To attain the ideal life of the soul, I believe we must live on the supernatural level, that is, we must never act “naturally.” We must become aware that God dwells within us and do everything with Him, then we are never commonplace, even when performing the most ordinary tasks, for we do not live in these things, we go beyond them! A supernatural soul never deals with secondary causes but with God alone.  Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity  The Greatness of Our Vocation, 8

"If you wish to convert anyone to the fullness of the knowledge of Our Lord and of His Mystical Body, then teach him the Rosary. One of two things will happen. Either he will stop saying the Rosary — or he will get the gift of faith."  - Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Here I am, Lord, to do your will whatever comes.” St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin (1888–1922)

Today I heard these words: Pray for souls that they be not afraid to approach the tribunal of My mercy. Do not grow weary of praying for sinners. You know what a burden their souls are to My Heart. Relieve My deathly sorrow; dispense My mercy.  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 975)

“Wherefore also in the Gospel it is written: “if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold.” (Lk. 19)... And it is read in Divine Law: “Cursed is everyone who moves over his neighbour’s landmarks: and all the people shall say: Amen.” (Dt. 27) 　Such things therefore may not be presumed without vengeance, nor exercised without one’s own damnation.” Pope St. John I, Epistle to Archbishop Zachary, “De non accusandis episcopis”, 523 A.D

St. Bernard of Clairvaux saw God everywhere in creation, and once said to a monk: “Believe me, on my own experience, you will find more in the woods than in books; the forrests and rocks will teach you what you cannot learn of the greatest masters.” (Quoted by Mary E. Mannix in her work “Illustrated Lives of Patron Saints for Boys”, pub. 1905, Benzinger Brothers, Inc., Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur.)

"Patience is more perfect when it is less mixed with worries and disturbances. If the good God wants to prolong the time of trial, do not complain or try to investigate the reason, but remember the following: That the children of Israel traveled forty years in the desert before setting foot in the Promised Land."  St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

“Pleasure is of the body; joy is of the mind and heart. Lobster Newberg gives pleasure to certain people, but not even the most avid lobster fans would ever say that it made them joyful. You can quickly become tired of pleasures, but you can never tire of joys.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (You)

“The good God will not fail to supply your need since it concerns His service, and He will do it in one way or another.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“Once Jesus said to me, ‘Do not be surprised that you are sometimes unjustly accused. I Myself first drank this cup of undeserved suffering for love of you.’”  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 289)

"I have just received your second letter, and I thank God with you, asking Him to complete His work in your dear patient. I admire her courage and calmness in the face of that serious operation! That is always so frightening. . . . But God is there, and He never fails those who trust in Him."  St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

"When the Holy Rosary is said well, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer."  - St. Louis Marie de Montfort

“Great and formidable Prince, Duke of Burgundy, Joan the Maiden requests of you, in the name of the King of Heaven, my right and sovereign Lord, that the King of France and yourself should make a good firm lasting peace. Fully pardon each other willingly, as faithful Christians should do; and if it should please you to make war, then go against the Saracens.” St. Joan of Arc, Letter to the Duke of Burgandy, July 17, 1429 (Translated by Allen Williamson)

“For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more.” (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

For me, prayer is a burst from my heart, a cry of thanksgiving and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy. -St. Therese

“When the time comes and we cannot pray, it is very simple—let Jesus pray in us to the Father in the silence of our hearts. If we cannot speak, He will speak. If we cannot pray, He will pray. So let us give Him our inability and our nothingness.”  —St.Teresa of Calcutta, from her book, “Love: A Fruit Always in Season”.

“When lovers are together, they spend hours and hours repeating the same thing: I love you! What is missing in the people who think the Rosary monotonous, is Love.” - Sr. Lucia dos Santos, OCD ~ Servant of God.

"The struggle we have prior to a good work we intend to do is like the antiphon that precedes the psalm to be sung."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“If we knew what a terrible thing sin was and went on sinning; if we knew how much love there was in the Incarnation and still refused to nourish ourselves with the Bread of Life; if we knew how much sacrificial love there was in the Sacrifice of the Cross and still refused to fill the chalice of our heart with that love; if we knew how much mercy there was in the Sacrament of Penance, and still refused to bend a humble knee to a hand that had the power to loose both in heaven and on earth; if we knew how much life there was in the Eucharist and still refused to take of the Bread which makes life everlasting and still refused to drink of that Wine that produces and enriches virgins; if we knew all the truth there is in the Church as the mystical body of Christ and still turned our backs to it like other Pilates; if we knew all these things and still stayed away from Christ and His Church, we should be lost! It is not wisdom that saves; it is ignorance! It is only our ignorance of how good God is that excuses us for not being saints!” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Seven Last Words)

“A plowman has to wait a long time before seeing the fruits of his plowing, and sometimes he does not see the abundant harvest his sowing has produced.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

When I entered my solitude, I heard these words,"At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God's anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful Passion of My Son". Oh, if only everyone realized how great the Lord's mercy is and how much we all need that mercy, especially at that crucial hour!  St Faustina's Diary 811

"When a man misses the infinite and the eternal for which he was made and which alone can satisfy, he despairs.”  Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“Now could it possibly happen that the sun be smote or sliced, which otherwise encompasses the axe and the tree? So therefore in Christ, his body indeed is the tree, the axe His passion, the sun is His Godhead. Christ suffered [endured His Passion], without His Divinity suffering any diminution on account of his Passion. [Latin: Num fieri potest ut sol feriatur aut caedatur, qui caeteroquin securim et arborem prorsus circumambit? Sic igitur in Christo, corpus quidem est arbor, securis passio, sol est divinitas. Passus est Christus, quin divinitas diminutionem ullam propter passionem perpessa est.]” Pope St. Sylvester I (Fragment quoted by Migne, PL.)

“It is with reason that the fear of the Lord is styled the beginning of wisdom, because the soul commences to taste God when she begins to fear Him. You fear the justice and power of God; God then is sweet to you, for fear is a species of savor. Fear sketches wisdom in the soul, because, as riches make a man rich, and knowledge renders him learned, so fear makes him become truly wise. Learning prepares our minds for the knowledge of spiritual things, but vanity would easily glide into knowledge, if fear did not prevent it. Hence, fear is well named the beginning of wisdom.” (Quoted by Jean Baptiste de Saint Jure, in his published work “The spiritual man; or, The spiritual life reduced to its first principles, tr. by a member of the Order of mercy, authoress of ‘The life of mother McCauley’”, pub. 1878, pg. 139) St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"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)

“From the Virgin Mary, life was born in person, and thus did Mary become the Mother of all living.”  - St. Epiphanius

“The rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at a heart a Christ-centered prayer. It has all the depth of the gospel message in its entirety. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb…It can be said that the rosary is, in some sense, a prayer-commentary on the final chapter of the Vatican II Constitution Lumen Gentium, a chapter that discusses the wondrous presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and the Church” (Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae).

"If we are calm and patient, we will not only find ourselves, but also our souls and, with it, God."  St.  Pio  of Pietrelcina

“There are certain psychological and spiritual conditions which are essential for the discovery of truth, and the most important of these is the virtue of humility. Humility is not a want of moral force; rather humility is a recognition of the truth about ourselves. To explore the Truth in all its complexity there must come moments when we confess ignorance, when we frankly admit that we were mistaken or bigoted or prejudiced. These admissions are painful, but they actually enrich character just as much as all approximations to falsehood forfeit it. If we are proud, covetous, conceited, selfish, lustful, constantly wanting our own way, it is far better to come face to face with our own ugliness than live in a fool’s paradise.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Way to Inner Peace)

…”we must give them a life worthy of the name.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you ... Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death ... When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between my Father and the dying person, not as the Just Judge but as the Merciful Savior ... Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from my infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy ... Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 687, 1541, 1731)

"To defend his purity,St.Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow,St.Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush,and St.Bernard plunged into an icy pond.And You?What have you done?  ~St.Josemaria Escriva~

For in thinking about and carefully examining what the Lord suffered for us, we are moved to compassion; and this sorrow and the resulting tears bring delight.  ~St. Teresa of Avila  The Book of Her Life: Chapter 12

“Who would not be moved at seeing the place where Peter was fastened to the cross, where Paul was beheaded with the sword, where John was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, where Lawrence was roasted on a gridiron, Sebastian shot with arrows.”  St. Peter Canisius (Quoted by Rev. John Phelan in his work “An Appeal for Unity in Faith: Being an Appeal to Anglicans (Protestant Episcopalians) and Protestants of Other Denominations to Return to the Unity of the Faith”: pub. 1911)

"One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world."  - St. Dominic

“Fabian, to my dearly beloved brother Bishop Hilary. We ought to be mindful of the grace of God to us, who, in the compassion of His own regard, hath raised us for this reason to the summit of sacerdotal dignity, that by cleaving to His commandments, and by being set in a certain eminence as overseers of His priests, we may restrain things unlawful, and inculcate things that are to be followed. For we have heard that in those western parts in which you dwell, the craft of the devil rageth so violently against the people of Christ, and breaketh forth in delusions so manifold, that it oppresseth and troubleth not only the secular laity, but the priests of the Lord themselves also. Wherefore, involved as we are in deep grief, we cannot conceal what we ought severely to correct. Accordingly a sufficient remedy must be employed for such wounds, lest a hasty facility in the cure may prove of no service for the deadly disease of the head; and lest the trouble, by being too easily dealt with, may involve, through the defect of an illegitimate mode of cure, the hurt and the healers together in its evil.” Pope St. Fabian, Epistle to St. Hilary

“Heroic love for God and neighbor is, of course, is closely aligned to profound intimacy with the indwelling Trinity. To a large extent, they are the same thing. We love Father, Son and Holy Spirit to the extent that we are in intimate prayer communion with them which is lived out in our actions.” (Father Thomas Edward Dubay, S.M., 1921-2010, Deep Conversion Deep Prayer)

"Don’t lose heart if it is your lot to work a lot and gather little. If you considered what one soul alone costs Jesus, you would never complain."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Simon had something to learn; so he invited a teacher; the woman had something to be forgiven, so she poured out her contrite tears on the Divine Creditor Who proved to be her Savior. Simon had not denied the existence of guilt; but he felt himself relatively innocent when he saw the woman who was a sinner. Guilt is not just the breaking of a love; it is the wounding of someone who is loved.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Life of Christ)

“You know the will of God cannot be made known to us more clearly in events than when they happen without our intervention or in a way other than we requested.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

February 3, [1938]. Today after Holy Communion, Jesus again gave me a few directives:  'First, do not fight against a temptation by yourself, but disclose it to the confessor at once, and then the temptation will lose all its force. Second, during these ordeals do not lose your peace; live in My presence; ask My Mother and the Saints for help. Third, have the certitude that I am looking at you and supporting you. Fourth, do not fear either struggles of the soul or any temptations, because I am supporting you; if only you are willing to fight, know that the victory is always on your side. Fifth, know that by fighting bravely you give Me great glory and amass merits for yourself. Temptation gives you a chance to show Me your fidelity.'  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1560)

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. For even if you are now on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil…sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul. If...you say the Rosary devoutly every day of your life."  - St. Louis Marie de Montfort

“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.)

"And so, we will stand up every time that human life is threatened. When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life.  When a child is described as a burden or is looked upon only as a means to satisfy an emotional need, we will stand up and insist that every child is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God, with the right to a loving and united family...When the institution of marriage is abandoned to human selfishness or reduced to a temporary, conditional arrangement that can easily be terminated, we will stand up and affirm the indissolubility of the marriage bond.." Saint John Paul the Great

“Pontianus, bishop, to Felix Subscribonius, greeting. Our heart is exceedingly rejoiced with your goodness, in that you strive by all means in your power to carry out the practice of holy religion, and strengthen sad and destitute brethren in faith and religion. Wherefore we implore the mercy of our Redeemer, that His grace may support us in all things, and that He may grant us to carry out in effect what He has given us to aspire after. In this good thing, therefore, the benefits of recompense are multiplied just in proportion as our zeal for the work increases. And because in all these things we need the assistance of divine grace, we implore with constant prayers the clemency of Omnipotent God, that He may both grant us the desire for these good works which should ever be wrought by us, and give us power also to perform them, and direct us in that way, for the fruit of well-doing—which way the Pastor of pastors declared Himself to be—so that ye may be able to carry out through Him, without whom nothing can be done, those good works which you have begun.” Pope St. Pontian, Decreta ad Episcopum Felicem Scribonium   (Translated by Philip Schaff)

“When God has appointed a way, we must faithfully follow it and never think of another under pretense that it is more easy and safe. It is one of the Devil’s artifices to set before a soul some state, holy indeed, but impossible to her, or at least different from hers, so that by a love of novelty, she may dislike, or be slack in her present state in which God has placed her and which is best for her. In like manner, he represents to her other acts as more holy and profitable to make her conceive a disgust for her present employment.” St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises (Excerpt quoted in Fr. Alban Butler’s “Lives of Saints”)

To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and His mother. -St John Paul II

Padre Pio said: "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." With great tenderness, he always spoke of the Blessed Mother as "my dear little Mother." He always said: "The Blessed Mother is the Mother of all Mothers." On Padre Pio's death bed, his final words that he kept repeating were: "Jesus-Mary; Jesus-Mary; Jesus-Mary."

"These supernatural gifts which the Holy Spirit, through the merits of Jesus Christ, pours out into your soul, enable you to know more than you knew before, to love more than you loved before, and to do things which you could not do by your natural power." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“We should not indeed be doing enough for God and our neighbor if we supplied the sick merely with nourishment and medicine, and if we did not assist them with the spiritual services we owe them.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"It is not for you to know how this will come about. Your duty is to be faithful to My grace and to do always what is within your power and what obedience allows you to do..."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1650)

For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more.  
--Saint Maximilian Kolbe

“‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little’ duties of each moment.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 817)

“The ineffable authority of the Divine majesty always doing the ineffable, just as it is extolled wonderful in His saints, and so it is showed in their works, giving them virtue and fortitude to heal all manner of sickness and disease. [Latin: Divinae majestatis inenarrabilis auctoritas semper inenarrabilia faciens, sicut in sanctis suis mirabilis praedicatur, ita et operibus declaratur, dans eis virtutem et fortitudinem curare omnem languorem et omnem infirmitatem.]” Pope Benedict IX, bull canonizing St. Simeon the Recluse, 1041 A.D.

“Once as I was in prayer, the souls of two saints now in glory, appeared to me, one of which seemed to be feeding upon a hard crust of bread, which he held in his hand; and I being desirous to know what was meant hereby, I heard a Voice, which said, ‘Philip, the Will of God is that you live in the middle of the city, as if you were in a desert.’ By which words I understood I was to live soberly and temperately.” St. Philip Neri (Quoted by Fr. Francis Weninger his work “Lives of the Saints”, St. Philip Neri.)

“The cross means there is no shipwreck without hope; there is no dark without dawn; nor storm without haven.” -St.JohnPaul II

Be courageous! The world needs convinced and fearless witnesses. It is not enough to discuss, it is necessary to act! -St John Paul II

“How well Our Lord did lower His eyes when He gave us His portrait! Since the eyes are the mirror of the soul, if we had seen His soul, we would have died from joy. Oh how much good that Holy Face has done in my life!”  St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face

"Anxiety is one of the greatest traitors that real virtue and solid devotion can ever have. . .One must be careful of this on all occasions, particularly at prayer. And to better succeed it would be well to remember that the graces and consolations of prayer are not waters of this earth, but of Heaven. Therefore all our efforts are not sufficient to make them fall, even though it is necessary to prepare oneself with great diligence but always humbly and tranquilly."  St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

“The Father had offered the Son the cup, and no one could hinder His drinking it. But Peter, giving up the habit of prayer, substituted violence toward others, and all tact was lost as devotion to a cause became zeal without knowledge. Far better it would be to take a few hours from active life and spend it in communion with God, than to be busy about many things while neglecting the one thing that is necessary for peace and happiness. No such activity is a substitute for watching and praying an hour.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Characters of the Passion

“Trust firmly in God’s guidance and encourage your people to have this trust in the present disturbances; the storm will abate, and the calm will be greater and more pleasing than ever.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

My daughter, if I demand through you that people revere My mercy, you should be the first to distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 742)

"Whatever you make of your life, let it be something that reflects the love of Christ." -St.John Paul II 

Pope Victor III says of Pope Benedict IX: “His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it.” (Quoted in “Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite” (in Latin) (Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti Liber Tertius auctore Desiderio abbate Casinensis ed.), Hannover: Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters (1934), p. 141. While some pontiffs were unfortunately very sinful persons as private individuals, it can be said to Benedict IX’s favor that he never promoted unorthodoxy in the faith, the orthodox faith being a necessary prerequisite to obtain and retain the office of the papacy.)

St. John Chrysostom, Sermo in Matt. 1:22-23: “For it is true, the prayers of the saints have the greatest power; on condition however of our repentance and amendment. Since even Moses, who had rescued his own brother and six hundred thousand men from the wrath that was then coming upon them from God, had no power to deliver his sister; and yet the sin was not equal; for whereas she had done despite but to Moses, in that other case it was plain impiety, what they ventured on.”

The sickness of a family member, friend or neighbor is a call to Christians to demonstrate true compassion, that gentle and persevering sharing in another's pain. -St. John Paul II

"Proverbs praises the strong woman: "She puts her hands to the distaff," we are told, and I willingly say a few words to you on this matter: Your distaff is the accumulation of your desires. Therefore, spin a little every day, thread by thread weave your design until it is finished and you will infallibly succeed. But be careful not to hurry, because you will tangle the thread with knots and confuse the spindle. Therefore, advance always, and even if you progress at a slow pace, you will still travel far."  St.  Pio  of Pietrelcina  (Letters III, p. 568)

“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)

“It is not the most learned who bear the most fruit, but those who are replenished with the most grace from God. Now who receives more grace than those who are united to his goodness as you are doing, bearing lovingly the duty which he has entrusted to you?”
– St. Vincent de Paul

“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 have great doubts about the salvation of those who do not have special devotion to Mary. " St. Francis Borgia (1510-1572)

“Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!” (Saint John Paul II, October 22, 1978)

"My daughter, have fear of nothing; I am always with you. All your adversaries will harm you only to the degree that I permit them to do so. You are my dwelling place and my constant repose. For your sake I will withhold the hand which punishes; for your sake I bless the earth."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 431)

“Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips, and the world in your hearts.” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr, Letter to the Romans)

“I ask Our Lord to be your light and strength in all the events of this life.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“Humility, obedience, meekness, and love are the virtues that shine through the Cross and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. O my Jesus, help me imitate you!” (St. Anthony Mary Claret)

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” (Pope St. John Paul II)

“I am greatly astonished at your separation from the rest of the Church and I cannot equably endure it. For Augustine, mindful that the Lord established the foundation of the Church on the Apostolic sees, says that whosoever removes himself from the authority and communion of the prelates of those sees is in schism. He states plainly that there is no church apart from one which is firmly established on the pontifical bases of the Apostolic sees. Thus how can you believe that you are not separated from the communion of the whole world if you do not commemorate my name during the sacred mysteries, according to custom? For you see that the strength of the Apostolic See resides in me, despite my unworthiness, through episcopal succession at the present time.” Pope Pelagius II (Labbe, Conciliorum Collectione, vol. 5, col. 794f and 810)

“The greater one is by birth, the greater one must be in virtue, and the more distinguished we are in station, the more we must distinguish ourselves by our conduct, in order to be a bright ex ample to others.” St. Hedwig (Quoted by Fr. Francis Weninger his work “Lives of the Saints”, Feast of St. Hedwig.)

“We must not drift away from the humble works, because they are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small and 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 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, 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."  —St. Teresa of Calcutta

"My Secretary, write that I am more generous toward sinners than toward the just. It was for their sake that I came down from heaven; it was for their sake that My Blood was spilled. Let them not fear to approach Me; they are most in need of My mercy."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 1275)

“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” (Pope St. John Paul II, WYD Prayer Vigil, 19 August 2000)

”“Darkness can only be scattered by light, and hatred can only be conquered by love."  -St. John Paul II

"The proud person is like a grain of wheat thrown into water: it swells, it gets big. Expose that grain to the fire: it dries up, it burns. 
The humble soul is like a grain of wheat thrown into the earth: it descends, it hides itself, it disappears, it dies; but to revive in heaven". ~ St. Mary Bouardy  (St. Marie of Jesus Crucified, OCD).

"He who never meditates is like a person who never looks in the mirror; therefore, not knowing that he is untidy, he goes out looking disorderly."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“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)

"In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary. The Rosary is one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to the contemplation of Christ’s face."  - Pope St. John Paul II

John Miley states the following statute of Pope St. Zephyrinus: “Servers should have carried glass patens before the priests in Church [Latin: patenas vitrias ante sacerdotes in ecclesia ministri portarent]” (“Rome, as it was Under Paganism, and as it Became Under the Popes” [John Miley]: Volume 1, CHAPTER XVIII.)

St. Louis de Montfort, letter to his uncle Fr. Alain Robert, Sept. 20th, 1694: “Whatever happens I shall not be worried. I have a Father in heaven who will never fail me. He brought me here, He has kept me here until now and He will continue to treat me with His usual kindness. Although I deserve only punishment for my sins, I never stop praying to Him and rely completely on His Providence.”

"When you recite your ‘mystery’ or ‘decade,’ you follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which, by instructing you internally, leads you to more closely imitate Jesus, allowing you to pray with Mary, and most important, like Mary. It is a great contemplative prayer, very useful to people of today who are also busy with many things; it is the proper prayer for Mary and her devoted followers."   - Pope St. John Paul II

If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness. -St. Therese

"I have often raised my hand in the silence of the night and in my solitary cell, blessing you all and presenting you to Jesus and to our father, St. Francis of Assisi."   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Our poor human heart is flawed: it is like a cake without the frosting: the first two acts of the theatre without the climax. Even its design is marred for a small piece is missing out of the side. That is why it remains so unsatisfied: it wants life and it gets death: it wants Truth and it has to settle for an education; it craves love and gets only intermittent euphoria’s with satieties. Samples, reflections and fractions are only tastes, not mouthfuls. A divine trick has been played on the human heart as if a violin teacher gave his pupil an instrument with one string missing. God kept a part of man's heart in Heaven, so that discontent would drive him back again to Him Who is Eternal Life, All-Knowing Truth and the Abiding Ecstasy of Love." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“Now if there ever was a good work, it is that of nursing the sick, so much so indeed that it surpasses all others in value.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"I know I will have to earn the holy habit with some severe trials" St. Edith Stein 

The sign of the Scapular points to an effective synthesis of Marian spirituality, which nourishes the devotion of believers and makes them sensitive to the Virgin Mother's loving presence in their lives. The Scapular is essentially a "habit". Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church.  - St John Paul II

“Christianity is the meeting-point of earth and heaven. It lays claim to the whole man, body and soul, intellect and will, inducing him to raise his mind above the changing conditions of this earthly existence and reach upwards for the eternal life of heaven, where one day he will find his unfailing happiness and peace."

“Although I have lived through much darkness,...I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young...Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son."  St. John Paul II

“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” (Pope St. John Paul II, World Youth Day 2002, Closing Homily)

“No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness: I shall not tire of repeating this warning to those who, for one reason or another, nourish feelings of hatred, a desire for revenge or the will to destroy.” (Pope St. John Paul II; World Day of Peace; January 1, 2002)

“None should refuse any kind of meat upon that score [i.e. the teaching of heretics who held certain creatures evil and so likewise the eating of their meat], and with that superstition, seeing God created all creatures good, and made all meats for the use of man;” Pope St. Eleutherius (+189), decretal “Et Hoc Iterum Est” (Quoted by Fr. Pedro de Ribadeneyra, “The Lives of the Saint, With Other Feasts of the Year, According to the Roman Calendar” translated into English by William Petre, 1730)

“Our knowledge is so weak that no philosopher was ever able to investigate perfectly the nature of a single fly. Hence we read that one philosopher passed thirty years in solitude in order that he might know the nature of the bee.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Symbolum Apostolorum Expositio

Let yourselves be taken over by the light of Christ, and spread that light wherever you are. -St. John Paul II 

"Always keep close to God. In Him I am with you more than you can know."  St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

“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)

“God raises up and puts down wherever He pleases and whomsoever He wishes. It is for us to adore his ways and trust in his goodness.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"Know that I am with you; I bring about the difficulties, and I overcome them; in one instant, I can change a hostile disposition to one which is favorable to this cause." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 788)

“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.”  - Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Do you want to do a good deed? Teach the young! Do you want to do a holy thing? Teach the young! Truly, now and for the future, among holy things, this is the holiest. -St. John Bosco

“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta; National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C, February 5, 1994)

“None should refuse any kind of meat upon that score [i.e. the teaching of heretics who held certain creatures evil and so likewise the eating of their meat], and with that superstition, seeing God created all creatures good, and made all meats for the use of man;” Pope St. Eleutherius (+189), decretal “Et Hoc Iterum Est” (Quoted by Fr. Pedro de Ribadeneyra, “The Lives of the Saint, With Other Feasts of the Year, According to the Roman Calendar” translated into English by William Petre, 1730)

St. Augustine, To Consentius, Against Lying: “Let us do evil that good may come? A thing which you see how the Apostle detests.”

“To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and His mother.” -St. John Paul II

Do not be afraid to be holy! True freedom is born from holiness. -St. JohnPaul II 

"The little vessel which is your soul always possesses the strong anchor of trust in the Divine Goodness. This mystical vessel will always have Jesus as helmsman and Mary as its beacon. Hence there is no room for fear."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“If Horace Greeley did not believe there was such a thing as territory beyond the Mississippi, he would never have said: ‘Go west, young man.’ If the modern man did not believe there was such a thing as hell, he would never give so many directives to those whom he did not like to go there.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Go To Heaven)

During benediction, such thoughts as these began to distress me: Is not perhaps all this that I am saying about God's great mercy just a lie or an illusion? When I heard a strong and clear inner voice saying, "Everything that you say about My goodness is true; language has no adequate expression to extol My goodness".  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 359)

“You must expect everything from His infinite goodness.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors.”   - Pope St. Pius X

"Always stay close to this Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea to be crossed to reach the shores of Eternal Splendour."  St.  Pio of Pietrelcina

“Immediately before and for a good while after my conversion, I was of the opinion that to lead a religious life meant one had to give up all that was secular and to live totally immersed in thoughts of the Divine. But gradually I realized that something else is asked of us in this world and that, even in the contemplative life, one may not sever the connection with the world. I even believe that the deeper one is drawn into God, the more one must ‘go out of oneself’, that is, one must go to the world in order to carry the divine life into it.”
—Saint Edith Stein, quoted in “Conversion: Spiritual Insights into an Essential Encounter with God” by Fr. Donald Haggerty

Holiness is not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons. It is for everyone. -St. John Paul II 

"Do not fear. Jesus is more powerful than all hell."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“America’s greatest enemy is not from without, but from within, and that enemy is hate: hatred of races, peoples, classes and religions. If America ever dies, it will be not through conquest but suicide.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Preface to Religion)

“God sometimes allows these great disturbances, which unsettle the most secure States, to remind earthly sovereigns that they are answerable to His kingship and are just as dependent as their own subjects.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

Pope St. Anicetus, Decretal to the Bishops of Gaul [ancient France]: “Clergymen shall not wear long hair…have them to live according to the Doctrine of St. Paul; and as they are to differ from Seculars in virtuous life and conversation, so are they to be distinguished from them in habit, and cut off their hair.” (Quoted by Fr. Pedro de Ribadeneyra, “The Lives of the Saint, With Other Feasts of the Year, According to the Roman Calendar” translated into English by William Petre, 1730)

“Even the heathen can praise and thank God in happy days,” says St. Jerome, “but Christians praise and thank Him in their suffering as well.” (Quoted by Fr. Francis Weninger in his book “Lives of the Saints” on the feast of “St. Victor and Companions”)

“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. Pio of Pietrelcina

“...the agency of the Almighty Grace, which both in this world heals many, and in the world to come will heal all the maladies of our minds and bodies, and, satisfying our desires after good things, crown us for ever with its mercy and compassion. Amen.”  —St. Bede the Venerable  (From his work “On the Life of St. Cuthbert”)

“When tempted, invoke your Angel. he is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel.” (St. John Bosco, Priest, Confessor and Founder of the Salesian Society)

"A soul who trusts in the Lord and places all its hope in him has nothing to fear. The enemy of our salvation is always around us to snatch from our hearts the anchor that is to lead us to salvation, by which I mean trust in God our Father. Let us keep a firm hold on this anchor and not relinquish it for a single moment."   -St.  Pio  of Pietrelcina

“To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and His mother.” -St. John Paul II

"You do well never to begin any task without first having implored divine help. This will obtain for you the grace of holy perseverance."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Only the innocent can grasp guilt thoroughly. We are infected by it and cannot understand it, as a patient with a high fever and delirium does not understand his illness as well as the physician.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Those Mysterious Priests)

"..... who will proclaim My great mercy. I shall protect them Myself at the hour of death, as My own glory. And even if the sins of souls were as dark as night, when the sinner turns to My mercy, he gives Me the greatest praise and is the glory of My Passion. When a soul extols My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary 378)

“The poor cannot be judged by their outward appearance nor by their show of wit; for very often they do not look nor seem like intelligent beings, so rough and homely are they.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

“The Son therefore goes on to say: ‘Those that You gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled. The betrayer of Christ was called the son of perdition, as foreordained to perdition, according to the Scripture, where it is specially prophesied of him in the 109th Psalm.”—Saint Augustine
(Tractate 107: (John 17:9-13),
Translated by John Gibb. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888.))

All are called to holiness, and holy people alone can renew humanity. –St. John Paul II 

“Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.” 
―St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus 

"Place your heart in the open side of the Savior and unite it with the King of the hearts who is within it as on a royal throne, in order that he might receive homage and obedience from all other hearts."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“I feel it is time that I also pay tribute to my four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“When in charity we feel we must give some spiritual counsel, we must never be so egotistical as to expect a hungry man, or one distracted by worry over the rent to listen to our words about God until we have helped to relieve his misery.”  – Bl. Frederic Ozanam

St. Boniface pointing to his crucifix: “Behold the great book that teaches me everything!” (Quoted by Abbé Lecanu, “Half Hour Pictorials with the Saints”, “St. Boniface”)

"I am Thrice Holy, and I detest the smallest sin. I cannot love a soul which is stained with sin; but when it repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it. My mercy embraces and justifies it. With My mercy, I pursue sinners along all their path, and My Heart rejoices when they return to Me. I forget the bitterness with which they fed My heart and rejoice at their return.
Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want."  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA    (Diary, 1728 ) 

“In the same way a powerful medicine cures an illness, so illness itself is a medicine to cure passion. And there is much profit of soul in bearing illness quietly and giving thanks to God.“ St. Amma Syncletice (c. 270 – c. 350)

“Mortification, like all the other virtues, is acquired only by repeated acts.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

St. Alphonsus de Liguori relates the following for St. Vitalis: “As the termination of his struggle approached, the Lord Jesus sent an angel to show him, in a vision, the crown which was being prepared for him in heaven. Whereupon Vitalis, with his dying breath, pronounced this prayer-‘Jesus, my Savior, and my God! Command my longing soul to come to Thee, to receive the crown which has been shown me by Thy angel.’ Having uttered these words, he expired.” (from his work “Victories of the Martyrs”, translated form Italian, edited by Fr. Eugene Grimm, C.SS.R, Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur, 1953.)

“One who begins every day his life knowing himself to be in the presence of God must always make progress in God’s service.” St. Charles Borromeo (Quoted by Mary E. Mannix in “Illustrated Lives of Patron Saints for Boys”, Benzinger Brothers, Inc., Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1905., “St. Charles Borromeo” pg. 12.)

“No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr)

Christianity is greatest when it is hated by the world.  Ignatius of Antioch 

“You must know that when you ‘hail’ Mary, she immediately greets you! Don’t think that she is one of those rude women of whom there are so many—on the contrary, she is utterly courteous and pleasant. If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you!”   - Saint Bernardine of Siena 

"When you see the Lord immolated and lying upon the altar, and the priest bent over that sacrifice praying, and all the people empurpled by that precious blood, can you think that you are still among men and on earth? Or are you not lifted up to heaven?" — St. John Chrysostom

You must oppose every form of hatred with the invincible power of Christ’s love. -St. John Paul I

"Jesus himself wants my sufferings; He needs them for souls."  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“By denying guilt they show that they are cowards; by denying any perfection outside themselves, they become snobs.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Peace of Soul)

'If you are faithful to do the Will of God in time, yours shall be accomplished throughout eternity.' St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

“‘Write down everything that occurs to you regarding My goodness.’ I answered, ‘What do You mean, Lord, what if I write too much?’ And the Lord replied, ‘My daughter, even if you were to speak at one and the same time in all human and angelic tongues, even then you would not have said very much, but on the contrary, you would have sung in only a small measure the praises of My goodness – of My unfathomable mercy.’
“O my Jesus, You Yourself must put words into my mouth, that I may praise You worthily.

“‘My daughter, be at peace; do as I tell you. Your thoughts are united to My thoughts, so write whatever comes to your mind. You are the secretary of My mercy. I have chosen you for that office in this life and the next life.’”  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1605)

“God does not ask you to go beyond the means he has given you.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

"One single act done with aridity of spirit is worth more than many done with feelings of devotion.“ St. Francis de Sales (1567.-1622)

Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect how everything here below comes to an end and passes by. Of what use is it to lean upon that which cannot give support? – Saint Gerard Majella

"Always stay close to this Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea to be crossed to reach the shores of Eternal Splendour."  --St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“The purpose of marriage is to help married people sanctify themselves and others. For this reason they receive a special grace in the sacrament which Jesus Christ instituted. Those who are called to the married state will, with the grace of God, find within their state everything they need to be holy, to identify themselves each day more with Jesus Christ, and to lead those with whom they live to God.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá, Conversations, 91)

There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already born for us, and does not now bear with us -St. John Paul II

“We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.” (St. Teresa of Ávila, Doctor of the Church)

"Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we ourselves, do not know."   St. Pio  of  Pietrelcina

“Love one another, bear with one another, support one another and be united in the Spirit of God who has chosen you for this great undertaking and will preserve you for its fulfillment.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

"If He who valued life more than anyone else did not consider death too great a price for Him to pay to defeat evil, why should I not be prepared in His name to suffer the hardships of armed service so that evil may be conquered?" Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Wartime Prayer Book)

 Once the Lord said to me, My Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my very throne, because I want it so.  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 282)