“The works of God are not sumptuous or showy.”    – St. Vincent de Paul

Look closely at the Blessed Virgin Mary. There is nothing of virtue, nothing of beauty, nothing of splendor or glory that does not shine in her.    -  St. Jerome

"Here is a rule for everyday life: do not do anything you cannot offer to God."    - St. John Vianney (1786-1859)

Nothing Helps a Man more than Prayer    - St. Philip Neri

“Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity.”     - St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Churcht

For Faith is the beginning and the end is love, and God is the two of them brought into unity. After these comes whatever else makes up a Christian gentleman.    St. Ignatius of Antioch

I beg the Lord to give my confessors light ..... And when His Majesty wants something to be done, He puts it in their heart.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 17 : 4

“Don't worry about taking up my time, because the time best spent is that spent in the sanctification of souls, and I don't know how to thank our heavenly Father when He presents me some souls that I can help in some way.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina

My daughter, your heart is My heaven.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA    (Diary, 238)

Pray and learn to pray! Deepen your knowledge of the Word of the Living God by reading and meditating on the Scriptures.   Pope  St. John Paul II

"You are My Mother, the Mother of Mercy, and the consolation of the souls in Purgatory."   - St. Bridget

“The fondness of the twentieth century for scandal is due to a great extent to its guilty conscience.  By finding others’ skirts stained with mud, some rejoice that their dusty and ragged ones are not so bad after all.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Worlds First Love)

"I bind to myself today the power in the love of the Seraphim, in the obedience of the Angels, in the ministration of the Archangels, in the hope of Resurrection unto reward, in the prayers of the Patriarchs, in the predictions of the Prophets, in the preaching of the Apostles, in the faith of the Confessors, in the purity of the holy Virgins, in the deeds of Righteous men."   - St. Patrick of Ireland

“And the Archangels—whom we must regard as differing in some degree from those called Angels—experience a delight that is filled with awe as they enter more closely into the counsels of eternal wisdom, and are commissioned to execute them with supreme skill at the proper place and time. Here you have the reason why these in turn love the Lord Christ.”    - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Doctor of the ChurchT

“Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if—and mark well what I say—if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.”   - Saint Louis de Montfort

Obedience become a fundamental key for discernment.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 6 : 12

Do not say that you have chaste minds if you have unchaste eyes, because an unchaste eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart.    - St. Augustine

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.    - St.Teresa of Calcutta

“Do good everywhere, so that everyone can say: "This is a son of Christ." Endure tribulation, sickness and pain for love of God and for the conversion of poor sinners. Defend the weak, console those”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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)

"The reason why Christ is unknown today is because His Mother is unknown."    – Blessed John Henry Newman 

"Do not mock the Gospels and say there is no Satan. Evil is too real in the world to say that. Do not say the idea of Satan is dead and gone. Satan never gains so many cohorts as when, in his shrewdness, he spreads the rumor that he is long since dead. Do not reject the Gospel because it says the Savior was tempted. Satan always tempts the pure—the others are already his. Satan stations more devils on monastery walls than in dens of iniquity, for the latter offer no resistance. Do not say it is absurd that Satan should appear to our Lord, for Satan must always come close to the godly and the strong—the others succumb from a distance." Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honor her and lead others to honor her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.”  -St. Louis de Montfort referring to Our Lady, Queen of Angels

“I no more trust in human means for divine ends than I do in the devil.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Obedience is lived as an offering that brings content and happiness in God.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 6 : 22

To go to Jesus through Mary is truly to honor Jesus Christ. It indicates that we do not esteem ourselves worthy of approaching His infinite holiness directly, that we need Mary to be our Mediatrix with Him, our Mediator.    - St. Louis Grignion de Montfort

Let us begin in earnest to work out our salvation, for no one will do it for us, since even He Himself, Who made us without ourselves, will not save us without ourselves.    - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The  sign of the cross is adorable and could not do anything but good to those who should use it. I have no intention of giving it up."    - St. Isaac Jogues

From Mary we learn to surrender to God's Will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ her Son and the Son of God.     Pope St.  John Paul II

“Be not afraid to tell Jesus that you love Him; even though it be without feeling, this is the way to oblige Him to help you, and carry you like a little child too feeble to walk.”    -  St. Therese of Lisieux

Holy Spirit
"Let's pray the Paraclete Spirit that he enlightens us about three thing:
understanding the importance of being Christians,
understanding the immensity of the eternal heritage to which we are destined,
understanding the extreme greatness of the miracle of 'justification'.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

My daughter, in this meditation, consider the love of neighbor. Is your love for your neighbor guided by My love? Do you pray for your enemies? Do you wish well to those who have, in one way or another, caused you sorrow or offended you?  Know that whatever good you do to any soul, I accept it as if you had done it to Me.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary,1768)

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

"What shall you do when tempted by the flesh? Have the Virgin for your advocate. If you are devoted to her, you will feel temptations melting away like wax before the fire."   - St. John of Avila

Since the flesh of Mary was no different from that of Jesus, how can we deny to the Mother the same royal dignity we find in the Son? The glory of the Son is not something shared with His Mother, but her glory too!    - St. Arnold the Abbot

Consider all the past as nothing, and say, like David: Now I begin to love my God.    - St. Francis de Sales

“Patriotism is a love for everything to do with our native land: its history, its traditions, its language, its natural features. It is a love which extends also to the works of our compatriots and the fruits of their genius. Every danger that threatens the overall good of our native land becomes an occasion to demonstrate that love." ~ Pope St. John Paul the Great

"'Mary is said to be 'fair as the moon'.' For as the moon enlightens and benefits the lowest creatures on earth, so does Mary enlighten and succor the most unworthy sinners."    - St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church

"The saints did not become saints without many a sacrifice and many a struggle." St. John Viannney (1786-1859)

Now we are beginning, and let them strive to advance always from good to better.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 29 : 32

“Don't try, excessively, to heal your heart, as your efforts would only make it more infirm. Don't make too great an effort to overcome your temptations, as this violence would only make them stronger. Despise them and don't dwell on them too much.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Write that when they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the Merciful Savior"   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST . FAUSTINA   (Diary 1541)

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

“Once the Catholic accepts the eternal truths of Christ, he is free to accept all the nonessential beliefs he pleases.  He can be a monarchist or a republican; he can live solitary and alone on a pillar like Simon, or he can busy himself on the streets of Paris like a Vincent de Paul; he can accept Einstein or reject him; he can believe in the gold standard or the silver standard; he can play cards and dance, or he can abstain from them; he can drink moderately or he can be prohibitionist.  He is like a man living on a great island in the sea on which he may roam and exercise his freedom in a thousand and one games, but only on condition that he obey the only law that is posted there: Do not jump over the walls.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Communism and the Conscience of the West)

Those who belong to Mary should do all they can to win the hearts of others to her. And Mary will enlighten those hearts, enkindle them with the love of her Maternal Heart, and inflame them with the fire of charity that burns in the Divine Heart of Jesus.    - St. Maximilian Kolbe

“…Our vocation is to set the hearts of men on fire, to do what the Son of God did, who came to set the world on fire…”.  – St. Vincent de Paul

Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book.    - St. John Bosco

Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire.    - St Francis de Sales

Prayer is the place where the Lord gives the light to understand truths.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 10 : 13

Today, during Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of His sufferings, as though dying on the cross. He said to me, My daughter, meditate frequently on the sufferings which I have undergone for your sake, and then nothing of what you suffer for Me will seem great to you. You please Me most when you meditate on My Sorrowful Passion. Join your little sufferings to My Sorrowful Passion, so that they may have infinite value before My Majesty.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA     (Diary, 1512)

“You know that through divine condescension I suffer all that Jesus suffered, his entire Passion, as much as possible for a human creature.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina (From Amazing Miracles of Padre Pio by Frank Rega, page168)

"Hail, Holy Lady, Most Notable Queen, Mother of God, and Mary Ever-Virgin! You were chosen by the Heavenly Father, who has been pleased to honor You with the presence of His most holy Son and the Divine Paraclete. You were blessed with the fullness of grace and goodness. Hail, Temple of God, His Dwelling Place, His Masterpiece, His Handmaid!"   - St. Francis of Assisi

Though there be such things as deathbed conversions, nevertheless as the tree falls, there it lies. One man who led an evil life always boasted of the fact that he needed never worry about his soul when time would end, for he could save it with three words which he quoted in Latin: "Miserere mei Deus" [-- God have mercy, on me]. He was right about saying three words at the moment of his death, but they were not the words he expected to say, for his life had not been lived as to pronounce them from his heart. As his horse threw him over the cliff he said: "Capiat omnia biabolus," which means, "I'll be damned." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

So valuable to Heaven is the dignity of the human soul that every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be.    - Saint Jerome

It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness.    - Pope St.. John Paul II

“Let us give ourselves to God as best we can, expecting only trials and sufferings from our own men, with perfect assurance that they will not be lacking to us if we are faithful to seeing that the Rules and holy customs of our vocation are observed.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"Be firm. Be virile. Be a man. And then...be a saint." St. Josemaria Escriva (1902.-1975.)

Christ is the only way to the Father and the ultimate Model to be imitated. But devotion to the Blessed Virgin, subordinated to worship of the Divine Savior and in connection with it, also has a great pastoral effectiveness and constitutes a force for renewing Christian living. —Pope Paul VI

“ There is one thing I absolutely cannot stand and it is this: if I have to rebuke someone, I am always ready; but I cannot bear to see someone else do it. To see someone humiliated or mortified like this is unbearable for me.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"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)

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

“It is not to the point to say that our life is merely like the light of a match when it is struck, for we perish like the squirrels and the foxes to rot in the earth. Even the very analogy of the match which is used suggests immortality, for once that light is struck, the light goes out into space at the rate of about 186,000 miles an hour and exists forever in the universe. So, too, when the human light of the soul is struck in the entails of a mother, the light continues through eternity.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

“There is nothing good that does not meet with opposition and it should not be valued any less because it encounters objections.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he wishes to save."   - St. John Damascene

“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.”    - Clare of Assisi

O Eternal Word, utterance of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, to become totally teachable so that I might learn all from you.  Through all darkness, all emptiness, all powerlessness, I want to keep my eyes fixed on you and to remain under your great light.   - St Elizabeth of the Trinity

It is necessary to be on one's guard and careful in the performance of good works by having frequent interior recourse to God, even though these works are done in obedience and charity.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 17

“Life is nothing but a continual struggle against oneself, and it does not open to beauty without the price of suffering.  Always keep Jesus company in Gethsemane and He will know how to comfort you in the hours of anguish that will come.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Know that it is your mission to win souls for Me by prayer and sacrifice, and by encouraging them to trust in My mercy".   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   ( Diary 1690)

“Let not that man presumes to look for mercy from God who offends His Holy Mother!"   - St. Louis Marie de Montfort

“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

“Do not wish greatly to be freed from tests; a soldier needs to have achieved a great deal in war before he desires its end. We shall never gain perfect sweetness or charity unless we exercise it amidst repugnance, aversion and disgust.  St. Pio of  Pietrelcina

“Jesus is with you even when you don’t feel His presence. He is never so close to you as He is during your spiritual battles. He is always there, close to you, encouraging you to fight your battle courageously. He is there to ward off the enemy’s blows so that you may not be hurt.”    - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!    - St Catherine of Sienna

“Always forward, never back.”   - Saint Junipero Serra

We must take great care never to do anything before having said our morning prayers...The devil once declared that if he could have the first moment of the day, he was sure of all the rest.     - St. John Vianney

He came from the bosom of His Father out of obedience to become our slave.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 17

“I belong entirely to everyone. Everyone can say: "Padre Pio is mine." I deeply love my brothers in exile. I love my spiritual children as much as my own soul and even more. I have regenerated them to Jesus through suffering and love. I can forget myself but not my spiritual children, indeed I can assure you that when the Lord calls me I will say to Him: "Lord, I will remain at the gates of Paradise; I will go in when I have seen the last of my children enter."
I suffer so much because I cannot win all my brothers for God. At times I am on the point of dying of heartache on seeing so many suffering souls without being able to relieve them and so many brothers allied to Satan.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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

“The way to take care of recalcitrant youth is to give it some responsibility.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Capitalism and Property

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”    - Saint Teresa of Calcutta

"The love of our Lord’s Heart was in no way diminished by the treason of Judas, the flight of the apostles, and the persecution of his enemies. Jesus was only grieved at the harm they did themselves; his sufferings helped to assuage his grief because he saw in them a remedy for the sins committed by his enemies. The Sacred Heart was full of most tender love: there was no bitterness in it; no cruelty and injustice that he received moved it to feelings other than those of compassion and affection."   - St. Claude La Colombiere

As the atmosphere around us grows steadily darker, all the more must we open our hearts for the light from above    - Saint Edith Stein  Letter 287 to Mother Petra Brüning

“As the early Christians, in obedience to our Lord's words, were ever looking out for His second coming, and for the signs of it, they associated it with every prominent disturbance, external or internal, which interfered with the peace of the Church; with every successive persecution, heretical outbreak, or schism which befell it. In this, too, they were only following the guidance of our Lord and His Apostles, who told them that ‘great tribulation,’ ‘false prophets,’ disunion, and ‘apostasy’ and at length ‘Antichrist,’ should be His forerunners.”    - St. Athanasius

“Faith lifts the soul. Hope supports it. Experience says it must. And Love says let it be!”    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"It is a sign of God's love to me, a sign of future salvation, when the Lord gives me to drink of the cup of suffering."   - St. Thomas Villanova

We can pray at any time, in any place and circumstances.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 16

“You will never complain about offenses, no matter where they come from, remembering that Jesus was saturated with ignominy from the malice of men He Himself had aided.  You will excuse everyone with Christian charity, keeping before your eyes the example of the Divine Master who excused even His crucifiers before the Father.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“It is not so much what happens in your life that matters; it is rather how you react to it.  The talents we have must be put to work, but if they yield only a certain return, we do not murmur because the return is not greater.” Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“The devotions we practice in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they may be, are very pleasing to Her Divine Son, and He rewards them with eternal glory.”    - St. Teresa of Avila

The true lover loves everywhere and is always thinking of the beloved !   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 16

"I do not see what more I shall have in heaven, she said.  It is true I shall see the good God; but as to being with him, I am wholly with him already upon earth."    - St. Thérèse of Lisieux

“The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” -St. Josemaria Escriva

"If we really want to experience the living presence of Jesus, do not bypass occasions of inconveniences, misunderstanding, criticism, insult and pain. Jesus who changed water into wine at Cana has the power to change our momentary sorrow into eternal joy, provided we live in His presence and make Him the most significant person in our life and activity."      - St. Alphonsa

“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

“Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: ‘Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church; cf. John 3:5)

When we who are devoted to Mary call her Mother, we are not using empty words or just speaking at random. She is our Mother—not by the flesh, of course, but spiritually; the Mother of our souls, of our salvation.    - St. Alphonsus Liguori

To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.    - Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman

"The Sacred Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and despised. ...The demon will try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord in every possible way and he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation, corrupting many of them. These corrupted priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will incite the hatred of the bad Christians and the enemies of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church to fall upon all priests. This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous sufferings to the good Pastors of the Church...."
"Moreover, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury which, acting thus to snare the rest into sin, will conquer innumerable frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women, and in this supreme moment of need of the Church, those who should speak will fall silent." - Our Lady of Quito (1611)

"Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son." (“Non est dubium, quicquid in laudibus matris profermius, ad filium pertinere.”)    - St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church, Horn. 4, Sup. Miss.

"If one were to consider how much Jesus has suffered, one would not commit the smallest sin."    - St. Gianna (1922 – 1962)

“Arise once more, oh Lord, and confirm in your grace, those whom you confided to me, and don't permit any of them to be lost, deserting the nest.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Suddenly God‟s presence filled my soul, and I heard these words, My daughter, I desire that your heart be formed after the model of My Merciful Heart. You must be completely imbued with My mercy."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 167)

"All the sins of your life seem to be rising up against you. Don't give up hope! On the contrary, call your holy mother, Mary, with the faith and abandonment of a child. She will bring peace to your soul."   -  St. Josemaría Escrivá

How can Mary be otherwise than full of grace? She has been made the Ladder to Paradise, the Gate of Heaven, and the most true Mediatrix between God and human beings.    - St. Lawrence Justinian

“The most honest of those who appear on radio or television, as regards to their material, are the comedians.  At the end of every program, regardless of who the comedian is, there will always be found listed the names of his writers.  The comedians admit, though they speak the humorous lines, that they actually are indebted to others for putting them in their mouths.  One never sees on a television screen at the end of a program given by a politician the names of the one who wrote his speech.  Here we pay tribute to the four writers who have given us the greatest inspiration: 1. A Collector of internal revenue 2. A reporter 3. A physician 4. An official in a fishing company.  These four writers are perhaps better known as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Though none of them has written the material that is used in our books, they nevertheless have given us the philosophy and theology behind all that we write.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Thinking Life Through)

. I remind you, My daughter, that 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.
My daughter, try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour, provided that your duties permit it; and if you are not able to make the Stations of the Cross, then at least step into the chapel for a moment and adore, in the Blessed Sacrament, My Heart, which is full of mercy; and should you be unable to step into the chapel, immerse yourself in prayer there where you happen to be, if only for a very brief instant. I claim veneration for My mercy from every creature, but above all from you, since it is to you that I have given the most profound understanding of this mystery.

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

All favors, graces, and heavenly inspirations come from Christ as from the Head. All then descend to the body through Mary, since—just as in the human body—it is by the neck that the Head gives life to the limbs.   - St. Robert Bellarmine

"The sole purpose of life in time is to gain merit for life in eternity."    St. Augustine    (Letter 130.)

Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love, and the future to God's providence.  - St. Augustine of Hippo

“Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved.”    - St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor

"If we do not risk everything for God, we will never do anything great for Him."  St. Louis de Montfort (1673.-1716.)

"The real test of charity is to love the poor, the wretched and the loveless. It is easy enough to feel drawn to good, healthy people, who have pleasant manners, but that is only natural love and not charity."   - St. Robert Bellarmine

“It is a maxim of the saints that, when, after much prayer and consultation, action has been taken in an important matter involving the glory of God and the welfare of the Church, it must be believed that it is God’s will that this be done.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“Do you want to honor Christ’s body? Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honor him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked. For he who said: ‘This is my body,’ and made it so by his words also said: ‘You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me.’”    - St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.    -St. Joan of Arc

“I wholeheartedly bless the work of catechizing children, who are the little flowers of Jesus. I also bless the work of supporting missionaries.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Women who seek involvement in community affairs should look to Mary. Taken into dialogue with God, Mary gives her active and responsible consent… to the event of world importance known as the Incarnation of the Word. —Pope Paul VI

"The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. ''   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA    (Diary 723)

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

“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

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

My daughter, don’t be sad when obedience draws you to involvement in exterior matters. Know that if it is in the kitchen, the Lord walks among the pots and pans helping you both interiorly and exteriorly   St.Teresa of Jesus  of Avila    - The Book of Her Foundation - chapter 5:8

“This is a serious warning cry: Surrender without reservation to the Lord who has called us. This is required of us so that the face of the earth may be renewed.”   -  Edith Stein

Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.    - St. Therese of Lisieux

Just as a mirror, which reflects all things, is set in its own container, so too the rational soul is placed in the fragile container of the body. In this way, the body is governed in its earthly life by the soul, and the soul contemplates heavenly things through faith.   - Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

If we have good ideas or good desires but lack strength to put them into practice, we must present them to God with a firm hope that He will help us. If we place all our confidence in Divine Goodness, the Lord will not fail to grant whatever is necessary to persevere in His service.    - St. Francis de Sales

"'Remain in Me.' It is the Word of God who gives this order, expresses this wish..."    -Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

On Calvary the sufferings of Mary most holy reached their height. Mary’s presence at the foot of the Cross constituted a most special participation in the Redemptive Death of her Son.    - Pope St. John Paul II

Before confession, I heard these words in my soul, My daughter, tell him everything and reveal your soul to him as you do before Me. Do not fear anything. It is to keep you in peace that I place this priest between your soul and Myself. The words he will speak to you are My words. Reveal to him your soul’s greatest secrets, I will give him light to know your soul.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 232)

“Time spent for the glory of God and the health of the soul is never wasted.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he wishes to save."   -  St. John Damascene

“The crisis of nothingness is a summons to the everything which is God.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Three to Get Married)

God is that of perfection, the one Our Lord embraced on earth and has the Apostles embrace it. It consists, among other means, of living in poverty, chastity, obedience and stability in one’s vocation.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

The Cross is the School of Love. Let us remember that Love lives on and is nourished by sacrifices. Let us always have recourse to the Immaculate Mother to preserve our peace of mind. —St. Maximilian Kolbe

“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

"The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A prayer so simple and so rich. From deepest heart, I exhort all to recite it."   -  Pope St. John Paul II

“Now the state most pleasing to God is that of perfection, the one Our Lord embraced on earth and has the Apostles embrace it. It consists, among other means, of living in poverty, chastity, obedience and stability in one’s vocation.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.”    - St. John of the Cross, d. 1591

Oh Lord ! You do not want anything but that it obey !   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 6

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

This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.    -St. Augustine

The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.   -St. Louis Marie de Montfort

“I am saying this that you may constantly unite yourself with Me through love, for this is the goal of the life of your soul. This act is an act of the will. Know that a pure soul is humble. When you lower and empty yourself before My majesty, I then pursue you with My graces and make use of My omnipotence to exalt you.”    WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 576b)

“Remember: the sinner who is ashamed of his bad deeds is closer to God than the just man who is ashamed of acting well.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Only after the Last Judgment will Mary get any rest; from now until then, she is much too busy with her children."   -  St. John Vianney

God is Love. We eventually have to ask ourselves the question; why was Love nailed to a cross?
Pope St. John Paul II

“A democracy flirts with the danger of becoming a slave state in direct ratio to the numbers of its citizens who work, but do not own; or who own, but do not work; or who distribute, as politicians do but do not produce.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)

The soul loses its delight and counts the loss as gain,  for it doesn’t think about its own satisfaction but rather how it can best do the  Lords will, and this it does through obedience   - St Theresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation   - chapter 5:5

You are never alone, Christ is with you on your journey every day of your lives!  Pope St. John Paul II

“What usually deceives us is the appearance of good according to human reason, which never or rarely attains the divine.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“Jesus entrusts us to Mary as our Mother, and Mary receives us all as her children! This is Christ’s testament on the Cross. On the one hand, he entrusts the Church to the care of his own Mother; on the other, he entrusts his Mother to the care of the Church. The scene on Calvary reveals to us the secret of true Marian piety, which is a filial love of surrender and gratitude to Mary, a love of imitation and of consecration to her person.”    - Pope St. John Paul II, Homily, 13 November 1998

"Those who sincerely say ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ will find comfort in all their anxieties and fears."
"There is nothing more man needs than Divine Mercy – that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights to the holiness of God."   Pope St John Paul ll   Shrine of Divine Mercy in Cracow, Poland on June 7, 1997

"How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it."   -Pope St. John Paul II, general audience, September 12, 2001

“For if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the chief priest of God the Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice to the Father, and has commanded this to be done in commemoration of Himself, certainly that priest truly discharges the office of Christ, who imitates that which Christ did; and he then offers a true and full sacrifice in the Church to God the Father, when he proceeds to offer it according to what he sees Christ Himself to have offered.”     - St. Cyprian of Carthage

If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!    - St. Catherine of Sienna

To live in love is to sail forever, spreading seeds of joy and peace in hearts. -St. Therese  of Lisieux

“Jesus and your soul must cultivate the vine in agreement. Your task is to remove the stones, pull away the thorns. Jesus is to sow, plant, cultivate and water. But even in your work there is the work of Jesus. Without Him, you can do nothing.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

MToday, 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)

They are heretics who in the Church of God entertain some unwholesome and perverse opinion, and on being rebuked refuse to alter it and square it to sound and right doctrine, but are contumacious in their resistance, refuse to amend their pestilential and deadly creed, and persist in defending the same."   St. Augustine   ("The City of God," 18, 51)

“Death is always important for it seals a destiny.  Any Dying man is a scene. Any dying scene is a sacred place. That is why the great literature of the past which has touched on the emotions surrounding death has never passed out of date. But of all deaths in the record of man, none was more important than the Death of Christ. Everyone else who was ever born into the world, came to live; our Lord came into it to die.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Calvary and the Mass)

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

“The things of God come about by themselves.”   - St. Vincent de Paul

"If anyone desires to attain unto the glory of eternity, he must study to be a child: pure in heart, mouth and deed." St. Thomas Aquinas (1225.–1274.)

"The goal and target of our life is He, the Christ who awaits us -- each one singly and altogether -- to lead us across the boundaries of time to the eternal embrace of the God who loves us."   - Pope  St. John Paul II

“The reason why Christ is unknown today is because His Mother is unknown.”   - Blessed John Henry Newman

If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?"   - Cyprian of Carthage [A.D. 251]

"Charity requires us to pray for others; for this is essential to the love we owe to our neighbor."  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225.–1274.)

"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls.”   - Sr. Lucia of Fatima

"The Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage."    - Pope St. John Paul II. -   Familiaris Consortio, 1980.  

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

“If you say the Rosary faithfully unto death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins, ‘you will receive a never-fading crown of glory’ (1 St. Peter 5:4).”   - Saint Louis de Montfort

After a soul begins to taste how the Lord is, it is more pleasing for the body to be resting without work and for the soul to be receiving delight.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 4

"Ask of my faithful servant [Father Sopocko] that, on this day, he tell the whole world of My great mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness. My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy"   WORDS OF HESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA     (Diary, 300)

“You will never complain about offenses , no matter where they came from, remembering that Jesus was saturated with ignominy from the malice of men He Himself had aided. You will excuse everyone with Christian charity, keeping before your eyes the example of the divine Master who excused even his crucifiers before the Father. “.  St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother."   -Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr

“When the hand of death is laid upon those whom you love and your heart seems torn in two, climb to the Hill of Calvary to be consoled by the Mother of Sorrows who is also the Cause of Our Joy.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Man for All Media)

As in matters on obedience, He doesn't want the soul who truely loves Him to take any other paths than the one He did.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 3

“My vocation is love.”    - St. Therese of Lisieux

“You will never complain about offenses, no matter where they come from, remembering that Jesus was saturated with ignominy from the malice of men He Himself had aided.
You will excuse everyone with Christian charity, keeping before your eyes the example of the divine Master who excused even his crucifiers before the Father.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

“Yes, my dear children, everything is good and precious in God's sight when we act from the motives of religion and of charity because Jesus Christ tells us that a glass of water would not go unrewarded. You see, therefore, my children, that although we may be quite poor, we can still easily give alms.”   - St John Vianney.

Do not forget that when the Lord calls, He also provides the necessary strength and grace to answer His call.   - Pope St. John Paul II

"Put all the good works in the world against one Holy Mass; they will be as a grain of sand beside a mountain."   - St. John Vianney

“The guardian angel will not retreat from us, unless we drive him away by our evil deeds. As the smoke drives bees away, and stench the doves, even so our stinking sin drives away from us the angel who protects our life.” — St. Basil the Great

"The war of the Evil One against the Lord is his war against the family, and the war of the Evil One against the family is the core of his war against the Lord. Because the family is the image of God, from the beginning of the creation of this universe, The Evil one is focusing on destroying the family, the foundation of God’s plan."   St. Charbel

Prayer means a launching out of the heart towards God.   - St. Therese of Lisieux

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

Do not be afraid to welcome the cross of Christ into your life! It gives full value and meaning to life's joys and sorrows, helping every person to make his own life a gift of love for God and neighbor.
Pope St. John Paul  Angelus Address March 14, 1999

“Freedom is not so much a birthright as it is an achievement. We are born with freedom of choice, but the way we use our choices makes us slaves or free men.  Inner freedom of this kind is the last thing a man attains, and it is what St. Paul calls the “glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Lift up Your Heart)

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

“The thought that Our Lord himself had much to suffer from his disciples will greatly encourage you. For the more our sorrows resemble his, the more pleasing we are to him. If this were not my consolation, what would become of me?”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ."    - St. Jerome

"When you are weary of praying, and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him."   - St. John Chrysostom

The soul's progress does not lie in thinking much but in loving much.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 2

“‘He that offers the sacrifice of praise glorifies Me, and in this way will I show him My salvation’ (Psalm 49:23). Before the coming of Christ, the flesh and blood of this sacrifice were foreshadowed in the animals slain; in the passion of Christ the types were fulfilled by the true sacrifice; after the ascension of Christ, this sacrifice is commemorated in the sacrament.”    -  St. Augustine of Hippo

Photo credit: Dano McKenzie

"Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously."   - St. Francis de Sales

“The human spirit without the flame of divine love tends to reach the level of the beast, while on the other hand, charity, the love of God, raises it up so high that it can reach even to the throne of God. Give thanks without ever growing weary for the liberality of such a good Father and ask Him to increase holy charity more and more in your heart.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"After Holy Communion, I saw the Lord Jesus, who said these words to me: Today, penetrate into the spirit of My poverty and arrange everything in such a way that the most destitute will have no reason to envy you. I find pleasure, not in large buildings and magnificent structures, but in a pure and humble heart."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary 532)

When devotion to Mary begins in anyone, it produces the same effect that our Lady’s birth produces in the world. It ends the night of sin and leads a person along the bright path of virtue. —St. Alphonsus Liguori

“One of the greatest deceptions of today is the belief that leisure and money are the two essentials of happiness.  The sad fact of life is that there are no more frustrated people on the face of the earth than those who have nothing to do and those who have too much money for their own good.  Work never killed anybody, but worry has.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Peace of Soul)

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”    - St. Francis of Assisi, Deacon

“Wisdom consists in following Providence step by step.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will leave you."   -- Saint John Vianney

What joy it is for us to dwell on the fact that Mary is our Mother! Why should we fear? She loves us and knows our weakness!    - St. Theresa of Lisieux

Not all imaginations by their nature are capable of meditating, all souls are capable of loving.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 5 : 2

“Do not be afraid of the radicalness of His demands, because Jesus, who loved us first, is prepared to give Himself to you, as well as asking of you. If He asks much of you, it is because He knows you can give much.”    - Pope St. John Paul II

"We must live every minute of our lives as if it were our last." St. Francis de Sales (1567.-1622)

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.    - St. Teresa of Calcutta

“Courage. Suffice it for us to know that Jesus loves us greatly.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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

”We may seek graces, but shall never find them without the intercession of Mary.”   - St. Cajetan

“In that scroll and sequence of years, for what am I most thankful?  First, when born, my mother, like Hannah, Laid me on the altar of the Blessed Mother and dedicated me to the service of her Son.  This my blessed assurance that the Lord will one day say,  ‘I heard My Mother speak of you.’” Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

"How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it."    - Saint John Paul II, general audience, September 12, 2001

As you seek a virtuous spouse,  it is fitting that you should be the same.   -St. Bernardino of Sienna

"The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, "What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. " When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion."    - St John Vianney.

“We belong to God by his grace. What else do we wish, then, but to please him? If we are contradicted, this is not surprising; what merit is there in not being crossed? And who is there that can escape it? For every little contradiction, should one stop doing good? Good which gives glory to God?”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"The height of perfection is to love our enemies, and to pray for them as did Lord Jesus."   -  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225.–1274.)

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

“God loves us, and this is shown by the fact that He tolerates us when we offend Him.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"Let us do without hesitation whatever good lies at our hands."   - Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

We must forget ourselves, and put aside our tastes and ideas, and guide souls not by our own way, but along the path which Our Lord points out.    - St. Therese

“We have walked with pleasure for many a mile and we have smiled and smiled, and learned nothing.  But what a vista of the mystery which lies in the heart of the world’s redemption was unveiled when we, as a people, walked with sorrow!  People become more united in sorrow than in pleasure.  Across the nation, citizens were enjoying theaters, sports, parties, cocktails, and a thousand and one pursuits of eros in which the ego satisfies itself under the guise of a love of another.  Then all these disparate and separate enjoyments, like scattered drops of mercury, suddenly came together in one center – the broken heart of America.  There were no longer political parties, business competitors, grasping fingers – there was beating only one heart.  It is well to be proud of our country, but if the memory of a death means anything, we will no longer boast as if the peacock were our national symbol, saying: ‘I am an American,’ but, in the full consciousness that our symbol is an eagle mounting ever upwards, we will say: ‘May I be worthy to be an American.’”     Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Power of Love

Mary meditated on all she had come to know through reading, listening, and observing. She grew in faith, increased in merits, and was more consumed by the fire of charity.    - St. Lawrence Justinian

“He who is hasty falls back in the interests of God.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

"Our Work,Words & Actions Must Be United to the Merits of Jesus Christ."   - St. Teresa of Jesus of Avila

'I am capable of opening up hell for all to see its punishments. However, that would not be just, since people would then serve Me out of fear, when they should be serving Me out of love. For only a person who loves shall enter the kingdom of heaven.”   - Our Lord to St Bridget

“The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosened by Mary’s obedience. The bonds fastened by the virgin Eve through disbelief were untied by the virgin Mary through faith.”    - St. Irenaeus of Lyons

“Lord, give me a sense of humor, and I will find happiness in life, profit for others.”   -Saint Thomas More

“Reject pride, and consider everyone more righteous than yourself.”   - St. Anthony the Great

"The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things."    - St. John of the Cross

"Try to be even tempered. Only in this way can one show a constant resolution to love God."   - St. Francis de Sales (1567.-1622)

“Be cheerful. Jesus will take care of everything. Let us pay no attention to people who do not know what they are saying. Let us trust in Jesus and our heavenly Mother, and everything will work out well.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a feeble image and likeness of My love.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1447)

“Mary is the sure path to our meeting with Christ. Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, when it is genuine, is always an impetus to a life guided by the spirit and values of the Gospel.”   -  Pope St. John Paul II

The birth of the Mother of God is the prelude to the union of the Word with flesh. Today the Virgin is born, tended and formed, and prepared for her role as Mother of God, Who is the Universal King of the ages. —St. Andrew of Crete

“We fear tomorrow because we have no yesterdays to light the way, we act like dull tragedians not knowing what the future holds because we have forgotten the past.  The principles which once were taken for granted, because beyond legal controversy or human manipulation, are today challenged.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Seven Pillars of Peace)

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

“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” -Saint Teresa of Calcutta

If you want to see miracles, have devotion to Mary, help of Christians.    - St. John Bosco

“A certain wise man, setting down a number of things in the rank of blessings, set down this also in the rank of a blessing, ‘A wife agreeing with her husband.’ [Sirach 25:1] And elsewhere again he sets it down among blessings, that a woman should dwell in harmony with her husband. [Sirach 40:23]. . .even from the very beginning woman sprang from man. . .
Paul would never without a reason and without an object have spent so much pains on this subject, as when he says here, ‘Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.‘ And why so? Because when they are in harmony, the children are well brought up, and the domestics are in good order, and neighbors, and friends, and relations enjoy the fragrance. But if it be otherwise, all is turned upside down, and thrown into confusion. And just as when the generals of an army are at peace one with another, all things are in due subordination, whereas on the other hand, if they are at variance, everything is turned upside down; so, I say, is it also here. Wherefore, says he, Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”   - St. John Chrysostom.  (Homily 20 on Ephesians)

Mary is a land that, though it has never been sown, brings forth fruit that gives food to all creatures. She is a land on which rest the blessings of the Lord.   - St. Theodore the Studite

If we proceed with a pure conscience and obediently, the Lord will never permit the devil to have enough influence to deceive harmfully our souls; on the contrary, the devil himself is the one who is left deceived  St Theresa of Jesus of Avila; The Book of Her Foundations - chapter 4:2

“This heart of mine is Yours... my Jesus, so take this heart of mine, fill it with Your love and then order me to do whatever You wish.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

My daughter, today consider My Sorrowful Passion in all its immensity. Consider it as if it had been undertaken for your sake alone.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA  (Diary, 1761)

"When our hands have touched spices, they give fragrance to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them fragrant."   - St. John Vianney

The distinctive mark of the Christian, today more than ever, must be love for the poor, the weak, the suffering.   Pope St. John Paul II

“We become real priests when we empty ourselves and no longer seek our own identity, and where we are lifted up to the cross, not going ‘down to people.’ Too many of us today feel we have to be loved . . . thinking the young will not love us unless we talk like them, eat like them, drink like them, clothe ourselves like them. No! They will not love us simply because we go down; they will love us when we lift them up. Else, the world will drag them down .”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“God’s work is accomplished little by little and almost as it were, imperceptibly, and His Spirit is neither violent nor unreasonable.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Mary does not know how to refuse compassion. She has never learned how to let the comfortless go away uncomforted. And so, she will persuade her Son to pardon me.    - St. Bonaventure

"For she, being preordained by the prescient counsel of God and foreshadowed and proclaimed in different images and words of the prophets through the Holy Spirit, sprang at the predetermined time from the root of David, according to the promises that were made to him."    - St. John of Damascus

“Blessed the one who has before his eyes the day of departure and has hated pride, before the weakness our nature has been proved as it rots in the tomb.”    - St. Ephrem of Syria

"The heart is not satisfied with anything less than God."    - St. John of the Cross

St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Glories of Mary, “To The Reader”: “In the introduction, page 19, referring to chap. 5th of the book, I have said that God has ordained that all graces should come to us through the hands of Mary. Now this is a very consoling truth for souls tenderly attached to the most holy Mary, and for poor sinners who desire to be converted. Nor should this appear to any one inconsistent with sound theology, since its author, St. Augustine, puts it forth as a general statement, that Mary has shared, by means of her charity, in the spiritual birth of all the members of the Church.”

I should give some counsels to prioresses, who will learn both to  underdstand themselves and to guide their subjects so that the soul of these latter will receive greater benefit.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 4 : 1

“A single act of love of God, made during a period of aridity is worth more than a hundred made with affection and consolation. “    St. Pio of Pietrelcina

"My child, make the resolution never to rely on people. Entrust yourself completely to My will saying, "Not as I want, but according to Your will, O God, let it be done unto me." These words, spoken from the depths of one's heart, can raise a soul to the summit of sanctity in a short time. In such a soul I delight. Such a soul gives Me glory. Such a soul fills heaven with the fragrance of her virtue. But understand that the strength by which you bear sufferings comes from frequent Communions. So approach this fountain of mercy often, to draw with the vessel of trust whatever you need."   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1487)

Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.  Pope St. John Paul II

“As no weeds grew in Eden so no sin would arise in Mary, the paradise of the Incarnation. A barn door cannot fittingly serve as an entrance to a castle.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Three to Get Married)

"O what treasures Mary's birth bring for heaven and earth!  The evil spirit trembles with fury and despair, because he behold in Mary she who is to crush his head.  Whereas the angel and the blessed make the vault of heaven ring with songs of joy at the birth of a queen who will add new glory to their splendor."    St. John Vianney

"Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Marys which purifies the monotony of your sins."   - St. Josemaria Escriva

“Our Lord, eternal and infinite, is the splendor of glory, the fountainhead and source of all grace and beauty.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“When the time comes and we cannot pray, it is very simple—let Jesus pray in us to the Father in the silence of our hearts. If we cannot speak, He will speak. If we cannot pray, He will pray. So let us give Him our inability and our nothingness.”    -  St. Teresa of Calcutta

I should give some counsels to prioresses, who will learn both to  underdstand themselves and to guide their subjects so that the soul of these latter will receive greater benefit.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 4 : 1

"Know that it is your mission to win souls for Me by prayer and sacrifice and by encouraging them to trust in My mercy".   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA.  (Diary 1690)

“I have worked and I want to work. I have prayed and I want to pray. I have kept watch and I want to keep watch. I have cried and I want to cry – always for all of my brothers who are in exile. I know and understand that this is very little but this is what I know how to do; this is what I am able to do; and this is all that I can do.”   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

Mary is the echo of God. If we say “Mary,” she will answer “God.” That is why union with her is always followed by union with God.    - St. Louis Grignion de Montfort

"Hell can't be made attractive, so the devil makes attractive the road that leads there."    - St. Basil the Great.

“The Church is not a continuous phenomenon through history, rather, it is something that has been through a thousand Resurrections after a thousand crucifixions.  The bell is always sounding for its execution which, by some great power of God, is everlastingly postponed.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Three to Get Married)

“Evil always leaves some impression on the soul, if we do not envelop ourselves in a cloak of prayer and humility. The greatest cedars fall.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Every good, every help, and every grace that human beings have received and will receive from God until the end of time came and will come to them by the intercession and through the hands of Mary. When we find Mary, we find all!    - Blessed Raymond Jordano

“Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.”    - Pope St. John Paul II

When we are expecting only suffering, the least joy surprises us: Suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys when we seek it as a precious treasure.    -St. Therese of Liseux

“Lord, give me a sense of humor, and I will find happiness in life, profit for others.”   -Saint Thomas More

Neither courage nor hope failed, for since the Lord had given the one thing, He would give the other. Everything now seemed very possible, and so I set to work.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 2 : 6

“The more bitterness you have, the more love you will receive.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the cross amidst great torments. A soft moan issued from His Heart. After some time, He said, I thirst. I thirst for salvation of souls. Help Me, My daughter, to save souls. Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA      (Diary 1032)

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

“Ethical pollution demands a solution, it needs an Ombudsman who though not involved in all this filth will nevertheless offer himself to haul it away and destroy it; who will be on our side when no one else is; who will snatch up the sour note that is floating in space after deliberate dissonance, and make it the first note in a new and more beautiful symphony; who will carry away this stone pile of radiating wantonness and bury it; who, though his personal life has never added to this garbage, will nevertheless be its master dispose all.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Those Mysterious Priests)

“If God appears dead in our nuclear age it is because Christians and arid people have isolated Christ from His Cross.  Some priests and religious have love enough for the hungry, but not love enough to redeem from guilt.  The priest, in order to relate himself better to the world, may preach a ‘social Christ’ or a ‘political Christ’ or a ‘revolutionary Christ,’ but such indifference to the crucifixion produce sermons that are ‘sounding brass and clinking cymbals.’  Mother Teresa of Calcutta expressed this idea: ‘serving of the poor without the love of Christ crucified is social work.’”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Those Mysterious Priests)

"We belong to God in all things and without reserve, without any exception whatsoever."    - St. Francis de Sales (1567.-1622)

“The so-called right to abortion has portrayed the greatest of gifts — a child — as a competitor, an intrusion and an inconvenience.”   - St. Teresa of Calcutta

 “We must not  confuse devotion to  the Blessed Virgin with devotions to other saints, as if  devotion to  her were not far more necessary than devotion to them, and as  if devotion to her were a matter of supererogation.”   St. Louis De Montfort (1710)

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, 1293)

“We’ve had enough of exhortations to be silent! Cry out with one hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”   - St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor

“If God does not offer you sweetness, then you must still be content, patiently eating your bread, even if it is dry, doing your duty without any compensation, for the present. By doing this our love for God is selfless, and one loves and serves God in this way at one's own expense, a behavior that pertains to perfect souls.”    St. Pio of Pietrelcina

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

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.”    - St. Irenaeus of Lyons

“Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, my Creator and my Saviour, I am extremely sorry and sensibly grieved for having offended Thee, because Thou art what Thou art, and because I love Thee above all things.”   - St. Rose of Lima

“Can she be otherwise than full of grace, who has been made the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediatrix between God and man?”   St. Lawrence Justinian 

Do not let the past disturb you--just leave everything in the Sacred Heart, and begin again with joy.    -St. Teresa of Calcutta

He prizes a soul that through our diligence and prayer we gain for Him, more than all the sevices we can render Him.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila    The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 1:7

“Judge whether the prickly thorns of our human nature do not produce fine roses; they blossom as soon as the sun of justice sheds the rays of its grace upon them.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

“The more you give to our Lord, the more blessings you will receive. His yoke is sweet to him who embraces it willingly.”   – St. Vincent de Paul

Every grace granted to human beings has three degrees in order. From God it is communicated to Christ; from Christ it passes to the Blessed Virgin; and from the Blessed Virgin it comes to us.    - St. Bernardine of Siena

“A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”    - St. Basil the Great

“Who, then, is the King of all? God, who is the measure of the truth of all existence.”—St. Clement of Alexandria

Those who for love of our Lord were able to be engaged in winning souls, might suffer a thousand deaths.   St Teresa of Jesus of Avila   The Book of Her Foundation - Chapter 1:7

“You who are responsible for souls, try with love, with much love, with all your love; and if that is useless... punish because Jesus who is our model, taught us this, creating Paradise but also Hell.”   St. Pio of Pietrelcina

 Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother's womb. How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound Me most painfully.   WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA   (Diary, 1076)

“To desire grace without recourse to the Virgin Mother is to desire to fly without wings.”   - Pope St. Pius IX

“The Woman Whom even God dreamed of before the world was made; The Woman of Who, though no priest, could yet on Calvary’s Hill breathe, ‘this is my Body; this is my Blood’ – for none save her gave Him human life.  The Woman Who guides my pen, which falters so with words in telling of the Word.  The Woman Who, in a world of reds, shows forth the blue of hope.  Accept these dried grapes of thoughts from this poor author, who has no wine; work a miracle and save a soul forgetting not my own.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World’s First Love)