The purpose of this blog is to frequently quote saints,the bible and spiritual classics with little or no commentary
Monday, April 30, 2018
Know that as often as you come to Me, humbling yourself and asking My forgiveness, I pour out a superabundance of graces on your soul, and your imperfection vanishes before My eyes, and I see only your love and your humility. You lose nothing but gain much... WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary, 293)
“O Jesus, my Love, may my heart be consumed in loving Thee; make me humble and holy; give me childlike simplicity; transform me into thy holy love. O Jesus, life of my life, joy of my soul, God of my heart, accept my heart as an altar, on which I will sacrifice to Thee the gold of ardent charity, the incense of continual, humble and fervent prayer, and the myrrh of constant sacrifices! Amen.” (St. Paul of the Cross)
“In our thought and at confession we must not dwell on sins that have been confessed. Because of our contrition Jesus has forgiven them at the tribunal of penance. There He faced us and our miseries like a creditor in front of a debtor. With a gesture of infinite generosity He tore up and destroyed the bills we signed with our sins, which we could certainly not have paid without the help of his divine clemency. To go back to these sins, to bring them up again just to have them forgiven again, because of doubt that they were really abundantly remitted, would this not be considered a lack of trust in the goodness which He proved by his tearing up every document of debt contracted through sin?...Dwell on them, if it is a source of comfort to your soul. By all means think of the offenses against justice, wisdom and the infinite mercy of God, but only for the purpose of weeping redemptive tears of repentance and love”. St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Pope Clement XIII, A Quo Die (On Unity Among Christians), September 13, 1758: “2. ...But St. Peter confessed that He was the son of the living God, not revealed by flesh and blood but by the Father. (Mt 16.14f.) 3. From this, you can easily see that there is a difference between the sons of light and the sons of the world. The latter disagree among themselves with various and diverse opinions, while the former, initiated into the mysteries of unity, profess the one faith of all by the mouth of one, through the head of all. Therefore, concentrate all your attention on increasing peace among the faithful. Uproars, contentions, rivalries, animosities, and dissensions should be silenced. (2 Cor 12.20.) In this way those who go by the name of Catholic can all be perfect in the same sense, in the same opinion, (1 Cor 1.10.) saying the same thing together, (2 Cor 13.11.) knowing the same thing and understanding it thoroughly. They should understand that if they want to be members of Christ, they cannot have concord with the head if they want to be in disagreement with the members. Nor can those who have not lived in fraternal love be counted as brothers by the Almighty Father.”
Sunday, April 29, 2018
“The clients of this most merciful Mother are very fortunate. She helps them both in this life and in the next, consoling them and sponsoring their cause in Purgatory. For the simple reason that the Souls in Purgatory need help so desperately, since they cannot help themselves, our Mother of Mercy does so much more to relieve them. She exercises over these Poor Souls, who are the spouses of Christ, particular dominion, with power to relieve them and even deliver them from their pains. See how important it is then to have devotion to this good Lady, because she never forgets her servants as long as they suffer in these flames. If she helps all the Poor Souls, she is especially indulgent and consoling to her own clients.” - St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri
"A spirit of license makes a man refuse to commit himself to any standards. The right time is the way he sets his watch. The yardstick has the number of inches that he wills it to have. Liberty becomes license, and unbounded license leads to unbounded tyranny. When society reaches this stage, and there is no standard of right and wrong outside of the individual himself, then the individual is defenseless against the onslaught of cruder and more violent men who proclaim their own subjective sense of values. Once my idea of morality is just as good as your idea of morality, then the morality that is going to prevail is the morality that is stronger." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)
“The darkness that sometimes surrounds the heaven of your soul is light. Because of this you think you are in the dark, and you have the impression of being in the center of a burning bush. In fact when the bush burns, the air around it is filled with smoke clouds and the bewildered soul is afraid of not seeing, of no longer understanding anything. But it is then that God speaks and is present to the soul: who hears, understands, loves and trembles. Therefore, do not wait for Tabor to see God when you already contemplate Him on Sinai! “. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (G. Festa, Tra imisteri della scienza e le luci della fede, 174)
Pope St. Sixtus II, to St. Laurence the martyr, as recounted by William Hayes Neligan: “Saint Sixtus was arrested and led to execution. The order was that the bishops should be first executed. Saint Laurence, the principal of the deacons, was not on that day among the number of the victims. He, weeping, followed Sixtus, and exclaimed: ‘My father, whither are you going without your son? You are not accustomed to offer sacrifice without the assistance of a minister. How have I displeased you? Try me, whether I am worthy of the choice that you have made of me for the distribution of the blood of our Lord.’ Sixtus replied: ‘I do not abandon you, my son; but God reserves you for a greater combat. Doubt it not; in three days you will be with me.’ Having uttered those prophetic words, he ascended to heaven, and from the height of the abode of God he could look down upon the triumph of his disciple.” (Quote by Neligan in his work “The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs: From St. Peter to Pius IX., pub. 1867”)
“The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!
“My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace.
“Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary, 1074b)
“My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace.
“Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary, 1074b)
Saturday, April 28, 2018
“Since grace enhances our human nature and glory adds a still greater perfection to grace, it is certain that our Lord remains in heaven just as much the Son of Mary as he was on earth. Consequently he has retained the submissiveness and obedience of the most perfect of all children towards the best of all mothers.” (St. Louis Marie de Montfort; True Devotion to Mary, #27)
"My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; urge all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls – no one have I excluded!" WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary,1182)
“We have no strong passion for great causes, no great hatred of evil, but only half-drawn swords and one-fisted battles. We have thrown away our maps of life and know not which way to turn. It is horrible to contemplate, but there is probably not enough love of truth in the world to start a crusade.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
"The world may disagree with the Church, but the world knows very definitely with what it is disagreeing. In the future as in the past, the Church will be intolerant about the sanctity of marriage, for what God has joined together no man shall put asunder; she will be intolerant about her creed, and be ready to die for it, for she fears not those who kill the body, but rather those who have the power to cast body and soul into hell." Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Friday, April 27, 2018
St. Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse: “‘And you have left your first love: remember whence you have fallen.’ (Apoc. 2:4-5) He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.” (Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.))
Thursday, April 26, 2018
“Temptations, discouragement and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy. Remember this: if the devil makes noise, it is a sign that he is still outside and not yet within. That which must terrify us is his peace and concord with the human soul. That which comes from Satan begins with calmness and ends in storm, indifference and apathy.” -St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"Though time is too precious to waste, it must never be thought that what was lost is irretrievable. Once the Divine is introduced, then comes the opportunity to make up for losses. God is the God of the second chance....being born again means that all that went before is not held against us." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Peace of Soul)
“In our thoughts and at confession we must not dwell on sins that have been already confessed. Because of our contrition Jesus has forgiven them at the tribunal of penance. There He faced us and our miseries like a creditor in front of a debtor. With a gesture of infinite generosity He tore up and destroyed the bills we could certainly not have paid without the help of his divine clemency. To go back to these sins, to bring them up again just to have them forgiven again, because of doubt that they were really and abundantly remitted, would this not be considered a lack of trust in the goodness which He proved by his tearing up every document of debt contracted through sin?…. Dwell on them, if it is a source of comfort for your soul. By all means think of the offenses against justice, wisdom and the infinite mercy of God, but only for the purpose of weeping redemptive tears of repentance and love.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( G. Festa, Tra i misteri della scienza e le luci della fede, 169)
“The Church and the world have a great need of eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.” (Pope St. John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, 1980)
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
“Let us ask Our Lady to be with us. Let us ask her to give us her heart so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate – her heart so full of love and humility that we may be able to receive Jesus as the bread of life, that we may love Him as she loved Him and serve Him in the distressing disguise of the poor." - St. Teresa of Calcutta
"What then will a Catholic Christian do, if a small portion of the Church have cut itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What, surely, but prefer the soundness of the whole body to the unsoundness of a pestilent and corrupt member? What, if some novel contagion seek to infect not merely an insignificant portion of the Church, but the whole? Then it will be his care to cleave to antiquity (Tradition), which at this day cannot possibly be seduced by any fraud of novelty". ~ St. Vincent of Lerins
“Par. 7 ...However it has never been possible to prove oneself a Catholic by affirming those statements of the faith which one accepts and keeping silence on those doctrines which one decides not to profess. But without exception, all doctrines which the Church proposes must be accepted, as the history of the Church at all times bears witness. 8. ...For any man to be able to prove his Catholic faith and affirm that he is truly a Catholic, he must be able to convince the Apostolic See of this. For this See is predominant and with it the faithful of the whole Church should agree.” Pope Pius IX, Quartus Supra, January 6, 1873
“Clothe yourselves with the dispositions which animated your Master. When he approached a sick person, it was always in the name of the Father, and by the virtue of the Holy Spirit: thus, you should always bring with you the goodness and tenderness, the love and mercy of the Father and in your speech and actions remain dependent on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” – St. Vincent de Paul
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
When I went for adoration, I heard these words: My beloved daughter, write down these words, that today My Heart has rested in this convent [the Cracow house]. Tell the world about My mercy and My love.
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!
My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace.
Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary,1074)
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!
My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace.
Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary,1074)
“Do not abandon your soul to temptation, says the Holy Spirit, because the joy of the heart is the life of the soul, it is an inexhaustible treasure of sanctity; while sadness is the slow death of the soul and it is of no use to anyone.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina( Orologio della Passione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo … edited by Di Francia )
Pope St. Nicholas I (The Great), Letter 9, in the Collection of the Councils, by Labbe, p. 341., on Pope St. Victor I: “Victor was truly, as well as in name, a Victor [or conqueror] because he was martyrized for the traditions of the Church.” (Indirect Quote by William Hayes Neligan in “The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs: From St. Peter to Pius IX.” pub. 1867)
Brother Roger, a Franciscan of singular purity, being once asked why he was so reserved in his intercourse with women, replied, that when men avoid the occasions of sin, God preserves them; but when they expose themselves to danger, they are justly abandoned by the Lord, and easily fall into some grievous transgressions.” - St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Mortification of the Eyes, p. 221
“The Kremlin is so clumsy in its atomic experiments that it may inadvertently set off a fatal explosion that would crack the planet. The Russians are like a precocious child with a giant firecracker. An atom bomb in the hands of St. Francis of Assisi would be no problem, but put an atom bomb in the hands of a Joseph Stalin and a terrible worldwide problem is created. Russia is due for a tremendous religious reawakening, a return to traditional Holy Russia. The ordinary Russian people have qualities of the soul. There is now a psychological possibility for a great political explosion.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Stars and Stripes)
Monday, April 23, 2018
The Feast (April 23) of St. George “The Dragon Slayer”
Pope St. Gelasius I: “[St. George] whose name... [is] justly reverenced among men, ...whose actions are known ... to God.” (Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). “George, Saint”. Encyclopædia Britannica11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 737. In the canon of Pope Gelasius (494) George is mentioned in a list of those ‘whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God’)
Pope St. Gelasius I: “[St. George] whose name... [is] justly reverenced among men, ...whose actions are known ... to God.” (Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). “George, Saint”. Encyclopædia Britannica11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 737. In the canon of Pope Gelasius (494) George is mentioned in a list of those ‘whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God’)
St. Ambrose commenting on The Feast of St. George “The Dragon Slayer”: “George, the most Faithful Soldier of Jesus Christ, when as Religion was elsewhere dissembled, adventur’d boldly to confess the Name of God, to whom it pleased the Lord to give so much of Heavenly Grace, that he not only scorn’d the Tyrants, but contemned their Torments,” (Quoted by Thomas Salmon in his work “A New Historical Account of St. George for England, and the Original of the Most Noble Order of the Garter: Illustrated with Cutts”, who himself cites a work “Liber Præfationum”)
Sunday, April 22, 2018
On one occasion, the Lord said to me, "Why are you fearful and why do you tremble when you are united to Me? I am displeased when a soul yields to vain terrors. Who will dare to touch you when you are with Me? Most dear to Me is the soul that strongly believes in My goodness and has complete trust in Me. I heap My confidence upon it and give it all it asks". WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary 453)
“It makes no difference what you believe; it’s how you act. It makes no difference whether you have any rules in football; it depends upon how you play. It makes no difference whether you believe triangles have three sides; it depends on how you draw: Can we not see if we believe wrongly, we will act wrongly?” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Wartime Prayer Book)
“4. ...After he had made of his heart an altar for the Lord, he offered upon it the incense of devout prayers to be taken up to the Lord at the hands of angels whose company he would soon join. 5. But that he might not be the only one to enjoy the blessings of the mountain, clinging exclusively to the embraces of Rachel, as it were to a life of contemplation lovely but sterile, he descended to the forbidden house of Leah to lead into the desert the flock fertile with twins (Cant 4:2) and seeking pastures of life (Gen 29). There, where the manna of heavenly sweetness restores all who have been separated from the noisy world, he would be seated with the princes of his people and crowned with the crown of justice. Sowing his seed in tears, he would come back rejoicing carrying his sheaves to the storehouse of eternity (Ps 125:5-6).”. Pope Gregory IX, Mira Circa Nos, July 16, 1228
“Attend therefore to what I say. The marriages of Jacob were types of that which Christ was about to accomplish. For it was not lawful for Jacob to marry two sisters at once. And he serves Laban for [one of] the daughters; and being deceived in [the obtaining of] the younger, he again served seven years. NowLeah is your people and synagogue; but Rachel is our Church. And for these, and for the servants in both, Christ even now serves. For while Noah gave to the two sons the seed of the third as servants, now on the other hand Christ has come to restore both the free sons and the servants among them, conferring the same honour on all of them who keep His commandments; even as the children of the free women and the children of the bond women born to Jacob were all sons, and equal in dignity. And it was foretold what each should be according to rank and according to fore-knowledge. Jacob served Laban for speckled and many-spotted sheep; and Christ served, even to the slavery of the cross, for the various and many-formed races of mankind, acquiring them by the blood and mystery of the cross. Leah was weak-eyed; for the eyes of your souls are excessively weak. Rachel stole the gods of Laban, and has hid them to this day; and we have lost our paternal and material gods. Jacob was hated for all time by his brother; and we now, and our Lord Himself, are hated by you and by all men, though we are brothers by nature. Jacob was called Israel; and Israel has been demonstrated to be the Christ, who is, and is called, Jesus.” St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Caput 134
Saturday, April 21, 2018
"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." - St. Louis Marie de Montfort
"Beauty in a woman and strength in a man are two of the most evident spurs to love. Physical beauty and vitality increase vigor in each other, but it is to be noticed that beauty in a woman and strength in a man are given by God to serve the purposes of allurement. They come at that age of life when men and women are urged to marry one another. They are not permanent possessions. They are something like the frosting on a cake, or like the electric starter of an automobile motor. If love were based only on the fact that she is a model and he is a fullback on a football team, marriage would never endure. But just as the frosting on the cake leads to the cake itself, so too do these allurements pass on to greater treasures." Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Pope St. Gelasius (c.494), Tractate in Denunciation of the Lupercalia: “As for your Castors [pagan deities], whose worship you refuse to abandon, why did they not give you tranquil seas so that the ships might reach here with grain in winter and the city suffer less with want?” (Cited in footnote on Gelasius in Liber Pontificalis as translated by Louise Ropes
St Optatus, of Mela in Africa, addressing the Donatists: “To err knowingly is a sin: the ignorant are some times pardoned. You cannot deny that you know the Episcopal chair in the city of Rome was first bestowed on Peter: that Peter, the head of all the Apostles, sat therein; in which one chair unity should be preserved by all—so that now, whoever would place another chair against this one, would be guilty of schism.” (S. Optatus)
Friday, April 20, 2018
I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary, 1059).
"If there were any other exit from an empty tomb than through the door of the Cross, Our Lord would have passed through it; if there were any other way to have all things added to us than seeking first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, Our Lord would never have commanded it. We are merely scratching the surface of the world's ills, covering the world's prejudice with face powder, soothing national concerns with alcohol rubs, changing our title of property without uprooting selfishness. Very simply, unless man is reformed, the world will never be remade for there is no escaping the Easter lesson: Reform man and you re-make the world!" Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“The Lord’s triumph, on the day of the Resurrection, is final. Where are the soldiers the rulers posted there? Where are the seals that were fixed to the stone of the tomb? Where are those who condemned the Master? Where are those who crucified Jesus? He is victorious, and faced with his victory those poor wretches have all taken flight. Be filled with hope: Jesus Christ is always victorious.” (St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, 660)
“‘Oh, my children,’ Mary seems to say to us with these words, ‘when the enemy assails you, lift your eyes to me and behold me and take courage; for in me, who defends you, you will behold, at the same time, your victory.’” St. Albert the Great. (As quoted by St. Alphonsus in “The Glories of Mary” Section II, “How Powerful is Mary in Protecting Those Who Invoke Her in Temptations of the Devil.”)
Thursday, April 19, 2018
"Easter is not automatic. Not in vain is its symbol--the egg. The hard shell of egotism, avarice and immorality has to be broken, before the inner life begins to appear. America on the cross-roads of civilization is having forced on it the burdens of the world. Its day of resurrection will be when it sees that, not like Atlas is it bearing the world, but like the Savior, it is walking on it and carrying His Cross." Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“Be careful never to become discouraged when you see yourself surrounded by spiritual infirmities. If God lets you fall into some weakness, it is not to abandon you, but only to establish in you humility and make you more careful in the future.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina (A. Serritelli, Notizie su P. Pio, 42)
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
"And of what should we be afraid? Our captain on this battlefield is Christ Jesus. We have discovered what we have to do. Christ has bound our enemies for us and weakened them that they cannot overcome us unless we so choose to let them. So we must fight courageously and mark ourselves with the sign of the most Holy Cross." – St. Catherine of Sienna
“God Himself, all the glorious spirits, and the whole family of the eternal King wait for us, and desire that we should be associated to them; and shall not we pant above all things to be admitted into their happy company? He would appear amongst them with great confusion, who had not in this valley of tears continually raised his soul above all things visible to become already, in ardent desire, an inhabitant of those blessed regions.”—St. Bonaventure. Doctor of the Church
(Quoted in Fr. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, on the chapter of the same saint.)
(Quoted in Fr. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, on the chapter of the same saint.)
“The two most evident symptoms of the breakdown of the family are: divorce and voluntary or deliberate sterility, i.e. broken contracts and frustrated loves. Divorce destroys the stability of the family; voluntary sterility destroys its continuity, Divorce makes the right of living souls hang up the caprice of the senses and the terminable pact of selfish fancy; while voluntary sterility makes a covenant with death, extracting from love its most ephemeral gift while disclaiming all its responsibilities.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Philosophies at War)
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.” —St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, The Paschal Sermon
“For her part, Mary did not fail to live up to her station as the Mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, she stood before the Cross and gazed tenderly on the wounds of her Son, because she was waiting, not for her Son’s death, but for the salvation of the world.” -St. Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Believe the incredible and you can do the impossible. It is our want of faith that holds us back, even as Peter. When did he begin to sink? The Gospel gives us the reason. He took account of the winds, he began reading some surveys; it was established statistically that 99.44 percent of mankind cannot walk on water. All of the incredulities were in the winds. When he took his eyes off Christ, Peter began to sink.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“Our faith tells us that all who believe in Christ will never die; indeed faith assures us that Christ is not dead, nor shall we die. The Lord himself will come down from heaven and there will be the command of the archangel’s voice and the sound of the trumpet; then those who were united with Christ in death will rise. Let the hope of resurrection encourage us, then, because we shall see again those whom we lose here below.” — St. Braulio
Monday, April 16, 2018
“It is one thing to observe facts, another thing to interpret them. Facts as facts mean nothing experience as experience means nothing. A cat walking through a laboratory sees the test tubes and retorts just as well as the scientist – in fact sees them better in the dark. But the cat can make no conclusions concerning the facts, simply because it lacks the power of reason. It is reasoning on experience, then, that makes interpretation, and therefore I say that we are no better equipped today to interpret facts than the ancients were; we have only better facts to interpret.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Old Errors and New Labels)
“I recommend to thee, my Brother, patience in all thy works, so that no matter what impediments thou meetest with either from the brethren or from others, even if they were to strike thee, thou shouldst receive it as a favour, and desire that and nothing else. And thou shouldst love those who act thus towards thee, and not wish them to be different until the Lord grants it for thy consolation—But thou must love them by desiring that they become better Christians.”—St. Francis of Assisi
Sunday, April 15, 2018
“A reason is something we give before a conclusion is reached; an excuse is something we give for not following out the conclusion. Reasons generally are sincere; excuses generally are a rationalization of conduct. A reason is a reality; an excuse is an invention, or at least a weak reason.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Guide to Contentment)
"As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world — mercy triumphed over justice." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. ( Diary 1572)
“Whoever you are that perceive yourself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away your eyes from the splendor of this guiding star, unless thou wish to be submerged by the storm. ... Look at the star, call upon Mary. ... With her for guide, you shall not go astray, while invoking her, you shall never lose heart ... if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.” - St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“It is, in fine, to this Sacred Heart we should continually strive to unite ours—no longer wishing to have other desires or sentiments than those of Jesus—and then we may be sure that His will and His Sacred Heart may, so to speak, merge into our heart, and that the two will be as one. Draw waters at leisure out of the Savior’s fountains: you will never exhaust them.” St. Peter Damian (Quoted by Charles Kenny in Half-Hours with the Saints and Servants of God: Including Biographical Notes)
Saturday, April 14, 2018
"Jesus Christ, after having given us all He could give, that is to say, the merit of His toils, His sufferings, and bitter death; after having given us His adorable body and blood to be the food of our souls, willed also to give us the most precious thing He had left, which was His holy Mother." - St. John Vianney
THE POWER OF CHRIST'S BLOOD
If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.
If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.
There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim:
"Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! "
As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.
Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.
From the Catecheses
by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle its blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.
If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.
There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim:
"Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! "
As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.
Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.
From the Catecheses
by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
“There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us, and does not now bear with us. And on the far side of every cross we find the newness of life in the Holy Spirit, that new life which will reach its fulfillment in the resurrection. This is our faith. This is our witness before the world.” — Pope St. John Paul II
Friday, April 13, 2018
"It is fitting that the Son of God should preserve Mary from sin since she was to be his mother. No other man could choose his mother. But if such a thing could be granted to anyone, who would wish for a slave if he could choose a queen? Who would wish for a servant if he could choose a noble lady? And if he could choose a friend of God, would he not wish for the Devil's greatest enemy?"
- St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri
- St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri
“Since our Divine Lord came to die, it was fitting that there be a Memorial of his death. Since he was God, as well as man, and since he never spoke of his death without speaking of his Resurrection, should he not himself institute the precise memorial of his own death? And that is exactly what he did the night of the Last Supper. His Memorial was instituted, not because he would die and be buried, but because he would live again after the Resurrection. His Memorial would be the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets; it would be one in which there would be a Lamb sacrificed to commemorate spiritual freedom; above all, it would be a Memorial of a New Covenant, a Testament between God and man.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Life of Christ)
St. Catherine Labouré recounting Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal’s message: “While occupied in contemplating this vision, the Blessed Virgin cast her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ‘The globe that you see represents the entire world, and particularly France, and each person in particular.’ . . . And the Blessed Virgin added: ‘Behold the symbol of the graces I shed upon those who ask me for them,’ thus making me understand how generous she is to all who implore her intercession. . . . There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame slightly oval, upon which appeared, in golden letteers, these words: ‘O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!’ Then I heard a voice which said: ‘Have a medal struck upon this model; persons who wear it indulgenced will receive many graces, especially if they wear it around the neck; graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.’” (Quoted in “The Sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church” by Rev. A. A. Lambing, LL.D., Nihil Obstat: D. J. McMAHON, D.D., Censor Librorum., Imprimatur: +Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York; New York, September 1, 1892., CH. XIV.— THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL., pg. 181)
“The physicist proves the earth to be round by one means, the astronomer by another: for the latter proves this by means of mathematics, e.g. by the shapes of eclipses, or something of the sort; while the former proves it by means of physics, e.g. by the movement of heavy bodies towards the centre, and so forth.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
"Flee turmoil and anxiety with all your strength. Otherwise all your spiritual efforts will have little success or bear no fruit. We know for certain that when our spirit is in distress, the attacks of the enemy are more frequent and more direct. He profits from our natural weakness to succeed in his purposes. Let us be on the alert about this very important point. Whenever we fall into discouragement, let us stir up our faith and entrust ourselves to the arms of the heavenly Father, who is always ready to receive whoever sincerely comes to him." -St. Pio of Pietrlcina
“We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through his own pain to the glory of the Resurrection. And we live in the light of his Paschal Mystery – the mystery of his Death and Resurrection. We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!” Pope Saint John Paul II
Thursday, April 12, 2018
“Take heart and don’t fear the gloomy wrath of Lucifer. Always remember this, that it is a good sign when the enemy makes an uproar and roars around your will, as this shows he is not within you. Courage, my most beloved daughter, I offer you these words with great feeling and in Jesus; courage I say! There is no need to fear when we can say with determination, even if without feeling: “Long live Jesus!” St. Pio of Pietrelcina. (Letters III, p. 414).
“Patience is not a spineless submission to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; it is not a mere gritting of teeth or hanging on; it is rather the acceptance of what we would reject, the bearing of what we hate, a renewed decision, day after day to accept what we do not want, and to suffer without complaint what we cannot change.” Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
“When our Lord surrendered His Spirit to the Heavenly Father on Good Friday, and was cold like all dead men, friends who had shut themselves up in their houses, and anonymous admirers who hid their light under a bushel, now began to appear. They were not with Him in His agony, when He needed them, but they were with Him in His death, as weavers of wreaths, as weepers of glittering tears, and as eulogists of the dead. One of these friends was Joseph of Arimathea, who secretly loving the Saviour, was yet not bold enough to declare it while he was alive. He would now diminish his remorse by providing a tomb for the executed friend.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Lenten & Easter Inspirations)
“They not only fail from resisting this frailty [of fallen human nature] … but do even worse as they commit the cursed sin against nature. Like the blind and stupid, having dimmed the light of their understanding, they do not recognize the disease and misery in which they find themselves. For this not only causes Me nausea, but displeases even the demons themselves, whom these miserable creatures have chosen as their lords. For Me, this sin against nature is so abominable that, for it alone, five cities were submersed, by virtue of the judgment of My Divine Justice, which could no longer bear them…. It is disagreeable to the demons, not because evil displeases them and they find pleasure in good, but because their nature is angelic and thus is repulsed upon seeing such an enormous sin being committed. It is true that it is the demon who hits the sinner with the poisoned arrow of lust, but when a man carries out such a sinful act, the demon leaves.” (St. Catherine of Siena)
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
"My dear Father, what is God’s purpose in allowing the devil so much freedom? Despair is trying to take hold of me, yet, believe me, Father, I have no intention of displeasing God. I cannot account for and much less understand how it can ever be possible that such a resolute will prepared to do good can be combined with all these human miseries. If you perceive, then, that my soul is in danger, help me, for I want at all costs to save my soul and to offend God no more.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"Let us hasten with confidence to Christ’s throne of grace, and with prayers and profound contrition, let us beg Him to repeat for every one of us the words He said to His mother, ‘Behold your Son.’ In the same way, as He looks at Mary, may He repeat to every one of us the wonderful invitation: 'Behold your mother.’” - St. Robert Bellarmine
"Think what must have been in the soul of the Virgin when, after the Incarnation, she possessed within her the Incarnate Word, the gift of God... In what silence, what recollection, what adoration she must have been wrapped in the depths of her soul in order to embrace this God whose Mother she was." -- St Elizabeth of the Trinity, L183, to her sister
Monday, April 9, 2018
“In the Annunciation, the birth of the Son of God in the flesh is made to hinge on the consent of a woman, as the fall of man in the garden of paradise hinged on the consent of a man. God in His power might have assumed a human nature by force, as the hand of a man lays hold of a rose. But He willed not to invade His great gift of freedom without a creature’s free response. Through the angel who salutes Mary in words that have become the first part of the Hail Mary, ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” Mary is asked if she will give God a man! Mary learning that she will conceive without human love, but with the overshadowing of divine Love, consents, and a new humanity begins, with Mary as the new Eve, and Christ the new Adam. The Annunciation is the Mystery of the joy of freedom. Our free will is the only thing in the world that is our own. God can take away anything else, our health, wealth, power, but God will never force us to love Him or to obey Him. The charm of Yes is in the possibility that one might have said No. Mary has taught us to say Fiat to God. ‘Be it done to me according to Thy word.’ But God Himself has taught us that if He would not invade the freedom of a woman, then a man should never do it.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fifteen Mysteries)
"I am in the hands of the devil who is trying to snatch me from the arms of Jesus. Dear God! What a war he is waging against me! There are moments in which I am on the point of losing my reason through the continual violence I must do myself. How many tears and groans, dear Father, I send up to heaven in order to be set free. But no matter, I will never tire of praying to Jesus.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina
The next day, after Communion, I heard the voice saying, My daughter, look into the abyss of My mercy and give praise and glory to this mercy of Mine. Do it in this way: Gather all sinners from the entire world and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. I want to give Myself to souls; I yearn for souls, My daughter. On the day of My feast, the Feast of Mercy, you will go through the whole world and bring fainting souls to the spring of My mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary 206 )
Sunday, April 8, 2018
“Mary was chosen by God to be His Mother and was even prepared for that honor by being preserved free from the primal sin that had infected all humanity. If she were so prepared, would she be free to accept or to reject, and would her answer be the full fruit of her free will? The answer is that her redemption was already completed but that she had not yet accepted or ratified it. It was, in a way, something like our dilemma. We are baptized as infants, and our bodies become temples of God, as our souls have been filled with infused virtues. We become not just creatures made by God but partakers in Divine nature. All this is done in Baptism before our freedom blossoms, the Church standing responsible for our spiritual birth as our parents did for our physical birth. Later on, however, we ratify that original endowment by the free acts of our moral lives — by receiving the Sacraments, by prayers, and by sacrifices. So, too, Mary's redemption was completed — as our Baptism was completed — but she had not yet accepted, ratified, or confirmed it before she gave her consent to the Angel. She was planned for a role in the drama of redemption by God, as a child is planned for a musical career by his physical parents, but it was not fulfilled until this moment. The Holy Trinity never possesses a creature without the consent of his will. When, therefore, Mary had heard how this was to take place, she uttered words that are the greatest pledge of liberty and the greatest charter of freedom the world has ever heard: "Be it done unto me according to thy word." As in Eden there took place the first espousals of man and woman, so, in her, there took place the first espousals of God and man, eternity and time, omnipotence and bonds. In answer to the question "Will you give me a man?" the marriage ceremony of love becomes bathed with new depths of freedom: "I will." And the Word was conceived in her.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World’s First Love)
“Don't let temptations frighten you. They are the trials of the souls that God wants to put to the test when He sees them strong enough to sustain the battle, weaving with their own hands, the crown of glory. Up to now your life has been that of an infant; now the Lord wants to treat you as an adult. And as the trials of adult life are much greater than those of an infant, this is why you find yourself rather disorganized in the beginning. But the soul will acquire its calm, and the calm will not delay in coming. Be patient a while longer and everything will work out well.” St. Pio of Pietrelcinar
“But how we know and speak regarding the Virgin Mother of God, and The Formula of Union, approved by Pope St. Sixtus III: “But how we know and speak regarding the Virgin Mother of God, and about the manner of the incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God, necessary not because of increase but for satisfaction, we have taken and possess from above, from the divine Scriptures as well as from the tradition of the holy fathers, and we speak briefly, adding nothing at all to the faith of the holy Fathers, which was set forth at Nicea. For, as we have already said, this suffices for all understanding of piety and for all renunciation of heretical perfidy. But we speak not presuming the unlawful, but by confession of special weakness excluding those who wish to rise up against what we regard as beyond man.” the manner of the incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God, necessary not because of increase but for satisfaction, we have taken and possess from above, from the divine Scriptures as well as from the tradition of the holy fathers, and we speak briefly, adding nothing at all to the faith of the holy Fathers, which was set forth at Nicea. For, as we have already said, this suffices for all understanding of piety and for all renunciation of heretical perfidy. But we speak not presuming the unlawful, but by confession of special weakness excluding those who wish to rise up against what we regard as beyond man.” The Formula of Union, approved by Pope St. Sixtus III
“When for an immense period of time, more than four thousand years, the human race lay in misery, on account of the sin of the first man, not one soul being able to soar to his native Country; the blessed angelical spirits, we can imagine, compassionated so great a fall, and anxious for the restoration of their own ranks, when ‘the fulness of time had now come,’ assembling themselves together, presented themselves before God, and falling down on their faces before Him, devoutly and earnestly pressed upon Him their supplications and said, ‘O Lord, it pleased Thy Majesty to make the rational creature, namely man, because of Thy goodness, that he might be here with us, and that the restoration of our numbers might be brought about by his presence. But behold! the whole race is perishing, and not one is saved; and throughout the ages which are past we see our enemies triumphing over all, when instead of our ranks being filled up, the caverns of hell are crowded. Wherefore then, O Lord, didst Thou make man? “Why are the souls which confess to Thee, delivered to beasts?” (Ps. lxxiv. 20. V.) l And if this be in accord with Thy justice, yet now is the time of mercy. And if their first parents unwarily transgressed Thy commandment, let Thy mercy come to their help. Remember that Thou didst create them in Thy own likeness. Extend, O Lord, mercifully Thy hand to them, and replenish them mercifully. The eyes of all look to Thee, “as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,” (Ps. cxxiii. 2.) until Thou wilt have mercy, and deliver the human race by a saving remedy.’” St. Bonaventure, The Life of Christ, Ch. 1
Saturday, April 7, 2018
“I keep up the Holy Hour to grow more and more into his likeness. As Paul puts it: "We are transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to splendor." We become like that which we gaze upon. Looking into a sunset, the face takes on a golden glow. Looking at the Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way as the face of Moses was transformed after his companionship with God on the mountain. Something happens to us similar to that which happened to the disciples at Emmaus. On Easter Sunday afternoon when the Lord met them, he asked why they were so gloomy. After spending some time in his presence, and hearing again the secret of spirituality - "The Son of Man must suffer to enter into his Glory" - their time with him ended and their "hearts were on fire." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Treasure in Clay)
May the joy of the risen Jesus Christ be with you. To bring joy into our very soul the good God has given Himself to us. In Bethlehem, “joy” said the angel. In His life, He wanted to share His joy with His apostles “that My joy may be in you”. Joy was the password of the first Christians. Saint Paul—how often he repeated himself: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice” (Phil 4:4). In return for the great grace of baptism the priest tells the newly baptized: “May you serve the Church joyfully.” Joy is not simply a matter of temperament in the service of God and souls. It is always hard—all the more reason why we should try to acquire it and make it grow in our hearts. —St. Teresa of Calcutta
"My Heart is sorrowful, Jesus said, because even chosen souls do not understand the greatness of My mercy. Their relationship [with Me] is, in certain ways, imbued with mistrust. Oh, how much that wounds My Heart . Remember My Passion, and if you do not believe My words, at least believe My wounds." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. ( Diary 379)
Friday, April 6, 2018
"Immaculate Virgin! Your spotless spiritual beauty is for us a living source of confidence and hope. To have you as Mother, Holy Virgin, reassures us on the path of life as a pledge of eternal salvation. Because of this, O Mary, we have recourse to you with confidence. Help us to build a world where human life is always cherished and defended, every form of violence banished, the peace of all tenaciously sought." - St. John Paul II
“Don’t make an effort to overcome your temptations, because these efforts would strengthen them. Despise them and do not dwell on them. Call to your imagination, Jesus Christ Crucified in your arms and on your breast. And say, kissing his side a number of times: “this is my hope; the living source of my happiness. I will hold You tightly, Jesus, and will not let You go until You have placed me in a safe place” St. Pio of Pietrelcina. (Letters III, pp. 573-574).
“What is most peculiar about Easter is that although the followers of Jesus had heard Him say He would break the bonds of death, when He actually did, no one believed it…The followers were not expecting a Resurrection and, therefore, did not imagine they saw something of which they were ardently hoping. Even Mary Magdalene, who within that very week had been told about the Resurrection when she saw her own brother raised to life from a grave, did not believe it. She came on Sunday morning to the tomb with spices to anoint a body – not to greet a Risen Savior. On the way, the question of the women was who will roll back the stone? Their problem was how they could get in; not whether the Savior would get out.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Way to Inner Peace)
Thursday, April 5, 2018
“Observe well that as long as you are displeased by the temptations you have nothing to fear. But why are you sorry about this, if not because you don’t want to experience it? These troublesome temptations come from the evil of the devil. But the displeasure and suffering we experience come from the mercy of God, who, contrary to our enemy’s will, draws holy tribulations from his malice, through which He purifies the gold that wants to be a part of his treasure. Furthermore, your temptations come from the devil but your suffering and afflictions come from God and Paradise. The mother is from Babylon, but the children are from Jerusalem. Despise the temptations and embrace the tribulation. No, no, my daughter, let the wind blow, and do not believe the noise of leaves is the blast of arms.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina. (Letters III, pp. 636-637).
“The very wisdom of God seemed to speak through the Dominicans when there rose up among them such heralds and defenders of Christian wisdom as Hyacinth Polonus, Peter the Martyr, Vincent Ferrer, and such miracles of genius and erudition as Albert the Great, Raymond de Penafort, Thomas Aquinas, in whom especially, a follower of Dominic, God ‘deigned to enlighten his Church.’ This Order, therefore, always in honor as the teacher of truth, acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.” Pope Benedict XV, Fausto Appetente Die, June 29, 1921
“Thus the theme is clear. And I am in the moral material, therefore on that day only the sheep shall be on his right hand, when he says, ‘And he shall set,’ etc. Therefore, on that day it will be better to be a sheep of Jesus Christ than to have been a pope, or king, or emperor. Now, I see in sacred scripture that a man becomes and is revealed to be a sheep of Jesus Christ from five virtues, even if he had been the devil’s goat before, namely by:
Simple innocence,
Ample mercy,
Steadfast patience,
True obedience,
Worthy penance.”
St. Vincent Ferrer, Sermon on the Last Judgment, (Mt 25:33 Sheep and goats)
Simple innocence,
Ample mercy,
Steadfast patience,
True obedience,
Worthy penance.”
St. Vincent Ferrer, Sermon on the Last Judgment, (Mt 25:33 Sheep and goats)
"If there were any other exit from an empty tomb than through the door of the Cross, Our Lord would have passed through it; if there were any other way to have all things added to us than seeking first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, Our Lord would never have commanded it. We are merely scratching the surface of the world's ills, covering the world's prejudice with face powder, soothing national concerns with alcohol rubs, changing our title of property without uprooting selfishness. Very simply, unless man is reformed, the world will never be remade for there is no escaping the Easter lesson: Reform man and you re-make the world!" Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Two Revolutions)
"What does it mean to take up your cross? It means the willing acceptance, at the hand of Providence, of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophies fall on you? Be obedient to God’s will, as Noah was. Is sacrifice demanded of you? Give yourself into God’s hands with the same faith as Abram had when he went to sacrifice his son. Is your property ruined? Do your children die suddenly? Suffer it all with patience, cleaving to God in your heart, as Job did. Do your friends forsake you, and you find yourself surrounded by enemies? Bear it all without grumbling, and with faith that God’s help is at hand, as the apostles did." St. Nikolai Velimirovic
"Homilies"
"Homilies"
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
"Lord Jesus “conform my spirit to your blessed humanity, filling my mind with knowledge and my memory with a continual recollection of You, my will with an ardent affection for your Majesty, [conform] my soul to your very holy soul... Enlighten me inwardly with the light of your Divinity, all the more so as I believe, by it, that you are totally within me. By this means, I very humbly beg you to look from now on through my eyes, speak by my tongue, and accomplish by all my members and senses the things which are agreeable to you.: V.E. f°19." Bl. Marie of the Incarnation
"It is temptation which harasses you and nothing but empty fears which terrify. What does anxiety about the future bring you, except sadness upon sadness. Sufficient to the day is its own evil (Mt. 6:34). It is a vain and useless thing to be disturbed or pleased about future things, which may never come to pass.
But it is typical of a man to be deceived by such imaginations, and it is the mark of a mind that is still weak, when it allows itself to be so easily drawn to the suggestions of the enemy. For he does not care whether it be by things true or false that he deceives and abuses you, or whether he overthrows you with a love for earthly things or by a fear of things to come. 'Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid' (Jn. 14:27)." - True Devotion: Consecration to Mary - St. Louis de Montfort
“By many of those who came before us it was declared and ratified in Synod, that the sheep should not reprehend their Pastor, unless they presume that he has departed from the Faith” Pope St. Symmachus, († 514), Fifth Roman Council (Quoted by Paul Laymann: Theol. Mor., bk. 2, tract I, ch. 7, p. 153)
“Observe further that the word judgment (γνώμη) is used in many ways and in many senses. Sometimes it signifies exhortation: as when the divine apostle says, Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord; yet I give my judgment 1 Corinthians 7:25: sometimes it means counsel, as when the prophet David says, They have taken crafty counsel against Your people: sometimes it means a decree, as when we read in Daniel, Concerning whom (or, what) went this shameless decree forth? At other times it is used in the sense of belief, or opinion, or purpose, and, to put it shortly, the word judgment has twenty-eight different meanings.”. St. John Damascene, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Bk. III, Ch. 14
"Easter is not automatic. Not in vain is its symbol--the egg. The hard shell of egotism, avarice and immorality has to be broken, before the inner life begins to appear. America on the cross-roads of civilization is having forced on it the burdens of the world. Its day of resurrection will be when it sees that, not like Atlas is it bearing the world, but like the Savior, it is walking on it and carrying His Cross." Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
"My soul is always in my hands.’ My Master sang this in His soul, and that is why in the midst of all His anguish, He always remained the calm and strong One. My soul is always in my hands! What does that mean but this complete self-possession in the presence of the peaceful One?” St Elizabeth of the Trinity
“The Cross had asked the questions; the Resurrection had answered them….The Cross had asked: why does God permit evil and sin to nail Justice to a tree? The Resurrection answered: That sin having done its worst might exhaust itself and thus be overcome by Love that is stronger than either sin or death. Thus there emerges the Easter lesson that the power of evil and the chaos of any one moment can be defied and conquered for the basis of our hope is not in any construct of human power but in the power of God who has given to the evil of this earth its one mortal wound – an open tomb, a gaping sepulcher, and empty grave.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Cross-Ways)
“I am very surprised that You bid me to talk about this Feast of Mercy, for they tell me that there is already such a feast and so why should I talk about it? And Jesus said to me, ‘And who knows anything about this feast? No one! Even those who should be proclaiming My mercy and teaching people about it often do not know about it themselves. That is why I want the image to be solemnly blessed on the First Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it.’” WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA. (Diary, 341)
“O Lord, accept me in penitence. O Lord, leave me not. O Lord, lead me not into temptation. O Lord, grant me good thoughts. O Lord, grant me tears and remembrance of death and compunction. O Lord, grant me the thought of confessing my sins. O Lord, grant me humility, chastity and obedience. O Lord, grant me patience, courage and meekness. O Lord, plant in me the root of all blessings, the fear of Thee in my heart. O Lord, grant me to love Thee with all my mind and soul, and always to do Thy will. O Lord, protect me from certain people, and demons, and passions, and from every other harmful thing. O Lord, Thou knowest that Thou actest as Thou wilt; may Thy will be also in me, a sinner, for blessed art Thou for ever. Amen.” — St. John Chrysostom
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