.”
- Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

“I, Pope Calixtus III., promise and vow to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the heavenly host, that I will do everything in my power, even, if need be, with the sacrifice of my life, aided by the counsel of my worthy brethren, to reconquer Constantinople, which in punishment for the sin of man has been taken and ruined by Mahomet II., the son of the devil and the enemy of our Crucified Redeemer. Further, I vow to deliver the Christians languishing in slavery, to exalt the true Faith and to extirpate the diabolical sect of the reprobate and faithless Mahomet in the East. For there the light of Faith is almost completely extinguished. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee. If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy, God and His holy Gospel help me.—Amen.” Pope Calixtus III, original inaugural oath  (According to Ludwig Von Pastor, in his “History of the Popes” vol. II: “The vow has been often printed, in Cochlaeus, Hist. Hussit., i, xi. ; d’Achery, Spicil., iii., 797 ; Raynaldiis ad an. 1455, N. 18 ; Bzovius, xvii., 137; Wadding, xii., 245; Leibniz, Cod. jur. gent., i., 411, and others.” [pg. 346])

“I belong to the Lord; my vows are irrevocable, and nothing can detach me from His service!” St. Clare of Assisi   (Vita S. Claræ, c. ii.)

“Indeed We have not failed in the past, more than once, to use Our authority and to exercise Our zeal in this behalf. It gives Us much pleasure to recall to mind that We have officially approved, and enriched with canonical privileges, not a few institutions and confraternities having for their object the perpetual adoration of the Sacred Host; that We have encouraged the holding of Eucharistic Congresses, the results of which have been as profitable as the attendance at them has been numerous and distinguished; that We have designated as the heavenly patron of these and similar undertakings St. Paschal Baylon, whose devotion to the mystery of the Eucharist was so extraordinary.”  Pope Leo XIII, Mirae Caritates, May 28, 1902

“Towards God we should have the heart of a child; towards our neighbor, that of a mother; towards our selves, that of a judge.” St. Pachal Baylon’s maxim  (Quoted by TH. Betrand, “Lives of the Saints for Children” pg. 142, Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur, New York, September 24, 1900.)

“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

"All those souls who will glorify My mercy and spread its worship, encouraging others to trust in My mercy, will not experience terror at the hour of death. My mercy will shield them in that final battle..."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1540)

"He who knows well how to practice the exercise of the presence of God, and who is faithful in following the attraction of this divine virtue, will soon attain a very high degree of perfection."   St. Vincent de Paul (1581.-1660.)

"You must remember that you have in Heaven, not only a Father but also a Mother…If our wretchedness saddens us. . .if the memory of our faults hinders us from presenting ourselves to God, our Father, let us then have recourse to Mary, our Mother. She is all sweetness, mercy, goodness and love for us because she is our Mother."  ~ Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

“Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God… …Hence, heartily commending in the Lord this your holy and praiseworthy purpose, and desirous that it be duly accomplished, and that the name of our Savior be carried into those regions, we exhort you very earnestly in the Lord and by your reception of holy baptism, whereby you are bound to our apostolic commands…
Let no one, therefore, infringe, or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation, requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation, decree, mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul.”  Pope Alexander VI, Inter Caetera, May 4, 1493

“To pray always is the work of angels, who, wholly intent upon God, teach us while we pray to forget our human nature, and to have no regard to things present, but to conceive of ourselves as standing in the midst of angels, and performing the same sacrifice with them.” says S. Chrysostom (Book ii. of Prayer) —Cornelius a Lapide, (“The Great Commentary”)

"May the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, always smile on your spirit, obtaining for it, from her Most Holy Son, every heavenly blessing."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Because God is full of life, I imagine each morning Almighty God says to the sun, “Do it again”; and every evening to the moon and the stars, “Do it again”; and every springtime to the daisies, “Do it again”; and every time a child is born into the world asking for curtain call, that the heart of the God might once more ring out in the heart of the babe. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Life is Worth Living

“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”   St. Francis of Assisi. 

"Where shalt thou rejoice? Upon the Cross, with the Spotless Lamb, seeking His honour and the salvation of souls, through continual, humble prayer. Now herein is all our perfection."   St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

"If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus... for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib.  Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit." -- St. John Chrysostom

"In return for My blessings, I get ingratitude. In return for My love, I get forgetfulness and indifference. My Heart cannot bear this." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 1537)

“Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

“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.  Pio of Pietralcina.

What a great favor God does to those He places in the company of good people! - St. Teresa of Avila