“Even though a man may be unable to attain such a height of sanctity, he ought to desire it, so as to do at least in desire what he cannot carry out in effect.”   St. Philip Neri (1515-1595)

“In the name of God, let us have ever more and more confidence in Him; let Him guide our little bark; if it is useful and pleasing to Him, He will save it from shipwreck and no matter how the importance and variety of the works of others threatens to swamp it, it will sail with all the greater security, amidst so many good ships, so long as it keeps straight on its own course, and does not cross their track by deviating from its own path.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"The world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair."  Pope St. Paul VI

“If poor judgment is harmful to everyone, it is particularly so to those who live with great strictness.”    St. Mark the Ascetic (5th c.)

All of us who wear this holy habit of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 5 : 1 : 2

“ It is difficult to become saints. Difficult but not impossible. The road to perfection is long, just as long as a lifetime. Consolation is rest along the way, but as soon as your strength is restored, you must get up diligently and continue the race.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina    (Padre Pio Archives)

"Holy Hour. During this hour, I tried to meditate on the Lord‟s Passion. But my soul was filled with joy, and suddenly I saw the Child Jesus. But His majesty penetrated me to such an extent that I said, “Jesus, You are so little, and yet I know that You are my Creator and Lord.” And Jesus answered me, I am, and I keep company with you as a child to teach you humility and simplicity."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 184)

“Even while living in the world, the heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children.”  St. Jerome

This act of disobedience, which is called his original sin, man lost nothing which was due to him or to his nature.  He lost only gifts, and became as St. Augustine has said, ‘Just mere man.’  On Christmas day when you distribute gifts to your friends, a person with whom you are unacquainted would not dare come to you and argue because you had failed to give him gifts such as you had given your friends.  Your answer would be: sir, I have done you no injustice.  I have deprived you of nothing which is your due.  I have even given to my friends that which was not theirs.  And so it is with Original Sin.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“Hereafter, I want you to tell me, candidly and in secret, what people are saying about me. And if you see anything in me that you regard as a fault, feel free to tell me in private. For from now on, people will talk about me, but not to me. It is dangerous for men in power if no one dares to tell them when they go wrong.”    - St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

"Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.”   – Our Lady of Fatima

"Hope in God. If you have good hope and faith in Him, you shall be delivered from your enemies"    - St. Joan of Arc

“Foresight is a good thing as long as it is subjected to God and His plans– but it becomes excessive when we put ourselves out to avoid something we apprehend. We expect more from our own endeavors than from God’s Providence, and we imagine we are doing much when we anticipate His orders by our disorders, showing that we rely more upon human prudence than upon His word.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

God gives each one of us sufficient grace ever to know His holy will, and to do it fully.    -St. Ignatius of Loyola

"There are many Christians who do not even know why they are in the world. "Oh my God, why hast Thou sent me into the world?" "To save your soul. " "And why dost Thou wish me to be saved?" "Because I love you. " The good God has created us and sent us into the world because He loves us; He wishes to save us because He loves us. . . . To be saved, we must know, love and serve God. Oh, what a beautiful life! How good, how great a thing it is to know, to love and serve God! We have nothing else to do in this world. All that we do besides is lost time. We must act only for God, and put our works into His hands. . . . We should say, on awaking, "I desire to do everything today for Thee, O my God! I will submit to all that Thou shalt send me, as coming from Thee. I offer myself as a sacrifice to Thee But, O God, I can do nothing without Thee. Do Thou help me!"    - St John Vianney.

Fix your eyes on the Crucified Christ and everything will become small for you.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 8

“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).

“ Walk cheerfully and with a sincere and open heart as much as you can, and when you cannot always maintain this holy joy, at least do not lose heart or your trust in God.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina   ( Letters IV, p. 490)

A little boy who had been to Sunday School told his father that he learned that God the Father and Son were equal. The father said: “That is ridiculous. I am your father; you are my son. I existed a long time before you.” “No,” said the boy, “you did not begin to be a father until I began to be a son.”
At Christmas, He Who was eternally generated by the Father is generated in time, in the womb of a virgin Mary. The Son of God then becomes the Son of Man. As the word which I speak to you is not different because I give it breath and sound, so neither is the Word of the Son of God changed because He takes on a human nature like ours in all things except sin, “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.”   - Archbishop Fulton Sheen – (Bishop Sheen Writes)

““Bitter thoughts come from the evil spirit; those from Our Lord are gentle and mild.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“Those who love the Holy Spirit experience every kind of happiness within themselves.  The Holy Spirit leads us like a mother leads her little child, or like a person with sight leads a blind man."   - St. John Vianney

There is no sin, however great and grievous it may be, which cannot be pardoned in this life, if one confesses it. This is an article of faith.    - St. Francis de Sales

“Oh! happy is he who can say, "I have despised the kingdom of the world, and all the glory of the time, for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ."“.   St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

Understanding is the sure and clear knowledge of some invisible thing. –St. Bernard

It is necessary that your foundation consist of more than prayer and contemplation. If you do not strive for the virtues and practice them, you will always be dwarfs.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 9

"Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1578)

“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 centre 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)

"The Child, laid by Mary in the crib, is the man-God we shall see nailed to the Cross. In the stable at Bethlehem He allowed Himself to be worshiped under the humble outward appearance of a newborn baby by Mary and Joseph and by the Shepherds. This same Redeemer is present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. In the consecrated Host we adore Him sacramentally under the humble appearance of bread and wine which becomes His Body and Blood ... and for us the food of eternal life."   - St. John Paul II

“If Christmas were just the birthday of a great teacher, like Socrates or Buddha, it would never have split time into two, so that all history before the advent of Christ is called B.C. and all history after, A.D.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

"She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley.”    - St Augustine

“The King of Heaven deigned to be born in a stable, because He came to destroy pride, the cause of man’s ruin.”   -  St. Alphonsus Liguori

"When the Spirit dwells in a person, from the moment in which that person has become prayer, he never leaves him. For the Spirit himself never ceases to pray in him. Whether the person is asleep or awake, prayer never from then on departs from his soul. Whether he is eating or drinking or sleeping or whatever else he is doing, even in deepest sleep, the fragrance of prayer rises without effort in hid heart. Prayer never again deserts him ."   - St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (in one of his many treatises on Prayer)

"Thus we find in our days a great part of mankind filled with hatred towards God, Christ and the Church; and the consequences of this hatred are rebellion against lawful authority; they are lawlessness and disorder.  All that is right is despised and stamped under foot, while might gains the upper hand over right.  And not satisfied with their own estrangement from God, they in their devilish wickedness try to ruin many others and destroy their happiness for time and eternity."   - St. John Vianney

You need not be desiring to benefit the whole world, but must concentrate on those  who are in your company, and thus your deed will be greater since you are more obliged toward them.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 14

“Lord, to glorify you, I want to hear and to do whatever is indicated to me on Your behalf.”    - St. Vincent de Paul

“Take care that your prayer becomes more and more interior, in pure faith; humble yourself, and seek no consolations but the great God Who gives them.”   St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)

"I am Love and Mercy Itself. There is no misery that could be a match for My Mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted – it increases. The soul that trusts in My Mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1273)

“Jesus calls the poor and simple shepherds by means of angels to manifest Himself to them. he calls the learned men by means of their science. And all of them moved interiorly by grace hasten to adore Him. He calls all of us with divine inspirations and He communicates Himself to us with his grace. How many times has He not lovingly invited us also ? And with what promptitude have we replied ? My God I blush and am filled with confusion at having to reply to such a question.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina  (Letters IV, pp. 977 – 978 )

"It is sweet music to the ear to say, 'I honor you, O Mother!' It is a sweet song to repeat, 'I honor you, O Holy Mother!'You are my delight, dear hope, and chaste love, my strength in all adversities. If you see your child overwhelmed by misfortune, O gracious Virgin Mary, let me find rest in your motherly embrace.'"     - Pope Leo XIII

“Christmas is not for sophomores who live under the illusion that they read all of Darwin or for the self-wise who think Marx is wiser than Mark.  It is only for the very learned, the great scientists, the profound theologians who are heirs of the wise men who discovered Wisdom.  At the other end of the spectrum are the simple people who know nature better than books, who have insights deeper than the impure and a vision which sees in the night.  These are the heirs of the shepherds who find their way to the Shepherd of their souls.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Rejoice)

“Let every one stay at home, that is, within himself, and sit in judgment on his own actions, without going abroad to investigate and criticise those of others.”   -  St. Philip Neri (1515-1595)

“Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only goal of our labors.” -St. Therese of Lisieux

". . . In His childhood . . . the Son of God took another merciful step when He appeared upon earth as a child . . . the Son of God might have appeared upon earth as a grown man.  But He did not do this.  He abased Himself, and lay in the crib as a helpless infant.  The heathens have represented Jupiter with lightning in his eyes, falcons at his feet, flaming swords in his hands; no hand free to bless.  Our divine Saviour wished to appear very differently.  Not a threatening, mighty figure; not armed with lightning.  No, He appeared as a child full of love, full of tenderness, full of joy.  The child looks at every one; at the sight of the child, all fear vanishes.  All may approach a child without fear, the high and the low, the learned and the unlearned, rich and poor.  How near has God come unto us!"    - St John Vianney.

“For it concerns all men’s salvation, that the infancy of the Mediator between God and men was already manifested to the whole world, while He was still detained in the tiny town. For although He had chosen the Israelitish nation, and one family out of that nation, from whom to assume the nature of all mankind, yet He was unwilling that the early days of His birth should be concealed within the narrow limits of His mother’s home: but desired to be soon recognized by all, seeing that He deigned to be born for all. To three wise men, therefore, appeared a star of new splendour in the region of the East, which, being brighter and fairer than the other stars, might easily attract the eyes and minds of those that looked on it, so that at once that might be observed not to be meaningless, which had so unusual an appearance. He therefore who gave the sign, gave to the beholders understanding of it, and caused inquiry to be made about that, of which He had thus caused understanding, and after inquiry made, offered Himself to be found.”    - Pope St. Leo the Great

"I do not tremble when I see my weakness, for the treasures of a mother belong also to her child, and I am thy child, O dear Mother Mary."   -St Terese de Lisieux

Let us desire and be occupied in prayer not for the sake of our enjoyment but so as to have this strength to serve.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 12

Write, My daughter, that I am mercy itself for the contrite soul. A soul’s greatest wretchedness does not enkindle Me with wrath; but rather, My Heart is moved towards it with great mercy.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1739)

“Don't let your zeal be bitter, fussy, aggravating or a cause of uneasiness, but let it be free from all defects: Let it be sweet, benevolent, gracious, peaceful and uplifting. Ah, who cannot see the dear little Infant of Bethlehem in the event for which we are preparing? Who does not see his incomparable love for souls? He comes to die in order to save, and He is so humble, sweet and lovable.”   St. Pio of Pierelcina

“When you got what you wanted, were you happy?  Do you remember when you were a child, how ardently you looked forward to Christmas?  How happy you thought you would be, with your fill of cakes, your hands glutted with toys, and your eyes dancing with the lights on the tree!  Christmas came, and after you had eaten your fill, blown out the last Christmas candle, and played till your toys no longer amused, you climbed into your bed and said, in your own little heart of hearts, that somehow or other it did not quite come up to your expectations.  And have you not lived that experience over a thousand times since?  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (You)

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

"How beautiful our vocation is! We are together with our Savior, redeemers of souls. We are hosts in which Jesus dwells, living, praying, and suffering for a sinful world. Was not this the life of the Most Holy Virgin, the most perfect of all created beings? She carried the Word in silence."   - St. Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

“We ought to direct all our efforts to reach the end which we pursue, and once having entered on the way of perfection, strive to gain its highest point.”    St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491.-1556.)

Mankind is a great, an immense family... This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas.    -Pope St. John XXIII

"He comes as an infant, without the pomp of this world, to vanquish the world."   -  St. John Vianney 

“Go and do what you can for your part, and God will do the rest.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“The coming of Jesus at Bethlehem brought joy to the world and to every human heart. May His coming this Christmas bring to each one of us that peace and joy that He desires to give.”    -  St. Teresa of Calcutta

"Wake up, O human being! For it was for you that God was made man. Rise up and realize it was all for you. Eternal death would have awaited you had He not been born in time. Never would you be freed from your sinful flesh had He not taken to Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. "   - St Augustine

Love doesn't consist in great delightbbut in desiring with strong determination, to please God in everything.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 4 : 1 : 7

During Mass, God's presence pierced me through and through. A moment before the Elevation I saw the Mother of God and the Infant Jesus and the good Old Man [St. Joseph]. The Most Holy Mother spoke these words to me: "My daughter, take this most precious Treasure, and she gave me the Infant Jesus". When I took Jesus in my arms, my soul felt such unspeakable joy that I am unable to describe it.   (ST.  FAUSTINA’S Diary 846)

“ Live joyfully and courageously, at least in the upper part of the soul, amidst the trials in which the Lord places you. Live joyfully and courageously, I repeat, because the Angel who foretells the birth of our little Saviour and Lord, announces singing, and sings announcing that he brings tidings of joy, peace and happiness to men of good – will. So that there is nobody who does not know that in order to receive this Child it is sufficient to be of goodwill.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina.  ( Letters III, p. 470 )

"The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance, which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to Him at the Annunciation when she conceived Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense His presence and to picture His features. When at last she gave birth to Him, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on His face as she ‘wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.’”   - St. John Paul II

“One night there went out over the stillness of the evening breeze, out over those chalky hills of Bethlehem, the cry of a new born babe.  The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.  Earth did not hear the cry, for the earth slept; men did not hear the cry, for they did not know that a Child could be greater than a man; kings did not hear the cry, for they did not know that a King could be born in a stable; empires did not hear the cry, for empires did not know that an Infant could hold the reins that steer suns and worlds in their courses.  But shepherds and philosophers heard the cry, for only the very simple and the very learned know that the heart of a God can cry out in the cry of a Child.  And they came with gifts – and adored, and so great was the majesty seated on the brow of the Child, so great was the dignity of the babe, so powerful was the light of these eyes that shone like celestial suns, that they could not help but cry out: Emmanuel, God is with us.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Life of All Living)

". . . In His childhood . . . the Son of God took another merciful step when He appeared upon earth as a child . . . the Son of God might have appeared upon earth as a grown man.  But He did not do this.  He abased Himself, and lay in the crib as a helpless infant.  The heathens have represented Jupiter with lightning in his eyes, falcons at his feet, flaming swords in his hands; no hand free to bless.  Our divine Saviour wished to appear very differently.  Not a threatening, mighty figure; not armed with lightning.  No, He appeared as a child full of love, full of tenderness, full of joy.  The child looks at every one; at the sight of the child, all fear vanishes.  All may approach a child without fear, the high and the low, the learned and the unlearned, rich and poor.  How near has God come unto us!"    - St John Vianney.

O Orient! splendour of eternal light, and Sun of Justice! come and enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel!  who openest, and no man shutteth: who shuttest, and  no man openeth; come and  lead the captive from prison,  sitting in darkness and in the  shadow of death.

O Adonaï, and leader of the house of Israel! who appearedst to Moses in the fire  of the flaming bush, and gavest him the law on Sinai;  come and redeem us by thy  outstretched arm

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

Christ is with you: be not afraid!    -Pope St. John Paul II

"Just as the thought of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not actualize the light of spiritual knowledge in the soul." - St. Maximos the Confessor (First Century on Love no. 31, The Philokalia Vol. 2

“Provided that we are faithful to Him we will lack nothing; He himself will live in us, guide, defend, and love us.”   - St. Vincent de Paul

'The bitterest sorrow is but sweetness in this adorable Heart, where everything is changed into love.' St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

Love, where present, cannot possibly be content remaining always the same.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 9

I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues that are dearest to Me-and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially radiate with these virtues. When the conversation ended, She pressed me to Her Heart and disappeared. When I regained the use of my senses, my heart became so wonderfully attracted to these virtues; and I practice them faithfully. They are as though engraved in my heart.    (Diary, 1415)

“ Faith also guides us and we follow securely in its light the way which leads to God, His homeland, just as the holy Magi, guided by the star, symbol of faith, reached the desired place.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children."   - Saint Bonaventure

“A Child is born.  To some He comes on this Christmas Day, even in the remorse that follows ‘there is no room’; to some He comes when their hearts are saddened by a life that has been taken away, and can be gladdened only by a Life that is given; to some He comes when their hearts like conscious mangers cry out ‘Lord, I am not worthy’; to others He comes as their study of science reminds them that the only star worth studying is the Star that leads to the Maker of the Stars; to others He comes when their hearts are broken, that He might enter in to heal with wings wider than the world; to others He comes in joy amidst the Venite Adoremus of the angels; to others He comes because they are so young they can never remember another Christmas – but to each and everyone He comes as if He had never come before in His own sweet way, He the Child who is born, He, Jesus the Savior, He Emmanuel, He, Christ at Christ’s Mass on Christmas – Merry Christmas!!”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fullness of Christ)

“We must ask God himself to perform our duty; then, if our strength fails, He will bear the burden.”  – St. Vincent de Paul

“O Emmanuel (God with us), our King and lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, O Lord our God!” (Vespers for December 23rd; antiphon recited with the Magnificat)

We desire to be able to welcome Jesus at Christmas-time, not in a cold manger of our heart, but in a heart full of love and humility, a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.”    — St. Teresa of Calcutta

The Word, which became flesh two thousand years ago is present today in the Eucharist.    -Pope St. John Paul II

“We believe that the Divine presence is everywhere, and that the eyes of the LORD behold the good and the evil in every place. Especially should we believe this, without any doubt, when we are assisting at the Work of God.”   - St. Benedict, Founder of the Benedictines

'Tears are no sign that a man is in the grace of God, neither must we infer that one who weeps when he speaks of holy and devout things necessarily leads a holy life.' St. Philip Neri (1515-1595)

We shouldn't build castle in the air. The Lord doesn't look so much at the greatness of our works as at the love with which they are done.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 7 : 4 : 15

"If through feebleness, I sometimes fall, may your divine glance purify my soul, consuming all my imperfections like the fire that transforms everything into itself."   -St. Therese of Lisieux

“May the Child Jesus be your guiding star in the desert of this present life.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“My daughter, look into the abyss of My Mercy and give praise and glory to this Mercy of Mine. Do it this way: Gather all sinners from the entire world and immerse them into 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)

"Joseph took Mary as his wife in humble acceptance of the mystery of her maternity. He accepted her along with her Son who would come to the world by the action of the Holy Spirit. St. Joseph can therefore be compared to Our Lady in his great docility to the will of God as revealed to him by an angel."   - Pope St. John Paul II

“No one ever drifted into virtue; but anyone can drift into vice.  A man who is poisoned may be brought an antidote.  It makes little difference whether he throws the antidote out of the window or whether he pours it on the floor or whether he ignores it.  The poison which he has in his body operates by the mere fact that he neglects to take the remedy.  What is curious about all who drift is that eventually they begin to say that they are under the control of fate, necessity or cruel destiny, in order to relieve themselves of responsibility.  A scapegoat must be found to ease the conscience.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Walk With God)

“Let us endeavor to grow more and more in the confidence that in whatever state we are placed by God we shall be secure, although we may think that we would be better off somewhere else.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Mary is the sure path to our meeting with Christ.    - Pope St. John Paul II

O Rex Gentium: “O King of the gentiles and their desired One, the cornerstone that makes both one: come, and save man, whom you formed out of the clay!” (Vespers for December 22nd; antiphon recited with the Magnificat)

"At the beginning of the day, I endeavor to unite myself closely with Jesus Christ, and then I do the next thing, with the thought of this union in mind." confessed the Cure d'Ars to Abbe Dufour. "From which I infer, adds the Abbe, "that his life was one long prayer."

"I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who live in this land and of all mankind. I will hear the weeping and sorrows of those who love me, cry to me, and have confidence in me, and I will give them consolation and relief."   - Our Lady of Guadalupe

"Your heart, which preserves my innocence, cannot disappoint my confidence. In you O Lord I place my hope that after this exile I shall see you in heaven."   -St. Therese of Lisieux

"Love and sacrifice are closely linked, like the sun and the light. We cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love." St. Gianna Molla (1922 – 1962)

Since our nature is bad, we will not reach perfection in the love of neighbour if that love doesn't rise from love of God as its root.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 5 : 3 : 9

The Lord said to me, My daughter, do not tire of proclaiming My mercy. In this way you will refresh this Heart of Mine, which burns with a flame of pity for sinners. Tell My priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart. To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1521)

“Stay very close to the crib of this most beautiful Child, especially during these days of his birth. If you love riches, here you will find the gold the Kings left Him. If you love the smoke of honors, here you will find that of incense. And if you love the delicacy of the senses, you will smell the perfumed myrrh which perfumes the entire holy stable.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"You are My Mother, the Mother of Mercy, and the consolation of the souls in Purgatory."   - Saint Bridget to our Lady

“Most of us are like the man who lay at the Pool of Bethsatha for thirty-eight years who was not cured.  His excuse was that when the waters were stirred, there was no one to put him in.  He needed healing but he really did not want it.  When our Lord appeared, He told the man to do the very thing he thought was impossible, namely take up his bed.  What was wanting was his will.  He was moribund because he did not want to be better.  Ever since the days of Adam man has been hiding from God and saying God is hard to find.  The truth is that in each heart there is a secret garden which God made uniquely for Himself.  The garden is like a safety deposit vault inasmuch as it has two keys.  God has one key, hence the soul cannot let in anyone else but God.  The human heart has the other key, hence not even God can get in without man’s consent.  God is always at the Garden Gate with his key.  We pretend to look for ours, saying we cannot find it, but all the while it is in our hand, did we but will to see it.  The reason we are not happy is because we do not want God.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Modern Soul in Search of God)

“The more perfect we practice virtue, the more pleasing we are to God.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.    -St. Teresa of Calcutta

'Our Faith will never be true unless it is united to that of St. Peter and the Pontiff, his successors.' St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

"Things were in God’s plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that – from God’s point of view – there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God’s divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God’s all-seeing eyes."   - St. Edith Stein

“It was not without some deep purpose of the Holy Trinity that it was predestined that the Son should come into the world."   ―St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"O my God, You have surpassed all my expectations."    - St. Therese of Lisieux

"Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession"    - St. Joseph Cupertino, patron of pilots and air travel

“If we were naturally good and naturally progressive, there would have been no need of Christ coming to earth to make men good. Those who are well have no need of a physician. If all were right with the world, God would have stayed in His Heaven. His Presence in the crib in Bethlehem is a witness not to our progress, but to our misery.”   - Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

“The husband and wife should be similar to the hand and the eye. When the hand hurts, the eyes should be crying. And when the eyes cry, the hand should wipe away the tears.”    - St John Chrysostom

“One need not say much to pray well”, he explained to them, “we know that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle.   Let us open our hearts to Him, let us rejoice in His sacred presence.   That is the best prayer”.   And He would urge them:  “Come to communion, my brothers and sisters, come to Jesus.   Come to live from Him in order to live with Him… Of course you are not worthy of Him but you need Him!”    - St John Vianney.

In order to ascend to the dwelling places we desire, the important thing is not to think much but to love much.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 4 : 1 : 7

Today, I was talking with the Lord, and He said to me, There are souls with whom I can do nothing. They are souls that are continuously observing others, but know nothing of what is going on within their own selves. They talk about others continually, even during times of grand silence, which is reserved for speaking only with Me. Poor souls, they do not hear My words; their interior remains empty. They do not look for Me within their own hearts, but in idle talk, where I am never to be found. They sense their emptiness, but they do not recognize their own guilt, while souls in whom I reign completely are a constant source of remorse to them. Instead of correcting themselves, their hearts swell with envy, and if they do not come to their senses, they plunge in even deeper. A heart, which thus far is envious, now begins to be filled with hate. And they are already at the edge of the precipice. They are jealous of my gifts in other souls, but they themselves are unable and unwilling to accept them.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1717)

“Poverty, humility, degradation, contempt surround the Word made flesh. But from the darkness in which this Word made flesh is enveloped, we understand one thing, we hear a voice, we catch a glimpse of a sublime truth. All this He has done out of love, and He does nothing but invite us to love; He speaks of nothing else but love; He gives nothing but proof of love.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

O Mother of Jesus, and my Mother,
let me dwell with you, cling to you
and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honor, love, and trust of a child.
Give me a mother's protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind
the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help
to be what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my Good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart
will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your Divine Son for all eternity.
Amen.   - Marian Prayer of Cardinal John Henry Newman

“Hidden in the media’s love of the tragic is not only a hidden death wish, but also an unconscious concern with the ultimate death.  Accidents, muggings, assassinations are interesting as penultimates because they avoid facing the ultimate.  The same is true of the passion for revolution and the despisal of the past.  For the first time they no longer think about history, so as to avoid old errors with new labels; rather, they seek consciously to create history as a ‘now.’”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Those Mysterious Priests)

“We must consult God to learn his language and ask that He himself speak in us and through us.”   - St. Vincent de Paul

"Christ does not force our will, He only takes what we give Him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him."   - St Teresa of Avila

O Radix Jesse: “O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: come, to save us, and do not delay!”  (Vespers for December 19th; antiphon recited with the Magnificat)

"It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey."    - St. Ignatius (1491.-1556.)

"Do not be ashamed to enter again into the Church. Be ashamed when you sin. Do not be ashamed when you repent. Pay attention to what the devil did to you. These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are for the body wounds and medicines, so for the soul are sins and repentance. However, sin has the shame and repentance possesses the courage."   - St. John Chrysostom

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.     - St. John Vianney

If like the young man in the Gospel, we turn our backs and go away sad when the Lord tells us what we must do to be perfect, what do you want His Magesyy to do ?   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 3 : 1 : 7

Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation] There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1448)

“No man is delivered or preserved from the worldwide snares of Satan save through Mary; and God grants His graces to no one except through her alone.”    - St. Germanus

“All the feasts of the Church are beautiful. Easter, yes, is glorification but Christmas has a tenderness, a child-like sweetness that completely captivates my heart.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“There is seemingly much repetition in the Rosary; but actually this is no more wearying or monotonous than a man’s telling a woman ‘I love you’ for the 20th time.  Since there is a new moment in time to be redeemed by love, his words may be the same, but the meaning of each avowal is slightly different.  So, in the Rosary, we say over and over to God, ‘I love You.  I love You.  And I love You.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fifteen Mysteries)

"The angels announced to the shepherds tthat it should be made known to all people, in the east and the west, in the north and the south; it shall ring forth and make joyful thought all the ages; it shall never cease, not even when the world shall keep its vigil, and the book of humanity will be closed, and then it will ring on in eternity: a Saviour is born to you, who is Christ the Lord. Oh, who can depict the joy of a Christmas festival! Over our altars floats the joy of a Christmas festival!"    - St. John Vianney

This great God has not ceased to love us even though we have offened Him very much. Thus the Lord is right in wanting all to pardon the wrongs done to them.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 6 : 10 : 4

“The good God always does our business when we do His.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

I want people who have a devotion to my Rosary to have my Son's grace and blessing during their lifetime and at their death.    - Our Lady to Blessed Alan De la Roch.

"In this communication and manifestation of himself to the soul, which in my opinion is the greatest possible in this life, he is to it innumerable lamps giving forth knowledge and love of himself."   -St. John of the Cross

"O Mother, it’s very easy to write beautiful things about suffering, but writing is nothing, nothing! One must suffer in order to know! I really feel now that what I’ve said and written is true about everything….It’s true that I wanted to suffer much for God’s sake, and it’s true that I still desire this.”   St Therese de Lisieux

“We must watch over ourselves. We must have the most filial confidence in Our Saviour, in our blessed Mother, in the angels and saints; but as for men, we must avoid them: this is the advice of the angel to St. Arsenius. Have courage; be assured that God will never abandon you, but will always assist you and give you what is needful.”    St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)

Let us not think we are doing anything by suffering injuries, but we should very eagerly endure everything, and let us love the one who offends us.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 6 : 10 : 4

The Lord said to me, My daughter, do not tire of proclaiming My mercy. In this way you will refresh this Heart of Mine, which burns with a flame of pity for sinners. Tell My priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart. To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA    (Diary, 1521)

“As regards your reading there is very little to be admired and hardly anything by which to be edified. It is absolutely necessary for you to add to such reading that of the holy books (Sacred Scripture) so highly recommended by all the holy Fathers of the Church. I cannot dispense you from such spiritual reading, for I have your perfection too much at heart. If you want to gain the quite unhoped-for fruit from such reading, it will be well to rid yourself of the prejudice you have with regard to the style and form in which these holy books are set forth.
Get to work then. Make an effort in this respect and don't neglect to ask the divine assistance with all humility.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“How do we meet this challenge of a mood which makes society evil and the person guiltless? The answer must be: the courage of the few.  “If the trumpets give an uncertain sound who will prepare for battle?”  Courage is to some extent the foundation of all virtue for without it there is no security for preserving any other virtue.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"Mary full of grace – mother of Jesus! We love and honor our Jesus when we love and honor her… Our best honor to Mary is the imitation of her virtues – her life is a model for all conditions of life."    - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

“Because [Christ] is born in a cave, all who wish to see him must bend, must stoop, and the stoop is the mark of humility. The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity. Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but there are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.”   - Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, from the book “Through the Year with Fulton Sheen”.

“O Wisdom, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily: come, and teach us the way of prudence!” (Vespers for December 17th; antiphon recited with the Magnificat)

“Our works are worthless if they are not vibrant and animated by the intention of doing them for God.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"I have my weaknesses also, but I rejoice in them... It's so good to feel that one is weak and little."    - St. Therese of Lisieux (1873.-1897)

"Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world."   - St Catherine of Siena

"When we love some one, we are happy to possess his or her picture.  It is the same if we love the Blessed Virgin, my dear friends.  We consider it an honor and a duty to have her picture in our house, to remind us frequently of this good Mother.  Furthermore, those parents who are truly Christians should never omit to inspire their children with a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin.  This is the best means to call down the blessings of heaven, and the protection of Mary upon your families."    Saint John Vianney

The soul wants to flee people, and it has great envy of those who have lived in the drserts. On the other hand, it would want to enter into the midst of the world to try to play a part in getting even one soul to praise God more.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 6 : 6 : 3

Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.  WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA.  (Diary 1075)

"You must cultivate this wellformed heart, carefully, and spare nothing which could be useful to its happiness. Even though in every season – that is, at every age – you can and must do this, your present age is the most suitable".  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“The creature most filled with the love of God Himself was the Immaculata. We know she never contracted the slightest stain of sin; she never departed in the least from God's will. United to the Holy Spirit as his spouse, she is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than any other creature. In fact, we can say that the Holy Spirit does not act except through the Immaculata, his spouse. That is why she is the Mediatrix of all graces of the Holy Spirit. And why we can be holy by staying close to her throughout our life."   - St. Maximilian Kolbe 

"Love is the key to the mystery. Love by its very nature is not selfish, but generous. It seeks not its own, but the good of others. The measure of love is not the pleasure it gives -- that is the way the world judges it -- but the joy and peace it can purchase for others. It counts not the wine it drinks, but the wine it serves. Love is not a circle circumscribed by self: it is a cross with arms embracing all humanity. It thinks not of having but of being had, not of possessing but of being possessed, not of owning but of being owned."   Archbishop Fulton Sheen

If we fail in love of neighbor we are lost.  May it please the Lord this will never be so   - St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Interior Castle   - chapter 4:3-12

I see Mary Everywhere!  I see Difficulties Nowhere!    - St. Maximillian Kolbe

“May God remain forever in your heart and give you the strength necessary for every trial.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

'He who remembers having invoked the name of Mary in an impure temptation, may be sure that he did not yield to it.' St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

"Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession."    - Saint Isidore of Seville

“[Christ] has all the riches of heaven and earth, his power can protect me and provide abundantly for my every necessity.”   - St. Catherine of Siena

“If you really love God, you will not be content with avoiding big sins. You will regard as hateful anything which could be even a little displeasing to him.”    - St John Vianney.

“And yet, will we ever come to an end of discussion and talk if we think we must always reply to replies? For replies come from those who either cannot understand what is said to them, or are so stubborn and contentious that they refuse to give in even if they do understand.”   -St Augustine
City of God

“ To fear losing yourself in the arms of divine Goodness, is stranger than the fear of an infant held tightly in its mother's arms.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Jesus: ‘Know, too, that the darkness about which you complain I first endured in the Garden of Olives when My Soul was crushed in mortal anguish. I am giving you a share in those sufferings because of My special love for you and in view of the high degree of holiness I am intending for you in heaven. A suffering soul is closest to My Heart.’”    WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1487e)

“O Holy Mary! My Mother; into thy blessed trust and special custody, and into the bosom of thy mercy, I this day, and every day, and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and body. To thee I commit all my anxieties and sorrows, my life and the end of my life, that by thy most holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son.”   - St. Aloysius Gonzaga

“Believe me, there is no more powerful means to obtain God’s grace than to employ the intercessions of the Holy Virgin.”    St. Philip Neri
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“At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.”    - St. John of the Cross

“It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.”    St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

"All the trials and disturbances come from our not understanding ourselves."   - St. Teresa of Avila

"If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection."    - St. John of the Cross

"Hope in God. If you have good hope and faith in Him, you shall be delivered from your enemies"    - St. Joan of Arc

“Remember that true religion is not a matter of words; there must be deeds. Hence, if you find something related worthy of admiration, do not be satisfied with saying: I like that, or that is very good; but rather say: I want to put into practice what I see is praiseworthy in others.”    - St. John Bosco

"There are two births of Christ, one unto the world in Bethlehem; the other in the soul. We think of the former much more than the later, and celebrate it every year; but the personal relationship of the individual heart to Christ is equally momentous."    -Archbishop Fulton Sheen

The love His Majesty has for us is so great that to repay us for our love of neighbor He will in a thousand ways increase the love we have for Him. I cannot doubt this.   St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 5 : 3 : 8

“We have to strive to raise our hearts to Him in our principal actions in order to consecrate them entirely to Him and do them in conformity to His will.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"By your prayers, obtain for them trust in My mercy, because they have most need of trust, and have it least. Be assured that the grace of eternal salvation for certain souls in their final moment depends on your prayer"   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1777)

“He who attaches himself to the earth remains attached to it. It is better to detach oneself little by little instead of all at once. Let us always think of Heaven.”   St. Pio of  Pietrelcina

"It is not to be thought that life is a snare or an illusion because the bubbles cease in a champagne glass. No true unhappiness comes to man, unless he places his heart in a false infinite. He who sees that all human love is nothing but Divine Love on pilgrimage will use it as a kind of Jacob's ladder to climb back through virtue to the source of all Love which is God Himself." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"I recollect one saying among others of my confessor, a Jesuit father, one of the holiest, most prudent men I ever knew. He said that we could not love the Blessed Mother too much if we loved Our Lord a great deal more."   - Blessed John Henry Newman

From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all, and fulfill His holy will."   - St Herman of Alaska.
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“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.”    -St. Teresa of Calcutta

“We must know how to wait with patience and to expect more from God than from men.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“The honor of Mary is so intimately connected with the honor and glory of Jesus that to deny the one is at the same time a denial of the other.”   - Blessed William Joseph Chaminade

"The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. " St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910 – 1997)

And be certain that the more advanced you see you are in love for your neighbor the more advanced you will be in love of God.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila.  The Interior Castle chapter 5 : 3 : 8

“ He who attaches himself to the earth remains attached to it. It is better to detach oneself little by little instead of all at once. Let us always think of Heaven.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Then I heard the words: As you are united with Me in life, so will you be united at the moment of death. After these words, such great trust in God's great mercy was awakened in my soul that, even if I had had the sins of the whole world, as well as the sins of all the condemned souls weighing on my conscience, I would not have doubted God's goodness but, without hesitation, would have thrown myself into the abyss of the divine mercy, which is always open to us; and, with a heart crushed to dust, I would have cast myself at His feet, abandoning myself totally to His holy will, which is mercy itself."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1552)

“Nobody is a Christian for oneself alone. The gift of faith is given to us so that by word and example we may become witnesses before others.” Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005)

“Our Blessed Lord’s work is finished. But is ours?  When He said, ‘it is finished,’ He did not mean that the opportunities of His life had ended; He meant that His work was done so perfectly that nothing could be added to it to make it more perfect – but with us, how seldom that is true.  Too many of us end our lives, but few of us see them finished.  A sinful life may end but a sinful life is never a finished life.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Praying in the Presence of Our Lord)

Let us look at our own faults and leave aside those of others, for it is very characteristic of persons with such well-ordered lives to be shocked by everything.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 3 : 2 : 

13

“I praise God for He is so good as to raise up in this century so many good and holy souls for the assistance of the poor common people.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like fire in a musket. If a person were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if the person takes the same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the word of God. If it is spoken by someone who is filled with the fire of charity- the fire of love of God and neighbor- it will work wonders.”    - St. Anthony Mary Claret

My dear friends!  If we are to have peace and gladness in our hearts, in our families, yea, in the whole human society, there is only one sure way, since "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," which leads to peace, and, finally to the Father.     Saint John Vianney

"When evening comes, you will be examined in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting."   - St John of the Cross

“What we leave to the poor after our death is not so agreeable to God, nor so useful to us as what we give them during our lifetime; just as a torch which is carried after us is not of the same service as one which is carried before.”   —St. Lucy,

Jesus says; 'My daughter, I want to instruct you on how you are to rescue souls through sacrifice and prayer. You will save more souls through prayer and suffering than will a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone. I want to see you as a sacrifice of living love, which only then carries weight before Me... And great will be your power for whomever you intercede. Outwardly, your sacrifice must look like this: silent, hidden, permeated with love, imbued with prayer.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1767)

“ To doubt is the greatest insult to Divinity.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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

“You cannot always depend on prayers to be answered the way you want them answered but you can always depend on God, the loving Father often denies us those things which in the end would prove harmful to us. Every boy wants a revolver at age four, and no father yet has ever granted that request. Why should we think God is less wise? Someday we will thank God not only for what He gave us, but also for that which He refused.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Wartime Prayer Book)

"What we know about the virtue of the saints "is the least part of them"    - St. Philip Neri (1515-1595)

“Where human assistance is lacking, God’s abounds.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

When your soul is burdened and fatigued by the weight of your body, do not be discouraged, rather go by faith and love to Him who said: “Come to me and I will refresh you.”   - St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

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

If you would rise, shun luxury, for luxury lowers and degrades.    -St John Chrysostom

Briefly, in all things we have to let God be the judge.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Interior Castle - chapter 3 : 1 : 6

When you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart, you profit more than if you had read many books. Oh, if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 584)

“ Fear is an evil worse than evil itself.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"At the mention of Mary's name, the angels rejoice and the devils tremble; through this invocation of this name, sinners obtain grace and pardon".  - St. Peter Canisius

“There is a moment in every good meditation when the God-life enters our life and another moment when our life enters the God-life.  These events transform us utterly.  Sick, nervous, fearful individuals are made well by this communion of creature with Creator, this letting of God into the soul.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Lift Up Your Heart)

I wish to entrust and offer the future of the continent to Blessed Mary, Mother of Christ and of the Church.    Pope St. John Paul II

“Men are so constituted that even the holiest are disposed to contradict each other.”    – St. Vincent de Paul

"Let your understanding strengthen your patience. In serenity look forward to the joy that follows sadness."    St. Peter Damian (1007 – 1072)

“After God, we should have a great confidence in the Blessed Mother of Jesus, who is so good.”    - St John Vianney.

And don't think He needs our works ; He needs the determination of our wills.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 3 : 1 : 7

Today Jesus said to me, I desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for souls, and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer: “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.”   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA      (Diary,  186 ; 187)

“In short, don’t philosophize on your defects; don’t reply but carry on firmly. No, God could not lose you when, in order to avoid losing Him you persist in your resolutions. Let the world turn upside down, let everything be in darkness, in smoke, in confusion, but God is with us, what can we fear therefore? If God lives in the darkness and on Mount Sinai amidst the thunder and lightning, shouldn’t we be happy, knowing we are close to Him?”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters III, p. 584)

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

“For the meek man, not selfishness but righteousness is his guiding principle.  He is so possessed, he never allows his fists to go up for an unholy purpose, or in defense of his pride or vanity, or conceit, or because he wants the wealth of another.  Only the principles of God’s righteousness arouse a meek man.  Moses was a meek man, but he broke the tablets of stone when he found his people were disobeying God.  Our Lord is Meekness Itself, and yet He drove the buyers and sellers from the Temple when they prostituted His Father’s House; He is angry only when holiness is attacked, but never when His Person is attacked.  ”    Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Cross and the Beatitudes)

“Gentleness causes us to master our passions.”   -  St. Vincent de Paul

O happy wound, wrought by one who knows only how to heal! O fortunate and choicest wound; you were made only for delight, and the quality of your affliction is delight and gratification for the wounded soul!    - St John of the Cross, The Living Flame Of Love: Stanza 2

“After God, we should have a great confidence in the Blessed Mother of Jesus, who is so good.” - St John Vianney.

“All gifts, virtues, and graces of the Holy Ghost are administered by the hands of Mary to whomever she desires, when she desires, and in the manner she desires, and to whatever degree she desires.”    - St. Bernardine of Siena

Out of dryness you may draw humility and not disquite.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 3 : 1 : 9

Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. WORDS OF JESUS  TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 965)

“Thank God and gently kiss his hand which strikes you; it is always the hand of a Father who strikes because He loves you.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“The peoples of the world have outgrown ‘things’, they know materialism is not enough.  America today has the highest standard of living in the history of the world – and we also have the highest percentage of psychotics and neurotics known to any civilization of any time.  Poverty is not the only reason for despair.  Our saddest cases nowadays are often residents of New York’s Park Avenue and California’s prosperous Bel Air.” Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Crisis in History)

“We must ask God himself to perform our duty; then, if our strength fails, He will bear the burden.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“Listen, put it into your heart, most little of my sons:
let nothing frighten or grieve you,
let not your heart be disturbed,
do not fear any sickness or anguish.
Am I not here, who am your Mother?
Are you not under my protection?
Am I not your health?
Are you not happily within the folds of my mantle, held safely in my arms?
Do you need anything more?
Let nothing else worry you or disturb you”   – Words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego

Prophecy of Our Lady of Good Success in Ecuador 17th century: “Thus I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of morals… As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and deeply profaned. Freemasonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the aim of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin and encouraging procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church… In this supreme moment of need for the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.”

“How pleasing to Him it will be if you sometimes forget yourself and speak to Him of His own glory, of the miseries of others, especially those who mourn in sorrow; of the souls in purgatory, His spouses, who long to behold Him in Heaven; and of poor sinners who live deprived of His grace.”    - St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, C.Ss.R., Bishop and Doctor of the Church; How to Pray at All Time’s

Even if Jesus lays on us some part of the Cross, He is there to help us bear it with self-sacrifice and love.      -Pope  St. John XXII

“Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the holy of holies. May your body and blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts. May it incite me to do the works pleasing to you and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies. Amen.”   - St Ambrose    (Prayer before communion)

From St John Vianney's sermon on the Second Week of Advent:

"....Behold, my brethren, how much Jesus Christ wishes to save us; at one time he appears to us as a poor child in the crib, lying on a handful of straw, which He moistens with His tears; again treated like a criminal, bound, pinioned, crowned with thorns, scourged, falling under the weight of the cross, and dying in martyrdom out of love for us. If this is not capable of moving us, drawing us towards Him, then He announces to us that He will one day come, clothed in the radiance of His glory and the Majesty of His Father, to judge us without clemency and without mercy; where before the whole world He will reveal the good and the bad which we have committed in the course of our lives. Tell me, dear brethren, if we rightly considered all this, should we require anything further to make us live and die like Saints?...."

We must work in order to enjoy His glory. And we need to pray for this understanding so that we aren't always entering into temptation.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 2 : 1 : 11

“God is served only when He is served as He wishes to be.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you practise the three virtues that are dearest to Me - and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially radiate with these virtues"    WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1415)

“The learned gentry of our modern world are unlearned because they never have a doubt.  They try to make everything clear, and hence make everything mysterious.  They forget that even nature has a mystery; that there is something in this great cosmos of ours which is just so terribly mysterious that we cannot ‘see’ it, and that is the sun.  It makes us wink whether we like it or not, and yet, in the lightg of that great natural mystery everything else in the world becomes clear.  So too in higher realms, it is in the light of such a great supernatural mystery as the Incarnation that all things become clear, even the problem of evil.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Old Errors and New Labels)

Your name, O Mary, is a precious ointment, which breathes forth the odor of divine grace. Let this ointment of salvation enter the inmost recesses of our souls."   - St. Ambrose

"Let us then avoid sin, and pray to Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, for a pure heart. "Ave Maria, gratia plena!"  Holy Mary, as you were full of grace on earth, so you are in heaven full of glory, as Queen of Heaven.  But you are still full of grace for us poor pilgrims of earth.  For thou art, as the Holy Father tells us, the treasurer of heavenly grace.  Through thy hand graces are dispensed, which they divine Son has merited.  They hands are filled, as thou didst once appear to a Saint with shining jewels, the heavenly treasure of grace.  Oh, stretch forth thy merciful hand, enrich and bless us, Mary!  and keep us in the state of grace.  Pray for us, Mary!  Amen."   - St. John Vianney

Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.    –St. Teresa of Avila

ST AMBROSE ON MARY

“She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind…humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue."

Y

Acquire the habit of saying vocal prayers in the morning, while you are dressing. like little children.    - St. Josemaria Escriva

"If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart, it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her children"    - St. Louis De Montfort (1673.-1716.)

Pope Pius XII, Fulgens Corona, Sept. 8, 1953: “3. Moreover, it seems that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself wished to confirm by some special sign the definition [of the Immaculate Conception], which the Vicar of her Divine Son on earth [Pius IX] had pronounced amidst the applause of the whole Church. For indeed four years had not yet elapsed when, in a French town at the foot of the Pyrenees, the Virgin Mother, youthful and benign in appearance, clothed in a shining white garment, covered with a white mantle and girded with a hanging blue cord, showed herself to a simple and innocent girl at the grotto of Massabielle. And to this same girl, earnestly inquiring the name of her with whose vision she was favored, with eyes raised to heaven and sweetly smiling, she replied: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’”

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

“Be hopeful that in proportion as difficulties increase, God will increase His grace for you.”– St. Vincent de Paul

It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering  into ourselves, coming to know ourselves, reflecting on our misery and what we owe God, and begging Him often for mercy.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 2 : 1 : 11

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

“Time spent for the glory of God and the health of the soul is never wasted.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina.  ( Consigli – Esortazioni di Padre Pio, 9)

“The creature most filled with the love of God Himself was the Immaculata. We know she never contracted the slightest stain of sin; she never departed in the least from God's will. United to the Holy Spirit as His spouse, she is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than any other creature. In fact, we can say that the Holy Spirit does not act except through the Immaculata, His spouse. That is why she is the Mediatrix of all graces of the Holy Spirit. And why we can be holy by staying close to her throughout our life."   - St. Maximilian Kolbe

“Because Mary is what God wanted us all to be, she speaks of herself as the eternal blueprint in the mind of God, the one whom God loved before she was a creature.  She is even pictured as being with Him not only at creation, but before creation.  She existed in the Divine Mind as an Eternal Thought before there were any mothers.  She is the Mother of mothers.  The closer one is to God, the greater the purity.  But since no one was ever closer to God than the woman whose human portals he threw open to walk this earth, then no one could have been more pure than she.  This special purity of hers we call the Immaculate Conception.  The word ‘immaculate’ is taken from two Latin words meaning ‘not stained.’  Conception means that at the first moment of her conception, the Blessed Mother in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, and in virtue of the anticipated merits of the Redemption of her Son was preserved free from the stains of original sin.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The World’s First Love)

“Faith means battles; if there are no contests, it is because there are none who desire to contend.”   - St. Ambrose 

“Mary is the heart of the church. This is why all works of charity spring from her. It is well known that the heart has two movements: systole and diastole. Thus Mary is always performing these two movements: absorbing grace from her Most Holy Son, and pouring it forth on sinners.”   - St. Anthony Mary Claret

“Let your door stand open to receive him, unlock your soul to him, offer him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light that shines on every man… It is the soul that has its door, its gates. Christ comes to this door and knocks; he knocks at these gates. Open to him; he wants to enter, to find his bride waiting and watching.”    - St. Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, from An Exposition of Psalm 118

“… there is hope that very many from the abominable sect of Mahomet will be converted to the Catholic faith.”   - Pope Eugene IV, Council of Basel, Session 19, Sept. 7, 1434

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

"I had one great wish; it was to love God only, and to find my joy in him alone. During my thanksgiving after Holy Communion I often repeated this passage from the Imitation of Christ: "Oh my God, who art unspeakable sweetness, turn for me into bitterness all the consolations of Earth." These words rose to my lips quite naturally; I said them like a child, who, without well understanding, repeats what a friend may suggest. Later on I will tell you how Our Lord has been pleased to fulfill my desire, how he, and he alone, has always been my joy." -- St Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul, IV, "First Communion and Confirmation"

The greatest perfection attainable along the spiritual path lies in this conformity. It is the person who lives in more perfect conformity who will receive more from the Lord and be more advanced on this road   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Interior Castle - chapter 2 : 1 : 8

"At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God's own love and concern."   - St. Teresa of Calcutta

“…all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. "    WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary178)

“Lovingly humble yourself before God and man, because God speaks to the humble. Love silence, because much talk is never without sin. Withdraw into yourself as much as you can, because, in this way, the Lord speaks freely to the soul, and the soul is more able to listen to his voice. Cut down on your visits to people, and bear those visits made to you in a Christian manner.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina           (Letters III, p. 436)

"O holy Mary, my Mother, into your blessed trust and custody, and into the care of your mercy, I, this day, every day, and at the hour of my death, commend my soul and body."   - St. Aloysius Gonzaga

“Mockers, can you not see that they are defensive?  Have you ever noticed how many of them are writing and talking and giving reasons why they do not believe in Christ’s Mystical Body?  Nobody asked them for their reasons; nobody invited them to build their little house on the Rock; but they feel bound to tell you why they are not doing it.  Nobody goes around telling people why they are not believers in a new Sun Cult or why ‘paint the barn week’ is a snare invented by a paint manufacturer.  This is because people are not conscious of Sun Cults and barns.  But all of a sudden, these people have become conscious that they do not have the faith, so they immediately proceed to justify their position.  They never tell us what they believe, but what they do not believe.  They never give a lecture on why they go to Rock Island, but they give profuse lectures on why they never go to the Rock.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Rock Plunged into Eternity)

Embrace the cross your Spouse has carried and understand that this must be your task.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Interior Castle - chapter 2 : 1 : 7

“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.”    - St. John Damascene, priest and Doctor of the Church

“May we see things as they are, as works of God which God has entrusted to us.”   - St. Vincent de Paul

“But how can we rejoice in the Lord if he is far from us? Pray God he may not be far. If he is, that is your doing. Love, and he will draw near; love, and he will dwell within you. The Lord is at hand; have no anxiety. Are you puzzled to know how it is that he will be with you if you love? God is love.”    - St. Augustine of Hippo

"The Church of Christ, zealous and cautious Guardian of the dogmas deposited with it, never changes any phase of them. It does not diminish them or add to them; it neither trims what seems necessary nor grafts things superfluous . . . but it devotes all its diligence to one aim: To treat tradition faithfully and wisely; to consolidate and to strengthen what already was clear; and to guard what already was confirmed and defined."    -  St. Vincent de Lerins: Commonitoria (5th Century)

"We are not called upon to do all the good possible, but only that which we can do." St. Theodora Guerin (1798-1856)

"Today the Lord said to me, I have opened My Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death."    WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 1520)

”When you are unable to take big steps on the path that leads to God, be content with little steps, patiently waiting until you have the legs to run; or better still, wings to fly. Be content with being, for now, a little bee in a hive, which will soon become a big bee, capable of producing honey.”    St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Counseling is touching where there is disease or misfortune; it is not the simple giving of advise.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Priest is not His own)

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."   - Blessed Pope Pius IX

"Anyone who wants to be an example to others, must first examine himself."    - St. Ephrem the Syrian

“But how can we rejoice in the Lord if he is far from us? Pray God he may not be far. If he is, that is your doing. Love, and he will draw near; love, and he will dwell within you. The Lord is at hand; have no anxiety. Are you puzzled to know how it is that he will be with you if you love? God is love.”    - St. Augustine of Hippo